Nip/Tuck - Season 6 Review

US Airdate: October 14th 2009 – March 3rd 2010

As the show enters it’s final season, both Sean and Christian are forced to put business above friendship and as Liz prepares for motherhood, Matt hooks up with the last person who should be around kids and Kimber meets an unfortunate ending while Julia occasionally pops up here and there.

Final Cut: They always say that it’s best for a television show to know where exactly to end and I can’t help but wonder if Nip/Tuck’s last year adheres to that rule or if it became a series that perhaps outstayed its welcome. Unwisely spanning the fifth season throughout the space of three years wasn’t the brightest of ideas on Ryan Murphy’s part and there’s something in particular about this season that heightens feelings of fatigue to be perfectly honest.

Hitting on the recession has become such a popular theme with most TV shows at the minute that it’s not entertaining to watch and nor have we heard anything new so watching both the business and Sean’s financial struggles throughout the season doesn’t make the kind of emotional dent that it might have done maybe a season ago to be brutally honest.

Also I can’t help but think that perhaps Ryan Murphy’s reduced running of this series (along with the previous year) may also come into how the quality from this series is noticeably all over the place. While he was off getting Glee off the ground, it seems that the writers were going through a myriad of different storylines that all had differing potentials but never really reached them.

First of all, there’s Teddy. Rose MacGowen replacing Katee Sackhoff in the role was fine – she works well with Dylan Walsh and the character’s still interesting but she’s also too short lived. Only lasting five episodes and then being killed by a random serial killer might have some poetic justice to Teddy but it’s a disappointing way to bump off a character that at least could’ve lasted a bit longer, especially given that this season was lacking in interesting villains.

And there’s the arrival of Sean’s younger brother, Brendan. He’s no sooner on the show, then he leaves again because Christian managed to successfully widen the gap between Sean and his brother during his own little drug spiral, which is another plot that’s poorly developed as well this year. We wait six seasons to see someone from Sean’s family and we barely get time to know the guy – bad move, writers.

Sean and Christian’s relationship is another sour point of this season too. Through thick and thin, we’ve always been left to believe that the two of them would still have a friendship by the time this show would end but every season has seemingly chipped away at it that by the time they both come to their seperate ways in the last ever episode – the show’s 100th, it’s actually a relief. I’m pretty sure that’s not the emotion I should be feeling about their friendship eroding but the show certainly ended their once interesting dynamic on a sad note.

As for Liz, well divorcing Christian was never going to be easy and while she failed to finally find someone to love her, she did at least get a baby out of the deal with Sean as well as becoming a partner in the business, so overall, Liz is probably the only person to have really benefitted from this ending.

Other people who didn’t benefit included Julia being married off to some random English guy but at least she managed to stop both Sean and Christian in their tracks from pursuing her for the umpteenth time and that’s doing much better than either Kimber or Matt to be honest. Julia really isn’t that much of a big deal this season and that’s probably one of the better things about this year.

However, I’m still not sure who got the worst deal – Kimber for marrying Christian again, becoming miserable, having an affair with Sean that was impossible to care about and ending it all off-screen or Matt, who decided to sabotage a good thing with Ramona so that he could be Ava’s whipping boy until she tires of him. That coupled with his complete ease at using Jenna to get back with Ava and that mind numbingly stupid storyline at the start of the year of him being a mime robber were more than enough to make me realise that Matt is still one of the worst TV characters ever written and that this series has had it’s day.

The last episode of the series isn’t horrible and there are some nice emotional beats but after six seasons and 100 episodes, the show more or less came to a whimper of an ending, rather than the bang that it should’ve ended with. It’s not that I’m against the finale being somewhat more subdued compared to the outlandish stuff the series has mostly given us but still, the ending was a major letdown. I can only hope that this isn’t a fate that visits Ryan Murphy again with Glee.

DVD EXTRAS: This show’s never been awash with plentiful extras and for a final DVD set, don’t expect much here. Apart from deleted scenes and blooper, the only other offering seems to be a feature on the psychology of plastic surgery and that’s really your lot.

EPISODE RATINGS

6x01: Don Hoberman = 7/10, 6x02: Enigma = 7/10,
6x03: Briggitte Reinholt = 8/10, 6x04: Jenny Juggs = 8/10,
6x05: Abigail Sullivan = 6/10, 6x06: Alexis Stone = 8/10,
6x07: Alexis Stone 2 = 7/10, 6x08: Lola Wlodkowski = 9/10,
6x09: Benny Nilsson = 7/10, 6x10: Wesley Clovis = 7/10,
6x11: Dan Daly = 8/10, 6x12: Willow Banks = 7/10,
6x13: Joel Seabrook = 9/10, 6x14: Sheila Carlton = 8/10,
6x15: Virginia Hayes = 7/10, 6x16: Dr. Griffin = 7/10,
6x17: Christian Troy 2 = 8/10, 6x18: Walter And Edith Krieger = 7/10,
6x19: Hiro Yoshimura = 6/10.

