Nip/Tuck

_****

McNamara/Troy, a practice named for its two plastic surgeons, runs the risk of being dissolved when the two doctors have a difference of opinion. After a great deal of bickering, the two find themselves forced back together and must come to an understanding in order to solidify the futures of their families.

I am very familiar with the ups and downs of this series, having marathoned an entire season of it with a group of friends back in the day, but I was never able to see the series in full. I have known the series to be poignant, and I have known the series to be incredibly over-the-top, but for every unbelievable storyline this series offered my way, it also delivered a great number of fantastic character moments that kept me wanting more, and that's the reason that Nip/Tuck found its way into this blogs rotation.

I think it's crucial to the survival of this series that it begins with a debate about the ethics of plastic surgery and a discussion about what it is to work in the business of vanity. I'm glad that the characters had this discussion in the first episode, and I'm happy that both protagonists have such opposing views on what it is that they do. Where Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) delights in the often unnecessary procedures that he performs, his partner Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) is much more reserved, determined that they will hire a full-time psychologist for their practice in order to screen out those patients who are requesting operations for the wrong reasons. It's as though Christian is the devil on your shoulder and Sean is his opposing angel. It's equally satisfying to me that they show patients getting surgeries they don't need, such as Kelly Carlson's Kimber Henry, while also highlighting those who do need the surgeries, like the woman who came in asking for skin grafts for her son.

Another thing I found refreshing is the fact that the characters don't hesitate to call each other out on their misdeeds. Where some shows would have their protagonists stew idly as their issues ate away at them until the season finale, we saw here that Sean's wife Julia (Joely Richardson) had come to a boiling point and desperately needed a change. The fact that these characters are so proactive when it comes to making change in their lives is entirely attractive to me.

While I appreciate the attention to detail, and the shows wish to remain medically accurate, I have no desire to watch someones skin get peeled off of their face, or to see exactly how liposuction works. I trust that these plastic surgeons know what they're doing, I don't need to audit their surgery.

I feel like Nip/Tuck is, at times, dramatic for the sake of shock value. The drama does add a certain level of entertainment, but, at the same time, I feel that these characters can stand on their own without the need of something sensational happening at every moment during the day. There's always a place on television for incredible melodrama, but if it's used so constantly, it sets a standard that, eventually, a show cannot possibly live up to, but a toned-down version of the show may not be what they had had in mind.

Almost everyone had a moment to shine during this episode, but the two standouts were Richardson and, even more notably, guest star Kelly Carlson. Watching the scene where Christian draws on Kimber with lipstick in order to point out all of her imperfections was heartbreaking, because Carlson delivered such a powerful performance through facial expression alone, and it was when she whimpered "am I really that ugly?" that she stole the show. Richardson's role as the broken housewife was equally enthralling, as we watch her slowly break over the course of the hour until finally she snaps and becomes a creature that even she can't recognise.

Director Ryan Murphy has an eye for beautiful shots, panning seamlessly between panoramic views of Miami to intimate closeups. Perhaps his best moment in this episode was the back and forth between the steamy sex scene of Christian and Kimber to the hilarious and, perhaps, more realistic love-making of Sean and Julia.

Written also by Murphy, I find that his strength is in his character interaction; while he certainly thinks big when creating his story lines, he tends to steer a little too far into the melodramatic for my taste. While I find Christian repulsive in absolutely every way, I relish every second that he's in conversation with another character, just to watch as he manipulates them into doing absolutely anything he wants. The only thing that really took me out of the story was how glib Christian was about the implants that he put in incorrectly. Had Sean called him out and discussed with him how that one act could have destroyed their practise, I would have found it realistic, but instead it was pointed out at the time it happened, and then never mentioned again.

Ryan Murphy has created a show that can be stunningly gorgeous in one moment, and horrifically grotesque the next. It isn't often that you'll find a series that will sexually arouse you one scene and make you reach for a vomit bucket moments later, but he's tied them together with a group of characters so fascinating that I can't help but want to know where these people will end up.

Nip/Tuck is in the running to become the feature for Mondays. The series ran from 2003 to 2010 on FX with a total of 100 episodes.