November 14, 2006: Conor McNamara, 2026
Well that was a nice change of pace. I've got to ask right away, though, did any of you get a
Back To The Future vibe? I kept waiting for them to call each other "McFly" or to have a senior-ized
Lea Thompson walk in or for Christian to ask Sean, "What are
you lookin' at, butthead?" Kidding, but yet not - the makeup reminded me of that classic flick. I kept thinking how unrealistic it was for Sean and Julia to not get Conor's other hand done. Why would Sean, so obsessed with his own childhood deformity, allow his son to only get one of his hands done? Yes, Hurricane Lenore caused a delay, but I found it hard to believe Sean would give up. That's why I was hoping to see Sean wake up at the end and say: "I dreamed that we decided not to get Conor's other hand fixed, and he chose to get it done 20 years from now." So that's really my only complaint.
What a treat it was to see young
Kelsey Lynn Batelaan get another chance to show some emotion as Annie and not get her usual throwaway line. I loved that Annie suggested she live with Sean, while Conor would live with Julia (especially since Sean felt he screwed up as a father). But as the ending indicated, and, if we are to believe the future scenes, that game plan never materialized.
I thought
Stark Sands was fantastic as the 2026 version of Conor. You could tell he was a product of Sean and Julia. Makes me want to see
Flags Of Our Fathers even more, since he's in it.
Jennifer Elise Cox was a riot as the 30-year-old version of Annie, and showed great dramatic range when Annie was arrested for stealing painkillers. Did any of you see Jennifer on Lifetime's
Lovespring International? She was absolutely hilarious each week, as was the entire cast, and I hope it gets a second season. Go
here for Matt Webb Mitovich's funny interview with Jennifer. But back to
Nip/Tuck. One of the funniest scenes was when Jennifer as Annie was talking on her phone at the restaurant, but it was via the phone chip installed in her ear. I also dug seeing the futuristic operating equipment during Conor's bloodless surgery.
According to my FX source, Conor's unseen but only heard therapist was played by actor
Bob McCracken. I kept thinking it was going to be revealed to be someone significant. Not sure why he was never shown or why Bob was uncredited (my source wouldn't tell me).
The future Christian cracked me up - his two young, foreign girlfriends looked like leftovers from a
Robert Palmer video. Interesting comment of Julia's, in reference to polygamy becoming legal: "You can get married to two women, but gays still can't get married in this country." Sean: "Gays should consider themselves lucky."
And how about Matt becoming a plastic surgeon? I guess the best part about that was that he seemed happy for a change and was friendly to both his fathers. And there was no indication of Scientology or Kimber in his life. Oh, and I liked that he looked nothing like the present day
Michael Jackson. How special for Conor, who could've said, "I'm being operated on by
Big Brother and
My Two Dads."
As for the present, it was good that Julia and Sean finally came to terms with the fact that their marriage was over. That being said, I was happy that Julia broke it off with Marlowe and admitted to loving him but not being
in love with him. Sean showed a rare tender side when he told Marlowe that he could come back for visits after Marlowe said he was really going to miss Conor.
I thought that having Julia leave town with Annie and Conor to live with her mother for a while in New York was an effective way for Julia to leave the show. As most of you know,
Joely Richardson asked to be released from her contract so that she could be with her 15-year-old daughter Daisy full-time while Daisy undergoes multiple surgeries on her leg due to a circulation problem. Kind of an ironic art-imitates-life situation - a child undergoing surgeries. As my pal Mary Murphy writes in our magazine this week, executive producer (and writer of tonight's episode)
Ryan Murphy (no relation to Mary) hopes Daisy has a swift recuperation. Ryan is writing a version of the Dec. 12 season finale that includes Joely; he also hopes to get her back next season. Yes, mark your calendars - that's when the last new episode of the season airs. Oh my, that's four weeks from now.