Season 6 is currently available on DVD.

Look To The Stars

The last few days since the final five were announced for Big Brother have been interesting enough. Maybe not as exciting as what we've previously seen but credit to the show for trying to keep us entertained until tonight's winner is announced and Ultimate Big Brother takes off. I think at this point in the series, we've seen enough of Mario's meat and two veg but at least he's determined to be entertaining in the final throes of all this and his conversations with Andrew are better than Josie lamenting about John James or Dave's open dismissal of evolution when JJ tried to bring it up. Some of the highlights have been good - Andrew being the ultimate yes man and the perfect day as well. At this point, it doesn't matter who actually wins the show because in some ways, it seems clear that the show wants a Josie victory and she's the only one I could see fitting in with past housemates and celebs for Ultimate Big Brother as well.

In a lot of ways, I am glad that Mistresses is coming to an end because this dour as hell third season is testing my patience. I don't expect laughs a minute but it would be nice for at least one of these girls to crack a fecking smile. However, this episode just saw everything getting worse - Richard confessed to Trudi he loved someone else and died before trying to stop Katie from leaving. Siobhan apparently can't go on a date with a nice photograph because Dominic seems incapable of giving her the right message (which in turns is making me sympethetic with dippy Alice) and Jessica finds out that Mark borrowed money from Siobhan, kicked him out and then realised she was pregnant. I'm not having much hope for this final episode and you know something is wrong when Joanna Lumley herself is adding nothing of interest to the series.

Speaking of disappointments, it's a shame that after six seasons and 100 episodes that Nip/Tuck too has ended on such a low note. Maybe I've been spoiled with finales to the likes of Lost and Ashes To Ashes this year but I expected more from Nip/Tuck. Matt using his own child to get Ava to run away with him was horrid to watch and after all these years, you know there's something terrible about Sean and Christian's friendship when the best thing for it was for them to go their seperate ways. Still, I did like the last supper between most of the characters as well as Liz being made a partner in the business but for me, this was an extremely disappointing last ever episode.

Nine seasons in and it took Smallville this long to do an episode mostly based at a sci-fi convention? Ah well, it was mainly background anyways as well as another excuse to get Lois into a skimpy costume (like this show needs any) but it was also a good one for Chloe and the freak of the week who was a kid that became a superhero and then a monster as well. The stuff with Clark and Zatanna had more of a punch to it than the latter's previous appearance but overall, it's not the most engaging episode we've had this season.

I have to admit that I'm still mixed about The Vampire Diaries. It's enjoyable enough but I swear if I have to listen to Stefan wax lyrical about wanting to protect Elena, I'll start up a drinking game. Here's a tip - how about telling the girl that you're a vampire, Stefan and that your brother is nuts. Damon finally got a lot more interesting this week when he killed that jerk of a football coach, which was a nice way of showing us that he can be dangerous, rather than just implying it. Bonnie's still the best character on this show though and I want to learn more about her witchy ancestors more than I want see the Stefan/Elena/Damon triangle. Also the football related stuff in the episode held no interest for me.

The X Factor and it's hyperbole will be the source of media coverage for the next four months and one can only hope that a decent winner with a decent song can be picked this year. As first episodes went, Geri Halliwell really proved a lot, didn't she? She proved that a) citing that you're the one to discover Cheryl Cole does not make you interesting and b) that she can bloody talk. It also didn't help that her judging skills left nothing to be desired as well. I can only hope that Natalie Imbruglia, Pixie Lott, Nicole Scherzinger and Katy Perry are much better. As for some of the acts, if I never hear of Shirlena again, it won't be a moment too soon. As for the auto-tuning scandal, nothing surprises me anymore.

- John Glover will be reprising his role as Lionel Luthor in Smallville this year. Here's hoping that Michael Rosenbaum agrees to appear as well.

- True Blood's second season will air on Channel 4 from September 16th.

- James Remar will be appearing in the upcoming season of Private Practice. His character will have a connection with Pete.

- James Masters will be starring in a series for SyFy called Three Inches, playing Troy, a leader of unlikely superheroes. He's also in the 200th episode of Smallville.

- Jennifer Aniston will be appearing as a therapist in the second season of Cougar Town.

