Crossroads (Six Feet Under)

In its original American broadcast, "Crossroads" was seen by an estimated 5.69 million household viewers with a household rating of 3.7. This means that it was seen by 3.7% of the nation's estimated households, and was watched by 3.78 million households.^[2] This was a 6% increase in viewership from the previous episode, which was watched by 5.33 million household viewers with a household rating of 3.5.^[3]

"Crossroads" received positive reviews from critics. John Teti of The A.V. Club wrote, "“It just didn't work out,” David says. “Life goes on.” A bus has overturned on the freeway, which means bodies, so the day-to-day noise is about to start up again. David welcomes the distraction: “There's work to be done.”"^[4]

Entertainment Weekly gave the episode an "A" grade, and wrote, "One of the series' richest hours ever: Among the myriad highlights are Nate's drug-fueled meltdown over Brenda's exhibitionistic ex-boyfriend and Ruth's sexual fantasy about Nikolai as a conquering cossack. Coulter's seamless direction rivals his finest work on The Sopranos."^[5] Mark Zimmer of Digitally Obsessed gave the episode a 3.5 out of 5 rating, writing "Highly involving and entertaining throughout."^[6]

TV Tome gave the episode an 8 out of 10 rating and wrote "The girls manage to get talking and realise that their preconceptions of one another aren't as accurate as they were lead to believe by other people's thoughts - Claire's kinda normal and Parker is something of a DangerSlut. I never would have guessed. There is also the blossoming of the triangle with Hiram, Ruth and Nikolai, but not much of interest happens here involving that particular thread. Well, there is always the next episode."^[7] Billie Doux of Doux Reviews gave the episode 3 out of 4 stars and wrote "I loved the irreverent Nate in a lounge chair in front of the funeral home, half naked and getting a tan. David sat next to him, wearing a suit, quizzing Nate on questions for the funeral director's exam. A perfect visual portrait of the internal differences between the two of them."^[8] Television Without Pity gave the episode a "B+" grade.^[9]

In 2016, Ross Bonaime of Paste ranked it 54th out of all 63 Six Feet Under episodes and wrote, "While on a camping trip in “Crossroads,” Claire decides to purposely take a wrong path. Claire knows that she's intentionally doing something wrong, but everyone else in “Crossroads” unknowingly heads down roads which they don't quite realize are bad for them. Nate is far too paranoid about Brenda as she tries to unwind with old friends, David dates a dance instructor that is clearly not right for him and Ruth can't decide which of the two men in her life she wants to date. But it's Rico's big change that is the most important here, as he takes a job at Fisher & Sons' competitor Kroener, as a way to set up his own independence from the company that he believes he can never be a part of."^[10]

• "Crossroads" at HBO
• "Crossroads" at IMDb