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In the series finale, David finally embraces a demon; Keith gives "tough love"; Nathaniel talks to his younger son; Brenda delivers early and fights Nate's negativity; Claire gets an exciting phone call; Ted inspires some sexy photos; Margaret is impressed to see Olivier's nurturing side; Rico and Vanessa celebrate an investment; Ruth finds consolation in the truth from Maggie; George's limitations eclipse his intentions; and Claire drives into her future. The Future of the family is revealed.

David still struggles with violent nightmares after six weeks of mourning his brother. When he learns about a criminal at large who's abducting children, he becomes overly protective of his sons. Eventually he snaps, and yanks Durrell and Anthony out of school in a panic. Fearing David's unpredictable behavior will upset the boys, Keith sends David away until he can get a hold of himself.
Maya has been staying at the funeral home for several weeks, where Ruth and George happily care for her together. Ruth decides she wants to have permanent custody of Maya and argues fiercely with Brenda about what's best for the little girl. In a moment of weakness, Brenda allows Ruth to keep Maya for a while longer.
While Brenda prepares for the arrival of her new baby, who is due in two months, Billy stays with her at the house. Brenda plans to raise Maya and the new baby with Billy's help but after she has a disturbing sex dream about her brother she asks him to move out. Later, Brenda resolves to take Maya home with her for good. She shows up at the funeral home to collect her daughter but goes into labor the moment she arrives.
Federico is eager to have a business discussion but David is too distracted by his inner demons to help plan the funeral home's future. Meanwhile, Vanessa urges Federico to invest in his own funeral home and they find a property for sale. Federico asks his wife to assist him at the office and Vanessa finds that she has a knack for consoling a grieving client.
When Claire is drunk and belligerent at the office for several days in a row, Ted confiscates her car keys. She verbally attacks a client at Fisher & Diaz, then fights with Ted and throws a glass of water in his face. Later, Claire drives to the nature preserve to visit Nate's grave, but strange noises frighten her and she speeds away. Trying to avoid a deer in the road, Claire crashes the green hearse. Her car is totaled but she makes $950 selling it for parts.

In the hours following Nate's death from a brain hemorrhage, David copes with his pain by planning his brother's funeral. He explains to Brenda and Ruth that Nate wanted a green funeral with no embalming or casket, just burial in a plot of land that's protected by a nature preserve.
Keith prepares Anthony and Durrell for Nate's memorial service but is interrupted by a frantic phone call from Roger. A tweaked-out actor named Trevor is trashing Roger's house and Keith needs to get Trevor out of town immediately. At the airport, Trevor reveals that he's seen footage of Keith and Roger having sex; the tryst between the two men was videotaped without Keith's knowledge. Furious at being betrayed, Keith calls Roger and quits his job.
With Ruth too bereft to take care of herself, Bettina comes to the house to help. When Ruth learns that there will be no preservation or viewing of Nate's body, she becomes even more distraught. She takes the last opportunity to see her son's body by helping David in the prep room as he washes the blood off Nate's scalp.
Maggie comes by Brenda's house with some food and Brenda accuses her of being responsible for Nate's death, asking, "What is this? Some Quaker thing? You f#$@ someone's husband to death and then bring them a quiche?" Brenda also struggles with how to tell Maya about Nate's death. Her mother Margaret is - unsurprisingly - of little comfort. Brenda soon succumbs to her grief and overwhelming anger with her dead husband. She drops Maya off at the funeral home, asking Ruth to baby-sit for a while.
Desperate to escape her misery, Claire asks Ted to take her for a drive and they hit the road with no particular destination in mind. Although she's only known him a short time, Claire feels comfortable crying in front of Ted and wonders aloud why she's only able to recall painful memories of her brother. When she's ready, Ted takes her back home and she arrives just in time for Nate's memorial service to begin.
At the memorial service, David is haunted by images of Jake, the hitchhiker who attacked him. While eulogizing his brother, he suffers a panic attack and has to leave the Slumber Room at once. Federico speaks lovingly of his friend and business partner, and then George surprises everyone with his wisdom and comforting words. Afterwards, Ruth invites George to join the family at Nate's burial in a wooded nature preserve.
At the burial, David suffers another panic attack and seeks shelter in his car. Without his help, Federico, George, and Keith struggle to carry Nate's body out of the hearse. After Ruth helps David overcome his fears, he joins the family by Nate's open grave and Aunt Sarah reads aloud a poem from the Mystic Odes of Rumi.

Following Nate's AVM seizure, Maggie follows Nate's ambulance to the hospital. In the emergency waiting room with David, Maggie answers the doctor's questions about Nate's physical and emotional well-being in the moments before he collapsed. Although she doesn't state it explicitly, Maggie reveals that she and Nate had sex earlier in the evening.
Claire is dismayed to discover that her new boyfriend Ted is a Republican. The pair is heatedly arguing about politics when Claire gets a phone call with news about Nate's seizure. Ted goes with Claire to the hospital and stays by her side in the waiting room all night, earning her trust.
A doctor at the hospital tells the family that Nate was suffering from a new Arteriovenous malformation which ruptured, causing a hemorrhage in his brain. Nate is rushed into the operating room immediately to stop the bleeding, but during the surgery he slips into a coma.
Meanwhile, no one in the family is able to reach Ruth because she's camping in the woods with Hiram. Although Ruth isn't in the mood for sex, Hiram is feeling very amorous. When he doesn't want to take no for an answer, Ruth leaves him alone in the tent. The next morning, the two argue and Ruth stomps off into the wilderness by herself. Later, she happens upon a bus filled with Chinese tourists, who give her a ride back to Los Angeles
While unconscious, Nate dreams that his arm merely fell asleep the night before and there was no seizure. In his alternate, dream life, he and Maggie profess their love for each other, then Nate goes home and calmly asks Brenda for a divorce.
When Nate wakes from his coma the family delightedly rallies around him. He has some weakness on his left side but the doctors say that with physical therapy he will likely return to normal. Later, Brenda tells Nate that she knows about his affair with Maggie but she's willing to forgive him. Nate surprises Brenda when he says he's tired of fighting and thinks they should give up struggling to keep their marriage together.
With David seated by Nate's hospital bed, the two brothers take a nap and have a shared dream that they're on a surfing trip with Nathaniel, getting stoned in the back of the Deadwagon. When they arrive at the ocean, Nate jumps in the water and encourages his brother to join him but David suddenly becomes nervous about sharks. When David awakens from the dream, he finds that Nate has died.

Since learning of the baby's potential health problems, Brenda and Nate have grown distant from each other. Fearing Nate's negativity toward their unborn baby, Brenda goes to her ultrasound appointment without him, opting to bring Jackie instead for moral support. Later, she and Nate fight over his sudden interest in the Quaker religion, which Brenda believes is linked to his sudden interest in fellow Quaker Maggie. Nate proves her right when an innocent encounter with Maggie ends in passion, with shocking repercussions for Nate.
Ruth agrees to babysit Durrell and Anthony for the first time. Things go well until David and Keith return home to find Durrell pulling Keith's SUV into the driveway. David accuses his mother of not providing proper supervision, before learning that Darrell's joyrides have occurred more than once-a revelation that results in a violent confrontation between Keith and Durrell.
Claire runs into her former LAC-Arts classmate Anita while on a coffee run for the office. Anita invites her to an art opening that Claire intends to avoid until Ted offers to join her. At the exhibit, Claire reunites with her ex-boyfriends Russell and Jimmy and finally makes peace with her past and present selves.
Ruth wants to get a professional haircut and visits her old flame Hiram at his hair salon. The two quickly become reacquainted over dinner, which leads to a night of passion and a spontaneous camping trip.
David asks Nate and Federico to a partners'meeting to discuss the future of the funeral home. The meeting comes to a deadlock, however, when the threesome can't agree on the best way to invest in the business. For Federico, the friction at the funeral home sheds light on his strained relationship with Vanessa and he finally confronts her about it.

While Keith is working long hours with Roger, David is overwhelmed with parenting responsibilities. Durrell is embarrassed about an upcoming school play and refuses to let Keith and David attend. Despite the boy's wishes, David and Keith go and David relives the glory days when he performed in school musicals.
Claire meets a lawyer at work named Ted, who takes interest in her art. She joins her office friends for drinks after work, hoping to see him again. At the bar, Claire and Ted talk briefly, but she reveals very little about herself. Later, at the office, Claire opens up to Ted a bit more and admits that she's creatively blocked.
Federico is frustrated by the lack of passion in his marriage. Despite his best efforts to be amorous, Vanessa is mostly uninterested in sex. When she finally does agree sleep with him, she's eager to get it over with.
Now that she's no longer taking care of George, Ruth tries to fill her life with other diversions. At a friend's party, she feels hopelessly out of place and can't find anyone her age to talk to. When George asks for a quickie divorce and admits he's fallen in love again, Ruth is in shock. His imminent marriage plans prompt Ruth to warn George's fiancee about his mental illness.
Blood test results have Brenda and Nate concerned about their unborn child. After speaking with Maggie about the emotional strain of caring for a child with special needs, Nate worries they can't handle the responsibility. Brenda's doctor recommends an amniocentesis to test for problems and Nate insists that she take the test. Brenda refuses, though, convinced that Nate's real problem is an inability to be present for their marriage. She decides to go forward with the pregnancy despite possible complications.

unt Sarah comes to the funeral home to bury her friend Fiona, the woman who deflowered Nate when he was fifteen. The funeral provides temporary respite for both Brenda and Nate, who have spent the past few weeks suffering Billy's psychotically detailed analysis of his and Claire's recent break-up.
Keith and David fight over the best way to handle their new foster charges, Durrell and Anthony. After only two weeks with the children, Keith is ready to throw in the towel, tired of fighting with the caustic Durrell-while David secretly harbors hopes of permanently adopting the brothers. Things finally come to a head when Keith and David get an assessment visit from a social worker.
Ruth helps George settle into a new apartment all the while planning her escape from the marriage. Sarah's arrival provides Ruth with an excuse to spend a few nights away from George and she revels in the female kinship of Sarah and her high-spirited friends. George remains blissfully unaware of his wife's true intentions until Maggie visits and points out that Ruth's personal affects are conspicuously absent. In the end, George accepts the truth and surprises Ruth by setting her free.
Claire signs up with a temp agency while she awaits word on her application for an art grant. On her first office job, she quickly discovers the stifling corporate environment is a far cry from the world of art. However, when her grant application is rejected, Claire wonders if maybe the art world isn't for her after all.
Vanessa enlists the aid of a live-in nanny to help her manage the stress of running the house on her own. But when the nanny uses poor judgment one too many times, Vanessa fires her and invites a thrilled and surprised Federico to move back in.

