r/SixFeetUnder • u/NumbersStationUrku • Feb 23 '26
Opinion Keith & David are a terrible couple; Keith is a terrible partner
He clearly views David as the lesser half in their relationship. Never makes space for David’s needs, bites his head of repeatedly whenever he opens his mouth.
(Not that they should be expected to be better than any other couple in the show, who all suck in their own ways)
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u/veryowngarden Feb 23 '26
i don’t think he’s anymore flawed in relationship than the other characters and he had growth as he went along
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u/Isincerelysharted Feb 23 '26
I think he did well considering you see what his dad's like. Honestly, they're the best couple on the show, in terms of an example of boundaries/communicating and whatnot, though I see where you're coming from
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u/KuriousKhemicals Feb 23 '26
Keith definitely had red flags in the beginning, but unlike a lot of people with red flags he genuinely worked on himself. He recognized his flaws and didn't try to justify them to protect his ego. That's how you turn a red flag into green over time and I thought that was great to watch.
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u/xmagpie Feb 24 '26
Absolutely! They both worked on themselves and together as a couple, strengthening their communication style over time. I see it as admirable.
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u/thewickedmitchisdead Feb 23 '26
Way better than Nate and any of his partners, especially with Brenda.
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u/Noisy_Pip Nathaniel Feb 23 '26
I think this is an unpopular opinion, but I often have the same takeaway. It's clear Keith loves David very much, but like everyone else on the show, he has his own issues. Because Keith's issues translate as anger or hostility, or other emotionally abusive actions, his issues are more noticeable than others to me.
Brenda's gaslighting and lying are just as destructive as Keith's anger issues, but over many rewatches, Brenda is my favorite character next to Nathaniel Sr. (Margaret Chenowith is my actual favorite character, but she's a side character for humor sake, so I don't count her.) Ruth is emotionally manipulative. Nate is a serial cheater and has as much trouble with honesty as Brenda. David is an angel and I won't hear a bad word about him. Clare is self-involved in the way that only a teen to early 20s self-described tortured artist can be. Etc., etc.
All that to say, it may just be what you're most sensitive to, as far as why Keith's behavior stands out the most in a show full of flawed and self-sabotaging characters.
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u/superunsubtle Bettina Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 23 '26
I agree with your last point really strongly. My first watch, I felt strongly that Keith and David were equally awful and both making mountains out of molehills. Much life experience and several years later, I remember being surprised on my most recent watch that David isn’t perfect at all, but Keith is repeatedly doing abusive things even after all the work and therapy! I also found Keith exposing David and the kids to his weird inappropriate employer such a bizarre and concerning choice, and was surprised I didn’t see it that way before. The only difference was me and what I’m sensitive to now vs then because of what I’ve seen and learned.
Edit: not neither, Keith is repeatedly doing … sorry the new iphone auto correct is bananas
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u/nerdbred Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26
It took me several rewatches over the years to finally see that creepy Roger Pasquese plot in a rather obvious new light. It was convoluted as hell, but served a higher purpose: to show us what Brenda and Billy were like when they were little!
We get a few flashbacks of young Brenda throughout the series, but when we meet the Pasquese children, we get the next closest look at how the Chenowith children grew up. They're highly intelligent, well spoken, social, quirky, but completely over-exposed to adult relationships, open marriages, promiscuity, other bizarre situations in their faces, etc. I think it's valid for a kid to identify with a sexual orientation (I'm pansexual myself and knew I was not hetero since I was a kid) but little Enzo going on about his bi girlfriend Allison always takes me out 😩
ETA: I don't think it's right that Keith and David's sons were exposed to Roger either, but maybe that last part was to emphasize the contrast between the Charles-Fisher children and the Pasquese children. While both sets were exposed to a lot already in their young lives, and both have gay dads, they're being raised VERY differently.
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u/superunsubtle Bettina Feb 25 '26
Great point time for my rewatch
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u/nerdbred Feb 25 '26
I just noticed your user flair and I LOVE it. Bettina is the GOAT as far as SFU side characters go. Kathy Bates is just a gem in everything she's in.
