TVSquad

(S06E06) "That's the wonderful thing about raising children -- they keep you young!" - Erica

With Teddy's murder now come and gone (I could go on for hours about how displeased I still am with the way her story ended), Nip/Tuck returned to safe territory last night in "Alexis Stone" by bringing back one of the most loved (and hated) characters to ever grace the show -- Julia's mother, Dr. Erica Noughton (played to icy perfection by Vanessa Redgrave). With Erica around, conflict is always guaranteed and this was no exception. Calling her the mother (and mother-in-law) from hell would be the understatement of the year.

(S06E05) "Why is it that we see what we want to believe and we don't believe what we see?" - Sean

I don't really have a ton to say about this episode; suffice to say that it wasn't my favorite. I argued last week that I hoped Teddy's run in with John Doe (I don't think we caught his name) didn't turn into an easy way to end her story and that's exactly what happened. I liked how it played out but only to the extent that it sent Sean off into this delusional "what the hell am I doing with my life" haze. I'll have a lot more respect for what happened in "Abigail Sullivan" as long as the consequences are worth it.

(S06E04) "Yes! She punched me in the face with her breasts!" - Christian

This is really starting to shape up into one of Nip/Tuck's best seasons in quite some time. Not only did "Jenny Juggs" put an excellent twist on the season's main plot (Teddy's plan), but it also added life to a plot that has, up until now, been pretty stupid (Matt, the bandit mime). Add in the laughs from Christian and Jenny and you've got some vintage McNamara/Troy action. Remember that? Nip/Tuck always used to be this good.

(S06E03) "I don't know... she must've thought I was someone else." - Teddy

Season six of Nip/Tuck, congratulations -- you have arrived. After two enjoyable, but largely disposable episodes to start the season, the focus has finally returned to the one dangling plot from season five -- Rose McGowan's Dr. Teddy Rowe. While it took some guesswork to recall everything the two-faced (three-faced?) anesthesiologist has done (the "previously on" sequence lacked anything to jog your memory since the season five Teddy was played by Katee Sackhoff), "Briggitte Reinholt" did a pretty decent job of explaining her past sins.

(S06E02) "Watching them bleed makes me feel less... alone." - Vivian

Despite being depressing as hell, "Enigma" was still a refreshing episode when compared to last week's light-hearted pseudo-documentary take on Sean and Christian's financial troubles. Nip/Tuck doesn't always focus solely on one of the main characters, but when the show does take that angle, it's often quite good. This episode could have just as easily been called "Sean McNamara II." (The first Sean-centric ep was back in season two.)

(S06E01) "For Sean McNamara, a man wound tighter than a hummingbird's asshole..." - Narrator

Is it wrong that the sight of a wrinkled and saggy breast being sliced open and having a slimy silicone implant shoved into it no longer makes me flinch in quite same way as it did when Nip/Tuck premiered in 2003? That seems to be the endemic issue with Nip/Tuck, in general - the show as a whole is no longer the "disturbingly perfect drama" that it once was because it's just not shocking anymore. In some ways it feels like we've seen it all.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean plots are being recycled, and as we begin our journey through the series' final 19 episodes (this season has 10), there are certainly still plenty of good stories to tell. I made it clear in yesterday's early preview that if there's one show out there with that sort of potential after five seasons, it's definitely Nip/Tuck.

Over the span of its first five seasons, Nip/Tuck has had some spectacular highs and some even greater lows. Regardless of how you feel about them (personally, I liked season three and The Carver), as viewers we've all watched Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) slowly lose the battle to the one thing they're paid to combat - aging.

Entering its penultimate season, Nip/Tuck could use a little nipping and tucking of its own after the mediocre fifth season that saw a lengthy hiatus at the hands of the writers strike. Fortunately, it seems that things might be getting back to "normal" for McNamara/Troy. And by normal, I mean no more serial killers, organ thieves, or weirdo lip-synching musical montages. Beyond that, it's freak show as usual.

With part one of Nip/Tuck's sixth and final season right around the corner (it moves from Tuesdays and premieres on Wednesday, October 14th), I've been waiting for the new promos to start. To be honest, Nip/Tuck's promos never really grabbed me in the past, but after last season's extremely well put together ad featuring "Flashing Lights" by Kanye West, I had high hopes for the next one and FX hasn't disappointed.

