Returning for a third season, Nip/Tuck - the show about plastic surgeons in Miami is back with bigger cases, bigger shocks, and an ending to beat the two previous finales. The story arc about The Carver is in full flow with victims still coming to McNamara/Troy and the police are no wiser as to who The Carver really is. Tune into season 3 to find out the identity of the attacker who has plagued Miami for two seasons, playing havoc with the minds and bodies of the beautiful people.
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What Is Nip/Tuck?
As covered in my two previous reviews, Nip/Tuck is the US drama about plastic surgeons Sean and Christian and their lives inside and outside the clinic. Sean has to cope with his on-again/off-again wife Julia, his young daughter Annie, and playing a father figure to stupid Matt even though as we all found out in the last season, he is not Matt's biological father (Honestly looking at him is it any wonder?). Christian is coping with the aftermath of the season finale where The Carver was waiting for him and the pair are trying to figure out their friendship and working relationships again after so much has happened.
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Are There Any New Characters?
As always there are a few newcomers to the cast, and Quentin Costa has become a main fixture. Our newer cast members are as follows:
Ariel Alderman (Brittany Snow): Matt's latest girlfriend in his run of psychopaths and weirdoes is no less strange than those that came before her. They initially bond over a hatred of plastic surgery - his reason being because Sean and Christian are surgeons, her reason is because she doesn't like that people can hide their heritage and pretend to be "normal" (She makes these comments in reference to a number of Jewish girls that have had nose jobs at their school). Yes, you've probably guessed from that sentence, she's a hate-filled racist - if you aren't Christian and Caucasian, she hates you. And of course she gets Matt wrapped up into her and her family's way of thinking.
Abby Mays (Rebecca Metz): Oh Rebecca, why why why. Rebecca is one of Christian's patients and makes the mistake of asking what she needs done whilst Christian is raging inside about Kimber, he is cruel and mean to her. Yet she comes back and has treatment and then goes on a date with the surly doctor, ending in one of the most embarrassingly humiliating sex scenes ever involving a paper bag. Even after this encounter she comes back again, is she a glutton for punishment or so much more?
Cherry Peck (William Belli): Cherry is a transsexual whom Matt meets in a bar and starts flirting with, unaware of her pre-op status. It isn't a date that ends well for Cherry, but later in the season Matt starts to see that it's the person inside that counts, whether they are a pre-op transsexual or not.
Kit McGraw (Rhone Mitre): The smoulderingly sexy Kit is a detective from England who has been drafted in to help with The Carver case, she's known for being good at her job and turns one of our lead characters heads - but there is something a little strange about her.
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Episodes
Momma Boone: After the attack in the second season finale, Sean struggles to run the business alone and looks for a new partner whilst Christian tries to get over his debilitating and soul-destroying ordeal at the hands of The Carver. Julia decides to finally make a decision over her marriage to Sean, and Kimber has to make a big decision too. Sean meanwhile has to operate on a morbidly obese 600 pound woman who needs her skin surgically removed from the couch it has moulded to, and Kit McGraw makes her debut as a detective investigating The Carver.
KiKi: An odd patient is under the knife in this episode, work is done to remove a facial scar on a female gorilla whose appearance is frightening her would-be suitors. The new doctor at McNamara/Troy Quentin Costa (Last seen in episode Sean McNamara when he performed surgery on Sean) arrives to stand in full-time for Christian whilst Sean performs surgery to remove gang tattoos from the face of a man who wants to go straight. Matt finds out the truth about Ava (From last season) and takes out his anger on a transsexual he meets in a bar. Bad move Matt, as usual.
Derek, Alex And Gary: Karma works fast in Nip/Tuck, and Matt is attacked by a group of transsexuals after his disgusting attack on one innocent person in the previous episode. One day he'll learn, but in the meantime Julia, Christian and Sean argue over what to do with him (I have a few suggestions guys). Christian, clearly feeling better, is having trouble with his three-way relationship with Kimber and Kit- especially when one of the lovely ladies invites Quentin into their arrangement and Christian realises he isn't just interested in the girls. This episodes case shows that it isn't just the bright that go to college, the patients are three frat boys - two of the boys faces have been glued to the behind of another.
Rhea Reynolds: Matt just can't stop being a complete jerk when he files a restraining order against Sean, prompting the CPS (Child Protective Services) to start investigating. They could take Annie away for Matt's actions. Christian and Quentin operate on another Carver victim but there's something that doesn't quite fit about her story. In a much sweeter case, Sean meets an elderly woman who wants surgery to look young again in the hope that her husband who has late stage Alzheimer's will recognise her.