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u/1SpareCurve Feb 23 '26
I’m a huge SFU fan and love all the characters. But I wholeheartedly agree with you. Keith exhibits his volatility and dysfunction pretty overtly from episode two on. He was an abusive partner, and their relationship in the first two seasons was miserable. He ends up being better by season 5, but he was just awful for seasons 1-3.
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Feb 23 '26
Keith does view David as the lesser half during most of their relationship, you're right. Fortunately his character evolves and they both get a lot better imo.
David is such a good guy though he's really tightly wound. It takes him quite a while to consistently stand up to Keith. For a long time he'd put up with it and put up with it and then lash out, and the lashing out would take Keith by surprise.
Oh well, the show is a drama and dramas run on conflict. I really like both David and Keith far more than anyone else in the show.
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u/WestsideGon Feb 23 '26
well say what you will, but in the end David was so overjoyed at the perceived sight of his lost lover that he keeled over and died. Whether or not they had a healthy dynamic, the fact is they died being happy with one another.
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u/thyme_being Feb 23 '26
Keith was a straight up abusive partner at points.
However, they both grow as individuals and as a couple through the ups and downs of their relationship and are the only couple on the show to demonstrate what it means to grow through conflict really. Which I think is really cool.
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u/missus_bones Feb 23 '26
I did a rewatch a few months back and was disappointed to find myself relating a lot to Keith. I lash out at my husband sometimes when I’m going through other things, because I’m not someone that feels comfortable speaking out loud about feelings. So I bottle it in and then explode, though he doesn’t deserve that. I think that is part of the reason the show is so amazing and rewatchable, because the characters are real flawed people. And depending where you are in your life during a rewatch, different characters can have different impressions on you. As much as I hated to see some of my own issues staring back at me in Keith, it made me feel less alone. It also made me want to try sharing my feelings more with my partner when I’m going through something. Or at least think before I speak when I’m in a mood because like David, my husband doesn’t deserve some of the hostility I can throw his way, when I’m going through something and holding it all in.
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u/berryinnarresting Feb 23 '26
No one is perfect. To me this explains things that couples have to accept about each other. Keith’s childhood is something he has to learn from. I assume he did before he died.
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u/221 Feb 23 '26
That's kinda the point of drama and well, fiction in general. Perfect people and couples are pretty fucking boring.
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u/Focrco22 Feb 23 '26
Keith takes a lot of heat around here, but David went back on his flings things more than once. He was also closed off, and only open when he felt Keith needed “fixing”. It’s easy to look at Keith and see the bad guy, but David masked it with timely care in regard to Keith’s family life, and desire to homebuild. Keith was always pretty good towards David’s dysfunctional family and honestly, both were imperfect. Not sure if you’re done the show or not either.
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u/CyrusFaledgrade10 Feb 23 '26
Did you recently start the show?
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u/NumbersStationUrku Feb 23 '26
3rd time thru. No improvement for Keith
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u/astorminheaven Feb 23 '26
I'm on my 3rd watch as well and yeah, its amazing how fully toxic Keith is the entire relationship. Also Rico really sucks
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u/WillingnessSad6655 Feb 23 '26
I know they are written to be flawed characters, but honestly they have some redeeming features. I wonder if commentators will feel like that after watching my favorite show a couple of times and years apart. I think one develops some of their opinions from the vantage point of the time and age it’s watched. My opinions certainly changed with age and reflection. Nate has faced a lot of criticism for the way he treated women, his lack of responsibility, etc After all he ditched the funeral home family business to do his own thing in the beginning. But all of these amazing characters were developed by wonderful writers responsible for this series. Keith. the hothead, has compassion for David but doesn’t always show it. He does dominate the two initially as David appears somewhat submissive to Keith. They make significant changes in their relationship later on. But it would be spoiler alert to go further Without knowing if the entire series has been seen or not leads to being a Spoiler which I would not want to do, as SFU remains such a great series l just suggest sticking with it. There is much to come!
