Nip/Tuck: Momma Boone (3.1)

The Kit McGraw character fascinated me throughout season three. While I love everything that is Rhona Mitra (the looks, the body, the accent - woo!), it doesn't cover up the fact that she's playing somebody completely ridiculous. Her scenes in this episode feature laughably terrible dialogue ("I'm from Jack the Ripper's London" - gah!), and her seduction of Christian was so unprofessional it borders on sub-porno movie. I know this show is trashy, but Kit really was the worst example of the show's love for bad girls. She has no morals, and there's no way somebody so insane and nympho-like would have such a respected job title in the law enforcement biz.

Of course, being a red-blooded male, it'd be stupid to say that the threesome at the end wasn't hot. I especially loved Kimber, who was clearly going through with it to please Christian and help him get back to his old self. Regular readers of my reviews may be getting a little tired of my love for Kimber and giving excuses for her behavior, but she really showed how much she cared for him throughout this episode. I guess there's still a tragic depency issue going on with her, but I think that's pretty integral to who she is as a character.

Momma Boone was a tragic character. The build-up to her appearance was done perfectly. You could almost smell the stench of her home through the TV set, and the make-up team did an amazing job, making her body look completely grotesque. Kathy Lamkin was great in the part, and I loved that the writers made her somebody you completely sympathize with, instead of just writing her off as a freak to be made fun of. Her husband was also sympathetic, despite knowing that he let her get like that.

Elsewhere, Christian is still experiencing side effects of the Carver's attack. I found Sean completely unforgivable in his behavior toward him, especially when comparing Christian's attack to his own in season two. While Sean's attack was terrifying, it does not compare to Christian, who probably had mental scars of his childhood sexual abuse re-surface after being raped yet again. Sean's behavior was probably just a deus ex machina to get Quentin Costa into the show, but it was still out of character.

A pretty depressing season opener, which sets the stage for an all-together depressing season. Kit certainly makes an impression though... A-

Credits
Guest stars Vanessa Redgrave (Erica Noughton); Kathy Lamkin (Momma Boone); J.E. Freeman (Denny Boone); Conor O'Farrell (Detective Fischman); Phillip Rhys (Jude Sawyer); Alex S. Alexander (June Boone); Kelsey Lynn Batelaan (Annie McNamara); Rhona Mitra (Kit McGraw)
Writer Ryan Murphy Director Elodie Keene