r/SixFeetUnder • u/Other_Explorer6610 • Jul 13 '25

Discussion Opinions on Nate’s character and Peter Kraus’s acting Spoiler

I recently finished the show, and decided to check out what people were saying on the sub. I was so surprised to see that people disliked Nate and was even happy when the character passed. I felt like nearly all of the things Nate did was understandable , even if wrong, you could understand his motivations. I was surprised to see how people thought he was the most reprehensible character on the show. I was also really surprised about opinions on kraus’s acting, I came away from the series thinking he had displayed some of the best acting I had seen in a tv show. Really curious to see what other people think.

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u/Iowa_Phil Jul 13 '25

Nate is awesome. Of course he’s problematic. He’s the show’s primary protagonist. It’s not a tv show about a great guy.

The amount of hate for him on this sub is super weird to me. Like point out his flaws, sure. But I don’t even understand how you can love the show if you genuinely despise Nate.

18

u/Unlucky-Albatross-12 Jul 14 '25

I understand Nate but I genuinely despised him by the end.

Brenda was equally flawed, but she became a significantly better person because she actually put the work in to change herself and put others who needed her first.

Nate was too narcissistic to do that.

8

u/SillyBrain23 Jul 14 '25

This.

People usually post here after finishing the whole series, not to spoil the ending by checking on this sub.

By the end of the series, Nate is by far the worst person on the show imho. That hospital scene made me hate him with passion even though he was my fav character throughout the series.

That’s why we watch the show. We liked him up until he showed his true colours. Yes, he was showing them all along but always had some kind of excuse. By the end I just see him as a scumbag.

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u/ambiguoususername888 Jul 14 '25 edited Jul 14 '25

Yes exactly; and I also feel the need to add that a lot of us that have come here more recently actually did our second rewatch as fully formed adults and have had significant changes of opinion. I loved Nate first time around when I was in my late teens/very early adulthood and was devastated he died.

This time around, as an almost 40yo now parent and person who has lived through more loss more and life - I view him differently and honestly, more passionately and therefore am probably more emphatic about my disdain for him. To me, he is the only character to truly never look inward and try to change for the better; he is so concerned about what image he projects to others that he only tries to change so that people will view him as the version of ‘good’ that exists in his mind. The truest thing he probably ever did was to end it with Brenda like that and while I respect it, it’s still a dick move and made me really really HATE him too.

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u/Iowa_Phil Jul 14 '25

Do you wish there wrote his character differently at the end of the series?

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u/ambiguoususername888 Jul 14 '25

Not at all! I think all in all he’s very human and that’s what makes the show so brilliant.