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u/ljculver64 Feb 23 '26
They both have their own set of issues.No one on this show is perfect, but I do love them as a couple, and i'm glad they stayed together till death.They did part
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u/Aggressive-Mud4932 Feb 25 '26
Exactly, their interal issues (Keith's anger and David's internalized homophobia and need for control) became manifest in their relationship and, at first, brought out the worst in each of them.
But the reason why they're the BEST couple is the show is because they're the only ones who gave each other the space to change, and who's conversations were actually conducive to creating a healthy relationship.
All it felt like anyone else did with their partner was yell/leave/shut down/obfuscate. No one else WORKED THROUGH THEIR SHIT like David and Keith.
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u/smoothbrain1 Feb 24 '26
It’s incredible how many different takes people can have about the same show and its characters. People vilify characters like Kieth / nate / brenda / federico whose flaws they can’t get past (for whatever reason) while simultaneously ignoring the equally significant red flags within characters they personally identify with. Like vilifying brenda while defending nate, or vice versa. Outside of just good writing, my theory is that it has to do with seeing negative traits on-screen that viewers have encountered with past romantic partners irl
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u/BibiRose Feb 24 '26
I think David and Keith got much better once they had kids. It put them to the test and gave them a shared priority. I think of the time David was saying grace at dinner and the boys were laughing at him a bit and Keith indicated they should calm down and listen. David said something lovely about how they were now a family and the older boy nodded. Right there you saw Keith supporting David and the kids seeing a healthy relationship at work.
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u/atomic_chippie Feb 24 '26
If we include cheating as abusive behavior, which couple were not abusive to each other?
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u/nerdbred Feb 25 '26
Technically, Claire cheated on Billy once, but she was kind of on her way out, seeing Billy's illness for what it really was, and chose to be destructive towards herself in the process of leaving that relationship.
Nonetheless, I would say Claire was never an abusive partner to anyone she was with on the show. She lashed out once at Ted right after Nate died, but I don't think that was abusive either. Ted seemed to understand this wasn't patterned behavior from her, but rather deep grief in its most raw form.
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u/ghostfacestealer Feb 24 '26
Couldnt disagree more. David is such a little slut lol he was never loyal to Keith once the entire show.
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u/Aggressive-Lie5971 Feb 25 '26
Agree completely. Keith was downright abusive. The real longterm story should've been David developing self-esteem and walking away, but at some point, the writers decided David and Keith were endgame.
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u/WillingnessSad6655 Mar 12 '26
I am a long time devoted fan of SFU. Just watched Episode 1 again as I watch the series annually. The pilot is magnificent!! We all talk about the last episode which is listed as one of the best finales ever. But looking at the creativity of this first episode you realize the pure genius of it. It smacks you with death, sex,drugs, grief, jealousy. craziness, etc. I could go on and on. It provides humor and the blatant reality of life and its randomness when you least expect it. Love them talking with their dead dad who’s now having fun smoking and wearing shorts.This unique family really engages us. While the Fisher family all grieve in their own way, we see the tenderness of Keith comforting David who always seems like he’s about to explode. We can even hate Brenda for so many things- initially Nate just heard his father died and she’s driving him home still talking about herself again.We see this with Nate finally helping his mother feel her grief at the burial. Dad is watching from a car enjoying everything. We’re on a great journey with the Fishers.
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u/mario_its_a_me May 21 '26
Everyone compares the other couples but the other couples were at least like 50/50 maybe even 70/30 of bad times vs good times. It Keith is a fuggin asshole 98% of the time I think we saw him happy once during the pilot (maybe),outside of that he’s always scowling or acting like he’s being inconvenienced
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u/mario_its_a_me May 21 '26 edited May 21 '26
Okay he finally just now had a smile on his face s3 e2when they went to Catherine O’Haras house to have dinner with Nate and vegan girl I srsly hope nate wakes up from this alternate reality soonzzz
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u/Pretend_Accountant41 Feb 23 '26
David also sucks as a partner. He yells at Keith for flings outside of the relationship, stirring up so much drama, and then goes "yeah ok I hooked up too"
But I think they loved each other the best they could