Season 4
Recurring incidents of faecal revenge bring tensions to the surface between Ruth and her new husband, George, leading to young intern Arthur's resignation.
Ruth, meanwhile, hooks up again briefly with the irrepressible Bettina for an excursion south of the border. Nate inevitably gravitates back toward Brenda in the aftermath of his wife's death.
The dark eccentricities of creator Alan Ball's original characters include Nate's roiling anger and grief and Claire's newfound sexual and artistic experimentation as she learns about "grinding the corn" and attains respect as a photographer.
We get the Ruth-George meltdown as well as the painful unravelling of Rico's marriage to Vanessa. But the most harrowing episode follows David through an increasingly perilous carjacking. This nightmarish fugue, midway through, ripples out into the rest of the season, posing another threat to his tenuous relationship with Keith.
"There's little to gentle the downward slide and exposure of vulnerability, save taking refuge in the quirkiness that seems to be the Fishers' birthright. But that, as they say, is to die for." ~ Thomas May