The She Devil Returns

The only other time I'll discuss this show and you've got to wonder about the power of same sex snogging for sweeps episodes in America. Except isn't it usually a heterosexual female character making out with another girl for ratings? Oddly, Gossip Girl decided to have the avowedly straight Chuck Bass make out with a guy in order to benefit Blair's insane attempts to become queen bee at university. Okay, the snog scene is pretty brief and there was interesting moment where Chuck alluded to the fact that he's had some past experience with men but given that Ed Westwick seems to whisper everything he says, it took me a while to make it out. As for the rest of the episode, I'm sure something happened but it wasn't interesting enough for me to pay attention to it.

After last week's triumphant first part of the Justice League saga, I thought Smallville was on fire in spite of the icy villain we got here. The second part was actually as solid as the previous one and I'm liking the plot involving Checkmate and Pam Grier's Amanda Waller. We've been lacking a decent villainess for a while now and Wallers has the potential to be a lethal force as well and it's nice that the ninth season isn't solely relying on Zod for obstacles with Clark stepping up to the hero template. However, I wasn't remotely shocked to see Tess being a part of Checkmate, though at this rate she's still veering between good and evil without picking a side. Also if Doctor Fate's words are anything to go by, can we hope that a) Lex isn't dead and b) that Michael Rosenbaum at some point will reappear in the series?

As Nip/Tuck continues to reach the end (last episode in two days, people), it seems that returning Ava is the way to go. Since Teddy met her end with a serial killer, the sixth season hasn't had any villains and Ava's probably the biggest success story the show's had on that front. Famke Janssen has barely changed that much since her last appearance and Ava certainly can tug all the strings going. She nearly got Sean to operate on her disease laden baby and even managed to manipulate Matt into bed and away from his own wedding. I do hope that she's more interesting in the last episode as well. As for Julia, um, yawn. I hated watching both Sean and Christian professing their love for her because she was getting married. At least she had the sense to tell them where to go on that one.

Okay, I am giving The Vampire Diaries a reasonable chance here but I am still being fairly hot and cold with it. Neither Damon nor Stefan are emerging as anything beyond caricatures and no offence to Ian Somerhalder, but I just don't find him remotely threatening/dangerous as Damon and the voice over stuff with Stefan and Elena was something I could've done without. Luckily though, there's a lot I do like. Elena's brother isn't that bad, Aunt Jenny is actually more likeable than expected, Bonnie's the most interesting character on the show, Matt's sympathetic and rightly suspicious of Stefan and the ending with Damon biting into Caroline was pretty effective. Still not a threat to True Blood however.

- Denis O'Hare has revealed that Russell will revert to Pagan way in the final four episodes of True Blood but that his storyline will not be wrapped up. Expect to see him next season then.
- David Tennant's abandoned pilot, Rex Is Not Your Lawyer has had a clip of it leaked online. I'll reveal it in the next blog.

- Greg Berlanti has revealed that his new series, No Ordinary Family will feature gay characters in it. The series debuts on ABC in September.

- Five actors have already been cast for Alan Ball's new pilot for HBO, All Signs Of Death, based on the novel by Charles Hueston. These include Mercedes Masohn, Ron Yuan, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and and Kelsey Ford as well as previously casted Ben Whishaw and Clayne Crawford.

- ABC are developing their own version of Spooks. Given that they fucked up Life On Mars, you have wonder why they'd bother.

Tuesday, I'll cover Big Brother, Misfits, Mistresses, The Good Wife and Ugly Betty.

Absolute Justice Y'all

Another week in the Big Brother house and this time, they went all a bit Dickens. Plus points to Corin for actually trying to get into her Scrooge character but minus ones to John James who decided to quit his Mrs Havensham part of the task, simply because he couldn't bear to be stuck in a room with Rachel for a whole day. Rather her than some other people in this house's. Mario's magic routine wasn't the best bit we saw out of this task either but at least he got into the spirit of things and that's better than Josie vs. Sam, which dominated the first half of the week. Also, isn't it hyporcritical of Dave to moan about Mario putting him up for eviction during the Save And Replace task when he nominated Mario himself? Seriously, Dave change the record already. Unfortunately though, we're stuck with him for another week because despite both Dave and John James acting like morons, it was Rachel who got the boot. I really don't understand the mentality of people who vote sometimes.

