Kimber appeared in two sequences here, both in Christian's subconscious and both likely reflective of how he saw her. The Kimber glimpsed at McNamara/Troy was subservient and quick to put herself down, apologizing to Christian for not 'being good enough' for him. The second Kimber appearance was confident and angry, confronting Christian after he sleeps with her mother and exposing him for who he really is. When Kimber was alive, Christian liked to pick and choose which elements of her character he wanted. He ridicules her and calls her a whore, then later wants her to act like a porn star in the bedroom. In the end, Kimber could never win with him. Now she's dead and Christian is unhappy. It's an interesting idea to explore, but only renders Christian more ugly as a character.
I've had problems with Melanie Griffith in the past, but she was perfectly cast here. It was a tricky role to inhabit, but she (unintentionally, maybe?) gave Brandy natural vulnerability and a sense of suppression. It was obvious that the apple didn't fall far from the tree, Brandy similarly married to a scumbag asshole who treated her like crap. The story itself was intriguing, but I wish it had a little more to it. It felt too heavy to appear in just one episode.
Sean's subplot didn't work for me at all. It was one of those typical Nip/Tuck ideas that sounds promising as a one-line sypnosis, but falls apart in execution. What were Sarah's motives for lying? Did she want her husband's attention, or did she just want to hurt Sean for rejecting her? Too messy, show.
Frances Conroy is always great for nutty psychotics, and her and Christine Estabrook's guest spots made the ripped-from-the-headlines face-ripping-chimp subplot pretty good. If anything the show actually relaxed the crazy for this one, since I remember the real woman took baths with her chimp and drugged it with Xanax. Who would have thought reality could be wackier than this show?
There wasn't a whole lot of plot cohesion to Sheila Carlton, all three subplots feeling more than a little tossed together, but parts of the hour were really affecting. Kimber's death was followed up well enough, even if it felt a little under-developed. B
Credits
Guest stars Melanie Griffith (Brandy Henry); Frances Conroy (Jane Fields); Christine Estabrook (Sheila Carlton); Christine Adams (Dr. Sarah Kwinda); George Newbern (Dr. Curtis Ryerson); Robin Thomas (Les Overmyer); Tony Tambi (Nsolo)
Writers Lyn Greene, Richard Levine Director Craig Zisk
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