(S07E01) "What are you gonna do when it all catches up with you?" - Sean

With only eight episodes left in Nip/Tuck's run, I know I'm not alone in hoping that Ryan Murphy and Co. have a solid plan for ending what's arguably been one the most groundbreaking shows of the past decade. Don't forget -- season one nabbed the Golden Globe for best drama. It's not that the show has become less buzzworthy since its stellar freshman year, but in some regards the plots in subsequent seasons have always felt like something far more important was being put off. While entertaining, stories like The Carver or the organ smuggling ring have really just been diversions. What happened in last night's season seven premiere was a long time coming and it sets in motion a conflict that's been simmering since Sean and Christian bought all those spiral hams in the pilot episode.

Last night's episode expertly plotted, both through present day actions and some excellent flashbacks, precisely why Sean has for so long had equal parts love and hate for Christian. Past indiscretions (mainly the affair with Julia and Matt's paternity) have been known for some time, but the revelation that their conflict goes back even before their days at med school was jaw-dropping.

Christian literally has, from day one, pressured and manipulated Sean to get exactly what he wants. He even went as far to plagiarize, word-for-word, Sean's term paper, thus ensuring that Sean would be stuck with Christian in Florida rather than his chosen school - Harvard. The peace offering? An introduction to Julia, which in retrospect, was anything but pure since she was more than likely sleeping with Christian plenty before she and Sean began.

The divorce of this partnership has been addressed before, but time and again, Christian always gets what he wants. Don't forget - Sean moved to California and Christian is the one who followed. Now that he's usurped that practice just like the one in Miami, Christian is spending money against Sean's name ever since he forged that loan last season. New recovery room, buying the Albert Poland award, etc.

A few more thought:

• I'm usually against the story about the patient du jour so closely mirroring what goes on with the main characters (it's one of the main reasons I gave up on Grey's Anatomy) but the story about Dan Daly reaching a milestone and wanting a fresh start was juxtaposed well against Sean reaching his own milestone -- 25 years with Christian.
• This episode was shot months ago well before the scandal, but how great was Christian's line about Tiger Woods? Knowing what we know now about Woods made Christian's comment far more appropriate and that obviously was not the initial intention.

So what happens next? The fallout obviously. While things never seem to work out for Sean (prime example being the attempt to join the mile high club here) it's probably a safe bet that he's going to try his damnedest to break away from Christian for good this time. Considering what they're gone through together, it seems like the most appropriate way to end the series. Anyone think otherwise?

[Watch clips and full episodes of Nip/Tuck over at SlashControl.]