Misfits took something of a dark turn this week. It was only a matter of time before Sally would get her evidence about Tony's death but even I thought things wouldn't go down like this. Are the writers setting Simon up to become a future threat because I can't see how he can come back from killing Sally? Yes, she used him and sure as hell didn't mind smacking his head off a mirror to get away from him but you have to feel bad for her a little though. Simon's always been a bit creepy and now he's a murderer. At least with Kelly it had been self defence but Simon wasn't going to let Sally escape, was he? Luckily though, there were some lighter moments in the episode such as Curtis's various attempts to break up with Samantha (quoting Spiderman did the trick) and realising that him and Alisha were getting serious as a couple. Oddly, the best moments of the episodes were with Nathan being manipulated by a baby and then spending time with Kelly. Not sure I want to see them as a couple but it was nice to see him acting like less of a prick in the latter of the episode than usual. I hope the finale is just as good as this one.

In terms of guilty pleasure, do I have to class Mistresses as one? Okay, so like the shows it's obviously influenced from (Sex And The City, Desperate Housewives), it's unlikely to win prizes for gritty realism but funnily for a show about adultery, it does heavily focus on the negative aspects of it. Katie being the classic example. In the space of the first two series, her adultery has cost her employment and a relationship and going by the growing closeness to the bland Richard in the opening episode here, it's likely that her friendship with Trudi will be shattered as well. I didn't need her mother, Vivienne (played by Joanna Lumley) to drill that home and this whole episode seemed to go out of it's way to show the signs of the core friendships shattering. Siobhan will most likely incur Jessica's wrath when it slips out that she lent Mark money for IVF and will anyone of them forgive Katie for going after Richard? Ending the series after three years isn't a bad idea and this opening episode was decent enough but I was hoping for something a little less gloomy to be honest.

For the next few blogs, I will talk about the final few episodes of Nip/Tuck. The show is clearly winding down and this episode drilled it home. Plastic surgery is so 2004, according to Joan Rivers, who appeared in Christian's dreams here and injectibles are the way to go. Sadly, Christian also had to go to painstaking lengths to prove a point about the relevance of a face lift and even used YouTube for popularity. Of course, it went wrong and him and Sean seem to be on the outs yet again. The dream sequence stuff was interesting - the appearances of Kimber and Christian's father having the most effect but after six seasons, can this show please give Liz a love interest? We got close with Danielle this week and she went back to her husband. Even Kurt on Glee has shown more progress in one year than Liz has in this show's duration.

Breaking news - Smallville pulled off an exciting episode. A really exciting one. Okay, it's the first of a two part story but the Justice League? Bring it on! I know a few of them are embittered and the like (especially with Oliver getting attacked by one of them) but this is definitely a masterstroke for the series and the final five minutes of the episode are wonderful. I really hope that the second part lives up to the great set up here.

After months of giving it a short shrift, I decided to actually watch The Vampire Diaries. I'm not gonna lie - it won't give True Blood a run for it's money any time soon but it's certainly less annoying than the Twilight franchise. The story is fairly predictable. Two sparring vampire brothers, nice but boring Stefan and bad boy cliche Damon have the hots for student Elena, who lost her parents recently and happens to look like a woman that both brothers loved and lost centuries ago. In terms of the characters, the brothers need improving on, Elena's not that bad but her seemingly psychic mate Bonnie is somewhat more interesting along with the mystery uncle of Stefan. The rest of the characters didn't really do much for me to care but I will watch further episodes and give this show a genuine chance to shine.

How About Not Keeping It In The Family, Guys?

It's been a while since I've really watched Nip/Tuck and FXUK pulling from the schedules certainly didn't help matter so I'm thankful for TG4 for airing the latter half of Season 6 instead. Not that the season has been a massive improvement. Christian and Kimber's train wreck of a relationship saw them getting married, Kimber shagging Sean behind Christian's back and eventually Kimber doing herself in when Christian dumped (not because of Sean, that's something he's clueless about). The episode after her death introduced Kimber's mother, Brandee played by Melanie Griffiths and of course, Christian had to sleep with her. With five episodes left until the finale, it's almost reassuring to see some things don't change. Almost.

Yup, I got sucked into watching Big Brother 11 on Thursday and Friday and I'm actually glad that I did watch them. Mainly because Rachael after a week of whinging was finally out of the house. I know John James was a jerk about the 'Nuts magazine' comments but he wasn't exactly wrong either. It's high time some of these contestants realise that after a few weeks of magazine coverage, they're all heading back to obscurity. Only Katie Price can be in the public eye for no reason whatsoever nowadays.

Oh, Stephen Fry. I'm sometimes amused by your tweets, I like your documentaries and I'm partial to a bit of QI whenever I remember that it's on TV but wasn't your comments about Doctor Who and Merlin a little harsh? As Stephen Moffat pointed out, the former is definitely a family show (then again, so is the latter) and while the BBC should promote other dramas as heavily as both thosw shows get promoted, your comments were misplaced. Besides that sort of snobbery should be aimed at Britain's Got Talent to be honest.

