Nip/Tuck – CliqueClack Flashback

Yes, Nip/Tuck just ended its run last week. Yes, this is the fastest a television show has gotten the CliqueClack Flashback treatment. With those details being taken care of, let me explain myself here. I really wanted to address the ending of this important show. Even though we weren’t regularly covering the show, I was a fan. I sat down to watch the series finale and was all prepared to have something to say about it. Well, a funny thing happened. After watching the completely lackluster ending of the series, I had absolutely nothing to say. It was decidedly and overwhelmingly “meh.”

I really didn’t want to a write a post about my disappointment, because the show had been so good in its past. I figured the perfect solution was to look back at some of those great moments in a CliqueClack Flashback post.

The past couple seasons may not have been the strongest, but in its heyday, Nip/Tuck was quite the show. It was bold and unique: a medical show that didn’t focus on hospitals or good-guy doctors. Instead, Nip/Tuck took a probing look into the lives of a couple less-than-honorable plastic surgeons. It was always edgy, pretty graphic, and never pulled any punches. Was it way over the top, completely soapy, and a little trashy? Absolutely, and that’s why I loved it.

The cast was strong, but more importantly, they really worked well together. In the early seasons that included Julian McMahon, Dylan Walsh, and Joely Richardson. Richardson’s time on the show diminished in the later seasons, leaving Walsh and McMahon to shoulder most of the load, and I think the show suffered a bit because of it. I think the real glue for the show, however, was Roma Maffia as Liz Cruz, the practice’s anesthesiologist. When everyone else was fighting or bed-hopping, she was a steady influence on the other characters.

Guest stars were a huge part of the show, and they had some doozies: Famke Janssen, Portia de Rossi, Vanessa Redgrave (Richardson’s mother), Paula Marshall, Bradley Cooper, Sharon Gless, and Rosie O’Donnell just to name a few.

The plots were always big and soapy: women turning out to be men, uncertain parentage, breakups, makeups, serial killers, amnesia, questioning of sexuality, murders, and of course, tons of plastic surgery. The special effects and make up were incredibly impressive and some of the most realistic surgery scenes that I have seen on TV.

The heart of this series was really about the relationship between the two surgeon partners: Sean McNamara and Christian Troy. I once heard Murphy describe the show as  “a love story between two heterosexual men,” and I think it describes the relationship perfectly. Troy was definitely the standout character of the series though. Truly, he was on of the most unapologetically awful people I’ve ever seen on TV, and somehow McMahon managed to make him enjoyable to watch. That’s quite a feat.

When the show moved to Miami for its final two seasons, it did seem to lose some of the luster. Perhaps executive producer and creator Ryan Murphy was too busy working on Glee, or perhaps ideas weren’t as easy to come by. Let’s face it, after a few seasons, just about everyone had slept with everyone else, every crazy plastic surgery had been committed, and every soap cliche had been explored. The change in scenery didn’t exactly reinvigorate the show, but there were still some great episodes.

Nip/Tuck also did a whole lot for a fledgling FX network. It (and its slew of awards, including a Best Drama Golden Globe) helped legitimize FX as a real network (along with The Shield) and cable as a viable power for original programming. It paved the way for some more great television on FX, including Damages and Sons of Anarchy.

What did you think about Nip/Tuck? Did you stick around for the finale? Did you like it?

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Mar 11, 2010 @ 13:00 EST5EDT