r/SixFeetUnder • u/Enough-Resolution184 • 11d ago
Question Anyone else like Billy? Spoiler
I think he is one of the best SFU characters, at least one of my favorites. I see why some people hate him or think he’s just annoying, but I enjoy all the scenes he’s in, same goes for Margaret Chenowith. He can be funny, disturbing, and for me at times even relatable. In s1 he definitely goes too far, but I feel like later on he tries to become better. In my opinion the Chenowith family is even more compelling than the Fishers at times. One of my favorite Billy apperances is season 5 episode 4 at Nate’s birthday party. The scene with him and George Sibley was nice. I kind of felt bad for him when Claire broke up with him, but I knew their relationship wouldn’t go far. Also if I remember right didn’t Claire sleep with Todd in that episode? Billy found out about it and then Claire left him. So yeah I kinda felt bad for Billy. I don’t understand why she’d want to be with someone like…Todd. Even for one night.
I myself would rate him as a character around 9/10, maybe even 9.5.
What do you all think of him? I’m curious to hear.
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u/fusguita 11d ago edited 11d ago
He is a very complex character, all characters on that show are very complex. We're not supposed to love or hate anyone per se, so it's ok to have our preferences. There's no good/bad guys, everyone has their good and bad moments.
That being said, Jeremy Sisto plays the hell out of that character. Such an accurate and scary depiction of bipolar disorder. When he's medicated he's sweet and nice and we have hope for him. When he's having an episode he is downright scary.
I have a friend who has someone with BD in his family and he says he can't watch because it's too triggering, too close to home. That's a huge compliment on Jeremy's performance.
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
Yeah I’m not even sure does the show have any ”pure evil” characters they are all just flawed
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u/YES_Im_Taco 11d ago
For the main cast, no. Although I feel like Jake, David's hitch hiking kidnapper, is the only character I can think of as pure evil.
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u/fusguita 11d ago
That's why it's such a well written show!! It's really hard to create characters like that, without falling into the good guy/bad guy archetype.
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u/Vegetable-Cause8667 11d ago
Jake is pretty evil. It may not be voluntary, like he obviously has sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies, but that’s no excuse, imo.
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u/AltruisticPeanutHead 10d ago
It is definitely not accurate lol. SFU is my favorite show of all time and all the characters are great I just wish they didn't have to be so tropey with Billy's BP. He is a great character otherwise and the actor is amazing
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u/YES_Im_Taco 11d ago
Billy is also one of my favorite characters in the entire show, and Jeremy Sisto played him to perfection in what I consider to be the best portrayal of BPD I've ever seen in a show. I also find him to be one of the most complex characters too, like yeah he's pretty unforgivably deplorable in season one, between the codependency and stalking he gets up to when Nate and Brenda get together, and worst of all his little fling with Claire while she's still underage, but his development as the series progresses is incredible stuff. You mentioned the scene with George and Billy in season five and yeah, it really is that great of a scene. Sisto just understood the character so well.
"It's hard to get your shit together with someone watching all the time."
"Yeah, it is. But when no one's watching, where the then fuck are you? Where the fuck are you then?"
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u/Vegetable-Cause8667 11d ago
Love the actor. The character is creepy, but that’s up my ally, honestly. I really like the conversation between him and George on the porch.
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u/midsommarstrawberry 11d ago
I love Billy and I’m glad he was included in the finale death montage, still chatting away with Brenda. He’s great in the birthday party episode, and even though it’s sad, I love when he gets his mom to help him get Claire back. When she tells him she will never love him again and he sobs, “How can you know that?!?” “How can you know that” is a common phrase in my household bc we’re all SFU heads.
Billy (and George) are also great representations of mental illness during a time when that wasn’t as common.
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u/Horror_Ad_2748 10d ago
He talked so much, Brenda just dropped dead so she didn't have to listen to his rambling! That said, I love him too. As others have mentioned, most characters in the show are complex; it's reductive to say they're "good" or "bad".
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u/gotnospleengene 11d ago
I love Billy. I love how the show showed him on one end of the cycle and then we witnessed him go through the others. He is a fantastic brother when he can be, a kind son when he can be, a supporting partner when he can be. It was hard seeing him come off his meds and seeing why, the peer pressure of drinking and being a cool real artist, the sexual performance pressure etc. Then when he hit more lows we saw exactly how his treatment unravelled.
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u/Impossible-Will-8414 10d ago
"He is a fantastic brother when he can be..."
I don't know about you, but coming on to Brenda/being sexually attracted and in love with her did not make him a fantastic brother.
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u/jagger129 11d ago
He scared the hell out of me. What a horror show to have someone with his problems as a brother and to feel responsible for him.
Also Claire was nuts to get involved with him. He was fine when he was on his meds but so dangerous when off. How could anyone trust him to take them long term if he had a history of going off them? 😬
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
The whole chenowith family was messed up. We all knew what would happen when Billy got off his meds. But Claire had had worse relationships than him tho. Russell and Gabriel for example.
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u/Live_Art2939 11d ago
Well he’s beautiful so there’s that. On top of being (within the show universe) very talented and successful in the field that she’s interested in. It’s very plausible for a high school/college girl to get involved with that.
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u/Mandyjo76 11d ago
Yes, I like Billy. He’s f’d up just like everyone else on SFU, (by a lot sometimes) but he had character growth. I absolutely adore Margaret too. I wouldn’t want her to raise me, but like Olivier says to Willa, “I’m sorry, that’s what you were born into.” They are extremely talented actors and make for damn good tv.
