Nip/Tuck: Gala Gallardo (4.15)

The end of the road for the Miami episodes unsurprisingly ends with a very Miami-oriented episode. We have drug lords, crocodiles, the everglades. Almost a bookend for the very first episode. That idea obviously also occurred with the disposal of Escobar's body. Only, this time, Liz joined in with the fun. It was a fitting end for a Nip/Tuck legend. On a similar note, we have the city move, something unprecedented, attention-grabbing and pretty darn polarizing. It can only truly be debated in hindsight, and while the move to Los Angeles opened up certain areas of story (particularly in the first part of season five), it's pretty shocking to realize that the show never really changed as a result. Take out all the TV hijinks of season five, and the last run of episodes were pretty interchangeable to the ones set in Miami.

Nip/Tuck: Willy Ward (4.14)

Season four continues to unravel at the seams, with multiple storylines crashing in on one another, and all of them pretty lazy. James, as wonderful as she was, is here depicted as a complete cartoon of a villainness. The show may as well have asked Jacqueline Bisset to grow a pencil mustache that she could twirl whenever James comes up with evil plan. We already knew that James was ruthless (just see the mess she made with Reefer last episode), but adding 'potential child-killer' to her rap sheet was a little contrived. It obviously made her final monologue a little more affecting, but I'm not sure it was really worth it in the first place. However, Bisset was pretty damn extraordinary in this part, and ranks up there with Famke Janssen in the 'bad-ass bitch' department.

Nip/Tuck: Reefer (4.13)

Like most storylines this season, I had mixed feelings about Wilber's return. As sad as it was, I liked the ending to his arc back in season two, and the personal growth Christian experienced. But to resurrect him in an already plot-heavy season is yet another decision I have trouble with. It also bothered me that Michelle had such a problem with the idea of being Wilber's mom until she discovered he was bi-racial. I understand that it would make it theoretically possible for her to be his actual mother, but it still rubbed me the wrong way.

Nip/Tuck: Diana Lubey (4.12)

Maybe it's the accent, or the seemingly everlasting beauty, but French women just have this classy, glamorous way about them, and Catherine Deneuve displayed all those things in her guest spot. Seriously, how the hell did this show land her? The Diana Lubey story was really moving, even with the mistress twist near the end. On paper the whole "ashes in implants" idea may seem silly, but the show portrayed it in such a poignant, beautiful way that you can completely understand why Diana would want the surgery. I also loved how she managed to get through to Sean, and her farewell kiss was awesome.

Nip/Tuck: Conor McNamara, 2026 (4.11)

It's interesting to view this episode after the series has ended, as it's not totally as show-destroying as everybody perceived it to be when it first aired. I remember a lot of anger over the show's decision to basically reveal everybody's future (bar Liz and Kimber, who don't appear), and it wasn't helped by Ryan Murphy commenting that everything seen here is real. I don't know what happened between then and the end of season five, but the episode was eventually retconned. However, even with that complaint proven irrelevant, the episode is still pretty weak.

Nip/Tuck: Merrill Bobolit (4.10)

I've never been as big a fan of Escobar Gallardo as pretty much everybody else, but his presence does admittedly create unrivaled fear and a sense of complete unpredictability. However, I'm not sure his re-appearance here was particularly wise. Season four has already been driven by so many varying plot strands and its various villains (some storylines having already been quietly dropped or forgotten about) that adding in yet another feels unnecessary. I guess his storyline here is pretty entertaining, even if it is held together by some clumsy exposition and equally contrived plot twists, but the real star of the show is Bobolit.

Nip/Tuck: Liz Cruz (4.9)

Nip/Tuck in its later years was never averse to entirely retconning the personalities of its protagonists to fit a particular storyline. Hell, it seems to be a trademark of Ryan Murphy and Co., his one major flaw as a writer. I guess it's a soap tradition. The crazy situations are the main area of importance, and characters are obviously secondary. It's disappointing, but it begins to affect this show around this episode. Liz's decision to undergo plastic surgery to become, in her new girlfriend's eyes, 'a more physically attractive woman' was ridiculous, and the show didn't grant Roma Maffia the emotionally-driven material the story needed to work.

