Brilliant and Pathetic

Last night was the season finale of Nip/Tuck and I had some very high expectations. The kind of expectations that the entire world had of Bruce Willis in Armageddon to save the world. My hopes were quasi-fulfilled with the edgy and shocking ending, but overall, the execution of the whole episode felt staged and predictable (until the end).

Gallardo Is Dead

I guess it's no big surprise that they killed off one of my favorite characters, Escobar Gallardo. He made his first appearances in season 1, where he was a drug lord who forced the surgeons of McNamara/Troy to smuggle heroin in breast implants. He was sent to prison after Drs. McNamara and Troy gave him plastic surgery to make him look like the #1 most wanted person on the FBI's top ten list and sent to federal prison. Throughout season 2 and 3, he appeared as a vision to the increasingly schizophrenic Sean, then finally in season 4, broke out of prison for some more badass killing and initimidation. The way the episode flowed made it painfully obvious that Liz would try to kill Escobar, but then his wife would kill him instead. I was genuinely sad to see him go, because that character had class, depth, and an uncanny ability to be both a good and bad guy at the same time. Vaya con dios, Escobar.

Dues Ex Machina in the Relationship World

Liz left Papi without comment, Julia left Sean for New York, Matt and Kimber both acknowledge they don't love each other(although they both hate lord Xenu), Christian dumped his second fiance with no explanation, fight, or determination of what would happen to their kid. I really don't have a lot to say.

The Nip/Tuck Music Video

The near-end of the episode was a saddish-type song that featured most of the main characters singing along to it. When the scene ended, I was struck by the sensation that I had just watched the Forty year old Virgin again. This was a really weird, uncharacteristic, pointless, and incredibly tacky scene to insert into the final episode and i feel polluted having watched it. If I wanted to watch bad music videos, I'd turn on MTV.

Goodbye, Miami

After four years in Miami, the show took an incredibly shocking twist when both Dr. McNamara and Troy moved their practice to Hollywood. The producers of this show are either incredibly smart or incredibly stupid...next season will tell. Picking up and leaving all ties will probably mean leaving most of the supporting cast and recurring characters behind. Of note are anesthesiologist Liz Cruz, Nurse Linda, Kimber Henry, and Sean's (and Christian's) son Matt. Also missing will be the coloful recurring characters, like prominant AIDS-infectee Gina Russo, Julia McNamara, Erica Noughton, and any number of other recurring characters that could have been rotated back. My main concern is that if the plotlines become stagnant without the established stable of characters, the producers will have to do something really stupid: like bring back the Carver, or try to follow multiple lives around the country (the O.C. is having this problem right now). However, I have high hopes that the new season will be even better in Hollywood and will be anxiously awaiting season five!