Keith and David attend an adoption picnic, where David makes a connection with a skinny, African-American kid named Anthony. Mary, the woman hired as a surrogate mother, calls with news that she was successfully inseminated. David and Keith are elated but their plans soon change when Mary reveals that she was mistaken. Keith and David decide to foster parent Anthony and his older brother - named Durrell - instead.
Nate and Brenda argue about how much information they should tell Maya about her biological mother, Lisa. Nate wants to spare Maya the painful truth but Brenda wants the little girl to have a "coherent narrative." They decide the best strategy is to tell Maya what happened, but leave out the more sordid details of the story - including Lisa's relationship with Hoyt and the mystery surrounding her death.
Ruth confides in her friends from the knitting group that she has lost patience with George and can no longer stand the sound of his voice. Over dinner, Ruth's friends convince her that she's not responsible for taking care of a sick person for the rest of her life. They encourage Ruth to set George up with an apartment and a new job and then let him go. Inspired by the idea, Ruth suggests to George that they move out of the house and "make a fresh start."
Federico is irate when he learns that Julio bullied another boy at school. He meets with the school principal and cites his recent separation from Vanessa as an explanation for Julio's bad behavior. Vanessa is furious when the principal pulls her aside the next day and knows details about her personal life - including her problems with depression and her recent relationship with Kenny Sims.
Billy is desperate for closure with Claire. He assures Claire that he's back on his medications, but she still doesn't want to get back together. When Margaret and Billy gang up on Claire at a restaurant and insist that she reconsider, she feels ambushed and slips out the back without saying goodbye.

Nate has a milestone 40th birthday and receives the surprising news that Brenda is pregnant. Nate's reaction to the news is less than ecstatic, leaving Brenda to question his desire for another child. Later, Nate comes home to an unwanted surprise party and lets it slip to that Brenda is expecting, creating tension.
Claire watches in annoyance and horror as Billy sinks deeper into un-medicated madness. Finally fed up with Billy's manic behavior, Claire has an unexpected one-night fling and ends her relationship with Billy.
David and Keith make an official offer to a surrogate and she accepts. David complains when he and Keith lose most of their day driving Roger's kids to a hair salon, but he quickly changes his tune when Roger's wife pulls some strings to get David and Keith a second shot at adopting a child - leaving them free, once again, to pursue both surrogacy and adoption.
Ruth admits to her knitting circle that she's tired of dealing with George and his madness. George apologizes to Ruth for all he's put her through, but the sentiment does little to salve past wounds.
Federico lays into Vanessa for accidentally forgetting to pick up Julio from a play date. The argument leads to romance, resulting in a night of passion. The following morning, however, Vanessa makes it clear that their encounter was a one-time experience.

George Sibley is haunted by childhood memories of his mother's suicide. While doing laundry, Ruth finds rotting, half-eaten food in the pockets of George's clothes. When she confronts him about the food, George regresses to child-like behavior and claims he planned to save the food for later. Later, George confesses to Maggie that his symptoms are worsening and he feels he needs another round of electro-convulsive therapy.
Billy's manic energy fuels his passionate relationship with Claire and he proposes they move to Spain to work on their art. When Claire's credit card is declined at a camera shop she contacts the family's lawyer in a huff and learns that access to her trust fund has been frozen. Claire confronts her mother, but Ruth reminds her that she's no longer attending college and Nathaniel didn't intend to finance her life while she "played house with a crazy person." To cheer Claire up, Billy goes on a spending spree and buys them both expensive digital cameras.
David and Keith continue pursuing adoption and surrogacy in their hope of starting a family. But for all their careful planning, the two are rejected by the adoption agency when the counselor uncovers David's Las Vegas arrest for "lewd and lascivious behavior with a male prostitute." Keith and David are heartened, however, by their interview with a potential surrogate who seems TOO good to be true.
Brenda counsels a disturbed student at the community college who shoves her against the wall violently. Afterwards, she is comforted by her co-worker Jackie, who invites her over for a family dinner. Brenda is struck by the lack of tension and envies the easy dynamic Jackie shares with her close-knit family. Meanwhile, Nate is at a family dinner at the funeral home, where he finally meets George's daughter Maggie. She tells Nate about her son, who died when he was a baby, and the two instantly connect over shared personal tragedies.
Federico runs into Vanessa at a church-sponsored singles mixer where she makes it clear that she's not interested in getting back together with him. At a funeral directors' conference, Federico meets Angela, the restorative artist who worked at Fisher & Sons briefly years earlier - when Federico was hired by Kroehner Services Corporation. The pair hit it off and end up sharing a wild, uninhibited romp in bed.

Nate and Brenda have unprotected sex for the first time since losing the baby, but their lovemaking is cut short when they catch Maya watching them. Brenda declines her mother's offer to get her out of an internship at a free psychiatric clinic, only to find that the job is much more difficult than she imagined. Nate handles the funeral of a former high school buddy and is flooded by memories of his uncomplicated youth.
David and Keith continue pursuing both adoption and surrogacy in their quest to have a baby. To David's extreme discomfort, Keith suggests they ask Claire to supply them with eggs for the surrogate.
Ruth shows signs of cracking after months of being George’'s main caregiver and George senses her resentment with increasing guilt. The couple experience temporary relief when George's daughter Maggie comes to visit, but it all quickly falls to pieces once Maggie prepares to leave.
Claire takes her photography in a new direction and is disappointed when her gallery owner prefers her old direction. Over dinner with a pair of Billy's art contemporaries she is titillated by stories of Billy's wild past. While Claire is inspired by these reminiscences, Billy is reminded how much he's changed.
Federico is concerned when his new love interest fails to return his calls. Fearing the worst, he gets her building manager to let him in to her apartment and is surprised by what he finds.

Brenda struggles with morning sickness as she studies the home video of Nate's 2002 wedding to Lisa. Together, Nate and Brenda watch the Kimmel and Fisher families nervously prepare for the ceremony on the video. Brenda assures Nate that their upcoming wedding will be different from the first ceremony in every way.
Federico meets women through an online dating service, but his overly-high standards prevent him from settling on anyone special. When Vanessa won't agree to be Federico's wedding date, he invites a woman named Sharon instead.
Claire and Billy, who are happily committed to each other and rarely apart, decide to move in together. When Nate and Brenda host a pre-wedding dinner party for the family, Claire gets high with her brothers outside but is unable to convince them that Billy's mental health has improved.
After months of dealing with the consequences of George's Depressive Psychosis and electroconvulsive therapy treatments, Ruth is on the brink of mental exhaustion herself. Once he returns home from the hospital, George suffers from short-term memory loss and disorientation, but insists on attending Nate's wedding anyway. Ruth finally reaches her breaking point at the wedding when Claire takes a compromising photograph of George. To everyone's shock, an enraged Ruth slaps Claire, accusing her of "trying to make a statement" about Ruth's choice to marry George before she really knew him.
Two days before her wedding, Brenda suffers a miscarriage but Nate and Brenda decide to go ahead with the wedding anyway.
Listening to the ceremony inspires David to be more supportive of Keith's dreams of starting a family. Although David would prefer to adopt children who are looking for a home, he agrees to continue looking for a surrogate mother to bear their child if that's what Keith wants. At the wedding reception, David and Keith reach a compromise by deciding to pursue surrogacy and adoption at the same time.
After the wedding ceremony, Brenda wanders off alone, still high from pain medication and despondent over her lost baby. She imagines that Lisa is taunting her for having infertility problems. Nate finds Brenda and convinces her to re-join the party, telling her that the best days of their life together are yet to come.

George has a terrible nightmare connected to his apocalyptic fears; in the dream he is visited by a mysterious woman in a turquoise dress whom he seems to know. Ruth meets George's daughter, Maggie, and is pleased to find that Maggie and George share a close relationship. In a brief moment alone, however, Maggie makes vaguely alarming inquiries into her father's health and supplies Ruth with all her contact information in case Ruth should need to suddenly reach her. Ruth is confused by Maggie's insinuations but is prompted to call her when she chances upon George having a heated conversation with an imaginary person.
Federico can't adjust to life without his family. Unable to face another lonely night in his depressing little room at the Fisher's house, he spends the night in a parked car on the street overlooking his old house. Desperate to get things back to the way they were, Federico makes a heartfelt and tearful apology to Vanessa. Though Vanessa accepts his apology, she can't forgive him and asks for a divorce.
Claire prepares for her gallery opening. The stress of her instant fame at first overwhelms her, but she quickly adjusts to being the center of attention. At the opening, a drunken Russell harasses Claire and Billy intercedes on her behalf. Afterwards, Claire and Billy go home together and share a romantic kiss.
David is traumatized after identifying his carjacker in a police line-up. He decides to confront his abuser in jail in the hopes that it will provide him some closure, but the visit only confuses him more. Keith gets an unexpected call from Roger Pasquese. Worried that Roger is going to renege on their earlier deal, Keith accepts his request to meet with him. To Keith's surprise, the meeting turns out to be a business proposition; Roger wants to hire him to be his personal bodyguard.
Nate finds a Polaroid of Lisa in a book that Barb's daughter, Michaela, had given to him shortly after Lisa's death. The picture disturbs him, especially when he notices Lisa's outfit is relatively new and concludes that the photograph must have been taken the day she died. Nate drives to Santa Cruz to confront Michaela who directs him to her father. When Nate questions Hoyt about the photograph, he backpedals at first, and then admits that he and Lisa had an on-going affair. Barb overhears Hoyt's confession and when Hoyt realizes she is there, he kills himself, leaving Nate with many unanswered questions. Upon his return home, Nate asks Brenda to marry him. She says yes.

Brenda expresses her desire to have a baby and Nate is supportive, but vague as to when they should start trying to conceive. Mrs. Chenowith must undergo an emergency hysterectomy. While visiting her mother in the hospital's recovery room, Brenda is reunited with her estranged brother Billy.
Nate and Brenda receive a visit from Nate's former in-laws, Barb and Hoyt. Over dinner, Barb reveals that at Lisa's recent memorial service, the funeral director noticed that the ashes hadn't been properly pulverized and suspected that they were not Lisa's remains. When Barb presses Nate to look into the matter, he admits the truth about burying Lisa. The revelation upsets Barb, who is already suspicious of Nate reuniting with Brenda so quickly after Lisa's death. Before leaving, Barb threatens to find a way to take Maya away from Nate.
Ruth wants to go on a couples' retreat in an effort to get closer to George who remains preoccupied with the notion that an apocalyptic event is looming. In preparation for the impending catastrophe, George buys an enormous supply of water; but finding a place to store it becomes a major issue. Luckily, Ruth remembers the home has an old bomb shelter and suggests that George move the water there. To Ruth's dismay, George opts to forgo the couples' retreat in lieu of fixing up the shelter.
In art class Claire presents a series of collage-like portraits loosely inspired by the pictures she and Russell had taken for fun while they were high on drugs. However when Claire is singled out for her unique concept, she is annoyed when Russell tells the class that he helped her come up with the idea. To Claire's surprise, Jimmy sends her photos to his gallery manager and the manager agrees to put them in his upcoming show.
Federico is upset when he learns Vanessa has been hiring her boyfriend's sister to baby-sit the children. The following night while Vanessa is out on a date, Rico comes to the house and sends the babysitter home. When Vanessa finds out, she threatens to call the police on Rico if he ever comes to the house unannounced again.
David is shocked when the attorney of Roger Pasquese, the man whom David attacked, threatens to press criminal charges if David does not pay an exorbitant restitution of $500,000. With bankruptcy looming, Keith and David invite Roger to dinner in the hopes that the three men can come to a more reasonable settlement. At dinner, Roger appears noticeably attracted to Keith. Seeing a possible bargaining foothold, Keith offers to have sex with Roger if he will agree to drop the charges against David. Roger agrees. The following evening Keith comes home to find David in tears and suspects Roger has backed out of the arrangement.In fact, David received news that the police caught his carjacker and would like David come to the station to identify him.