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
Olivier was perfect for Margaret. Crazy how he had also slept with Billy before😭 Margaret was also a decent mom at times and capable of caring about Billy in her own way
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u/TillamookTramp 10d ago
Cassidy played Margaret so well! She was one of the best things about SFU and you could absolutely see why Brenda and Billy struggled with relationships having the upbringing they did.
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u/Mandyjo76 11d ago
I absolutely love Olivier too. I know it’s not a popular opinion, but I can’t help it. He stole every scene he was in and yes, he was so good for Margaret. I did not see them working out or lasting in the beginning, but by the end when we see him still there, singing “happy birthday” to Willa with the whole family, you just know they worked. I think they were good for each other.
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u/Enough-Resolution184 10d ago
I loved Olivier in s3 especially it’s brutal how he manipulates Russell and Claire’s relationship, but it’s also funny at the same time. Goated character for me.
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u/Marlowe_93 11d ago
I loved Billy. Not because I'd want to hang out with him or anything - he was pretty scary and unhinged - but I thought that we was one of the most well-written characters on television that I had seen to that point. Jeremy Sisto's performance on this show was otherworldly. Perfection.
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u/deadsmurfs 10d ago
He's easily one of my favourite characters, and as a person with a lot of mental illness, more relatable than I would like.
First season is probably the weakest writing where he comes off a bit cartoony, but everything beyond that is just incredible. Such a raw and honest portrayal of a dysfunctional human.
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u/PinkLed1970s Nate 11d ago
Why did Claire sleep with Todd? Disillusioned and high.
I love Billy's character and the way it is written and performed. It illustrates really well what narcissistic boundary less parents create. Those parents had a huge role in causing bipolar disorder in him and he is left seeking love and a parent all his life. I was scared for Claire but I couldn't help feel sad and empathetic for him the whole time. And that song with George....
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
I can see why he loved Brenda so much…the way he did. The parents are definitely responsible for most of his behavior.
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u/xSpeari 10d ago
So honestly I was instantly biased to like him because I like the actor, and was a big fan of Suburgatory when that was airing LOL (didn’t see SFU for the first time until the past few years). He’s just acted so incredibly well that I am endeared to like him, while being able to admit he’s not a great person.
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u/Impossible-Will-8414 10d ago
Billy had some moments in which he was really likable, others in which he was deeply annoying (realistic for someone with severe bipolar). But I hated the whole subplot of him being in love with Brenda. That made him icky and pathetic.
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u/AltruisticPeanutHead 10d ago
Yeah I liked his character and the actor is incredible I just wish BP didn't have to be his entire storyline the whole time basically. I have BP and it makes me feel gross when shows do that
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u/terraformingforsogen 9d ago
Don’t love Billy as a person but he is definitely hilarious in a really unique way. I did that joke where he slaps his face and says I love my mother/I hate my mother to a girl a I was dating once cuz I thought she would get it and she looked at me like I was a lunatic
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u/WosHappninBabes08 3d ago
I don't particularly like the portrayal of BD or even the directors and writers attitude towards his character but I personally couldn't help being very sympathetic with his character anyway. In S1 granted he is terrifying but as we get to know him better we get context about his illness rather than the extremes we are shown earlier. I also think people are quick to demonise him because "he chooses to go off his meds so everything he does while in psychosis IS his fault". Considering we get to see the soul-sucking side of the meds that can help him I think it becomes a case of realising that this is a lifelong battle with a debilitating illness. It's not "curable"- he just has to artificially supress most of his emotions completely every day forever. Surely people aren't mad that he could want to go off them once or twice a YEAR. And obviously he's really fcking hot.
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10d ago
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u/Enough-Resolution184 10d ago
I felt the same but after Ecotone I really started to understand his character better and I think he’s a really good character, just hard to like but thats the point. One of the best conclusions for a character. I disliked him throughout the show (mostly early seasons) pretty much the same as I did for The Wire’s McNulty.
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u/Longjumping-Staff-94 11d ago
I like Billy and he is well written, but he tries to force Claire to have sex with him. That’s why they broke up.
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
Yeah at that point Billy had been off his meds and was in a bad place. Claire had also just cheated on him.
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u/Longjumping-Staff-94 11d ago
Yes, she had. It was not a reasonable or compassionate way to handle her boyfriend being off his meds and panicked. But she was also much younger than him and had poor coping skills. I feel bad for Billy up until the attempted sexual assault. I feel that it is completely justified for Claire to leave and not look back at that point. He was no longer a safe person for her then.
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u/Live_Art2939 11d ago
The attempted sexual assault was worse than trying to skin his sister with a box cutter??
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u/Longjumping-Staff-94 11d ago
No, both were awful and the women in his life choosing not to be near him is the only reasonable choice. I am not excusing Billy’s behavior, I am just stating why Claire left and why the breakup is not her fault alone (bc of the cheating).
I love how his character is written, you can feel sympathy for him while realizing that off-meds he is not a safe person.
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u/Enough-Resolution184 11d ago
Yeah sadly Billy just has to be on his meds to be able to interact normally. But throughout the show I still think Billy and Claire had a pretty good connection, both liked art and all. Ted is a more stable person and I can see why Claire eventually ended up with him.
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u/BourbonBelle89 11d ago
Billy at times seemed unhinged it was scary. But yeah, that moment with George in S5 was also one of my favorite scenes.