I think the parts with the abducter were about David bringing that specter up (unconsciously) at difficult moments as an excuse not to have to deal with delivering a eulogy for his brother or watching his brother get buried. It is about self-sabotage.

Absolutely heartbreaking episode.

Agree with the majority that this was a heartbreaking episode, almost too intense, and probably one of the best-acted hours I've ever watched on TV. Everyone was at the top of their form, without a single false moment from anyone.

And .... any vidcaps from Keith's video?

Watching David in this episode brought me to tears. He not only lost a brother, but also a bit of his security blanket, and his world got a little scarier, plus his pain was just heartwrenching and sad. I haven't been moved by a death in the family in this manner in pretty much any other show I've watch for any relevant duration. Michael C. Hall should send this episode in for Emmy consideration.

Christ, what a downer, but a great episode. It'll be nice to see a happy, reflective Nate in the last two episodes. It makes total sense to kill him off the way they did, now they have time to try to end on a good note. A recent interview with Alan Ball quoted him as saying that

In any case, is there any word on who wrote the final 2 episodes?

I believe Ball wrote and directed the finale, I'm not sure if he was involved with next weeks

A few other thoughts from the episode:

- at the end when Brenda got home in the dark (really great feeling of loneliness there) I was thinking that she was going to off herself. Glad it was Billy and not an intruder - otherwise the drama would've been over the top.

- Rico took the death harder than I expected. I always thought Rico didn't seem too distraught over Nate Sr.'s death in the pilot episode - but at that point I'm not sure how long he was working at Fischer and Sons and how close he was too the family.

- Was this the first episode of SFU that didn't have an opening death sequence? It made Nate's death more memorable because he died at the end of an episode and it carried over to the next episode without someone else's getting in the way.

- even in such a sad episode, Bettina finds a way to make me laugh... with her really enjoying the food at the Fischer's breakfast table while everyone's discussing Nate.

I thought it was a great episode (with a couple of minor missteps) and really affected me far more than the previous one where Nate actually died.

As a parent, watching Ruth deal with the death affected me a little more than the other characters. As everyone says, no parent should have to bury their child.

David was excellent. I also was a little irritated that the abductor came back as well. David mentioned in his short speech how Nate protected him and I feel that he saw his protection removed causing the abductor to return and terroize David freely in his head.

The whole Kurt Cobain thing made me laugh at I time I should not have found funny. I agree with others that a 30 year old Nate would not be sitting in his room crying like a 14 year old. It could have been handled better if it just showed him sad and/or pissed off...like I was. But weepy? Nah. I also didn't like how they broke that scene in the middle of his burial. It just seemed out of place all together.

George was awesome as usual and Maggie has some serious balls.

And dammit...where was my man Arthur?

Since Jeremy Sisto was in the credits, I was waiting for him.

He has been working there since he was a teenager. I think Rico was too stressed out with so much work to do without Nate Sr. around to help.

Yes... yes it was. And yes, yes it DID!

I was glad to see Sarah and Bettina in this episode. Kathy Bates is awesome.

Finally watched this last night. Excellent from start to finish. I didn't find the Cobain deal that out of character for Nate. I mean he lived in Seattle so he was probably close to the entire grunge scene.

The episode at the beginning of Season 3 (I think) where Nate "died" and we saw all of those alternate realities before they showed Nate recover could be considered an episode that didn't have a death at the beginning.

And the poster above beat me to my thoughts on the abducter showing up again in David's mind. Nate was David's big brother protector, and now he was gone.

Although I think Keith could do more to protect David now! But it was a feeling entrenched in childhood.

Would Nate have been back home when Cobain died? I thought he had been in the northwest for over a decade "finding himself" before he showed up 5 years ago for Nate Sr.'s funernal.

I am sure he came down every once in a while. One episode in the first or second season showed scenes where each character had their final conversation with Nathaniel before he died. Nate's was when he was going back to Seattle and his dad asks if he is "coming down for Christmas" or something to that effect.

"Well I want to be buried next Nate!!!"-Rugh
"Well we'll put you there then."-David

great part, sorry if it's not word for word.

That was Thanksgiving, Cobain died in April so it's possible he was home for Easter.

I hated (not in a bad way) that part. I felt so bad for Ruth for obvious reasons, of course.

She says "I want him next to me" I believe. And when David says "Well you can go there to then" Brenda sort of chuckles. I thought - that bitch.

I was just pointing out that he does come down. I wasn't being specific.