Nate has second thoughts about attending the Kimmel family's memorial service for Lisa in Idaho. Brenda encourages him to go for Maya's sake and agrees to come along as a show of support, remaining behind in the hotel room during the service. The trip proves a unique bonding experience for the pair and is only slightly marred by an awkward encounter with Lisa's sister Barb who chances upon the happy couple and Maya at a local cafe.
Ruth finally reconciles herself to going home. Her return sparks an emotional discussion with George, who promises Ruth that he will be more open with her and more welcoming of his family. As a show of good faith, George agrees to have his son Kyle over for dinner the following night. George and Kyle spend the evening bonding over their mutual apocalyptic views of the earth's future and though Ruth is delighted by George's interest in his son, she rejects his pessimistic outlook of the world.
Keith and David attend a commitment ceremony for Terry, David's friend from the Gay Men's Chorus. At the reception David talks to a couple with an adopted child and is shocked when they mention that the adoption agency they used doesn't work with gay couples. David becomes oddly fixated by the injustice of this reality. At a sushi establishment, a rude male patron triggers David's anger resulting in his viciously attacking the man.
Federico thinks he's making progress with Vanessa after she offers to let him come over to the house for the afternoon to play with the kids. He gets a rude awakening however, when a former high school acquaintance drops by to visit Vanessa. Later, Rico impulsively returns to the house to confront Vanessa and she admits that she's officially dating again. The confrontation leads to an argument and ends when Vanessa threatens to change the locks if Federico ever comes by unannounced again.
Though Claire and Jimmy continue to sleep with each other, Claire still seems interested in Edie. At a party, Claire gets high and makes an unsuccessful attempt to seduce Edie. Later, Russell and Claire do more drugs together and experiment with Claire's camera. At school, Billy chances upon Claire in the dark room and she invites him out on a date. To her delight, Billy says yes.

David continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress, spending another sleepless night in front of the television. Keith confesses that he had sex with Celeste and David suddenly finds himself with a new fixation. Initially he appears to take the news well, no doubt feeling slightly relieved of his own guilt for having had sex with Sarge. But soon David finds himself obsessing over the fact the Keith had sex with a woman. The tension leads to an open discussion about their mutual indiscretions, but it does little to quell David's subconscious fears that Keith will leave him for a woman.
Despite Claire's attempts to reconnect with her friend, Edie continues to avoid Claire following their recent unsuccessful sexual encounter. At school Claire's photography teacher must take an emergency medical leave and Claire is pleasantly surprised to find that Billy Chenowith will be filling the vacated position. Later, Claire learns that Edie performed an embarrassing piece about her at an open mike night, highlighting the fact that Claire has never had an orgasm. However, when Jimmy volunteers to help give her one, Claire agrees and the end result proves enlightening.
Since leaving George, Ruth has been staying with Bettina. After spending yet another afternoon babysitting Maya, Bettina insists that Ruth come up with a fun activity for the following day. Ruth plans an overnight excursion to Rosarita, Mexico. The trip is liberating for Ruth, who embraces the not-so-perfect aspects of travel and pushes herself to be more adventurous. But during her first horse ride Ruth's horse unexpectedly dies, putting an abrupt end to her newfound wanderlust.
During sex, Brenda impulsively tells Nate she loves him. Her admission leads to a fight when Nate can't reciprocate the sentiment, claiming he's still adjusting to widowhood and being a single parent to Maya. At school, Brenda's teacher praises her for her insight with a therapy patient but the fight with Nate triggers Brenda's own psychosis, leading her back to her drug dealer. She quickly realizes her mistake and attends a support group meeting before things get too out of hand.
With Federico now living at the Fishers and Ruth away, George, Nate and Rico find themselves unlikely roommates. During dinner, the trio frightens away two burglars intent on stealing a valuable comic book from the casket of a deceased collector who had asked to be buried with the item. That night, Nate dreams Nathaniel comes to him as comic book incarnation of death and takes everyone and everything that Nate holds dear, including Brenda. The dream helps Nate realize he wants to be with Brenda and he goes to her house where she welcomes him back with open arms.

Though Joe and Brenda appear to have patched things up since her recent admission of infidelity, there remains a hint of tension in the air. Nevertheless, once Joe leaves for work, Brenda can't resist calling Nate and inviting herself to join him and Maya for an innocent day trip to kid-centric Travel Town. The following day, Brenda invites Nate and Maya over to the house for another play date. But the encounter comes to an abrupt end when Joe returns home from work early to find Nate and Brenda in a compromising embrace on the living room couch.
Claire tries to set the mood for a night of passion with Edie, but even the most romantic setting can't turn her into a lesbian. When Edie again fails to give Claire an orgasm, the two finally agree that Claire isn't gay.
Federico wakes up in Sophia's bed still glowing from the previous night's escapade. The reality of what he's done suddenly hits him, however, when Sophia tells him that he can't stay with her and should go home and apologize to his wife. Federico's attempt to make amends with Vanessa is unsuccessful, especially after he admits to her that he slept with Sophia the night before. With no place else to turn, Rico spends the night in the prep room and is eventually discovered by Ruth, who offers to let him stay in Claire's old bedroom.
Keith comforts an emotional Celeste, who is suffering under the pressures of her rigorous tour. Though Celeste knows that Keith is gay, she asks him up to her room and seduces him into sleeping with her. Meanwhile, David cannot seem to put the trauma of his carjacking behind him. When he gets an unexpected call from Sarge, the man with whom Keith and David had their first three-way, David invites him over, desperate for some company. The two have sex and things get weird when a suddenly emotional David tries to forcibly prevent Sarge from leaving. In the end, David realizes he is still too vulnerable to be alone and asks Keith to come home. Keith reluctantly agrees. But when he goes to give his boss notice, he learns Celeste has already fired him for sleeping with her.
Ruth asks George to come to church with her but he opts to remain home, claiming he has work to do. When Ruth returns, however, she finds George in the middle of a flirty philosophical discussion with a scantily clad Anita. To add to Ruth's annoyance, George over prunes a treasured tree and is unapologetic when Ruth gets upset about it. The final straw is broken when George leaves without telling Ruth where he's going. Upon his return, George discovers a note from Ruth stating that she's going away for a while and doesn't know when she'll be coming back.

Claire has been staying at David's house since learning the details of his carjacking. But David, embarrassed by his inability to conquer his fears, tells Claire he doesn't need her to stay over any more. At work he busies himself with mindless tasks and then goes home for a sleepless night alone. The following day, David joins Claire and Edie at the movies but leaves suddenly when a dramatic movie preview causes him to have flashbacks to his carjacking. A brief sexual encounter with a bartender only further sets off his irrational fears.
Claire is oddly thrilled with the finished result of her seductive portrait of Edie. At first she wants to keep the photo to herself, but Edie convinces her to show it at her next class critique. The picture garners accolades from the teacher, but Claire is embarrassed when a fellow student references Edie as Claire's girlfriend. After the pair see a movie together, Edie makes a move on Claire who, though she admits to having strong feelings for Edie, is confused about what those feelings mean. When Edie stops by the following day, Claire agrees to have sex with her friend in order to put her confusion to rest.
Federico breaks things off with Sophia, convinced that though their relationship isn't sexual it isn't fair to Vanessa and the kids. As a final parting gift, he drops off a package for Sophia's daughter on her doorstep. Unbeknownst to Federico, Vanessa follows him to Sophia's house and is infuriated when her husband's buxom "charity" case takes the package inside. Unable to get a sitter for the kids, Vanessa waits until the following night to confront Rico. She accuses him of cheating on her and kicks him out, sending him straight into the arms of Sophia.
Ruth continues to try to connect with George. At his casual invitation, she joins him on an exhausting fossil hunt in Topanga Canyon. Dehydrated and annoyed by George's flippant disregard for her comfort, Ruth insists they drop by her sister Sarah's Topanga home. Bettina is visiting Sarah as well and the three women enjoy each other's company, while George isolates himself in front of the TV. Ruth is surprised when Sarah remarks that George's private nature reminds her of Nathaniel. As Sarah puts it: "I guess it's true what they say. We all pick the same person over and over again."
Brenda and Nate meet for a casual affair in a seedy hotel as they have for the past few weeks. Brenda claims to want to commit to Joe and end things with Nate, but he pegs their on-going affair for what it is-Brenda's fear of intimacy with Joe. Nate: "You can't fool me. I used to be Joe." Nate tries to move on and begin a relationship with his former co-worker from the dog kennel and urges Brenda to try to make things work with Joe. In the end, Brenda admits her infidelity to Joe in the hopes that they can make a new start.
Keith finally admits to his fellow bodyguard, Javier, that he's gay. To his surprise, Javier tells Celeste and the other bodyguards and then sends Keith a mixed message by writing him a joke note that implies he wants to have sex with Keith. When Keith calls to discuss the note with David, David tells him he no longer wants an open relationship and suddenly breaks down, buckling under the pressure of trying to keep his post-traumatic stress at bay.

Though Keith expresses concern for David's still-fragile emotional state, David returns to work for the first time since his car-jacking. However, at a family dinner to honor his birthday, David struggles to remain composed as Ruth questions him about his recent ordeal. Then, during a funeral service, David suffers a sudden panic attack. When Claire chances upon him just after it happens, he confides in her and for the first time opens up about the more horrible details of his attack. Though still unstable, David urges Keith to go back to work so he won't miss his chance to go on tour with Celeste.
Federico accidentally leaves a message for Sophia on his home answering machine, but manages to successfully cover up the mistake to Vanessa. However, during David's birthday party Vanessa becomes suspicious when Ruth mentions meeting an "outgoing" female friend of Vanessa's who had stopped by the funeral home recently to see Federico. When they get home, Vanessa confronts Rico and doesn't seem quite convinced by his complicated explanation of Sophia as a "charity" case.
Anita moves in with Claire and the pair, along with Edie, begin planning an elaborate art installation. The following day, Jimmy and Russell join in the planning and the group takes drugs, resulting in Claire showing up high to David's birthday dinner. Later that night, still under the influence, Claire takes sexy pictures of Edie rolling around in the grass.
At George's faculty cocktail party, Ruth overhears a woman telling her friends about a bad cell phone break-up-in which a boyfriend of six months called to break up, lost cell reception and never called again. To Ruth's horror, the woman's boyfriend turns out to be George. When she confronts George about it later, he is infuriatingly vague and brushes off her questions, leaving Ruth sad and confused.
Brenda is surprised when Joe tells her he found a house for them, which has enough room for a baby if the need should arise. At Joe's suggestion, the two throw caution to the wind and engage in unprotected sex for the first time. However, while shopping for the new house, Brenda suddenly becomes overwhelmed by it all and seeks out Nate for comfort.
Nate finally makes an effort to get a new job and interviews for a low-stress position at a dog kennel. At the kennel, he embraces his new carefree life and flirts with a young-coworker. He is forced to give it all up, however, after Claire reveals how bad things are for David since the car-jacking. She asks him to return to work at the funeral home for their brother's sake and Nate reluctantly agrees.

