Nip/Tuck: Enigma (6.2)

No matter how many times Christian victimizes her, Kimber keeps on coming back for more. It's a classic masochistic relationship. Christian sees Kimber as easy prey, somebody who will satisfy him both sexually and emotionally; while Kimber's only true happiness has been with Christian, as she knows that there have been times when he's seen her as more than just a piece of meat. The scenes between the two of them were a lot of fun here, from the romantic music by Dionne Warwick and Dusty Springfield that played over their scenes, to the petty jealousy Christian experienced as he saw the chemistry between Kimber and Mike. Kimber, like always, is trying to find some happiness in life but, equally 'like always', comes up short. She's now working out of a low-rent nail salon in West Hollywood alongside a group of catty Asians ("poor Orange face" hah!), and Christian represents some form of escape.

Liz sees a kindred spirit in her, too, another soul used and suckered in by Christian's manipulations. But, like Liz said, she's not sure if Kimber does really deserve better. She's her own worst enemy, maybe she should just be allowed to be the sucker time and time again. Liz would face an uphill battle to convince Kimber to change her life.

The writers had clearly been watching Fight Club or Crash right before they came up with the Vivien character. She's a wild, insomnia-prone sado-masochist junkie, and easily bonds with Sean while he is plagued himself with insomnia. The story was interesting, especially with the theme of Sean being drawn to the dark side constantly. Teddy is another example of Sean's attraction to all kinds of wrong. Finally we have confirmation that she's interested in his life insurance policy, and the story takes a welcome turn into noir craziness.

Enigma played around with a variety of different tones to create something pretty effective. There's the absurdist humor of Christian's dildo, the painful chemistry between Kimber and Christian, as well as the horror of the Enigma case. Plots are moving forward, characters are back to their true natures, and the show feels like its back on track. B+

Credits
Guest stars Rose McGowan (Dr. Teddy Rowe); Mario Lopez (Dr. Mike Hamoui); Amy Price-Francis (Vivien); Parker Croft (Jared McCloud/Enigma); Joan McMurtrey (Amanda McCloud); Todd Waring (Garth McCloud); Tom Lenk (Corey)
Writers Lyn Greene, Richard Levine Director John Scott