Tuesday October 31, 2006
3T5009
Liz's new gilfriend, Poppy, wants her to have cosmetic surgery. James makes Christian and Michelle help her steal another kidney. Sean offers consultation to Marlowe, who wants longer legs.
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Im sorry but.... this show has become almost complete thrash. Aftger 2 brilliant seasons we get... THIS?
Like, 5-6 a-class actors, actresses as guest stars every episode... that's cool. But maybe the writers should concencrate on writing good stories instead of just showchasing celebrities.
well, this episode wasn't like that but.... it was just as bad. Marlow (sp) is probably the worst character on the show so far. The thought of Julia and him sleeping together... wait... not just a thought. THEY FRIGGIN.... DID IT!
Julia is a hypocrite , but not only that, their relationship is just completetly out of character. It just makes no sense. Her dialouge with Sean at the end of the episode.. " I want to be honest. We're just friends ". Right. Don't say you want to be honest when you're not. Besides, Marlo is plain annoying. We get it, hes a midget, big woop. THat doesnt justify his complete thrash attitude towards... well, everyone but Julia. How annoying was he in the last episode when he kept questioning Christian and Sean?
Also in this episode: WTF. This kidney business is really happening? Oh boy, it's horrible. The only good part was probably Michelle letting "JR Ewing" die so she coud save Christian... Man, this episode is just continuing the trends of Season 4 which is not good. Heck, this has been going on since season 3. Characters are being watered down to a level where they just become annoying, and the stories are just annoying. BLAH.
Michelle: "I'm not a killer."
James: "No, but your hands aren't exactly squeaky clean are they?"
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Michelle proved that she really loves Christian, to the point of killing Burt to save Christian’s life. I was surprised how cold Michelle appeared as she watched Burt die right in front of her face. Her hands aren't clean at all. I knew Michelle was unhappy with their marriage, but I didn't realize until now how much she truly detested Burt. Can’t say I’m sad to see Burt go.
So Liz has finally given in and has decided to get plastic surgery at the demands of her new girlfriend. That's a surprise. I'm glad Liz has finally found someone, she certainly deserves to be happy, but Poppy just isn’t right for her. Her demanding obsession with beautifying Liz is too passive-aggressive, and as soon as she started insulting Liz during her operation that was the end of Poppy in my book. Liz needs someone that will love her the way she is and not try to turn her into something she's not.
James was deliciously evil as usual; although, we finally got to see a softer side of her this episode petrified at the hands of Asian thugs and harassed by Christian. I loved that Christian has finally decided to fight back against James. However, James had the upper hand this week; Christian barely survived his rendezvous with her call girl.
I liked Julia and Marlo's relationship better this episode, and I think Nip/Tuck is doing a good job exploring the handicapped side of our perfection-obsessed society. But seriously, Sean sleeps with the nanny and now Julia? What is this, Days of Our Lives?
Final Notes and Quotes
- Conner's finger screws looked painful.
- My one real complaint of the episode, why would Christian hire a hooker from a woman who just recently drugged him?
- I loved Liz blackmailing McNamara/Troy into giving her lipo, and the doctor's faces when she started growling, "I want the fat sucked out of me and I want it sucked out now!" were priceless.
- Marlo: "It's insane… but so is love you know."
Final Rating: Dark, dreary and full of delicious surprises. I loved this episode, so what the heck. 4 out of 4 stars.
- Tim Bronx
Find this and many more reviews at: www.motionpicturereviews.com
Girl Trouble
Written by Lyn Greene And Richard Levine
Directed by Richard Levine
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Poppy (re Liz): “See her for who she is but support her for the best she can be”.
Since when has anyone on this series ever done something like that? All the time on this show, the relationships we’ve seen have been built on a foundation of lies, withholding information, settling for second best or just a plain messed up power dynamic between lovers and now that Liz finally gets herself a girlfriend, even she is prey to a few of those examples.
This week, hell does seem to have frozen over as not only does our favourite anaesthesiologist Liz Cruz get an episode that is mostly dedicated her but she’s also getting some action without a major organ being snared from her. Already, there’s this nagging feeling in the back of my head that’s thinking “this is too good to be true” and sadly, to an extent, it kind of is.
