(S07E03) "This is something I want to do. Something I probably should've done a long time ago." - Sean

Nip/Tuck's final season continued last night and the deep examination of Sean and Christian's relationship got fleshed out even further as the rift between the two of them continued to grow. These two are set on a collision course by the end of the season, though Sean seems to be doing everything in his power to just walk away.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Sean is the key to all McNamara/Troy's success and the closer he gets to reclaiming the life he always wanted, the more on edge Christian is becoming. The problem with that? Their conflict is starting to spill over into the lives of their loved ones.

Despite Christian's long-held beliefs that he's been instrumental in getting himself and Sean to where they are, if you really sit back and think about it... he isn't. What exactly has he contributed? Poor surgical skills? An ever-increasing mountain of debt? And an endless line of patients looking to get D-cups, thus creating the most stale and repetitive work environment imaginable? Without Sean, Christian is nothing and the bottom line is that he will not succeed on his own.

Fed up with his behavior, Sean is taking out all his anger in the wrong place -- Kimber. When she finally broke it off with him, Sean made it clear that the two of them "knew what this was about." He's not in it for love or even the apparently great sex. This was nothing more than a conduit for Sean to hurt the one person who's taken so much from him. Kimber's distance and brief obsession with Sean gave Christian time to reflect (granted, with a belt around his neck and penis in hand) and he finally came to the realization that Kimber always knew, yet could never follow through on -- he's no good for her.

Now, with the only man who Kimber has arguably ever loved rejecting her, she's left with nothing and has a life she doesn't know how live -- alone. So it wasn't shocking when she threw herself at Mike Hamoui on his yacht, only to be rejected again, and then throw herself right off the boat.

At this point, I'd be satisfied if this really was the end of Kimber's story on Nip/Tuck (from the sounds of it, she's a goner, lost at sea). From the pilot episode on (remember the lipstick?), Christian has done nothing but break her down and this moment was inevitable. Now, the only question is who the next victim will be? Julia and Matt have yet to make an appearance in these final episodes, but I'm guessing the two of them may be a bit more resilient to Sean and Christian's orbit of hatred.

A few more thoughts --

• Tate Donovan (Tom Shayes on Damages) directed this episode and I loved some of the shots he set up, especially the similarity of Joel Seabrook jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge and Kimber tossing herself off the yacht.
• I do hope we get to see Sean travel to Africa or at least do something worthy of his talents by the series finale.

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