David worries about weathering a long-distance relationship as Keith prepares to go on a three-month tour with Celeste. Keith doesn't help matters when he calls David from the road to tell him the exciting details of his trip and then refers to David as "honey," still concerned about appearing gay in front of his fellow bodyguards.
Ruth encourages Nate to join a bereavement group to help him move on from Lisa. At the meeting, Nate has trouble connecting with the much older widows and widowers. When it's finally his turn to share, the building's fire alarm goes off and Nate decides to leave before the group files back inside.
Ruth gets the idea to set up George's son, Kyle, with the friendly checkout girl at her favorite fabric store. When she mentions her plan to George, however, he angrily accuses her of meddling. Claire doesn't like it when during an class critique of her latest art work, the teacher suggests that her self-portraits portray her as a "vacant vessel."
Rico receives an unexpected visit from Sophia at the funeral home. He tries to resist her advances but when she vulnerably admits to missing him, he agrees to meet her for dinner. Margaret is supportive of Brenda's desire to become a therapist, but has second thoughts about her having a child with Joe after Brenda reveals that their sex life is "interesting."
While on his way home from retrieving a dead body David stops to help an attractive man, who claims that his car has run out of gas. Things turn suddenly ugly, when the man brutally attacks David outside of a convenient store and threatens to shoot him if he doesn't comply with his demands. The man makes David withdraw all of his money from an ATM, then has David help him buy crack and forces him to take it with him. The frightening ordeal lasts hours and ends with David alone in a deserted alley, lucky to be alive.

David is a little freaked out when his ex-fiancee, Jennifer, calls to ask him to handle her father's funeral. Seeing Jennifer brings up old guilt issues for David, who still feels bad for breaking off their engagement after finally admitting that he was gay. Luckily, Jennifer is engaged to someone new, which relieves David of some guilt. However, when he tries to comfort her at the funeral, she lashes out at him, unleashing years of pent-up anger over David lying to her about his homosexuality. In the end, she is able to forgive him and the closure gives the pair a sense of peace.
In the midst of David having to re-visit his closeted past with Jennifer, Keith admits that he is still not out on his job. To David's annoyance, Keith asks him to temporarily stop answering their home phone until he's had time to switch his work contact information to his cell phone. Then, at work Keith is singled out by the young pop diva, Celeste, for peeing in her private bathroom and his fellow bodyguards enjoy a good laugh at his expense.
Inspired by her recent encounter with the fearless Edie, Claire speaks up during a class critique of her friend Anita's artwork and then takes the initiative to ask fellow classmate, Jimmy, out on a date. Claire enjoys her new-found boldness until Jimmy asks her to tell him what she likes sexually and she suddenly reverts back to her former shy self. Later, when she relates the embarrassing story to Anita and Edie, they get Claire to admit that she's never had an orgasm.
Ruth and George receive another unwanted package in the mail, this time a toy dump truck full of feces. Ruth is ready to call in the authorities to hunt down the suspected Arthur until George reveals that toy dump truck belongs to his estranged son, Kyle-a child he never told Ruth about. Meanwhile, Federico gets increasingly annoyed by Sophia's calls and demands on his time, but is still unwilling to end their relationship.
Nate's in-laws, Barb and Hoyt, invite Maya on their family trip to Lego-land for the weekend. Temporarily relieved of his parental duties, Nate is not sure what to do with himself and ends up going to see Brenda. Brenda and Joe are in the middle of role-playing sex when Nate unexpectedly knocks on the door. Despite the awkwardness of the initial moment, Brenda invites Nate in and, along with Joe, the three spend a friendly evening together.
Later, Brenda and Joe have dinner with Margaret, who is now living with Olivier, Claire's and Billy's former art teacher (and Billy's ex-lover). During dinner, Brenda mentions seeing cute pictures of baby Maya and Margaret drunkenly suggests that Brenda wants to have a baby of her own. Later that night, Joe admits that he, too, wants kids and that he's interested in having one with her.
Nate smokes pot and goes for a run. Things get weird when, from out of nowhere, a dog starts running along side of Nate. In his drugged up state, Nate sees something in the dog's eyes that makes him think of Lisa. He follows the dog to the rundown house of a psychic who tells Nate, cryptically: She isn't dead. She's trying to get back to you. Nate is shaken by the experience and briefly entertains the possibility that Lisa is still alive.

David grooms Arthur to handle more funereal duties now that Nate is out of the picture. During Arthur's first intake, David notices Arthur fidgeting with his shabby suit and offers to take him shopping. Keith comes along to get new suits for his upcoming bodyguard stint for a young pop diva named Celeste. While the ever-weird Arthur is in the changing room, the pair speculates whether he is gay or 'A' (asexual).
Nate attends a Mommy N' Me class and meets a wealthy divorcee who invites him and Maya over for a play date. When Nate arrives, he gets a glimpse of the uncomplicated life that money affords this single mom, a pay-rolled staff on hand to fulfill her every need. With Maya safely in the hands of a watchful nanny, Nate succumbs to the divorcee's comforting charms and sleeps with her. In fact, Nate is so happy in her plush environment that he wants to stay, which leads to some awkwardness and ultimately, the woman asks Nate to leave.
Much to Claire's annoyance Anita makes plans to join Russell at fellow classmate Jimmy's party. Though it is clear Russell still has feelings for Claire, Claire seems more taken with Edie, who entertains the party guests with her artsy antics. Later, Claire notices Edie playfully fondling another woman and learns from Anita that Edie is a full-out lesbian.
Brenda and Joe continue to work out the quirks of a new relationship. Joe loses his erection in the always-desperate race for a condom. Later he admits that sexually, he responds best when there is more of a dominatrix role-playing dynamic. Brenda, however, wants a more "normal" sex life. She's afraid of any behavior she associates with her former addictive tendencies. Eventually, she and Joe work things out and Brenda realizes that role-playing can be fun without being deviant.
Rico is still drawn to Sophia and makes casual references to her quitting the stripping business in lieu of a more stable income-generating job. Sophia breaks down and admits that she has lupus from leaking breast implants. The only way she can feel better is if she can get the expensive operation for a new set of implants-something her health insurance won't cover and she can't afford. Rico offers to give her the money after Sophia tells him she probably won't be able to pay back a loan.
With George officially ensconced in the Fisher home, Ruth spearheads a family garage sale to get rid of excess stuff. In the meantime, George and Ruth receive another package of feces addressed this time to Mr. and Mrs. George Sibley, in the guise of a late wedding present. Ruth is upset by her inclusion in the package's contents and wonders who would target them. When George jokingly suggests that the package was sent by one of Ruth's scorned lovers, Ruth gets the idea that it's Arthur and confronts him. He denies it, and appears genuinely pained by her accusation.
Later, David finds a resignation note attached to Arthur's newly purchased suit, a gift from David. Arthur writes that he "no longer feel's comfortable in these surroundings," and David worries that maybe he and Keith unknowingly pressured Arthur into "Gayland" on their recent shopping spree until Claire informs him of Arthur and Ruth's brief affair.
In the waning hours of the garage sale it becomes clear that a lot of junk will remain unsold. Claire suggests they just burn the rest and Ruth, spotting an unpurchased memento of Arthur's, readily agrees. Nate, who was originally reluctant to sell anything returns home and tosses his bedding into the welcoming flames.

Several months have passed and though Nate's visible wounds have healed, his emotional ones are still raw. He slowly adjusts to life as a single parent as the rest of the family (and Arthur), adjusts to life with George and George's things, most tangibly in the form of his ornate Persian table that has displaced the old Formica kitchen table.
Claire is back in school, suffering through a gothic art lecture when she meets a new friend, Anita. They make plans to see Anita's beautiful, uninhibited friend Edie do a performance art "thing" at a nearby cafe. Claire is impressed by Edie's willingness to fail artistically and wishes she could get out of her own head and start creating again. Edie gives her the kick in the butt she needs, "What's the worst that can happen, some asshole will make fun of you?"
Keith interviews with a bodyguard firm. The interview goes well, even after Keith comes clean about wrongfully beating a domestic abuser when he was on the force, and then clumsily knocks over a cup of coffee on his way out. David and Keith are excited by the financial benefits that Keith's new job as "security specialist" to the stars offers them. They talk of buying a house and maybe having kids one day. However, Keith's first job transporting Cameron Diaz's "bling" is a little rocky. Keith finds it hard to keep up with the hip lingo and cool style of the more seasoned bodyguards and makes a conscious choice to keep his homosexuality under wraps.
Federico also makes a conscious decision to hide his on-going involvement with Sophia from Vanessa, though the exact nature of their relationship is a little unclear; Rico has been buying groceries and presents for Sophia and her young daughter but is quick to deflect any notion of sexual repayment. Still, he is distracted at home and Vanessa is beginning to notice. And when Sophia calls him at work and asks him to bring over dinner, Rico can't resist.
Brenda's life is getting back on track. She reveals she's studying to get her MSW to become a licensed therapist and things with Joe are going well. In fact, Joe is ready to take their relationship to the next level, but Brenda wants to wait at least 90 days before they have sex as part of a healthy recovery choice for her sexual addiction. Eventually, she gives in to his charms and they share a first amusingly awkward night together.
Meanwhile, Nate becomes irrationally angry toward the Christian mourner whose firm belief in God allows him to be at peace with the unknowable circumstances surrounding his wife's death. David confronts Nate about his unprofessional outburst. Then, to David's dismay and surprise, Nate quits the business. As if to punctuate that fact, the sewage system in the home suddenly goes awry, causing bloody pools to erupt from every drain. Luckily, the plumber manages to fix the problem and even gives a stressed-out David a parting gift blow-job, free of charge. When David casually mentions his encounter to Keith later, Keith is okay with it.
George is sensitive to the vaguely masked sarcasm and subtle eye rolls exhibited by the Fisher children whenever he's in their presence and tells Ruth he's afraid her family dislikes him. Ruth encourages him to be patient, that they will grow to love him. Just then, Nate enters with a recently delivered package for George containing a Tupperware container full of feces. And though the sender is unknown, Nate and Claire appear greatly amused by it.