The newest promo, titled "Couture," features the song "2 Man Show" by Timbaland and once again involves an extremely intricate choreographed sequence with all sorts of seamstresses stitching and tying something up. It ends with some pretty cool imagery too as Sean and Christian tie something (someone?) up too - very similar to the season four art where the two of them were literally "building" a woman.

Perhaps all the strings are a nod to the fact that the show itself is wrapping up soon? (Only 19 episodes remain in the drama's run.) Check it out for yourself.

(S05E22) "Can I call you Mommy now?" - Wilbur

Well it took about a year and a half (thank you WGA strike), but Nip/Tuck's twenty-two episode fifth season has finally come to a close. As a finale, this episode delivered exactly what I was looking for: a few unanswered questions to leave us hanging as well as a few answers we've been waiting to have addressed since the first half of the season. Even better? There wasn't another one of those weird lip-syncing montages. One of those was enough.

(S05E21) "It's not easy knowing that your whole life is gonna go on without you." - Christian

It's hard to imagine what this show would be like if Christian were to die now. I'd like to think that Ryan Murphy and Co. will actually follow through on what's been an emotional rollercoaster for fans, watching Christian's cancer's ups and downs. If he somehow survives, I'll honestly be disappointed. Dr. Troy needs to die for this story to pay off. So the question is, when's he gonna kick it?

(S05E20) "I had sex with a doll once." - Sean

That was a funny line, huh? Especially since Kimber, the model for "the doll," was right in the next room. That was it in for funnies though in this week's episode of Nip/Tuck. Instead, it was one of the saddest, most depressing, and thought provoking hours the show has had in a long time. It was excellent.

Between Sean's new found free spirit and Christian's two life changing events, there's been a lot set up not just for the final two episodes of this season, but for the final sixth season (or sixth and seventh if those 19 eps get split up) as well.

On top of that, the episode featured one of the more interesting cases Drs. McNamara and Troy have had in some time. The show returned to its roots (no pun intended), and took on the case of Budi Sabri, a man afflicted with the same warts as the Tree Man from Indonesia. Very much a "ripped from the headlines" surgery. Or "ripped from the ground." Pun intended that time.

(S05E19) "Namaste home at night and play with that thing, oh yeah!" - Nurse Linda

I clearly don't have the same set of skills as Manny Skerritt or else I wouldn't own a TV and would therefore have never seen this episode of Nip/Tuck. As this week's patient-du-jour, Manny "I've got a Tyrannosaurus prick" Skerritt reminded me of how funny this show can actually be. The guy that got breast implants in season two comes to mind. However, if there's one lesson to learn from Manny's "addiction," it's that just because it feels good doesn't make it right.

(S05E18) "Sometimes I think that the only way for me to stop him is to cut off my hands." - Raj

It's rare when it happens, but every so often on Nip/Tuck, I just don't care about Sean or Christian. Either because their circumstances have become stale or there's a better sub-plot taking place. In this instance, both reasons played a role. The Christian/Liz plot has become annoyingly predictable and Sean's continuing woe-is-me complex is starting to give me one of my own from watching it. But underneath all that, the Raj and Ricky Wells threads were extremely entertaining.

(S05E17) "Christian, I don't like men. I like you." - Liz

Christian and Liz?!? Can anyone honestly say that they ever saw this coming? Of course, the opposites attract argument exists - "butch lesbian anesthesiologist" and "slightly mysoginistic sex-crazed plastic surgeon" are just about as far apart as you can get. But I suppose it only makes sense that the guy who uses woman before he trusts them starts to fall for the woman he in theory shouldn't be able to have because, Christian put it best, "she's a lesbian!"

Despite all the pitfalls that this relationship certainly has (Christian is not a one woman guy - especially when that woman plays for the other team), at least it's something different. Once again, the "Sean still loves Julia" plot reared it's annoying head. We get it already. The proponents of this awkward courtship will argue that we don't know who Sean is without Julia and that's why he's always carried the torch. But that's just it - I don't know who Sean is without Julia either and it doesn't seem like Ryan Murphy and Co. plan on telling us.

(S05E16) "Let me tell you what I don't like about yourself." - Raj

Eh... not so much. It's not that "Gene Shelly" was a bad episode, it was just awfully predictable for the whole hour. Every time something new happened, the result was painfully obvious. It took away the impact from a few things that otherwise, should have been pretty powerful moments. The one highlight? Dr. Puresh. Everything that kid says is comic gold.