Nip/Tuck: Antonia Ramos (1.12)

I'm not ashamed to say it, but Escobar Gallardo scares the crap out of me. As I was watching this episode, I was wondering to myself if Robert LaSardo is a nice person in real life, or if he's actually evil. He's probably a really great family man or something though, but, man, he's one hell of a convincing actor.

The entire drug-smuggling business as portrayed in this episode was both terrifying and depressing. Antonia Ramos' face as she was told that there is no modeling agency waiting for her was so sad, and to see all these women parade around with grotesquely huge knockers as they believe they're going to have a bright, glitzy future in return was completely disturbing.

While Christian has often been painted as a huge sex monster, this episode made him look like a damn saint compared to the creepy baby store guy. The "pregnant woman" fetish creeps me out enough, but the fact that he was so unashamed at telling the father of Gina's baby what he did with her was gross. I couldn't wait for Christian to pummel him. Meanwhile, I'm still loving the Christian/Gina subplot. The scene with them in bed together was great, especially with Gina telling Christian her last name, which she had long held as an example of his uncaring attitude to women.

I had mixed feelings about the Sofia subplot. While Julia was shown to be an actual human with feelings for a change, the rest of Miami were portrayed as complete assholes, which made for some uncomfortable viewing. And with neither Julia or Sofia winning the battle against the Pilate ladies at the end of the episode, there didn't really seem to be a purpose for the whole story. While Nip/Tuck did end up exploring transsexuality in a variety of different storylines in other seasons, it was a shame that Sofia never appeared on the show again, especially as I really liked her blossoming friendship with Julia.

Besides the Sofia subplot, this episode was everything that's great about Nip/Tuck. Gallardo is an amazing bad guy, and I doubt anybody can see the moment where he casually walks into the McNamara kitchen holding Annie's hand and not get chills. Another season one classic. A

Credits Guest stars Jonathan Del Arco (Sofia Lopez); Nancy Cassaro (Suzanne Epstein); Jessalyn Gilsig (Gina Russo); Robert LaSardo (Escobar Gallardo); Marisol Nichols (Antonia Ramos); Daniel Zacapa (Pepe); Kelsey Lynn Batelaan (Annie McNamara); Paul Cassell (Brad); Angelica Castro (Maria Amador); Susan Chuang (Pilates Instructor); Roma Maffia (Dr. Liz Cruz)
Writers Jennifer Salt, Brad Falchuk Director Elodie Keene