Grid Effect

I want to keep this shorter than my previous recaps, because this weeks episode of Nip Tuck was what I have become accustomed to over the past couple of seasons. And that’s not a compliment. The episode entitled “Connor McNamara” primarily revolved around Connor’s pending surgery and Christian’s resurfaced friendship with Ms. Grubman, the woman with the cosmetic surgery addiction.

After informing Christian that she had been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, Grubman wants him to make her a “beautiful corpse” after she dies by liposuction-ing her down to a size 2. Charming. She suddenly dies after ranting and raving with her assistant (played by Mo’Nique) in Christian’s office. It’s like a split second. She is talking energetically and then she goes pale-faced sitting upright in her wheelchair. Is it possible to die like this from Cancer? I am assuming it is, because the writer’s couldn’t be this sloppy. Or could they? I really have no idea.

Anyways, after Christian does the operation (in a really lame scene where he plays her CD and imagines her singing with Burt Bacharach playing the piano in the operating room, this after visibly adoring her corpse, I thought this show was going to make the leap into necrophilia, but then I remembered Liz was in the room. Thank Christ, because there is no coming back from such heinousness. And its the one line Christian has to cross.) he attends her wake. Unfortunately for Ms Grubman, the post-demise lipo ends up being a fruitless venture, because the only two people in the world who knew about it are the only two attendees. Mo’Nique leaves before Christian reads his eulogy, regardless, he begins to read it before an empty room. He stops when he remembers what a crock it is, and if there is no one to listen to it, then why continue the facade? As he is storming out of the church he turns around and lashes out at her corpse, explaining how she managed to alienate everyone in her life, then he ultimately sympathizes with her and wells up a little. Christian probably sees his own faults in Ms. Grubman, self-involved, superficial, narcissistic and angry. So he is somewhat humanized, again, and he will go back to being a prick within an episode and a half.

The other half of the episode focused on Sean’s determination to see Connor’s hands operated on. We discover through a series of flashbacks that Sean himself experienced a childhood with a cleft palate, thus explaining why he is so unwavering on Connor having the operation as an infant, so he isn’t subject to the same peer-torment as he was. In the flashbacks, we discover his palate eventually divided Sean’s family when his Mom went against his father’s wishes to not only play little league baseball, but also undergo surgery. This drives Sean’s dad to leave and forced his mom into getting to jobs to support the family. He never told Julia, as he is still understandably insecure about it.

Sean is very combative in defending his son. When an elementary schooler starts cracking jokes about his Connor, Sean is quick to point out his ginger kid like features (red hair, fat cheeks, freckles, “pig nose”). When ginger kid’s father interjects it results in Sean slugging the dad, then calling ginger kid and his dad assholes. Clearly this is a result of pent up agression stemming from his childhood.

To make matter worse for Sean. Their midget nanny, Marlo, is opposing him in going through with the surgery and effectively influencing Julia. He isn’t quite as intimidating as Marlo from The Wire, but he is fairly persuasive in pointing out how physically and emotionally grueling an invasive procedure like this can be for an infant, because said infant has no way of understanding what it taking place. Congruently to all of the existential crises afoot, Julia is falling for Marlo, so he quits his job as their nanny, but not before they get the chance to make out.

The entire story seemed forced to me, nothing really happened organically, but it happened none the less. Unles someone can give me a good reason, I will have to jump ship on Nip Tuck. Like I said before I watch this series out of habit, but with Friday Night Lights being a new series I find infintely more compelling, there seems to be little argument for me to keep tuning in. This despite how enjoyable I found last week’s episode. So much for keeping the recap shorter.