Speaking of Doctor Who, who had the more controversial comments in Radio Times this week - Karen Gillan for her standpoint on feminism or Christopher Eccleston for spilling the beans (sort of) on his experiences with the series? Eccleston's comments did come in promotion with the arrival of Lennon Naked (Wednesday, 9.30pm, BBC4) but it's interesting that during the course of the interview, he never specified who he had specific grievances with. It'll be interesting if anything further materialises from those comments.

For Shows I Don't Review On An Episode Basis

It's been nearly three weeks since I've actually blogged on TV Tome and I think I'm beginning to lose the will to want to as well, so maybe every once a fortnight (or a week), I'll use this blog to talk about shows I either don't or no longer review episode wise.

Glee has become the must see TV show so far this year. You can't move for the amount of hype it's generated and it seems to be on five days a week (Wednesdays/Fridays on TV3/3E or Monday/Thursdays/Sundays on E4/C4). Following episodes have had some fun moments, especially the absolutely hysterical version of Push It (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNdght8qDQg). Sue's turning out to be one of the most quotable characters on television and Terri is nuts.

Heroes has had the misfortune to be shunted into a Saturday BBc2 timeslot and while the show's best days are definitely behind them, this season's been a little bit of an improvement on previous years. Danko's gone for one thing, Hiro's storyline isn't boring me to tears, Claire's kind of fun and the carny folk are interesting. The back and forth with Sylar and Matt is grating a little. Given that we know Nathan is pernamently dead, it might be nice to get that out of the way already.

I stopped reviewing Desperate Housewives this year, mainly because I didn't have the time and like another show, I had fallen out of love reviewing it weekly. Season 6 has been a lot better than previous seasons, I don't deny that but while crazy Katherine is amusing in it's own right, I hate that Susan still acts like a teenager, that Bree doesn't woman up and toss Orson out, that we're lumbered with Lynette being pregnant yet. On the plus side, Gabby vs. Ana is less predictable than expected and the Bolens are a step up from Dave.

Secret Diary Of A Call Girl - Up until the point of Brooke Magnati revealing herself as the real Belle du Jour, Billie Piper did mention that some people saw her as the face of prostitution. Bit of an overexaggeration there but Thursday's double bill was a decent romp (pun intended) but if Belle is so determined to keep her profession a secret, why would she take her sister to a sex club? I'm also not really sure what to make of Duncan either. He could be a nice guy but he comes across as a little sleazy.

I love Skins and I was looking forward to the opening episode but I have to admit that I found this deeply underwhelming. Yes, it was hight time we needed a look into Thomas's background and a look into the way he viewed UK attitudes and the like but this didn't grab me as much as it could've. The acting was fine and the dead girl in the beginning did set up a tense mood and I'll be happy if someone punched Cook in every episode but they should've opened with a lighter episode. And I didn't see Naomi being the one responsible for selling Sophia the drugs, though I probably should've.

I had given up on Nip/Tuck and to be fair, Season 6 hasn't exactly been the starting of a satisfying wrap to the series. Christian and Liz divorced with as much bad feeling as the writers could muster, Matt used mime to rob stores (and got shot, pity the store clerk didn't aim for his stupid head. Teddy's sociopathic tendencies have been slightly better but even her arc is now coming to an end, following her failed attempt of bumping Sean off. I hope the remainder of this season is better.

- Ugly Betty's been cancelled after four seasons. Too bad because it was improving in my opinion.
- Julie Benz and John Barrowman are appearing in Desperate Housewives this season. The former is playing a stripper and the latter a villain, connected to the Bolens.
- Bill Nighy will be guest starring in Doctor Who. He'll appear in the Van Gogh episode as an enthusiast of the famous painter.
- A love interest is being cast for Mercedes for the second season of Glee.
- Matthew Graham has promised a "beautiful" ending for the final seaon of Ashes To Ashes.
- Lost Season 6 will air Fridays at 9pm on Sky1, starting February 5th.
- True Blood Season 2 airs on FXUK from February 26th at 10pm with Season 3 set to start on HBO in June.

Nip/Tuck - Season 6 Promotional Photos

Wow, another day, another new show and the sixth and final season of Nip/Tuck gets underway this month. Hopefully after the seriously disappointing fifth season, improvement will reign supreme.

Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) looks on. Will he realise his new woman is another loony?

Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) the serial womaniser. Will marriage sate him?

More typical shots of the guys with a model. Cute but we've seen them before.

Season 6 will contain 19 episodes, with the 100th episode marking the series finale. All of the season has already been filmed and Rose MacGowen will be taking from Katee Sackhoff as the deranged Teddy. Famke Janssen is back as Ava Moore too.