Nip/Tuck: Conor McNamara (4.8)

I've always though Mrs Grubman was a great recurring character. Vain, plastic, and ultimately pretty sad, she was a perfect representation of this show's message: that no matter what you fix on the outside, you're still the same deep down. Plus, she was always a great foil for Christian. Ruth Williamson was really spectacular here, and she got to finally display her Broadway musical pipes with her rendition of This Girl's in Love alongside Mr Burt Bacharach himself. I guess it's not original that such a grand, arrogant society woman like Grubby turns out to have little of the social circle she claimed she did, but it was pretty darn touching regardless.

Nip/Tuck: Burt Landau (4.7)

A pretty good episode which utilizes the majority of the cast extremely well. The only downside is that the Landau's are still dragging this season down. Just like last week, I liked that a lot of the subplots folded into one another. Matt's stupid decisions are once again revealed to be a result of his libido, while at the same time Christian accuses Michelle of attempting to kill Burt. As a result, Michelle gets mad, Christian manipulates Kimber into bed before dumping her, and Kimber hooks up with Matt in revenge. It's a big web of craziness, this show.

Nip/Tuck: Faith Wolper, Ph.D (4.6)

Despite opening with an arresting dream sequence featuring Sean and Christian as gay lovers (shame the show caved to network pressure, forcing them to cut an actual kiss), Faith Wolper, Ph.D suffers from being weighed down by two of this season's worst story arcs. The Landau storyline unexpectedly blurs together with Brooke Shields' nutty shrink, a turn of events which briefly gives the Burt subplot some life. Faith herself is exposed as being completely wacko, and I loved her sadomasochistic tattoos. However, the Landau arc doesn't interest.

Nip/Tuck: Dawn Budge (4.5)

You can almost forgive the show for it's contrived fast-forwarding of the Christian and Michelle relationship. If there's one thing you can expect from Nip/Tuck, it's rapid acceleration to get to a certain plot point. If you ignore their annoying professions of love for one another, you finally get to the storyline gold: Christian's interaction with James is vintage show. She's a beautiful older woman with maximum sex appeal, he can't contain himself -- if it weren't for the fact that she's a crazy blackmailer. Their scenes glimmer with sexual tension, and it's so, so awesome to see.

Nip/Tuck: Shari Noble (4.4)

There is a lot of sexual chemistry in the scenes between Christian and Michelle. Well, he's Julian McMahon, so I'm sure he'd have sexual chemistry with a jar of tofu, but that's beside the point. What these two have is an irresistible connection, and their scenes in this episode sparkle with banter and secret longing. Michelle's back-story is particularly fun in its soapiness (anything with high-class call-girls and sexual blackmail is a win in my very trashy book), while Jacqueline Bisset is a revelation as James. I don't know if it's the accent or the take-no-prisoners attitude (or, you know, the fact that's she so cavalier in the whole 'smashing paperweights into the faces of pretty young women' department), but she's the show's finest femme fatale since Ava. Rawwr.

Nip/Tuck: Monica Wilder (4.3)

The rapid deconstruction of Christian Troy has been one of the clearest character arcs so far this season. We've already had him questioning his own mind and spirit with his fear over his potential homosexuality, and now he's left questioning his body. A lot of media coverage was dedicated to the shower scene here, and it was pretty darn hilarious. Mike Hamoui is an obnoxious "physical terrorist", a man so vacuous that his whole life revolves around his body. He's Christian but even worse. Mario Lopez, nothing but a pair of washboard abs, was fine, and did exactly what the role called for. Namely, said washboard abs and some tight butt-cheeks.

Nip/Tuck: Blu Mondae (4.2)

Both Sean and Christian projected their own internal crises onto others in this episode, Christian most notably with gay-for-pay hustler Mitchell. Surely if Christian can 'cure' Mitchell's fluid sexuality, he'll know that it's also possible for himself, right? While it's clear that Christian isn't gay, it's telling that he's still so insecure about Faith's diagnosis from last episode. But I guess when he's never had a real relationship with a woman, it's unsurprising that he's questioning just who he is as a person.

Nip/Tuck: Cindy Plumb (4.1)

There has always been so much intimacy between Sean and Christian that it's unsurprising that at least one of them eventually attempts to understand said intimacy. With all the women that come in and out of their lives, their one remaining constant is each other. Their bond is greater than simply friends and arguably more important and affecting than the affection between two brothers. They're two sides of the same coin, akin with one another, and it makes sense for Christian to examine (and be terrified of) the importance of their relationship.