For a woman who has spent over 40 years being opposed to every superficial procedures that halfwits like Kimber seem to depend on time and time again, I have to admit I’m disappointed that Liz herself would cave into the pressures of looking a certain way in order to hold onto a woman she’s been involved with for such a short period of time. Yes, Liz wants some lipo and work on her eyes all because she’s in love with a fellow anaesthesiologist named Poppy and although the barbs between her and Christian are hilarious, you still have to think – why?
In another case of stunt casting, singer/songwriter and occasional actress Alanis Morisette dons the role of Liz’s much younger, fitter and somewhat controlling lover Poppy, who not only validates Liz’s unnecessary surgeries but also has plans for Liz to run a marathon when she’s recovered from them too. In others words, Liz has hooked up with her own version of Gillian McKeith.
I have nothing against some of Poppy’s ideas as such – I mean reducing a caffeine intake and exercising more isn’t a bad thing and maybe something I might do one day but given the fact that Poppy doesn’t seem to be giving Liz a choice about how she takes care of her own body is what I do think is problematic. There’s nothing wrong in taking an interest in someone’s health, provided you’re not trying to control their every move but Poppy managed to quite out of line and she only appeared in three scenes in the entire episode.
Even the often controlling duo themselves Sean and Christian were taken aback by some of Poppy’s digs regarding Liz’s looks and weight during the surgeries (which she assisted with the lads) and if someone like Christian can be taken aback by someone like Poppy, then there’s something to take note of there. No matter how nasty Christian’s digs towards Liz can often be, this is at least the third time this season in which underneath everything, Christian really does care about Liz and also so does Sean. It’s great that these two guys do care for her so much because Liz does have a lot less people in her life than either Sean or Christian do.
Although Christian doesn’t particularly care for Poppy, aside from refusing to do more work on Liz, he more or less kept his mouth shut on how he really thought about the health obsessed anaesthesiologist. Sean on the other hand came very close to telling Liz how condescending and controlling Poppy really is but baulked when her obvious insecurity about her appearance reared their head in the recovery room.
I think to a degree, Liz is definitely aware that she might not measure up how someone like Poppy would want to be with but as Sean said, Liz is a loveable person who does deserve to be loved and when Poppy came into visit, I hated how she didn’t ask about Liz’s personal well being and discussed the idea of Liz getting more work done. If I were Liz, I’d tell Poppy to accept me for who I am or leave. If Poppy keeps pushing about Liz’s physical appearance, then eventually Liz will end up saying that.
If Liz baulked this week, then Christian, James and Michelle showed more assertiveness when it came to getting what they wanted. For Christian this meant showing lady pimp herself, James that he isn’t a man that she would want to make an enemy of. When she stops by and drugs him during a power game, Christian retaliates by putting medical waste in her car and getting one of her girls to help him forget about Michelle, when he isn’t trying to make her jealous. This also means listening to Christian hammer on about the size of his penis yet again. Big deal, so you’re well endowed. Michelle gets that, the audience gets that.
However James isn’t exactly someone you’d want to mess with either especially when she’s under pressure and desperate for more kidneys, that her drugging Christian was mainly an incentive to get Michelle to do her dirty work once again and sadly, Christian – sexist git that he is at times, is too much of weak spot that James has no trouble exploiting for her gain and although I’m not totally convinced of Christian/Michelle, I do think that Michelle must care about him to some degree.
Michelle was certainly horrified when James threatened Christian’s life and James did use another escort to bonk with Christian as an extra incentive for Michelle’s co-operation. Unlike a few people, I do actually think Sanaa Lathan is a decent enough actress but even I had a hard time dealing with the fact that she denied Burt his medication, had him fall down a flight of stairs in order to retrieve, die and then to top it all, Michelle stole his kidneys to save Christian’s bacon.
Also kind of despicable but on a much lesser scale was Marlowe. Not only is he sleeping with his employer’s wife but when Marlowe’s size poses a difficulty for him, he goes to see Sean about having a leg lengthening procedure. Come on, Marlowe that is kind of low. Still though it gives Sean an upper hand as not only does he use this particular consult to invalidate Marlowe’s opposition to Connor’s surgeries but there’s also an interesting moment where Sean looks like he’s almost privy to Marlowe and Julia’s affair after all. Given how obvious Marlowe and Julia behave around each other, you would think that Sean would have some kind of an idea, wouldn’t you?