Season 6 airs Wednesdays at 10pm from October 14th on FXUS. Season 5 (remaining eight episodes) airs on FXUK from Wednesday, November 18th at 10pm.

Trailers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gew2FQBJkmo and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB_jLs15MfU&feature=related

Nip/Tuck - Seasons 1-5

Season 1 Overview

An impressive debut season, though at first I wasn’t sure that this would be the kind of series I would watch regularly. The idea of a series revolving around two plastic surgeons wasn’t something that screamed out to be at first but the writing was stellar, the cases were touching and at the time, the love triangle between Sean/Christian/Julia at the time was intriguing, even though the paternity of Matt certainly changed things. Characters like Liz, Gina and even Kimber added something to the first year as did the villainous Escobar Gallardo.

Episode Ratings

1x01: Pilot = 8/10, 1x02: Mandi/Randi =7/10,
1x03: Nanette Babcock = 8/10, 1x04: Sophia Lopez = 8/10,
1x05: Kurt Dempsey = 9/10, 1x06: Megan O’Hara =10/10,
1x07: Cliff Mantegna =7/10, 1x08: Cara Fitzgerald = 9/10,
1x09: Sophia Lopez Part 2 =8/10, 1x10: Adelle Coffin = 10/10,
1x11: Montana/Sassy/Justice = 7/10, 1x12: Antonia Ramos = 8/10,
1x13: Escobar Gallardo =8/10.

Season 2 Overview

One of many shows that go to prove how brilliant second seasons can be. Sean and Christian very nearly decimated their own business when it was revealed that Matt was actually the latter’s. Julia’s marriage fell to pieces and the manipulative Ava virtually rang rings around everyone (though we really could’ve done with her relationship with Matt and her unhinged kid, Adrian). Plus, this also debuted the Carver and he became a signature villain in the third season. Gina also had Wilbur taken off her, Liz had an abortion and Kimber ventured into the porn industry.

Episode Ratings

2x01: Erica Noughton =8/10, 2x02: Christian Troy =6/10,
2x03: Manya Mabika =9/10, 2x04: Mrs Grubman =8/10,
2x05: Joel Gideon =7/10, 2x06: Bobbi Broderick =8/10,
2x07: Naomi Gaines =9/10, 2x08: Agatha Ripp =10/10,
2x09: Rose And Raven Rosenberg =8/10, 2x10: Kimber Henry =7/10,
2x11: Natasha Charles = 8/10, 2x12: Julia McNamara =10/10,
2x13: Oona Wentworth =7/10, 2x14: Trudy Nye =8/10,
2x15: Sean McNamara =9/10, 2x16: Joan Rivers =9/10.

Season 3 Overview

By far, one of two of the less engaging of the first five seasons, the third year had some hit and miss qualities. The Carver storyline which was ripe for potential was sort of dragged out and the reveal of it being bisexual Quentin wasn’t exactly a shock to the system. Then again, we did have Liz being underused, Julia and Gina’s business in De La Mer being short lived, Matt dating a racist, Sean and Christian briefly separating and Julia getting pregnant again.

Episode Ratings

3x01: Momma Boone =9/10, 3x02: Kiki =8/10,
3x03: Derek, Alex And Gary = 8/10, 3x04: Rhea Reynolds =9/10,
3x05: Granville Trapp =9/10, 3x06: Frankenlaura =7/10,
3x07: Ben White =6/10, 3x08: Tommy Bolton =8/10,
3x09: Hannah Tedesco =9/10, 3x10: Madison Berg =10/10,
3x11: Abby Mays =8/10, 3x12: Sal Perri =7/10,
3x13: Joy Kringle =8/10, 3x14: Cherry Peck =9/10,
3x15: Quentin Costa =9/10.

Season 4 Overview

Okay, now this was definitely better. I personally enjoyed former call girl Michelle hooking up with Christian, I enjoyed the organ harvesting plot. James made for a good female villain, while Escobar got bumped off by his own wife. Again we did have to endure Sean and Julia breaking up but the plot involving Connor was engaging and at least the writers made some effort to explore Liz’s love life. Matt and Kimber’s union was definitely something else that I didn’t expect to see on the show.

Episode Ratings

4x01: Cindy Plumb =9/10, 4x02: Blu Mondae =7/10,
4x03: Monica Wilder =8/10, 4x04: Shari Noble =10/10,
4x05: Dawn Budge =8/10, 4x06: Faith Wolper =9/10,
4x07: Burt Landau =6/10, 4x08: Connor McNamara =10/10,
4x09: Liz Cruz =7/10, 4x10: Merrill Bobolit =9/10,
4x11: Connor McNamara 2026 =10/10, 4x12: Diana Lubey =7/10,
4x13: Reefer =7/10, 4x14: Willy Ward =9/10,
4x15: Galla Gallardo =9/10.

