TVSquad

(S04E05) Jeez, kind of a slow episode but the final few minutes made up for it. We'll get to that later though. Let's talk about Rosie O'Donnell first. She was great! I had such low expectations for her role as a white-trash lottery winner. Rosie even showed a clip on The View a day or two ago and it didn't look all that good. I don't know, maybe it's just because she's everywhere right now. Regardless, she was hilarious as Dawn Budge and easily makes the list of great McNamara/Troy patients. Right up there there with Mrs. Grubman and Momma Boone.

Matt and Kimber finally made it back into the fold during this episode. At first, I didn't care. The Scientology storyline hasn't really grabbed me so far and I wasn't all that invested in that part of this season. I am now. John Hensley and Kelly Carlson shined in this episode. Kimber has become a completely new character just about every season and Carlson deserves a pat on the back for this transformation. She's a bit extreme now and I'm sure some Scientology groups will be up in arms about Nip/Tuck's portrayal of the religion. It seems a bit cultish, no? Especially so in the scene where Matt was being chased by the private investigator Sean hired and Matt's brothers(?) came to his rescue. Regardless, this has me hooked now and I'm sure Ryan Murphy and Co. have put together a story that will be both shocking and informative.

The James storyline has also pulled off a big jump forward. Jacqueline Bisset is just plain ol' creepy in this role and after the final minutes, we have even more reason to be freaked out by her. She's behind the black-market organ ring that stole Liz's kidney. That's the reason that James puts her girls through medical school, including Michelle. At the end of the episode, James (still blackmailing Michelle but now with pictures of her and Christian, not money) uses Michelle's skills to remove a kidney from some guy at a bar. This actually caught me off guard. I honestly thought James and the organ thieves would be two separate stories. I didn't think they'd merge. Unlike the third season where everyone had a pretty good idea of who The Carver was, I was genuinely surprised about this revelation. Credit to the writers though because it all tied together very nicely.

Other Points:

• I thought it was hilarious that Dawn thought sex with Christian was terrible. But I did like the simple point the entire episode stressed: money can't buy love.
• Sean and Julia getting married again? I get the feeling that "getting closer" is only going to drive them apart again.
• The scene where Rosie got a bikini wax? Terrifying. Then again, the sex scene with Christian wasn't easy on the eyes soul either.
• I'm actually glad Christian and Michelle are involved now. It would have bugged me if she was riding her high horse all season. This direction is far more realistic. He seems to be falling for her awfully fast though. But actually agreeing to pay off Michelle's "debt" to James? That's very un-Christian. So who knows, his love for her might be for real.
• It looks like Burt finds out about Christian/Michelle and Julia finds out about Sean/Monica next week. That should be good, if anything because it means we get more of Larry Hagman and his ridiculous eyebrows.

Best Quote:

Christian (to Dawn, commenting on her new mansion and it's furnishings): "It looks like Liberace took a dump in here."