Granville Trapp: Rhea is back, sort of, and Christian is under suspicion as The Carver strikes again. Kit is hot on his tail suspecting that his own attack was self-inflicted to put others off the scent, but also manages to do something amazing for Christian by reuniting him with someone from his past. In the midst of all this Sean operates on a man with AIDS who doesn't want to look in the mirror and see the ravages of the disease on his face every day.
Frankenlaura: Clients aren't exactly banging the door down to get work done by McNamara/Troy after the news of Christian's arrest becomes public knowledge, so the pair carries out pro bono work for the Miami police. The case is to take apart a dangerous necrophiliac's plaything, constructed from parts of murder victims. Gina is back and has a business opportunity for Julia, creating a spa complex that could use the same client base as the surgery.
Ben White: A man comes to the clinic wanting his leg amputated, even though there is nothing physically wrong whilst Sean begins working for the FBI performing surgeries on those going into witness protection - his first case being a mother and son hiding from the mob. Julia and Gina set to work on their new business, marketing a face cream to Joan Rivers whom they want to advertise it made from something a little unusual.
Tommy Bolton: Sean makes a huge mistake in letting two of his patients stay at his home when he barely knows them. The problems of lust eh. Christian has a lot on his plate as a tense meeting with his mother doesn't go as planned and also operates on a very mature young man with Down's Syndrome who would like a nose job so that he can look more like the rest of his family. Quentin and Julia give into their mutual attraction whilst working on combining the spa and surgery to share clientele.
Hannah Tedesco: An identity crisis is to be had when Sean thinks about giving up his own life and running away with his patient who is in witness protection and then wonders if he should come back to McNamara/Troy. A facial transplant operation that could put the clinic on the map is about to be performed, but just before starting Christian finds out something about Quentin that puts the entire operation in jeopardy and a housewife comes to the clinic asking to be made to look like Kimber after her husband refuses to have sex with anyone but the replica doll featured in the second season.
Madison Berg: In a disturbing episode Matt manages to find a girl that likes him, and who is against plastic surgery. Sounds fine but her reasoning leaves a lot to be desired believe me, especially when Matt meets her polite, well-mannered but insane family. Sean makes up his mind over who he wants to be and where he wants to stay and Christian and Kimber panic and doubt their relationship.
Abby Mays: After the previous episode Christian is angry and determined to move on but he is clearly not in the right place to be speaking to anyone with low self esteem when he vents his frustrations on a client who wants to be made beautiful and then debases her further in the bedroom. You will hate Christian right now. Sean becomes worried about Matt's relationship with Ariel and walks in on Quentin being very unprofessional with a male patient - if that's not bad enough the patient is married and will lose their job if this is found out. Like Sean wasn't angry enough about Quentin being with Julia, this is just the last straw.
Sal Perri: Run and hide, Julia's mother is back in town to see the spa and as you'd expect, she has nothing good to say about the business or her daughter. Julia flips at this point and tells her to leave on the first flight out and never come back, but after that plane crashes during take-off has Julia really said something she will regret? Her, Christian and Sean end up working at the crash-site on the limited number of survivors, with Julia finally getting to experience surgery first-hand after all her training and Sean and Christian operate with stresses of their own.
Joy Kringle: Ho ho ho a professional Santa and Mrs Claus are today's patients, who are her for surgery to make them slimmer and thus a better role model for children in this age of growing obesity. The surgery on Santa and Mrs Claus is a success, but during her lipo treatment the surgeons find something tragic and strange. Julia collapses at home whilst Matt and his girlfriend get very angry at the school nativity scene and decide to do something about it, and Ariel gets some startling information about her family's past.
Cherry Peck: Kimber has been found in a bad way, and Christian is determined to fix things with her in more ways than one. Sean is blackmailed into doing free surgeries on transsexual Cherry once he's told of Matt's involvement in her disfigured face before asking Julia to move back in with him. Kit interrogates a new suspect in The Carver case and finds out something shocking.
Quentin Costa: In the shocking season finale that wraps up The Carver story arc that has run over two seasons The Carver is working faster than ever, attacking an entire sorority house and Quentin. It's clear to Kit that the attacker is getting desperate but with no new leads panic sets in. Matt goes to break up with Ariel, but her and her father have other plans for him and transsexual Cherry - forcing Matt to commit a heinous act. Meanwhile Julia discovers the truth about her unborn baby who she's been having nightmares about and The Carver is unmasked before he can attack again, with the identity and reasons for the brutal attacks being a shock to everyone. This is not a finale to miss!
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Why Should You Watch This?
