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| Adelle Coffin | ||
| Original Airdate: September 30, 2003 | ||
| Story: Dell Chandler and Ryan Murphy | ||
| Writer: Dell Chandler | ||
| Director: Michael M. Robin | ||
| Adelle Coffin is a landmark episode.� The events that occur in this episode, their presentation and the aftermath deliver on what was promised early in the season.� Through great acting, we are fully entrenched in the action of this episode.� This is probably the best episode of the first season.� It is an episode that changes where the show is going. | ||
| To start, Christian reattaches several fingers of a man who sliced them off in a garbage disposal.� Liz realizes that Christian has attached the middle one where the pointer should be and vice versa.� She informs Sean, who substitutes.� This is a funny reminder of the significant difference between Christian's talent and Sean's.� Christian resents and is frustrated by it.� He feels like a little kid, even calling Sean "dad".� Sean bluntly reminds him that the patient's been under for four hours and he could correct it in two instead of an additional four. | ||
| This incident isn't random like the butt implant from the pilot.� After his mistake, Christian worries in the waiting room.� Sean and Christian are up for recertification and this incident significantly diminished his confidence.� Christian has always known that he is the showman whereas Sean is the talent in the practice.� Sean tries to cheer up Sean by reminding him that he is extremely proud of the practice they created from scratch.� The bond between these two men has lasted since Sean tutored Christian relentlessly until he passed and Sean's not giving up on him now. | ||
| Sean's resolve extends over to treating Megan.� Despite her doctor's lack of options, Sean wants to get a second opinion.� They discuss it again over dinner, but Megan gets sick and they leave early.� Although Sean tries to reassure her things will get better, she doesn't believe it.� As their car pulls up, she says that she doesn't want to die a slow painful death because of the cancer.� Sean says that that's all anyone could want.� Megan then tells him she will do more than hope for a peaceful death. | ||
| If one thing doesn't quite fit in this episode, it is Mrs. Grubman and her fianc�'s consultation.� Perhaps this is meant to be comic relief in a serious episode.� I never would have expected to hear Jerry Hardin (Deep Throat from "The X-Files") ask for a scrotal lift, and that image will be stuck in my head forever.� Mrs. Grubman wants a vaginal rejuvenation and to have both procedures free.� Although Christian argues the loophole, Mrs. Grubman reminds him of her lawsuit, which could be brought back with a phone call.� To insult him further, she asks that Sean perform her surgery because he is more talented. | ||
| When they sign in, we're told right away the importance of this exam.� In addition to certification itself, the entrance fee is non refundable and if they fail, they'll have to give up another week to retake the test.� They won't be able to practice during this time either.� At the welcome desk they run into Bobolit, still cocky, but hiding his meetings with Christian.� Sean brings up that Christian has been seeing Bobolit, but before they confess to anything, he clarifies by saying that he's seen his billboards.� Odd that there wasn't much follow up from last episode, but this episode's events were more pressing. | ||
| They have to operate on cadaver heads to prove their efficiency.� We don't see much of the first day aside from the sparse, white room and the eerie clicking of the hammers as several doctors perform rhinoplasty simultaneously.� The two have trouble immediately as their exam begins its second day.� Christian's pops out of its position.� Knowing that his head committed suicide, Sean engages with his subconscious via his head, the titular Coffin.� This feels a lot like the show "Six Feet Under", in which dead bodies talk to the characters and elaborate fantasies illustrate what the characters are thinking.� While it is indulgent, it's probably better dramatically than learning about Sean's medical knowledge of suicide through books or dialogue, which may be hard to transition. | ||
| Through this fantasy he sees Adelle as a bored old woman who died similarly to the way Megan wants to go, but wound up suffering immensely before because she did it wrong.� Her advice sounds more like something Sean would know as a doctor, which still works as opposed to an actual ghost recommending this.� However, she is far more mocking outside of this brief moment of compassion, which is representative of the way Sean picks on himself. | ||
| Christian isn't as talented as Sean is, but Sean's advice to practice turns out to be more practical than he thought.� Christian originally dismisses it since finding a practice head would be more difficult than in school. �However, through a chance article Liz found, he has an opportunity to practice on a homeless Jane Doe.� Sure, it's contrived, but on a show like Nip/Tuck, this is normal and fun. | ||
| The pivotal piece of this episode centers on Megan.� Without hope, she prepares to die on her own terms while Sean tries to convince her to live.� He had just met her, but he would have to let her go.� Her speech, comparing life to a trip to the carnival, was particularly moving.� While she wants to continue living, her life is more painful.� It's exhausting and tragic. | ||
| Sean agrees to help her, as we saw with the glass of milk hint before we saw his tear stained face during the "Rocket Man" sequence.� This scene holds up near perfectly.� Watching it for this review, I was caught in the emotion again.� Elton John's music fit exactly within this scene, but with the space analogy symbolizing death instead of isolation.� It's a shame that Julie Warner wasn't nominated for an Emmy.� Her powerful performance enhanced this episode.� Despite only being around for a few episodes, Megan's death became a turning point in the show, and she played a big part in that.� They utilized how her situation was out of control so we were fully involved in it. | ||
| Her death causes Sean to break down.� The following day at their exam Sean's subconscious gets the best of him.� Adelle is right when she says that the affair only made his pain worse since they had to part soon after meeting.� He could have gotten away with the affair, as it died with Megan, but he can't keep his grief private, nor deny Julia's request to attend Megan's funeral with him. | ||
| At the ceremony, Jim O'Hara, who Megan criticized for not wanting her to feel remorse for her condition, finally allows himself to cry.� Unfortunately, her death was what it took him to feel.� He never thought about how out of his control it was until that moment.� He thought by maintaining his composure he'd handle the situation.� Sean knew the situation was out of his control, but denied it for as long as he could. | ||
| What gives Sean away is the way he dispenses his part of her ashes in the sea.� The directorial queues intensify the emotions, as the ashes fall at different speeds for each of the three who attended. �Julia's dumping is done in real time.� Sean can't let go initially, but eventually does and the ashes scatter in slow motion.� Julia's expression as the camera cuts to her is interesting.� She is mad, but not furious, as if to save it until later.� The camera is tilted upward too, which shows Julia having the advantage in this situation. | ||
| When they come home, she confronts him about it and he tells the truth.� Julia certainly has every reason to be furious with him, but her lack of aggression makes this scene more intense.� Both of them cry so convincingly that it could've been that the actors were deeply immersed in the scene.� They finally come clean about how they've been feeling since the beginning of the show.� It's too bad for their sake that they couldn't have done this earlier, but for the audience, the pay off was worthwhile. | ||
| This episode is an emotional knockout that shows how successful the writers can be at delivering a conclusion to an arc while starting another.� Julie Warner, Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson are all exceptional and deepen this episode's impact.� Adelle Coffin was one of the episodes that had everyone talking and surprisingly, it's one of the least risqu� of this season, although suicide will always be a taboo subject.� When it's over and the audience has caught its breath, they can only ask, "Where do we go from here?" | ||
| Score: 10/10 | ||
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