Nip/Tuck: Abby Mays (3.11)

The "paper bag scene" has gone down in Nip/Tuck history as one of its most shocking moments, and it's undoubtedly disturbing. Throughout the story, your immediate impression is that it's exploitative and cruel, only included to make the audience uncomfortable. But it's only in the final scene where you realize how tragic the entire situation is. Abby is a masochist, somebody so full of self-hate that she lets herself be degraded in every way possible. She actually thinks what Christian put her through was a good thing. You feel terrible for her, and she seriously needs psychiatric help.

Meanwhile, Christian breaks down in tears in the final scene and you can't help but feel terrible for him too. Thanks to Julian McMahon's flawless performance, you completely forget his cruelty throughout the rest of the episode, and realize how screwed up his life has become. He was raped, accused of being a murderer, got abandoned by his birth mother and then ditched at the altar. And to feel something again, he resorts to becoming as cruel as possible and taking out all his anger on the weakest person he can find. It's just sad all round.

I'm becoming increasingly tired with the Sean/Julia/Quentin triangle. The corporal storyline left me uneasy. Are we supposed to side with Sean, despite he and Christian sleeping with patients too? Or are we supposed to side with Quentin, despite taking advantage of a man in a clearly confusing personal situation, and then probably ruining his life after. Julia isn't much better, completely ignoring Sean's warnings over Ariel and her influence. Hello, she has swastikas in her ears! Yeesh! Gah, all three people in this triangle suck.

And we haven't even started on my beloved Kimber, who's revealed to have been kidnapped from her wedding by the Carver, and being held captive in a warehouse. It's yet another twist in a ridiculous story, but it's depressing to see her all bloodied and carved. Kelly Carlson was amazing in her small scene... that scream! Shivers!

A very dark episode that completely changes your mind over the sanity of Nip/Tuck's writers in just one scene, which makes everything seen before suddenly understandable. A

Credits
Guest stars Brittany Snow (Ariel Alderman); Rebecca Metz (Abby Mays); Bryce Johnson (Oliver Brandt); Conor O'Farrell (Detective Fischman); Kelly Smith (Chloe Brandt)
Writer Hank Chilton Director Michael M. Robin