Nip/Tuck: Christian Troy II (6.17)

'The death of plastic surgery' isn't a groundbreaking concept to explore in Nip/Tuck's final season, but it's something that works for me. When you think about Hollywood right now, few actors are undergoing the full Joan Rivers. It's all about the fillers and the Botox and the injectables. Face lifts and surgery feel dated already, and Sean and Christian are being left out in the cold. Being this show, the story was handled with the subtlety of a sledgehammer with the old patients demanding reversal surgery, the contrived lady-doctor, and the annoying YouTube comments at the end.

Christian's fantasy sequence felt a lot like an attempt to mirror the wonderful Julia McNamara episode in season two, only to far lesser effect. The dreams were visually intriguing, but carried little weight as something explosive or revealing about Christian himself. If anything, his character has become so tired that there's little new to explore with him. It's the same ol', same ol'. I liked some of the music, the return of Donna Mills and Joan Van Ark, and the reversal of the famous Kimber sequence from the pilot, but this felt like Nip/Tuck-by-numbers.

The nadir of Christian Troy II was Liz's awful subplot. Yay that she got some action, but everything about this particular story was fug. Roma Maffia played her scenes in a needlessly predatory way, where she seemed to be undermining everything Daniella said to her. Meanwhile, her reaction to the squirting felt entirely out-of-character. The real problem here is that this story never resurfaces again. It's just Liz getting shit upon by a woman who hasn't come to terms with her sexuality. It's a waste, and beautifully redundant.

I feel I'm always complimenting Nip/Tuck for 'trying' this year, even when the stories themselves are covered in plotholes and contrivance. It's a real reflection on how the writers stumble into a good idea, but struggle to sell it with conviction anymore. D+

Credits
Guest stars Joan Rivers (Herself); Joan Van Ark (Annette Wainwright); Donna Mills (Lulu Grandiron); George Newbern (Dr. Curtis Ryerson); Lesley Fera (Daniella Creighton); Rowena King (Dr. Jill Jacobson); Dick Gautier (Marshall Ayers); Concetta Tomei (Maureen Ayers); Robert Davi (Christian's Father)
Writer Sean Jablonski Director Diana Valentine