The Sean/Julia is definitely the episode’s weakest storyline as not only do we have to listen to Sean’s desperately wanting to operate on Connor’s other hand, despite some negative reaction to the anaesthesia, he also blatantly tells Julia about the consult he had with Marlowe in which she goes over to Marlowe, manages to talk him out of the operation and then sleeps with him. Granted both Peter Dinklage and Joely Richardson are great actors but Marlowe and Julia are just too unconvincing as a couple and like I mentioned in my last review, the two of them work better as friends.
Julia then comes home later and tells Sean that she was at Marlowe’s and talked to him about the leg lengthening procedure and in some context she more or less started to confess to Sean that her and Marlowe are sleeping with each other. Sean, you’re in no real position to complain.
Also in “Liz Cruz”
Patients of the week: Besides Liz’s operations we saw a pretty graphic look at what a leg lengthening procedure would be like for Marlowe. Good thing Julia managed to talk him out of it.
Christian: “Can’t the two of you watch TV?”
Liz: ****
Sean (re Connor): “If he’s unhappy, he’s got his daddy and his doctor to complain to”.
The film Marlowe mentioned was Nine Suns. I kept mistaking it for Nine Songs.
James (to Christian): “You’ve been trying to show me whose boss for some time, haven’t you? Well now’s your chance”.
Michelle: “I’m not a killer”
James: “No but your hands aren’t exactly squeaky clean either”.
How did James manage to drug Christian without him noticing? It’s also interesting that she speaks both French and Chinese at the same time, though necessary for what we saw here of her.
Poppy (to Sean/Christian): “This is like Michelangelo and the David. We’re just whittling at anything that isn’t the true Liz”.
Liz (re Poppy): “You hate her”
Sean: “No I don’t”.
Chronology – I’m guessing at least two weeks since the brilliant “Connor McNamara”.
Michelle (re Burt): “It stopped being sweet the day you forced me to make love to another man in front of you. Whatever love I had for you died that day. You don’t do that to someone you love, you don that to something you own”.
Sean (re Marlowe): “Why?”
Julia: “He’s my friend; I wanted someone to talk to, to process things”.
Standout music: “Just The Way You Are” by Billy Joel.
As happy as I am that there was an episode with the title “Liz Cruz” in this wonderful season, I have to admit that this could’ve been a better episode and Liz’s lover Poppy could’ve been a much stable influence but hey, it’s advancing the James/Michelle plot, so it’s all disappointing.
Changing For Others *SPOILERS* hide show
Shakespeare got it right. In Hamlet, he wrote the line ‘to thine own self be true’ and it’s a good maxim. If you want to change, change for yourself. Do not change for other people. And that’s a lesson that both Liz and Sawyer need to learn in ‘Liz Cruz’ as both decide they want to change- but so other people can love them. Several plot strands begin to coalesce in this episode too, in an episode studded with beautiful little character moments- plus there’s another great performance by Jacqueline Bisset for added good measure.
Yes, James is back. However, we discover that she has a ‘boss’. And the boss isn’t happy that she hasn’t delivered her quota of kidneys. So two lackeys come to scare James and get her to pull her finger out. Well, being doused with petrol and threatened with a naked flame is a great incentive for some people. But as James is recovering from that ordeal, a lovelorn Christian calls her, wanting a girl to take away the pain he feels for Michelle. Christian has to wait nearly two hours for her, and when she turns up- it’s James! What follows is a brilliant scene, absolutely played to the hilt by both Bisset and Julian McMahon. And in a wonderfully wicked twist, James drugs Christian then calls Michelle- it’s a matter of life and death. Literally. James wants Michelle to remove Christian’s kidneys, killing him. Michelle says she won’t so James offers an alternative; if Michelle can get her a kidney in less than twenty-four hours, Christian won’t be the next one to be carved up. When Christian comes to, he gets Sean to check him out and discovers he’s been drugged. So for revenge, he fills James’ expensive new car full of medical waste- liposuctioned fat and rotten tissue. Quite disgusting. So James calls a truce and sends Christian a beautiful girl as a peace offering. Meanwhile, Michelle confronts a bed-ridden Burt with the truth about their relationship. Burt is ailing anyway and Michelle refuses to get his pills. In a completely cold-blooded move, she watches as Burt crawls on hands and knees to get his medication, but too late. And hey presto! Two birds, one stone: husband out of the way and a fresh kidney to be harvested. So the girl with Christian can take that razor blade out of her mouth now… A wonderful thread, played exquisitely by Bisset and McMahon; Larry Hagman gets a good final scene too. It’s just a shame that the writers have Michelle- and by extension, Sanaa Lathan- still bleating the same old tune. Hopefully now, with Burt out of the way, she can have something more to do than complain about her situation.
