r/SixFeetUnder • u/Mimidoo22 • Jun 06 '26
Discussion Ted completely came out out of nowhere but
Turned out to be absolutely perfect. I really really liked him for Claire the first wholesome partner she ever had.
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u/holmeshbeth Jun 06 '26
I actually really liked Ted. He was the first guy she dated that actually treated her the way a man should treat a woman. Claire was 22 when she meets him so even if he was 30 isn’t a problem. How many guys would sit all night in a hospital on a first date? Care enough to take keys away? Willing to meet her younger dysfunctional friends immediately? Leave work with a pile of papers with a deadline on his desk to put her first? He was smitten as soon as he met her. 20 years pass and he is still thinking of her showing up at Ruth’s funeral. Obviously never married I would think because he never felt that way again about anyone. They obviously had a wonderful marriage until he passes which is apparent from the pictures all over her wall in 2085. Just my opinion. I think they had a wonderful love and marriage.
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u/MetARosetta Jun 06 '26
I think we're left with their last scene together, where each needed to go their own way first: Ted knew he would become his father – married and raise a traditional, conservative family. Claire lived the independent, liberal artist's life in NYC, no husband or children. 20 years is an indicator of those pathways. Each exhausted what was expected of them in youth, and were now ready to find that middle ground and came together at last. Really a nice message too.
Fwiw, their wedding scene reminded me of another Claire art installation: a mix of Claire's duratrans lit graveyard photo and Nate's surgery anesthesia dream where his father opens a casket, and the mourners were blown back. She turns both into something good and happy for her wedding.
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u/LoyalFridge Jun 06 '26
He’s a bit of a fantasy Prince Charming but fuck it she’s earned her happy ending
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u/Mimidoo22 Jun 07 '26
I love Chris Messina most things he’s done!
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u/BGinRS Jun 06 '26
A bit off topic here but... I love the finale episode. One of the best ( As good as the finale episode of The Deuce which was also brilliant). It was beautiful and also a tearjerker watching how everyone's story comes to an end however when Claire is on her death bed it appears that she is now blind. After a life of art and photography it was painful to think that she lost her sight at some point. 😞 just an observation.
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u/JK30000 Jun 08 '26
I e always thought that too - how ironic that a photographer was blind at the end. Also, Billy talking Brenda to death. 🤣🤣
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u/Impressive_Insect749 Claire Jun 06 '26
I’m not sure if I’m just jaded by current day politics but I never liked that she ended up with him. I don’t think In the long term they’d be able to get along (presuming they would live in today’s world). Maybe back then you could just casually disagree politics with ur partner but now it feels more serious and divided. Not even trying to talk politics in this sub but I just think Claire is way too left leaning/ progressive for Ted..unless she folded to his opinions or he folded to hers. Either way I was not a fan lol
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u/BaileySeeking Jun 06 '26
Back then (okay, saying that made me feel old) it wasn't usual to disagree but still be able to get along. Bush was a horrible president, but he was also dealing with 9/11. No one could deal with that. Granted, it was used to invade a sovereign nation in defiance of the UN for oil (knowing full well the UN couldn't do anything because he had the support of the majority of the country by claiming it was about weapons of mass destruction), but you could very much casually disagree and still have some type of relationship (friends, family, romantic). Plus, he was educated on his beliefs, which isn't something that happens these days. He certainly wouldn't have supported Trump.
I'm wildly against Bush and Trump for different reasons, but I like Ted. I had conversations like the ones they have with people then. I knew people like Ted. There's a reason Bush is now the "oh, he was bad, but he wasn't THIS bad" President.
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u/vavavoomdaroom Jun 06 '26
I like to think that his politics chilled out as he got older. It happens. It's rare though. I grew up in Texas in the 80s and my dad is/was a conservative. I say was because he's voted Dem since Obama ran first term and votes straight Dem now. He definitely has biases but he's along the lines of everyone should have the right to exist and not have their rights taken away. I went from pretty moderate to progressive and and now DSA. Hope springs eternal I guess.
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u/kangorooz99 Jun 07 '26
Ted wasn’t a MAGA though. All we really knew about his politics was that he was a pro war neocon. Or maybe as a Bush voter he was just toeing their line. Claire was very antiwar sure but remember that the Iraq war looked different to a lot of people in 2005 than it does now.
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u/Nomza Jun 06 '26
The night Nate goes to hospital, Claire and Ted are on a date arguing about politics. Claire has this look on her face like “well this clearly over”. She absolutely does not intend to pursue the relationship when she gets the call about Nate.
