Nip/Tuck: Candy Richards

Going into this episode, I was really expecting it to be just be so-so. With the trend of so many other shows being cut short because of the strike, I just assumed Nip/Tuck would fall victim as well. Not the case.

This entire season, with the McNamara/Troy move to Hollywood, the theme of celebrity has sort of been toyed with. Every week has essentially built up to this episode, the moment when it all comes crashing down. The moment when Sean and Christian both finally realized that their quest for stardom is actually ruining their lives. Of course, as everyone knows, by the time you finally make it to that conclusion, it's usually too late.

Think about it. If Sean had never taken the role on Hearts n' Scalpels, then Eden never would have developed a crazy schoolgirl crush on him. She never would have seen Julia as a leech on Sean's life and probably would have never started poisoning her in the first place. She wouldn't have shot Julia and Julia wouldn't have had retrograde amnesia. If it wasn't for the poisoning, Julia probably would have gone back to NYC by then.

If Sean had never taken the role on Hearts n' Scalpels, he wouldn't have earned his own paparazzi fan club and Christian and Annie wouldn't have gotten into a car accident. And most importantly, the episode wouldn't have ended the way it did. I'll come back to that.

If Sean had never taken the role on Hearts n' Scalpels, Christian would have never become so jealous of his partner's new found fame. He would have never done the Playgirl spread and he would have never met Darlene and his daughter, Emmy. Matt would have never slept with his half-sister.

Now based on the previews, I knew a tragedy was coming. At first, I thought it was Julia. Then, I thought it was Annie and Christian. By the time the ending arrived, I had considered the possibility of what happened, but by then thought it was too late. It wasn't.

If Sean had never taken the role on Hearts n' Scalpels, he would never have met Colleen Rose, his crazy fan. If Sean had never taken the role on Hearts n' Scalpels, he wouldn't be lying in a pool of his own blood with multiple stab wounds, as his daughter lay unconscious on the operating table. You knew Colleen would be back.

Now I have questions...

What did Colleen do with Bob's body before she hid him in Sean's closet? It's been a few weeks and the body didn't look like it had decomposed at all.

Did Colleen stab Liz too?

What did Eden tell Olivia before going to the hospital? I'm guessing she told her mother the truth and Olivia chose to keep her mouth shut once Julia's condition was discovered.

Christian will obviously call 911 once he finds everyone, but is he going to be able to do enough in the meantime with only one arm? Did Colleen stab him too maybe?

I'm not sure if it means anything, but do you think that maybe Matt got Emmy pregnant? I only ask because Matt was her first, and Darlene made a point of saying that Christian was her first and he got her pregnant.

The rest of the episode was pretty standard tongue-in-cheek Nip/Tuck fare. The return of Jennifer Coolidge as Candy Richards was great and I loved how her delusions of celebrity were juxtaposed against Sean's very real fame. The Christian/Darlene sex was hilarious too. It was one of those moments where I felt bad for laughing, but I laughed regardless. And I loved the part when Christian had to tell Matt that he can't sleep with his sister anymore. The look on Christian's face was priceless.

If the show goes right back into production, I'll probably see the show return around this time next year assuming FX sticks to its schedule of airing The Riches, The Shield, and Rescue Me before it.