Season 5 Overview

By far, the weakest season of the five, the move to LA should’ve heightened the show but it didn’t. Eden sucked as a villain, Julia/Olivia’s relationship was over too quickly, Christian’s competitiveness with Sean got tiring and I wasn’t best pleased with him and Liz hooking up (though the cancer plot and Gina’s death had their moments). Sean also attracted two psychos in both Colleen and Theodora as well while Kimber got back into porn and Matt just annoyed me a great many times in the season.

Episode Rating

5x01: Carly Summers =9/10, 5x02: Joyce And Sharon Monroe =8/10,
5x03: Everett Poe =8/10, 5x04: Dawn Budge Part 2 =7/10,
5x05: Chaz Darling =7/10, 5x06: Damien Sands =8/10,
5x07: Dr Joshua Lee =9/10, 5x08: Duke Collins =8/10,
5x09: Rachel Ben Natan = 6/10, 5x10: Magda And Jeff =10/10,
5x11: Kyle Ainge =9/10, 5x12: Lulu Grandiron =7/10,
5x13: August Waldon =8/10, 5x14: Candy Richards =7/10,
5x15: Ronnie Chase =7/10, 5x16: Gene Shelly =7/10,
5x17: Roxy St. James =6/10, 5x18: Ricky Wells =8/10,
5x19: Manny Skerritt =9/10, 5x20: Budi Sabri =8/10,
5x21: Allegra Caldarello =8/10,
5x22: Giselle Blaylock And Legend Chandler = 7/10.

All episode reviews can be found on both my TV TOME page and SHAWNLUNN2002TVHITS, both of which are linked on this blog.

Cutting As Deep As You Desire - Why I Love Nip/Tuck

The Carver (to Sean): “Beauty is a curse upon the world” – Sean McNamara.

Slice, dice and all that stuff, plastic surgery has been something of a limited viewpoint for me. I may never look like a Hollywood star but getting under the knife even to alter some of my blemishes would never be a major desire of mine. I can’t even stand going to the dentist, never mind the notion of ever willingly altering a part of my body for no real reason.

That should also mean that when it came to watching a TV show, one about plastic surgeons wouldn’t exactly be up my street. I needed little to no persuading when it came to watching a programme about undertakers in Six Feet Under but something about Nip/Tuck I needed convincing.

I guess pairing it alongside with Angel’s fifth season upon its debut on Sky One in January 2004 was a good way of getting to stay with that station for an extra hour but even then the pilot episode had me mixed. I absolutely hated the first sex scene between Christian and Kimber and it’s partly because of their first time, I have been able to ship them as a couple. That and the fact that with Kimber, Christian really is at his worst.

Thankfully that was the only thing about the first ever episode that bugged me because the reasons for actually getting suckered into the show came with the great rapport between lead surgeons Sean McNamara and Christian Troy. Excellently played by both Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon, creator Ryan Murphy hasn’t been shy in mentioning that the show has a love story between two straight men. In the show’s fourth season, the writers teased the notion of perhaps Christian having sexual feelings for Sean, even going as far as having a dream sequence where the two nearly kissed.

Of course the double standard of Nip/Tuck is that plenty of straight women can make out with each other (Julia/Ava, Kimber/Kit, and Michelle/James) but the same thing can’t necessarily happen with two straight guys. Nip/Tuck is one of those shows where just about anything can happen and in the course of the four seasons that have aired so far (as well as the upcoming fifth and possibly final season), this show has had more outlandish cases that would give the likes of ER, Scrubs, House and Grey’s Anatomy an aneurism.

The first episode had a paedophile change his entire face but the second one dealt with twins who didn’t want to look like each other while an episode had a character called Kurt Dempsey asking the doctors to make his eyes look Oriental in an attempt to appeal to his bride’s parents while a vicious drug lord named Escobar Gallardo had women using their breasts as a safety place for drugs and Sean and Christian unwillingly complying with this.

The show’s second and third seasons almost upped the wackiness with surgery addict Mrs Grubman causing the boys some hell and even Kimber getting her own surgery in aid of her sex doll while a patient named Ben White wanted Christian to remove his foot. Heck in the fourth season episode “Blu Mondae” we had a pole dancer getting her breasts reduced for business and a woman who had a nipple bitten off when she tried to seduce her own dog in “Shari Noble”. Other shows might balk at this kind of a thing but Nip/Tuck seems to embrace these plots without a bother.