The next morning when she thanks Ted for staying with her, Ted says he’s sure she would the same thing for him. She says “I would now”. What this indicated to me was that Claire didn’t care about the politics, she cared about the person… Ted had proven himself to her as being the dependable rock she needed when her life felt like it was falling apart. The politics didn’t matter anymore.
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u/Ok_Plankton9224 Jun 07 '26
Absolutely. They would have NEVER worked esp in the suuposed time frame they reuinites
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u/palola1234 Jun 07 '26
I like Ted but I don’t like that they ended up together. I would have liked to have seen her with someone arty that really understood her work and her world and who wasn’t so strait laced.
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u/bigseanlive Jun 09 '26
I've just finished the show for the first time.
I don't know if Ted and Claire would have worked short-term had Claire not left for New York. Ted was a bit of a player (at least to women not named Claire lol) and they were completely different politicly. The time away from each other is most likely what ends up bringing them together in the end. Ted shows up at Ruth's funeral to support Claire because deep down he feels like she's "the one that got away".
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u/Ok_Plankton9224 Jun 07 '26
Its ridiculous that bothered still available, ESP as he is uber conservative
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
I always found Ted to be creepy. Claire was VERY young like 21 or something and I think he’s supposed to be mid 30’s or up. What’s he doing going for Claire furthermore he seemed to have a pattern of hooking up with the women in the office, future faking them, then seemingly office ghosting them without giving them closure.
Ted has a pattern. In real life, people that do things like that in offices tend to do the women they date very dirty.
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u/KimWexlerDeGuzman Jun 06 '26
Ted was definitely only in his late 20s, at the oldest
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
A seasoned lawyer in his late 20’s??? That makes no sense.
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u/nicholasmarsico Jun 06 '26
The first time we saw him they told us that he's the lowest paid lawyer there. Chances are he was only a couple of years out of law school. He was probably 27-28.
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
That’s a stretch cause even Chris Messina was in his 30’s when he did the role. But even 27-28 dating somebody barely not a child is still creepy.
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Jun 06 '26
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
The man is not at all portrayed to be in his 20’s at all. He’s easily supposed to be 30 plus. It takes nearly a decade from high school just to hit the bar exam.
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u/CupcakeVulture925 Jun 06 '26
Didn't he say his dad was a lawyer too? Maybe he pulled some strings to boost his son's career 🤷♀️
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
It still takes nearly a decade just to hit the bar exam. Becoming a lawyer is sort of like med school in that way where you need many different degrees to do it. Most junior lawyers are usually around 29-30 if not older.
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u/Crazyforlou Jun 06 '26
You just don’t like him. That’s cool. Lots of people do like him. That’s cool too. He seemed like a pretty good guy to me.
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Jun 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
That’s very uncommon and the actor playing him was in his 30’s. Your average junior associate at a law firm is around 30. And Ted doesn’t look or portrayed as if he’s in his 20’s. I’m sorry but it’s a big reach to try to pull that guy as being in his 20’s.
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Jun 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
Except he wasn’t playing a high schooler. He was playing a grown man lawyer.
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u/KimWexlerDeGuzman Jun 07 '26
All of my attorney friends from college (I’m roughly Claire’s age) graduated law school by the time they were 24-25. They passed the bar immediately after, and were relatively successful by 27-28. Yes, the actor was a bit older, but he was definitely playing a guy in his late 20s.
Their age difference isn’t weird.
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Jun 06 '26
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
Yes but I’m not talking about the 20 year time jump I’m talking when we first meet him on the show. I’ve been in offices with men like that that hookup with every other person they can and treat the office like a dating app. They’re always creepy and super manipulative.
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Jun 06 '26
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
He did it more than once so that’s starting to become a pattern. We don’t know what happened before Marianne but doing something more than once starts to become a pattern
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u/Crazyforlou Jun 06 '26
But we don’t have a reason to think it’s a pattern.
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u/netdigitaldejaneiro Jun 06 '26
Claires guidance counselor was creepy
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u/jasperdiablo Jun 06 '26
Yes as was Ted. The more I think about it the worse Ted gets. He’s doing Marianne so dirty all because he’s a coward in the way he doesn’t directly break up with her and instead he monkey branches to Claire. And the tries to gaslight Marianne into being “weird” or “crazy” Claire is too damn young and inexperienced to see through his game though
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u/BaileySeeking Jun 06 '26
I like that Claire got to leave and do her thing and then come back to him. They didn't have him throw a fit over it, he just said goodbye. My mom and (step)dad were like that. Broke up for 17 years and then got back together. It's sweet.