Still battered from his bar fight, Nate turns to Brenda for comfort following the terrible news that Lisa's body has been found and identified. In the middle of the night, a bereft Nate reaches for Brenda and the pair share a brief, misguided sexual encounter, which leads to awkwardness the following morning.
David and Keith are also in a kind of awkward relationship limbo. David is still not sure if he wants to be with Keith, but invites him to spend the night anyway. It's the first time Keith has ever stayed over at the funeral home and David is freaked out by having sex in his childhood room. The inescapably loud, passionate cries of Ruth in the throes of connubial bliss only add to the weirdness.
Nate tells everyone that Lisa's body has been found and the he has to go to the coroner's office to pick her up. David volunteers to go with him. As Nate and David make the long drive to get the body, Nate has a flashback to when Lisa told him how she'd like to be buried in nature, without a casket or any chemicals pumped into her. Once they arrive at the morgue, Nate can't face going in so the uncomfortable task falls to David. On the drive home Nate and David have to roll down the windows to alleviate the smell from Lisa's badly decomposing body.
Lisa's parents and her sister Barb (and family), arrive for the funeral. Lisa's mom and Nate quickly bump heads when she insists on cremating Lisa and burying her in the family mausoleum. Nate is intent on giving Lisa the funeral she would have wanted. David is called in to mediate, but there seems to be no fair solution.
In the meantime, following his indiscretion with the stripper, a guilt-ridden Federico tells Vanessa that Angelica can stay at the house as long as she wants. He's surprised when, later that night, Vanessa kicks out Angelica anyway. Still feeling guilty, Rico goes to church and confesses his sins, but then can't stop himself from driving past the strip club to catch a glimpse of Sophia.
Brenda makes one more attempt to connect with Nate, offering to come to thefuneral, but Nate admits he'd rather not have her there. Later, Brenda comes upon Joe feeding the stray cats in their shared courtyard and in a rush of warmth, kisses him.
Claire struggles with her mixed emotions about Lisa's death and calls Russell for support. She reveals she had an abortion and is annoyed when the ever-emotional Russell breaks down. David finally realizes that he wants to be with Keith, but that things will have to change. Keith agrees and tells David he plans to quit the security guard business. David moves back in to Keith's place.
Following the funeral, Nate puts Lisa's body in the hearse, assumedly to take to the crematorium. Instead, Nate pours the cremains of an unclaimed body into a newly labeled box with Lisa's name on it. A quiet exchange between Nate and David reveals that David is complicit in deceiving Lisa's family-which in a backward way has allowed Nate and the Kimmels to each have the funeral they wanted. After the Kimmels leave, Nate drives to the desertand buries Lisa.

When Ruth and George announce that they've decided to get married, the reaction is not what they'd hoped for. Nate is openly hostile, Claire protests that they barely know each other and David feels that in light of the ongoing search for Lisa, it would be more prudent to wait. Ruth listens until she can't take any more. "Life doesn't stop, all right?" she says curtly, "We didn't die. We have this precious gift of life and it's so terribly fleeting and that is precisely why it's important to keep on living, to not give up hope." The wedding will take place in two days - whether her children attend or not.
Unlike Ruth, none of the other Fishers feel especially hopeful. Claire remains conflicted over the abortion, and David is not one hundred percent certain of his decision to leave Keith. But at least they're able to function - something that is becoming increasingly difficult for Nate. He's drinking more and more, while neglecting his responsibilities as both a businessman and a parent: he angrily dismisses a client and leaves Maya alone in the middle of the night.
There's turmoil in the Diaz household as well. Angelica is in residence, ostensibly until she finds her own apartment, but she shows no signs of leaving. "I swear I wish I could just kick her sorry ass out," Federico tells David, "Vanessa always takes her side; it's like I have a fucking two-headed wife now." One night, to escape the tension, Federico goes to dance class by himself. Afterward, he accepts an invitation to a strip club, the first one he's ever been to. He gets drunk and one of the dancers flirts with him - and then they have a brief sexual encounter in his car.
After the unpleasantness surrounding the wedding announcement, both Claire and David are visited by Nathaniel. He takes Claire on a visit to the afterlife, which is a kind of blissful street carnival. There she encounters beatific versions of people she's cared for and lost: Lisa, Gabe Dimas - and the baby she decided not to have. As she's about to leave, she asks her father whether it bothers him that Ruth is remarrying. "Nah," he replies, "That's you."
David's vision of his father is much simpler; Nathaniel appears to him at the funeral home and coaxes him into phoning Keith. "Can't help who ya love, kid," Nathaniel tells him. David makes the call and arranges to meet Keith for church. But instead of attending the service, they have an open and -free discussion of their relationship. It ends with Keith telling David that he loves him and will do anything to keep from losing him. "Just don't give up," Keith pleads, "Not yet."
When Ruth and George are married, David, Keith, Claire and Maya are in attendance. Nate is not. Unknown to the others, he finally got the phone call that they'd all been dreading: the police have found Lisa's body identifiable only by her dental records. In a state of utter despair and guilt, he goes to a local dive and goads a patron into beating him into a bloody mess; then he gets into his car, where he envisions his father and Lisa urging him to commit suicide by driving himself off the road into a canyon.
Eventually, however, he ends up at Brenda's. He pounds on her door and she opens it, expecting to see Joe, the intriguing neighbor with whom she'd just had a pleasant dinner date. But when she sees Nate's beaten and bloodied face, she looks into his eyes and then slowly lets him in.
Title card
Anahid Hovanessian
1951 - 2003.

Two weeks have passed since Lisa's disappearance and now even Ruth is resigned to the worst. "I think Lisa's dead," she quietly says to David, "I hate to say it, but I do." When David allows that he shares her opinion, Ruth asks, "Why should something like that happen to her? Why is life like that?"
But life has also been good to Ruth recently. She has begun a romance with George Sibley, and the two of them have become so close that Ruth throws caution to the wind and suggests they marry. "I don't mind telling you, I'm lonely," she confesses one day while they're shopping for a power drill. George thinks marriage is a good idea, even though he's been divorced four times and widowed twice. Upon reconsideration, Ruth tells George she'd prefer proceeding more slowly. George, amenable, replies, "I'm here if you want me."
David also faces a serious relationship decision - whether to break up with Keith. Still deeply hurt by Keith's actions in San Diego, David lays out his position: "This is the difference between you and me, Keith. I want you on my side. I need you on my side. And it's the one thing that I never, ever have." Later, he goes out with Patrick after chorus practice and ends up sleeping with him. Eventually, David's decision is made: he informs Keith that he's moving out.
Claire makes a difficult choice as well: to terminate her pregnancy. She had planned to go for the procedure alone, until informed by a worker at the clinic that she would need someone to accompany her. When Claire runs into Brenda at the funeral home - Brenda had come to see Nate, who angrily sent her away - she impulsively seeks her assistance. "Do you think you could give me a ride?" Claire asks, "I have to get an abortion." Brenda doesn't hesitate; she takes Claire to the clinic and then to her apartment to recuperate.
After Brenda's kindness towards her, Claire suggests to Nate that he shouldn't be so tough on his former fiancee. But Nate is too consumed by his fears for Lisa to think about anything - or anyone - else. He finds himself envisioning all the possible scenarios for Lisa's disappearance, from running off with a lover to drowning. hen Fisher & Diaz undertakes the funeral of Carl Williman, a man executed for murdering several women, Nate imagines Lisa encountering him. No longer in full control of himself, Nate falls back into old behaviors; he has sex with Williman's daughter, a young woman as desperate to forget her troubles as he is. Ultimately, however, Nate can't escape his situation. In a dream, he finds Lisa on the beach and, facing her, voices what may be his deepest fear: "I feel like I had this once-in-a-lifetime chance and I fucked it up."

Still no word from Lisa.
After eighteen hours, dozens of voicemail messages and the filing of a missing person report, Nate still doesn' know where his wife is. And his desperation is growing at an exponential rate. The morning following Lisa' disappearance, Nate phones David and tells him, "I'm starting to freak."
Nate' not the only who is afraid for his wife. After the dance class incident, Federico takes Vanessa to a psychiatrist who is shocked to learn the number of medications she' been taking. When Vanessa says that she feels like she' in a hole that keeps getting deeper, the doctor' assessment is blunt: "It probably is." Complicating matters is Vanessa' sister, Angelica, whose idea of being helpful is to take Vanessa on lavish spending sprees and to criticize Federico at every opportunity.
Creating even more stress for Nate and Federico is the fact that Fisher & Diaz is suddenly inundated with business. In order to manage the huge workload, David and Federico violate some regulations, and nudge some mourners along in order to keep to their tight schedule. When Arthur questions these methods, David gives him some practical advice: "When we're in the weeds like we are today, Arthur, you just gotta move 'em in and move 'em out."
Similarly, Margaret Chenowith decides that it's time to move out what's left of Bern. She phones Brenda - who has moved into her own apartment - and requests that she join her and Billy to dispose of Bern's cremains. Brenda doesn't want to be around Billy, but her mother won't hear of it. The three of them meet in Margaret's condo, where the grieving widow empties Bern's urn over the balcony railing. "There," she announces, "Now he'll be in Brentwood for all eternity." She spends the rest of the day drinking and plaintively crooning Roberta Flack covers.
Back at the Fisher house, Ruth deals with her emotions in her usual fashion - by suppressing them. She has stalwartly maintained that Lisa will return unharmed, but eventually even Ruth gives in to despair. When George Sibley, a mourner at a recent funeral, comes to retrieve his glasses, Ruth breaks down in his arms. "I'm so sorry...I've just cried all over your jacket," Ruth tells him, "and you're a complete stranger." Sibley kindly replies, "Not anymore, I'm not."
Unlike her mother, Claire confronts her problems head on. She once again rebuffs Russell and in a meeting with Olivier, she lets him know exactly what she thinks of him: "When are you going to get over the fact you never became Picasso and now it's too fucking late?" Afterward, she discovers she has another situation to resolve - a home pregnancy test that she takes comes up positive.
But what about Lisa? Nate does, finally get some news, but it provides no comfort: the police find her car in a state park. But Lisa is nowhere to be found.

"I need to tell you something."
When Russell says this, Claire knows immediately that it's not going to be good - and she's right. Her fears about Russell and Olivier are finally confirmed: the day Olivier sent Claire to Azusa, he and Russell had sex. Hurt and angry, Claire tells Russell that she doesn't want to see him again. Heartbroken, she finds solace with her mother, who has just suffered her own romantic disappointment. Frustrated with the progress - or lack of it - of her relationship with Arthur, Ruth asked him whether he's ever had sex. When Arthur replied, "I think I have...in a sense," and changed the topic, Ruth realized that they are not meant for each other. As she and Claire commiserate over cups of tea, Ruth sums up their situation: "I guess we all want to be loved. It's hard to say no to that, no matter who it's coming from."
David also experienced an eye-opening disappointment. While he and Keith are in San Diego for the funeral of Keith's great aunt, Keith had a violent confrontation with his father. David attempted to intercede, but was bluntly informed that it isn't his place. "This is my family," Keith snarls, "Keep out of it." David quickly exits the Charles' house and when he arrives at the L.A. Greyhound station, Patrick is waiting for him. "I got your message," Patrick says, "...I'll take you home. You can tell me all about it."
For the Diaz family, however, things briefly appeared to be improving. Vanessa was her old self again; she and Rico had resumed their sex life and Vanessa had even enrolled them in a dance class. Federico was impressed with the pace of his wife's rehabilitation - until he discovered that it was, literally, a speedy recovery; Vanessa had been supplementing her prescribed medication with drugs she took from the hospital. At their dance lesson, Vanessa's drug cocktail finally took full effect. Her heart started to race and she nearly collapsed on the dance floor. When Federico saw how many different pills she had in her purse, he was as shocked and frightened as he was disappointed.
Brenda and Billy are suffering setbacks as well. Brenda has been staying at Billy's apartment, genuinely enjoying her time with him. But one night, as they're watching a "Nathaniel and Isabel" video, Billy becomes distraught. When Brenda comforts him, he kisses her; affectionately at first, but then his actions become sexual. Horrified, Brenda grabs her purse and sweater and runs out the door.
She ends up at the Fishers' coach house, where Nate is alone with Maya; Lisa has gone to spend a few days with her sister in Santa Cruz. Brenda tells Nate, "...there was a voice inside my head from the very beginning saying, 'Don't move in with Billy.' And what do I do? I move in with Billy. I'm so self-destructive." Nate contends she's being too hard on herself, telling her, "...you're a good person who deserves to be happy." They embrace and the physical contact quickly becomes passionate. Brenda pulls away, telling Nate, "I'm so sorry. I'm worse than Billy." She leaves and checks into a motel.
Once again alone with Maya, Nate picks up the phone and calls Lisa's sister. She gives him some unsettling news: although it's been several hours since she started out, Lisa hasn't yet arrived. And, when Nate calls Lisa's cell phone, there's no answer.

