Nip/Tuck: Cherry Peck (3.14)

Poor Kimber. The scene detailing all the pain she'd gone through at the hands of The Carver was unbearable, and to see her all sliced up and carved was way too graphic for me. The fact that she'd gotten some kind of Stockholm Syndrome during her ordeal makes the whole thing even more depressing, with Kimber partly sympathizing with The Carver and his "message". Kelly Carlson was amazing throughout this episode, in particular during her final scene with Christian, where she breaks down at the thought of staying with him.

The Carver himself was really great, and you have to appreciate his twisted genius in regards to sending Kimber's severed implants to Sean and Christian, and wrapping up that tiny little piece of paper which read BEAUTY IS A CURSE ON THE WORLD inside. Kit McGraw made a welcome return, and I appreciated that it was implied her bosses had put a tight leash on her behavior. Seeing as she was a complete nutcase in regard to Carver suspects at the start of the season, it was refreshing to see the writers attempting to make her a little more believable. I loved her smack talk with Quentin, but the shock twist that he has no penis was, and I doubt anybody would disagree with this, completely ridiculous. But more of that in my review of part two...

I loved Cherry and Matt's newfound friendship, and the fact that Matt has grown so much as a person over just a couple of episodes that he stands up for her, and apologizes for what he did to her. I felt the "evil cosmetics lady" scene was a little clichéd and obvious, but it at least showed how grounded he is finally becoming.

Julia's nightmare was excellently shot, coated in dark reds and moody visuals. I loved the allusions to Rosemary's Baby, and the shot of Julia's water breaking and giving birth to (what looked like) an eel. A classic visual moment.

An impressive first part to a tense, insanely dramatic finale. There are still elements of The Carver mystery that are obviously silly, but if you ignore them and just go along with the ride, it's pretty entertaining. A

Credits
Guest stars Brittany Snow (Ariel Alderman); Rhona Mitra (Kit McGraw); Willam Belli (Cherry Peck); Colleen Flynn (Dr. Allamby); Natalija Nogulich (Shirley); Brian Kerwin (Eugene Alderman)
Writers Brad Falchuk, Hank Chilton Director Craig Zisk