Back to the Future

I have mixed feelings about last night's "back to the future" episode of Nip/Tuck. While it was interesting to see what happens to the characters 20 years later, the reality was actually very sad and disappointing:

*Conor's second hand was never fixed
* Sean and Julia divorced, and not only still hate each other, but they haven't even been in the same room in 15 years (sidenote: Who did Sean remarry? Julia asked about his wife and he told her that he doesn't want to talk about his private life. Hmmm...)
*Matt is a plastic surgeon, though there was no mention of Scientology, Kimber or the baby. Hmmm...again.
*Annie is screwed up and caught stealing painkillers from the hospital (funny moment: once again, Annie is a second thought in her family's drama so she announces: "I had an abortion last week." and true to form, no one cares.)
*Marlowe is still around as Conor's godfather (and has a son only a year younger than Conor who scored the winning shot in a college championship basketball game)
*Christian is still up to his old tricks

So much for happy endings. I kept hoping that Sean would wake up and that this whole sequence was simply a dream. And who was the shrink? I was waiting for the big reveal since his identity was so purposefully concealed, but it never happened.

Overall, the writing and direction felt a bit uneven. As far as the real time events, despite the coming onslaught of the category 5 Hurricane Lenore (hello: Hurricane Katrina!), the characters themselves showed no urgency, except for the poignant scene where Matt told Sean "I'll never leave you." Apparently Julia and Marlowe planned to run off to live in Florence. Thank goodness she came to her senses in time to realize that while she and Marlowe share a love for Conor, she is not in love with him. Sean showed a lot of heart to tell Marlowe that he was welcome to keep in touch and stay in Conor's life. That definitely worked out in Conor's favor 20 years later since his real family fell apart, at least he had someone to turn to.

It's somewhat of a big letdown to know what eventually happens to the characters on the show...like, why even keep watching since we know what happens? It's going to be difficult to create any concern for what's going on with them now since we already know what the future looks like.The writers left a few questions unanswered (who Sean marries, what happens to Kimber) but that's very trivial, secondary information). Watching Nip/Tuck last night for some reason brought memories of The Cosby Show to mind and how disappointed I was with their "reunion" special a few years after the series ended. I had wanted to see what the characters were doing 5, 10 or 20 years later, rather than watch interviews with the cast and a clip reel of funny moments. Now, I'm glad they didn't. It would have spoiled it for me. I'd rather use my imagination to figure out what happens, than have it dictated to me. I wish Nip/Tuck hadn't gone this route.