When Fisher & Diaz undertake the funeral of a suicide victim, both Federico and Nate find themselves personally affected. The deceased, Melinda Bloch, killed herself shortly after her boyfriend, Alex Gramm, ended their long-term relationship. When Federico learns that Melinda had been under treatment for chronic depression, he peppers the emotionally shattered Gramm with questions about her illness. Federico can't help worrying that Vanessa - who has been taking antidepressants yet showing no improvement - could end up like Melinda Bloch.
Gramm then relates that he tried several times to end the relationship. "I stayed for years after I wanted to leave," he says, and for Nate his words resonate. He and Lisa have been having weighty discussions about their marriage and, after one particularly agonizing go-round, Lisa asks Nate whether he wants to split up. "Maybe," he tells her, "Yeah. I don't know. Maybe."
At the art show, Claire finds Billy Chenowith talking with Olivier. "He was my best student," Olivier informs Claire. When Olivier dashes off to work the room, Billy tells Claire that while he was Olivier's student he was also sleeping with him. "I had a lot of static around my sexuality," Billy explains, "and it was totally suffocating my work." Later, when Claire discovers that Olivier bought the sculpture that Russell exhibited, she once again wonders whether there's static around her boyfriend's sexuality.
The third party in the relationship is an ongoing concern with David and Keith as well. Following their night with Sarge, Keith would like to invite other men into their bed. During a therapy session, David - to Keith's chagrin - asks Frank, their therapist, whether he thinks three-way sex with strangers is a "healthy couple activity." Frank replies that it's all right as long as both parties are comfortable with it, and David says that he is. But when he and Keith go to a bar to seek their next bedfellow, it's clear that David is not as open to the idea as he claims.
Ruth and Arthur appear to be growing closer. Arthur gladly accepts her invitation to Claire's show and afterward they go to Ruth's room, where they sit on her bed and share some wine. Arthur starts to playfully rock back and forth, bumping into Ruth until he knocks her into a lying position on the bed. Ruth is delighted when he lies down beside her and asks, "Might I remove my glasses?" But then, after some pleasant spooning, Arthur abruptly sits up. "I really should be getting back," he says, leaving a bewildered Ruth to finish her wine alone.
Nate and Lisa attend the art show and are having a horrible time. They've resumed sniping at each other and they run into by Brenda, who immediately recognizes Lisa from the spa. In the ladies room, Lisa confesses to Brenda that she was desperate to find out anything she could about Nate's prior relationship. Brenda tells her that she needn't worry. "I think you'll have him forever," she says, "if you want him." Later, as Nate and Lisa sit inside a sculpture of a plastic pyramid, they decide to start their relationship over again. They will be friends and lovers, without the pressure of pretending to be something they're not. "But what if it's never good?" Lisa asks.
Nate replies, "Then we'll know we really tried."

When Ruth brings Arthur's laundry to his room one morning, she ends up delivering more than just bed linens. As Arthur is discussing Petrarch's contributions to history, Ruth suddenly leans forward and kisses him square on the lips. Then, mortified, she dashes out of the room. Later, Arthur approaches Ruth and tells her that he values their friendship very much and that in order to preserve it, she must never kiss him again. "I never will," she promises - then impulsively grabs him and does it again. "I'm out of control," she mutters to herself.
Vanessa is not in full control of herself, either. Although it's been four months since her mother's death, her grief shows no signs of abating, and Federico's frustration is growing. "We spend every Sunday in a graveyard," he tells her and then says something really hurtful: "You act like one of the Fishers." The final straw is when Julio is sent home from school with head lice. Vanessa, seeing that her depression is affecting her family, asks Federico whether he can ever forgive her. "Of course," he tells her.
Forgiveness is the last thing on Keith's mind at the moment. Still smarting from his embarrassing party game performance at Terry's brunch, he decides to get even. He invites David to play paintball with him and his cop friends, and David brings along Terry and another brunch buddy. Keith welcomes the opportunity to get the "fa-la-la mimosa motherfuckers" on his turf. The paint flies fast and furious, and when the battle is finally over, David and Keith invite Sarge - a buff, tough-talking Sargent Rock look-alike - to their apartment for drinks. When Sarge then asks to join them in bed as well, Keith welcomes him and David reluctantly goes along.
Lisa finally comes to terms with the third person in her relationship with Nate. Discussing Brenda with her friend Dana, Lisa says, "I know I'm being compared, but I don't know to what." Dana convinces Lisa to schedule a massage appointment with Brenda under an alias, so that she can check her out. Brenda tells Lisa that although her life hasn't been happy lately, she wouldn't change her current situation - something Lisa is enormously relieved to hear.
Claire also feels that there's a third party in her relationship. One afternoon, when Olivier sends Claire to pick up a sculpture from a woman in Azusa, he insists that Russell remain with him at his house until she returns. The Azusa sculptress is a former assistant of Olivier's, who is surprised to learn that Claire isn't sleeping with him. "Is he having a boy year?" she asks. Later, when Claire is alone with Russell, she asks him whether Olivier tried to seduce him. Russell emphatically answers no, but there is some tension between them.
Meanwhile, at the Fisher house, Ruth decides to take control of the situation with Arthur. She tells him that, for good will, "I choose you." Arthur smiles and replies that there is something he forgot to mention about Petrarch. "He started the renaissance," he tells Ruth. Then, he leans forward and he and Ruth embrace.

When he sees Bern Chenowith's obituary in the newspaper, Nate's immediate impulse is to go to Brenda. But first he phones Lisa, who's spending the day at a food fair, and asks her approval. When Lisa says he "totally should" go, Nate needs to find someone to take care of Maya. His first choice, Ruth, is unavailable. She left the house early in the morning, saying something about needing a new gardening hat. The truth, however, is that she was going to follow - or, more precisely, stalk - Arthur as he goes jogging.
Nate then offers Claire twenty dollars to babysit, but she, too, has plans. She goes to an art supply store with Russell, where they get into an argument over a tube of cobalt blue oil paint. Russell wants to buy it for Claire, but she adamantly refuses, saying that it's too expensive. Russell buys it anyway, and surprises her with it later. "See, I have this theory," he tells her, "that every now and then a person should get what they want right when they want it. It keeps you optimistic."
David and Keith are unavailable; they're at a brunch at Terry's "humble a-Baudelaire." David has a good time mingling and sipping Mimosas. But Keith hates everything about it, from the guess-the-leading-lady parlor game to Terry's nervous dog that defecates when people look it in the eye. Eventually, Keith reaches the tipping point. "You stay and have fun," he tells David, without rancor, " ...I'll see you back at home."
Finally, Rico suggests Nate leave Maya with Vanessa. But when Nate goes to their house, he finds Vanessa agitated and on the verge of tears. Nate returns to the funeral home - with Maya - and tells Rico that he's concerned about Vanessa's "intense energy." Rico replies that Vanessa's just been "down in the dumps since her mother died." But even he has come to see that she may need professional help.
Ultimately, Nate takes Maya with him to Bern's memorial, which is held on the same spot where he and Brenda had planned to be married. The three of them - Nate, Brenda and Maya - sit quietly overlooking the ocean, where Brenda makes a confession. She tells Nate, "You're the first person I ever lost...where it felt like it cost me something." When Nate gets home, Lisa is furious that Maya was at the funeral and that Nate had allowed Brenda to touch her. Before running out of the room she tearfully asks, "Why can't you let her go?"
Late that night, while Nate is in bed next to his sleeping wife and daughter, he's visited by Bernard Chenowith. Bernard tells him that he doesn't have to worry about Brenda. "You've found your happiness, Nate, " he says, "She'll find hers. It's just a matter of time." Nate replies with a question:
"And what if I haven't found mine?"

When Nate and Lisa plan a camping trip with friends, Nate is thrilled. "You know," he tells Federico, "in Seattle I was camping every other weekend . . . Nothing I love more than just getting out with my backpack, tent. Where there's nobody." But the trip starts out less than idyllically. Lisa doesn't like to hike and she argues with Nate about the amount of beer and tobacco he wants to consume. To make matters worse, Dana and Todd , despite having a small daughter, are so hot for each other that it's really irritating - and enviable.
Back in suburbia, Claire and Russell have gotten past the awkwardness of their broken date. While they're working on clay sculptures in Claire's room, she tells Russell that his is "totally perfect." Unfortunately, Olivier doesn't share her opinion; he humiliates Russell in front of the class and dismisses the work as "elephant art." Back in Claire's room, Russell is inconsolable - until Claire, on impulse, kisses him. Russell kisses her back. The kissing leads to sex, which Russell later confesses was his first. Claire is pleased with this development, but is a bit upset with David when he tells her he suspects Russell is gay.
As for Arthur, Ruth has gotten over her reservations about him. Although Federico counsels the intern, " . . . don't think just because you're living here you have to do things with the Munsters up there," Arthur often shares meals with Ruth, and she goes out of her way to do things for him. When Arthur mentions that he likes the film "Silent Running," Ruth rents a copy and they watch it together. Later, she launders his handkerchief - she finds it charming that he carries one - then sniffs and whispers into it before placing the handkerchief in his dresser drawer.
Meanwhile, Nate's camping trip is going badly. No one will get stoned or go hiking with him and when he kills a snake that had come close to the children, everyone berates him. He goes off by himself to a spot on a plateau called Suicide Rock, where he falls asleep and has a disturbing dream in which Brenda begs him to kiss her; he does, but then tells her to leave him alone, and she dives off the plateau. Later, he and Lisa have a huge fight in the woods; she accuses him of wanting Maya but not her, and he responds that she won't let him be himself. After a silence, Lisa quietly asks Nate to kiss her. "I want to get better at this," she tells him, "Help me, okay?" They end up on Nate's shirt, on a rock, having the most passionate sex of their relationship. On the drive home, Lisa tells Nate, "God, I've loved you for such a long time." After a moment, he replies:
"I love you, too, honey."