Speaking of complaining about their situation, night-nurse Sawyer and his affair with Julia moves to a different level. As Sean looks after baby Conor for a night, Sawyer is given the night off and decides to go see a movie. Julia comes along. As they queue for the film, people are staring at the height disparity between the two. During the film, the two of them kiss but Julia leaves, confused and upset. So, naturally, Sawyer seeks a solution- and goes to Sean to find out about a leg-lengthening procedure. Sean is, naturally, quick to ask questions since Sawyer vehemently opposed Conor’s surgery but when Sawyer tells him it’s because of a woman, Sean explains the procedure (accompanied by trademark graphic surgery sequences)- and my oh my doesn’t it look painful? But Sawyer, thinking this can make things fit between he and Julia, agrees to it. When Sean comes home to Julia and tells her what the night-nurse is up to, she goes to visit him and asks him not to go through with it. The two of them sleep together and Julia returns to Sean, who begins to suspect that something is up. Again, a wonderful thread, nicely observed (especially the consult between Sean and Sawyer) and again brilliantly played by Peter Dinklage.
The biggest surprise in this episode is whom Sean and Christian’s first consult is with: Liz. Deciding she wants a bit of work done, she asks the boys for some lipo and some work around the eyes. Surprised, since she’s always been opposed to cosmetic surgery, the boys find out that there is a woman involved. Liz has met a fellow anaesthesiologist called Poppy who is a healthy living and fitness fanatic and consequently she wants to feel better about herself. The opening consult is a classic scene full of antagonism between Liz and Christian, always nicely played out by the actors concerned. Canadian singer-songwriter and sometimes actress Alanis Morissette plays Poppy and she does it well. Sean seems a little surprised by Poppy’s quite unsympathetic treatment of Liz, which is nothing to the scathing criticism Poppy makes of Liz when she’s on the table and being operated on. Poppy suggests whilst Liz is under to make some more adjustments- to her arms, to her stomach, to other places that Liz didn’t specify. Both Sean and Christian disagree, saying it is Liz’s call- which Poppy doesn’t like. There is a beautiful scene between Liz and Sean as he tries to tell her about Poppy’s body fascism but can’t quite do it: wonderfully done by both Roma Maffia and Dylan Walsh. But as Poppy cuddles in, even Liz starts to look a little concerned when she hears mention of going back under the knife. Where will it go from here? Who knows.
Any episode that has Roma Maffia playing a major part is a good one for me and here she is great, absolutely ecstatic that she finally has a girlfriend (even if the scene where Liz introduces Poppy to Sean shows how intense her feelings are, bordering on the desperate) to the slightly wounded realization of the final scenes. All in all, one of my favourite episodes of the season so far.
More affairs, murders and attempted murders, and Liz still getting the short end of the stick... hide show
Julia, the hyprocite, also sleeps with a night nanny whose name starts with the letter "M".
Michelle basically murders Burt. Did she truly love him THAT much at one time, to now hate him THIS much?
And I don't think Liz will ever catch a break from the writers. How sad for her to get such a superficial girlfriend. Sure, there's nothing wrong with staying in shape, but there's also something called loving someone for who they are.
I loved seeing James squirm to someone after she has been all high and mighty with everyone else. I can't believe she almost had her girl kill or do whatever she was going to do to Christian. Wow!
I've read some reviews of people who hated this episode, but I really enjoyed it.
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