They might be ridiculous but both writers and actors have admitted some of their more ludicrous plots are based in reality. After all it was heavily published two years ago about a woman getting a face transplant before Nip/Tuck tackled the thorny issue in the episode “Hannah Tedesco”. The outcome in both real life and fiction were inevitably different but the show’s attempts of making viewers along with shocking and grossing audiences out is to be credited.

Under any other writer, this would be strictly a series where both violence, underlying layers of sexism and homophobia would be its default but there’s something about Ryan Murphy’s prose that shows there is some substance behind.
In terms of the gay stuff, this show does lack that.

Unlike the fantastic (and realistic) depiction of gay characters in programmes such as Six Feet Under or Brothers And Sisters, the only gay character on this show is Roma Maffia’s cute anaesthesiologist Liz Cruz who despite being one of the series’ most sympathetic and level headed character, she hasn’t been one of the show’s most fortunate in love.

In the first season she had a brief fling with transsexual Sophia but this was something out of mutual loneliness as opposed to love, something which Liz was only too happy to tell Sophia while in the fourth season, a chance encounter with a mysterious beauty in a gay bar with Christian lead to Liz losing a kidney and then there was Poppy, the kind of insecure control freak girlfriend who’ll put you through rigorous surgery due to their own hang ups rather than yours.

Whatever misfortunate Liz has experienced in love, at least she’s been aware enough to back out (dumping Poppy for instance) and she is far from the only character that’s suffered in love. In fact aside from the kidney debacle, it could be argued that she got off lightly.

Sean’s been married to Julia for nearly twenty years but cracks were there since the first episode and as soon as a paternity test revealed that oldest son Matt was in fact Christian’s, Sean and Julia’s marriage was over in the second season. Then a one night stand in Season Three had Julia pregnant and Sean only too happy to reunite with her until the opening episode of Season Four revealed that their unborn son had Ectrodactily and as soon as Connor was born both of them were at loggerheads over how to deal with their son’s disability.

Sean wanted to do surgery but Julia didn’t and a set of mutual flings with other people, both of them conceded their marriage was over for a second time. Watching Sean and Julia can be exhausting. There’s great chemistry between both Dylan Walsh and Joely Richardson that make them incredibly believable as a pair who love each other but the reality is that Sean and Julia are certainly better off with each other. This got proved in the third season when Julia had to depend on herself and went into business with Gina and Liz and had the De La Mer spa. It’s a pity that Season Four destroyed that story when you think about it.

Christian hasn’t had much fun either. For a guy who’ll bang anything (female) with a pulse, there are some relationships only a total masochist would enter into and Christian must be one of those. There’s Gina, the one night stand from hell who has him thinking that he’s gotten her pregnant until the baby is a different race and then there’s Kimber. My God, never have I been against a relationship as the one between these two. Their first sex scene was one of the least sexy scenes on TV and Christian’s assessment of Kimber’s physique so he could bag a patient was pretty sleazy. Plus Kimber is too needy.

She knows that Christian doesn’t love her and yet she always seems to allow him to treat her like dirt. Even during period where she tries to assert her own independence (and with Kimber, that’s either in the porn industry or embarking on Scientology).

A failed marriage attempt and a few feeble attempts to sabotage her relationship with Matt (which in of itself is another disaster area); you’d think the writers would throw Christian a bone and give him a reasonably happy relationship with Michelle. Getting rid of her older husband Burt should’ve helped but despite some actually amazing chemistry between McMahon and Sanaa Lathan, the writers made Michelle’s character too involved in the fourth season’s organ ring to really work out. Then again, their doom was written when their sexual encounter came from Christian blackmailing Michelle into sleeping with him. That should kill any affection Michelle may have had for Christian.

In terms of baddies, Seasons Two and Three concentrated on The Carver/Quentin Costa, a psycho with a birth defect who went around raping and mutilating models and even attacked Sean and Christian before getting his twisted sister Kit to help him fake his death. The Carver became something of a cult icon, though the reveal itself could’ve been handled much better.

Seasons One and Four on the other hand dealt with drug lord Escobar Gallardo. A nasty piece who when he wasn’t using girls for drug smuggling he was employing James and an unwilling Michelle to snatch people’s kidneys. As baddies go, Escobar was both nasty, effective and charismatic and his death at the hands of his crafty wife Galla ended the fourth season on a pretty awesome note.

With the series rejuvenating it’s format for Season Five with Sean and Christian taking their surgical skills from Miami to LA, it’ll be interesting to see how this series continues to deliver. This show may overindulge in the sex and violence but it’s undeniably addictive with characters that genuinely come as real as you and me. Beauty might be skin deep but don’t for a second think there isn’t something else going on underneath either.