In 1975, William Aaron Jaffe went for a drive and was never heard from again. Twenty-eight years later, his skeletalized remains - discovered in a remote ravine, still in his car - are brought to Fisher & Diaz. When Jaffe's widow tells Nate that she and her husband "were one of those horrible got-married-too-soon-for-all-the-wrong-reasons couples," Nate sees parallels to his own marriage - an observation underscored by Lisa's criticism of his spending habits and her unilateral decision to become a stay-at-home mom.
On top of this, Brenda is back. She shows up at the funeral home, telling Nate she needs to talk to him. Wary but curious, Nate goes for a drink with her and as one of the twelve steps, Brenda tries to make amends for the pain she's caused him. When Nate tells Lisa about the encounter, she becomes angry; Nate resents her disapproval. Later, Nate's visited by Jaffe, who accuses Nate of staying married "to prove what a good guy he can be." Nate denies it, but has no reply when Jaffe dares him to "look me in the eye and tell me that sometimes you don't want to get in your car and just start driving and never look back."
Keith knows that feeling, too - about his job. And after roughing up a fellow security guard, Keith realizes its time for a change; the next morning David finds him reading the want ads. David also jettisons an emotional burden. When Terry, a fellow chorus member, reminds him that they once had a sexual encounter in a men's room, a horrified David claims he's mistaken. But he later admits - to both Terry and himself - that the incident did happen.
As for Claire, she and Russell have grown closer and were even set to go on their first date. But then Olivier tells Claire - whom he's hired as his driver - about a youthful love affair that he claims kept him from becoming a great artist. "If you get lonely, have sex," he advises, "But if you think you meet someone who really wants something from you? You're doomed." The next morning, Claire cancels the date.
Now that Claire is driving Mr. Castro-Staal, she's no longer doing pickups for Fisher & Diaz( to save them a few dollars) So Federico convinces David and Nate to take on an apprentice, who according to Federico will save them a significant amount of money per year. Ruth, however, is reluctant to having an apprentice move in move in "I'll be the one who is forced to coexist with a complete stranger who could kill me in the middle of the night." But Arthur Martin, a young man who was raised by his great aunt, turns out to be a satisfactory housemate. He's quiet and respectful, and when a mouse gets caught in a trap in the kitchen, he and Ruth are of one mind: (The mouse deserved it. )

As Ruth's birthday approaches, Lisa decides to throw her a party - despite Nate's attempts to dissuade her. "Maybe your mother likes people to go out of their way on her birthday, but trust me," he tells her, "My mother never wants us to do anything for hers, and we never do. And so far, that's worked out great for everyone."
But the party turns out to be a huge success; Ruth goes so far as to deem it "one of the finest evenings I ever spent." Lisa serves dinner on the "good-good china," much wine is drunk and, despite Ruth's declaration that "we don't dance in this family," everyone ends up doing just that. Everyone, that is, except Nate, who finds the party - and what he perceives as a growing similarity between his wife and mother - unsettling. He goes off by himself and falls asleep. He's visited by Nathaniel, who suggests that it's he and Nate who are truly alike: "You're a funeral director, which you never wanted to be, just like your old man. You married a woman you knocked up because it was the right thing to do. Just like your old man." When Nate protests that he's different because he loves his family, Nathaniel gently replies, "Buddy boy . . .you think I would have stuck around if I didn't love mine?"
Claire doesn't attend the party; she's required to go to a lecture for Olivier's class. Afterward, over beers, Olivier informs her that, "Your talent is epic . . .You could change the world." Exhilarated, Claire spends the night with Russell, discussing art, life and her mistaken assessment that he's gay. The next day a genuinely happy Claire tells Ruth, "I just got like, this glimpse of what might be possible."
On that same day, David also gets a glimpse of what might be possible. A client tells the mourners at his lover's funeral, "I never thought I would be in a relationship at all . . . that no one could possibly love me enough to stick around. But Bob stuck around. And so did I . . . It wasn't always easy, and it wasn't always fun . . .But it was always worth it." When David goes home, he breaks down and tells Keith that he wants them to stay together. As Keith tries to comfort him, David quietly sobs, "I just want it to be worth it."

"When does it stop sounding weird that someone's your 'wife'?"
Federico's reply to Nate's query is that the first year of marriage is the hardest and it's normal to be dissatisfied from time to time. But Nate demurs. "No, it's great," he says, "It is, I'm totally into it." When he gets home, however, that certitude is tested. Lisa informs him that she's had enough of Carol's "hostile dementia"; she's quit her job and they'll have to move in with Ruth. "That's not the worst thing that ever happened, is it?" she asks. Nate tries to hid his ambivalence: "It's not the best thing that could happen either... "
But Ruth is gracious - if a bit standoffish, owing to the peanut butter incident - allowing the younger Fisher family to take up residence in David's old room. "I'm happy to have you," she assures them, and Ruth does seem happier lately. She's struck up a friendship with Bettina, who is decidedly different from anyone else in Ruth's circle. When Ruth's with Bettina, she does things she would never do on her own, i.e., blowing off a job interview and pocketing a lipstick at a department store.
While Ruth is starting a relationship, Claire is ending one. When Phil tells her she can't attend one of his band's gigs because another woman will be there, Claire acts as if it doesn't bother her. Eventually, however, she confronts Phil with her true feelings, explaining, "I'm kind of a one-at-a-time sexual person I think." When Phil tells her he doesn't feel the same, Claire calls it quits. Although her love life has stalled, things are going better at LAC-Arts. An unconventional new instructor, Olivier Castro-Staal, extols Claire's work, holding up one of her drawings and declaring that it's good because it "...instantly makes me want to throw up."
As all this is happening, David and Keith are at a vacation resort. Initially, David is self-conscious around so many straight couples. But after several room service Pina Coladas, he loosens up considerably. He proudly - and loudly - announces that he and Keith are gay, and that "hot man-on-man love action" is taking place on their side of the paper-thin wall. The good times are short-lived, though; on the homeward drive Keith and David get stuck in traffic. In a matter of minutes they're back to their old routine, squabbling about whose fault it is that they're not going anywhere.

When Daniel Showalter, a disgruntled former telemarketer, returns to his old workplace with a shotgun, Fisher & Diaz gets two funerals - for one of Showalter's victims as well as Showalter's himself, who committed suicide at the scene. This results in some issues between David and Federico at the funeral home, when Federico wants to turn away the killer's family. He feels that Showalter's parents are as guilty as their son; they should have known he was capable of murder and done something to stop him. But Federico is overruled and when the day of Showalter's funeral arrives, an exasperated David has had enough of Federico's moral superiority. "You can't ever really know a person," he tells Federico, "and if you think you can, you're living in a dream world."
David's not referring just to the Showalters; lately he's discovering he doesn't know as much about Keith - and his relationship with him - as he thought. Whereas David has been confident about their future together, he is stung to find out that Keith is not so optimistic. "Get real," Keith snaps, "You and I are living day to day and you know it."
Claire is in a similar situation. She's falling hard for Phil, describing him to Russell - her fellow student and new friend - as "the first guy who ever understood me." But later she's surprised and hurt when Phil informs her that he's seeing other women. As he explains it, "Until you really get to know someone, it just seems the way to go."
In contrast, Nate and Lisa appear to be in sync. At a barbecue they tell David and Keith that they never fight. "We've known each other for so long," Lisa says, "I guess we just understand each other." She doesn't however, let them know about their squabbles over shopping, laundry detergent and the safest way to clean Maya's ears.
Temporarily removed from all this is Ruth, who's been helping her sister. Sarah phoned her, claiming she'd hurt her back and needed Ruth to pick up a Vicodin prescription for her. But when Ruth arrives in Topanga, she learns the truth - Sarah is in the throes of withdrawal. She's being tended by Bettina, a strong, straight-talking woman who grabs the Vicodin before Sarah can get her sweaty hands on it. Ever the caretaker, Ruth pitches in making egg salad and at one point helping tie Sarah to her bed. When Sarah struggles, Ruth threatens to break her arm. And she means it. A suddenly compliant Sarah looks at Ruth in shock - she didn't know she had it in her.

The surgery was going badly. The malformed blood vessel in Nate's brain ruptured and the surgical team struggled to control the massive hemorrhage. As they work, the scene slowly fades to white and onscreen appears the following:
NATHANIEL SAMUEL FISHER, JR.
1965 - 2002
Is Nate Fisher really dead?
As it turns out, no one is more anxious to find out than Nate himself. To his amazement, he finds himself away from the operating room, wandering through a myriad of possible outcomes of his life: in one, his bald-headed corpse lies in an open casket; in another he survived the surgery but was left partially paralyzed and unable to speak; in another he's married to Brenda; in another his father's fatal car crash never happened and in yet another he's a beer-bellied couch potato watching a bizarre soap opera.
Eventually, Nate encounters Nathaniel, who leads him to a closed white casket in the Fishers' Slumber Room. When Nate asks his father whether he's dead, Nathaniel replies, "Yes. And no." He suggests that Nate's been moving through parallel universes. "In some places you're dead," Nathaniel tells him, "and in some places you're alive. Some places you never even existed . . . or, who knows, this could just be the anesthesia talking." The only way for Nate to find the answer is to open the casket and see for himself.
Whether Nate's out-of-time-and-body experience was the result of quantum superposition or medication may never be resolved, but his mortality status finally is: he's among the living. The surgery was a success and now, seven months later, he's married to Lisa and they're raising their infant daughter, Maya.
As for the rest of the Fishers and their loved ones, Claire is now a student at LAC-Arts and sparking a romance with a handsome young crematory worker/rock musician. Keith has a new job with a private security company, and he and David are in couples therapy. Federico also has new job responsibilities, as a licensed Funeral Director and partner in Fisher and Diaz. Ruth no longer has a job; she's delighted to spend as much time as possible helping out with her granddaughter.

Fisher & Sons is the subject of an unannounced inspection, and the outcome proves surprisingly beneficial for Federico. Ruth wakes up to the reality of her relationship with Nikolai and quits her job at the flower shop, while Claire's art school interview turns out differently than she'd hoped. Things between Keith and David grow tense in the wake of Keith's career woes. Brenda attempts to deal with her true nature, making her future with Nate even more of a question mark. When Nate decides the time has finally come to take action regarding his AVM, Ruth, David and Claire discover a family intimacy they never knew they had.

Claire seems to be finding direction in her life, and a newly serious Billy may help her along the way. The death of an elderly friend of Federico's gets him thinking about his start in the funeral business. Ruth finally understands Nikolai's true feelings about their relationship, and tensions between Nate and Brenda come to a head when the truth comes out about Brenda's clandestine activities. David's new life with Keith seems to be coming together, when Keith has a run-in on the job that may threaten everything they've worked for.

Nate and Brenda seek advice from Rabbi Ari, who leads them to a more honest place in their relationship. Ruth's need to control the lives of Nikolai and Claire help her realize that she may be the one who needs assistance. When Federico gets suspicious about an elderly woman's "natural" death, he inadvertently places Vanessa under scrutiny. A disgruntled former client files a lawsuit against Fisher & Sons, masterminded by an old friend over at Kroehner's.

Although David is mending fences with Keith, it becomes apparent that their relationship still needs some ironing out - and Karla's got a secret that isn't going to make the going any smoother. Claire takes a questionable approach to her new photography hobby, and grapples with a future beyond high school. Ruth is ready to move things along with Nikolai, but he might be happy right where he is. Brenda's engagement anxiety leads her and Melissa on a sexual adventure in unlikely Orange County. Nate assesses his past and opens up to Lisa, but her reaction is far from hospitable.

Nikolai proves to be a terrible patient, and Ruth's limits are tested when she uncovers the truth behind his injuries. Brenda's escapades may be helping her write, but her feelings about being engaged grow more muddled - especially after Billy's release from the hospital. David is happy to get closer to Keith, even as Keith is increasingly troubled by his sister's recurring drug habit and its impact on Taylor. Nate gets some news from ex-flame Lisa that adds to his growing doubts about marriage. Claire can't seem to escape Billy's influence, artistic or otherwise.