If you watched the previous season then you will have to watch the third to find out who The Carver is (Though if that's all you want to know and aren't interested in continuing watching just watch the final episode of this season - very little else will make sense but your curiosity will be satisfied). But there are other reasons to watch this season, the characters are surprisingly still developing on screen - which is a shock as often a character will stay the same no matter how many season into a show you are.
In this season there is a lot more focus on Julia and Sean living separate lives so thankfully there is less arguing between them, and it's interesting to see where their separate lives take them - Julia with her spa and Sean not really knowing what he wants at one point. Julia has always seemed like the one without a plan before this season so to see her be so determined and organised is a nice move. It's as though she's better off when they are apart and he falls to pieces without her. (Which if you heard about research that suggests that men live happier lives when married actually makes a lot of sense and isn't as fantastical as it may have seemed).
And for those that hate Christian - and that's not exactly a small chunk of the audience - we get to see the unthinkable, he gets his heart broken. And though yes, you do feel a little bad for him, it is rather satisfying to see him hurt the way he hurts others. But this move also makes the character more likeable, as you can see how broken up he is and what a tragedy it has been. Sadly that sympathy won't last when he meets Abby; he once again shows that deep down he is a jerk (Not the word I'd like to use but I've already had to censor the title).
Matt features heavily again, and with his friend in prison you'd hope he'd see sense and go straight. But once again proving that he is the stupidest teenager in Miami, he makes a dumb decision. As infuriating as it is to see him jump from one ridiculous mistake to another without taking responsibility, he is made to see the error of his actions a few times in this season - to the extent that his entire view of people changes after meeting Cherry and Ariel's family.
New viewers to Nip/Tuck stop reading - season 3 is not for you. There is no way you will be able to catch up with everything that happened in the previous season so please, for the sake of your sanity, go pick up season 1 (Or 2 at the very least) and begin from there. Honestly if I had started watching at season 3 I probably would have given up because so much of what went on in the previous seasons is important to things now.
As always there is a lot of sex, violence and surgery - so not for the faint of heart. But in this season we also have the continuation of The Carver's mutilations, which are unpleasant viewing, and the slow indoctrination of Matt into a very white supremacist way of life. This is not for younger viewers or for anyone who doesn't want a heavy-going show, as the subject of racism is going to come up a lot from a very different angle to usual as Matt becomes embroiled into being for it.
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Final Verdict
This third season was exciting viewing for me as I desperately wanted to know who The Carver was, having watched the last season and the carnage The Carver caused. It gets a little murder mystery at times as the finger is pointed at practically everyone but unfortunately I figured out who The Carver was a little early on into this season. However it seems the writers had counted on this happening with some viewers who were watching far too closely and still made sure there was one final shock in store for the unmasking finale - the reasons for the crimes and how they were carried out was not something anyone could have expected and truly left me open-mouthed as I watched.
The newer characters were once again an interesting mix; there were certainly no two characters that were alike. The actor playing Cherry was a great choice and played the part well, really making me feel emotionally for the character and wanting justice for her. It was also nice to have a Brit character as it made a change from the usual American accent, and getting Joan Rivers to appear again was a wise move. She was funny as hell and helped the spa story progress, which without her may have become stale.
For me, the most interesting part of the third season other than The Carver's unveiling was its in depth look at appearances and not judging by them. This for a show about plastic surgeons was a slightly strange choice to make, but made for compelling viewing.
After all if we were to judge characters by their appearances what would we see: firstly Julia always seemed to be the woman who couldn't get it together, Christian was a heartless fiend, Sean was completely unflappable, and Ariel's family appear to be a nice regular American family. But as the saying goes "never judge a book by its cover", and that can be applied here. Appearances, which are important in plastic surgery because aesthetics are what is most important, mean nothing in the third season. In fact judging others by them leaves you surprised shocked and disgusted with regards to the above characters. Pretty much every character in this third season is hiding something you wouldn't have expected by looking at them, and not only does it make you see things differently in the world of TV but it should be a gentle reminder to do the same in the real world.
I would recommend this season of Nip/Tuck as nothing is as it seems and over-thinkers and philosophisers will love dissecting everything that goes on here. It's not simple but when has it ever been simple in Nip/Tuck?
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DVD Information & Extras
Season 3 consists of 15 episodes totalling 675 minutes approx spread over 6 disks. As always it's rated 18 - and this is not a rating for the sake of it, Nip/Tuck is strictly for adults. Sadly no special features, but seeing as it only costs £6.97 on Amazon for so much viewing that isn't the biggest issue.
Price correct as of 9/8/11
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