“Nip/Tuck” is as unconventional and as daring as cable television would ever get (or allowed to get)
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Breaking it down to its most basic form, "Nip/Tuck" could loosely be classified under the medical drama genre. However, as most of you have already found out, "Nip/Tuck" is definitely not your father´s "Dr. Kildare" nor is it your older sister´s "Chicago Hope". At a time when so many shows on TV tend to duplicate the formula of other successful shows that had come before them, the emergence of "Nip/Tuck" is a little unusual in the sense that it defies the broad strokes of any genre classification. At its heart, "Nip/Tuck" is a show about relationships and the drama and complications that goes on in the lives of two successful plastic surgeons. Layer that with a dark and sometimes twisted sense of humor and the shows frequent descend into the unconventional and murkier side of social and sexual interactions and physical vanity, the genre lines get totally obliterated. The only other show on television today that I can most closely compare it to is HBO´s "Six Feet Under". And that is truly an admirable comparison.
"Nip/Tuck" delves into the lives of two Miami plastic surgeons, Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), partners in a successful practice. In the first season of the show, the focus was on how both men´s attitude towards their practice developed and changed in time as they go through various trials and tribulations in their own personal lives. As skilled as they both are, Sean and Christian are direct polar opposites of one another. While Sean is a dedicated family man with two children, Christian is one of Miami´s most eligible bachelors. As you can imagine, both men harbor vastly different philosophies when it comes to their chosen profession as well. For Christian, it is all about making money and meeting beautiful women, many of whom he has helped sculpt through plastic surgery. Sean takes a more pragmatic approach to his talent, preferring to see it as an avenue for him to reach out and help unfortunate people with disfigurements and other medical conditions to lead normal lives.
Series creator Ryan Murphy, through three successful seasons, has again craftily guided the show through even more uncharted waters, producing yet another truly inspired effort throughout Season 3´s entire fifteen episodes. As well as the show is doing, thinking outside the box may not even be an accurate enough phrase to describe "Nip/Tuck". It essentially turns our customary impressions of close family ties inside out and throws all the familiar TV clichés out the door. Looking outward to before "Nip/Tuck" came along, one might be compelled to see some similarities with David Chase´s potent take on familial ties on "The Sopranos".
While the second season brought us a beautiful villain in high heels, in the form of Ava Moore (played by the deliciously dark Famke Janssen), Season 3 turns even more sinister and dangerous for the show´s protagonists, with the return of the previous season´s serial attacker who goes by the menacing name of the Carver. This villain attacks mostly beautiful women and disfigures their faces by making deep cuts from both ends of the mouth up to the ears while uttering the chilling phrase, "Beauty is a curse on the world". In Season 2´s cliffhanger ending, Christian is himself attacked by the Carver, surprising everyone (including yours truly). You see, the lead-up to that season´s finale clearly pointed to Sean as the Carver´s next logical target, as Sean has been "repairing" the Carver´s handiwork by performing pro bono surgeries to help the victims of this psychopath.
Season 3 opens not long after the attack on Christian. In an emotional opening scene, Christian reveals to Sean that not only was he physically attacked but the Carver raped him as well. Deeming it a personal and dark secret, Christian never reported this fact to the police. As he struggles to overcome the trauma of the attack, Christian continues to find excuses to neglect both his live-in girlfriend Kimber (Kelly Carlson) and also the thriving practice. Kimber, who is now a famous ex-porn star turned porn director, decides to confront Christian about his inability to put what had happened behind him. However, she receives an unexpected reaction that she would never have predicted. To make matters more complicated and ultimately more erotic, Kimber and Christian´s relationship receives a helping hand from a surprising quarter, the sultry Detective Kit McGraw (Rhona Mitra), the police officer in charge of investigating the Carver cases.
Sean, on his part, is facing plenty of other challenges on the home front. His wife, Julia (Joely Richardson) is asking a divorce while his son Matt (John Hensley), after the events of last season (the tryst with Ava Moore, who was revealed to be a transgender(!) and finding out that his real father is actually Christian), is questioning his own sexuality and drifting further away from the family. Julia, whose pregnancy and resulting miscarriage interrupted her return to medical school in the previous season, continues to fight to gain her financial independence by going into a partnership with Gina (Jessalyn Gilsig), Christian´s ex-girlfriend (yes, she was the recovering sexaholic) in setting up and opening a health spa for patients who are recovering from surgeries to convalesce.
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[release]19467[/release]