Christmas signals the one-year anniversary of Nathaniel's death, and gets everyone thinking about their last moments with him. Brenda's book research nearly turns her fantasy world into a reality. Nate and Brenda are shocked by Margaret Chenowith's very special guest for Christmas Eve. Ruth's Christmas dinner brings David closer to Keith; meanwhile, Nikolai is stuck on Ruth's couch for a long convalescence with two broken legs. Claire's taste for bad boys drives her away from a well-meaning new boyfriend, and into an online relationship with a dangerous man from her past. Federico stirs up conflict in his family when he reveals the truth about Ramon. Nate receives a gift from a biker's widow that just might help him live his own life to the fullest.

A Jewish funeral at Fisher & Sons leads Nate to seek spiritual guidance from an intense female rabbi. Visiting her Aunt Sarah, Claire is surprised to meet an intriguing boy her own age amidst Sarah's hard-partying "artist" friends. Brenda's prostitute pal Melissa inspires some unusual fantasies. Keith warms up to David after a medical emergency involving his niece Taylor. Ruth invites Robbie to dinner to spare herself another lonely evening, but his chatter renews her appreciation for the beauty of a silent home. Federico's suspicions about his cousin Ramon's intentions towards Vanessa prove remarkably misguided.

A comparison-shopping widow brings a feisty Mitzi Huntley back into Nate and David's lives, with yet another offer from Kroehner. Ruth's estranged sister Sarah arrives for an unexpected visit that proves cathartic for both of them, as well as the budding artist in Claire. Thanks to Nikolai's influence a vodka-fueled family dinner casts a shadow on some happy news from Nate and Brenda. Federico and Vanessa find their marriage frayed by a house in serious need of expensive repair, and David's unabated desire for Keith hinders him from committing to a new beau.

Ruth takes a singular interest in the death of a single woman with no friends or relatives. Brenda, in search of a literary muse, turns to one of her massage clients, a prostitute named Melissa. David's promising relationship with Ben Cooper, a public defender, is thrown for a loop when Keith arrives for comfort, albeit briefly. Claire is disgusted with her friend Parker for getting another girl to take her SATs, and is intrigued when Gary admits there's a "sexual tension" between them. And Nate's relationship with Brenda takes an unexpected turn.

In order to retrieve the body of a dead Seattle man who feared flying, Nate goes back to his old home, bringing Claire along. They stay with Lisa, a co-op member and vegetarian who still carries a torch for Nate. Back in LA, David jumps at the chance to take care of Taylor while Keith is at work. Brenda joins her mother Margaret in an effort to catch her husband having an affair, and later gets carried away with Scott, an impossibly cute man she met at a bar. And Ruth attempts to "draft her own blueprint" for happiness by reconnecting with former friends.

The husband of a psychic dies, making for some interesting conversations around Fisher & Sons. At Robbie's urging, Ruth enrolls in "The Plan," a marathon self-actualization seminar, and is changed. Claire is angry that Gary, her high-school guidance counselor, has betrayed her confidences about Gabe; she later turns to Keith when Gabe's personality becomes increasingly unstable. Having passed his funeral-director exam, Nate joins his brother for his first LA Independent Funeral Directors lunch. Deciding to take a few courses at college, Brenda ends up walking out of a biogenetics class after dissing the teacher.

A college football player collapses in the heat of practice, and his death haunts Nate and his AVM secret. With Matt Gilardi failing to buy out the "resilient" Fishers, Kroehner's regional director, Mitzi Huntley, decides to take matters into her own hands. Federico asks Nate and David for a down-payment loan for his house, but learns they're buying a "casket wall" display instead. Desperate, his wife Vanessa turns to her sister, Angelica, for help. Brenda invites the man who deflowered her over to dinner; Claire learns that Gabe is carrying some serious excess baggage; Keith frets that his drug-troubled sister Karla is neglecting her daughter, Taylor; and Robbie, Ruth's flower-store co-worker, asks Ruth to witness his graduation from a self-help seminar.

When a young actress dies, the cast in her latest slasher movie agrees to pitch in (more or less) for a cheap funeral at Fisher & Sons. As David gets both good and bad news from a trip to the doctor, Nate's MRI tests reveal he has Arterio-Venous Malformation (AVM), a condition that might, or might not, be fatal. Acting on advice she read in a book targeted to parents of gay and lesbian children, Ruth invites Nate, David and Claire - and their significant others - to join her and Nikolai for dinner. The meal is illuminating, at least for Nate.

David and the rest of the Fishers experience the control-freak side of Tracy Montrose Blaire when she envisions a "resplendent" funeral for her dearly departed Aunt Lilian. Brenda visits a remorseful Billy in the institution, then gets into an argument with Nate that has some serious repercussions. David is forced to take a stand at church when he and the other deacons are told that Father Jack has been presiding over same-sex marriages. Gabe reverts to some bad habits when he and Claire attend a party hosted by her sometime friend Parker. Ruth closes one door on Hiram, and opens another with Nicolai. And Rico celebrates his son's christening with a spirited reception at Fisher and Sons Funeral Home.

The homophobic killing of a gay man forces David to confront his own fears about his lifestyle - and life choices. After a particularly sick "joke" by Billy, Nate agrees with Brenda's parents that Billy should be institutionalized, but Brenda isn't convinced - yet. Ruth shares a secret about her love life with fellow florist Robbie, Claire shares a secret about Gabe with her school shrink, and David shares a secret about himself with his mother.

David, Nate and Brenda travel to Las Vegas to attend a funeral directors conference, and experience the highs and lows of Sin City. Ruth takes a floral-arrangement class, and learns to listen to her inner self. A baby's death from SIDS cast a pall over the Fisher and Sons return of Rico, whose wife is pregnant with the couple's second child.

Nate and David decide to hire a replacement for Rico: Angela (Illeana Douglas), who does good work and speaks her mind- too well. Billy has a gallery exhibit for some recent photos, including one taken of a surprising (and surprised) subject. David reacquaints with Keith, Ruth dines with Nikolai, and Claire frets over Gabe"s inconsistent behavior.

A tragedy reunites Claire with Gabe, the "foot guy" who sullied her reputation at school. David and new boyfriend Kurt explore the disco circuit. To improve Nate's sales skills, Brenda suggests they pose as bereaved relatives at several funeral homes in the area. Ruth finds a weekend camping trip with Hiram to be an eye-opening experience.

With a lull in business at Fisher's, Nate and David decide to rent out a room at the funeral home to make some extra income, and Rico is tempted to take on some extra work at Kroehner's. Claire struggles to grasp the lessons of her outreach hike in the mountains, and Ruth struggles to reconcile her feelings toward Hiram with her need for excitement. Connor, a longtime Aussie friend of Brenda's, gets under Nate's skin. David's mood is buoyed by some good news: a bus crash has killed scores, and many of them are local!

When a young Army veteran dies of Gulf War syndrome, his embittered brother decides to eschew a military funeral in favor of a simple cremation and disposal. Ruth invites Hiram over to cook dinner, then takes a job working for Nikolai. David casts the swing vote in the church search committee's decision to hire a progressive young associate priest. Claire has trouble recognizing the value of algebra at school and in her life. Nate and Brenda plan to spend their first weekend away, but Billy has other ideas.

An ornery grieving widow camps out in the Fisher Funeral Home after the death of his wife of 56 years. Sparks fly when Claire meets Brenda's brother Billy. Ruth spurns Hiram after running into him at a church; later, she's wooed by Nikolai, the Fishers' Russian florist. While serving church meals to the homeless, David finds himself pursued by pushy divorced parishioner Tracy Montrose Blair. And an examination of funeral-home receipts leads Nate to uncover some of his father's secrets - including a mysterious room that he bartered in exchange for a funeral.

The death of a porno queen shocks Ruth, who is not prepared for the crush of co-stars who arrive at the Fisher's home to eulogize the fallen star. Keith takes issue with David's desire to replace his father as deacon at the family church. Claire and Ruth attempt to spend some more quality time together, and make a spontaneous visit to their cousins' Cleaverian home. Nate has dinner, sans Brenda, with her psychiatrist parents Bernard and Margaret, and has an unsettling first encounter with her brother Billy.

A Mexican-American gang member is killed, and the Fishers find that the family's wishes for burial are at odds with those of the gang's leader, Powerful. Meanwhile, with arson investigators breathing down the family's neck, Nate, David and Ruth wonder if Claire might have had something to do with the fire across the street. Brenda arrives for her first dinner at the Fishers, but fails to make a favorable impression with Ruth. And David gets courage from an unexpected source to end a feud with Keith - and stand up to Gilardi's threat to destroy the Fisher's business.

A bakery owner meets an unsavoury demise - and it's up to Fredrico to put the pieces back together. The Fishers decide to sell out to Kroehner, but Nate backs down after meeting with "that greedy little Nazi fuck," Gilardi. Claire finds a disturbingly apropos way to pay Gabe back for blabbing to the school about her toe-sucking exploits. A vengeful Gilardi tells Nate that Kroehner has bought the abandoned house across the street, and plans on turning it into a cheap crematorium. Looking for a way to feel "alive," Ruth visits the horse track with best friend Amelia, but loses a bundle. After Nate and Brenda make love in the Kroehner house, it suspiciously catches fire.

The inventor of a franchise pyramid scheme dies in a pool accident, leaving his widow and infant daughter with a mountain of debts and no money for a proper funeral. Nate offers a solution: rent a top-line casket, then cremate the body after viewing. There's just one problem: by law, a used casket cannot be re-sold. At the reading of Mr. Fisher's will, Ruth gets cash, stocks and insurance money, Nate and David split the funeral business (much to David's chagrin), and Claire gets college tuition, which she considers trading for cash. Later, Nate learns the meaning of "Angel Lust," Ruth breaks up with Hiram during a nature hike, David receives an unexpected visit from his ex-fiancee Jennifer, and Gabe gets Claire to suck on his toes in the back of her hearse.

Los Angeles, Christmas Eve, Nathaniel Fisher, owner of the Fisher and Sons Funeral Home, is killed when a municipal bus broadsides his new hearse. The tragedy casts a pall on the holiday homecoming of son Nate (who works for an organic food co-op in Seattle), as he must not only deal with the death of a father, but the fragile egos of mother Ruth (who has been having a secret affair with her hairdresser, Hiram), brother David (a closet homosexual seeing a black policeman named Keith), and a sister Claire (a rebellious high-schooler who receives the bad news after dropping crystal meth with new boyfriend Gabe). The only good thing to happen to Nate is Brenda, a passionate women he met on the plane, just before learning of his father's death. At home, David eschews the talents of his young mortician, Fredrico, to personally undo the damage of his dad's accident. The ensuing funeral leaves the family's deepest emotions exposed, and calls into question some of our more absurd rites of passage. At the gravesite, David is not amused by the advances of Matthew Gilardi of Kroehner Service Corporation, a funeral- home conglomerate looking to buy out the Fishers business. As for senior Nathaniel, he may have been laid to rest- but has plenty left to reveal to his family.