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'Nip/Tuck' cast reacts to series finale
March 4, 2010 | 6:05 am

FX's “Nip/Tuck” ended Wednesday night with its 100th episode, which was filmed in Los Angeles in June. The Times, which had exclusive access to the set for the series finale, interviewed cast members about their thoughts on the final episode, which was written by creator Ryan Murphy and director John S. Scott.


Dylan Walsh

“Sean McNamara was always talking about how he wanted to do good. And the truth is that in the world of plastic surgery on “Nip/Tuck,” he wasn’t doing good. He wasn’t doing good for people. It turns out, he’s just part of the lessons that the show is constantly looking at. You’re not doing good for somebody necessarily by giving them plastic surgery. So in that regard it is good to finally send him off so he can do what he thinks is the righteous, good thing and to make some peace with his life. The only thing I would say is that to invent a new situation — Sean leaving to take care of this baby — I felt the finale should have been more about some closure with the things we’d already set up. It seemed like an odd thing to do.

You also ask yourself: How else would you end it? The two guys — there has been a love affair between two heterosexual men, which is what Ryan always said he wanted the show to be about. So then how do you split them up, and how and why? I do like that this season set up, from the beginning, you get a sense that Christian’s become the bad guy. He goes behind Sean’s back a few times. He forges some papers to get a loan. Various things. But in the end he does the good thing to give Sean the nudge that he needs to get out there and finally do what he’s been wanting to do. And I like that turn.

But it’s a show that week in and week out always had to deliver some shock and awe. And I think people tune in to see what bold thing are they going to do on “Nip/Tuck” tonight. And now you get to a finale where the expectation is so high to deliver yet more shock and more awe, and clearly Ryan wanted to go the other way with that and give a more subdued finish to it.”


Julian McMahon

“I know that some people felt like it was less than what you should do on “Nip/Tuck.” But I felt that it, in being a little less, meant it was different. I just didn’t think that was a bad way to go. You know, we’ve blown it out every show. What the hell do you do for a finale? Press the detonate button and blow up the TV screen? I don’t know. So, for it to be a little simpler and not so over-the-top and not so farcy, it was nice to be simple. In fact, I’ve always thought the show should have been simpler than it was. So, for me, it was nice to have it a little less than what we’ve been expanding upon for the last number of years.

“And what I really wanted to do in the shooting was settle everything down a lot. We’re used to characters expressing themselves and storming out of rooms or storming into rooms and then expressing themselves and blah, blah, blah. And I really tried as hard I could to make all of us settle down a little bit and sit in our stuff a little bit more. So with that you’ll get a very different show than what you’re used to, which I think is apropos.”


Joely Richardson

“I thought it was an absolute page-turner. What I liked about it is that its grown-up and reflective of these times. Right now, it’s quite grown-up times. I felt it hasn’t ended sensational. The ending is a mature ending. And I like that. It surprised us again by giving us something almost subtle.

We’ve done three or four of those dinner scenes around the table over the years, and it's always been my favorite bits to do. It started with the first season (and second season) and they were such wonderful seasons, and so exciting, and somehow as a cast member, it was really lovely to end with everyone around the table.”


John Hensley

“This is anticlimactic to me. I was craving for there to be some great twist. Those first two seasons, “Nip/Tuck” was quite successful at incorporating those. I was hoping to end on that note, and it just fizzles. It’s a distinct choice Ryan’s made, and I respect it. But I was so craving a twist. I was so let down to see Matt run off with Ava. By the time this episode rolls around, he’s been in prison, he’s murdered a man, he’s become the king of his cell block, let out early. The meth addiction, the Scientology. He’s got this great opportunity with someone who accepts him for who he is and he takes off with Ava and he’s like, “Here’s my baby,” and it’s not really explained.”


Kelly Carlson

“I found myself reading the script and getting a little pissed off that my child was going with Ava. I was a little mad. I was a little upset. It made me sick.”

“Kimber and Christian is like that syndrome where you attach yourself to the abuser, because they are so screwed up and they wish they could be with someone normal. It’s a great love story. It’s been so much fun playing because I feel we’re one of those couples on television that people won’t forget. “


Roma Maffia

“It went back to its Nip/Tuckism — the absurdity of the situations, but with the heart, the connection between seeing what they’re doing and why they’re doing it. Once we see why they’re doing it, we can’t separate ourselves from them. We can identify with them and it doesn’t seem as ‘out there.’ "

--Maria Elena Fernandez

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