2 gibbles out of 5

Director: Various TV people with cameras pointed at actors

I was told that Nip / Tuck was a somewhat tasteless show prior to watching it.  With the first few episodes, I understood (I think) the intention of the comment – Nip / Tuck initially relies a lot on the sensation of its outlandish plastic surgery procedures and the high calamity escapades of its leads and the liberation of showing pretty intense medical gore – but it didn’t feel tasteless, exactly.  It felt brash in a good way, flipping some of the conventions of beautiful America on its head by shoving the camera in its face.  Sure, it succumbed to subplots and some truly wacky ups and downs, but that’s TV.  But somewhere after the first season, the show loses this edge, and stumbles into the emptiness of candy shows like CSI, almost comedically forgetting its initial premise and just keeping the loose concept of these two guys being doctors… and plastic surgeons when convenient for plotting.  Oh well.

So Christian (Julian McMahon) and Sean (Dylan Walsh) are partners in plastic surgery, running a high profile and hip business in Miami.  Sean’s the straight man with the troubled marriage and two kids.  He struggles with the morality of the business and his wife is unfulfilled due to sacrificing her dreams so hubbie could be a doctor.  His son is all teen angsty and plagued with the disease of bad timing, and his daughter only shows up when the writers remember that she exists.  Christian’s the wild card, always sleeping around and getting mixed up in over-his-head antics – though this is mostly season 1.  Season 2 and on attempt to expand on his character by having him struggle with his shallowness, but it’s always safe to go back to him bedding another kinky lady or two when some screentime needs filling.

It’s an enjoyable show, as most candy shows tend to be.  Creator Ryan Murphy seemingly excels at coming up with ideas for good genre concepts, but his shows tend to come off as scribbled sheets of character progression from start to finish with episodes written around to justify what happens when.   A strong start tumbles into predictable high gloss drama that gets confused between challenging its viewer and giving the audience what it wants.  Perhaps this is a meta commentary on the struggle our leads face with plastic surgery for reconstructive or elective purposes.  I doubt it.  I think it’s just easier to write a candy show with blood and sex.

It's a pretty picture