Nip/Tuck is Sexy/Sharp
I am Nip/Tuck’s target audience.
I like a little bit of violence. Check.
I like the good character development of a wide variety of
personalities. Check.
I like watching beautiful people on television. Check.
I like shows where at least one of the characters is morally
reprehensible in all the best ways. Check.
With “Nip/Tuck” the FX cable network has created an original
drama series that has given a much-needed facelift to primetime
programming. Programming which has recently seemed to be in a
reality-inspired downward spiral. Set in sexy, star-struck South
Beach Miami the series dissects the lives of two middle-aged
plastic surgeons, Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) and Dr. Sean
McNamara (Dylan Walsh).
McNamara is a father of two, struggling in his relationship with
his wife and coming to terms with nearing middle age.
Troy is not a good person. He takes lines off a girl’s derriere.
He then agrees to give that girl to an acquaintance in return for a
Lamborghini. He is cool defined.
The show is cutting edge. It has the sharp feel of a dangerous
original series much like “The Sopranos.” Plot lines vary wildly
and have great perspective, showing us different aspects in the
multi-dimensional personalities played perfectly by McMahon and
Walsh.
When Troy realizes that he has helped a priest remove physical
evidence that would prove the priest molested young boys he takes a
scalpel to the priest’s thigh. He attends a Sex Addicts Anonymous
meeting and sleeps with his sponsor that night. He has the coolest
cars, the look women want and the money they crave. He also has no
morals.
McNamara on the other hand, is troubled. He has a gorgeous wife
who is beginning to realize she might have given up her goals in
order to be a housewife. He has a son who is the perp involved in a
hit-and-run accident. He has a drug kingpin pushing him to treat
women who have had drugs put into their breast implants and making
him harvest kidneys. He had an affair with a woman who he
originally performed a double mastectomy on and who later committed
suicide with his help. His life is pretty sucky.
What makes “Nip/Tuck” really stand out compared to other
primetime programming is the “grip it and rip it” attitude that
oozes from the show as readily as the blood from one of the
doctors’ many breast augmentation patients. Yeah, the surgery
scenes can be a little gory and sure, they’ve been panned by real
plastic surgeons as inaccurate, but they add a gut check. And I
have no idea how likely it is for women to be carrying drugs in
their DD breast implants, but it sounds exciting. I also find it
morally reprehensible for a woman to be traded for an exotic
foreign sports car. But they make it look so cool.
People who find sex, drugs or perfect bodies unappealing will
dislike “Nip/Tuck.” People with no interest in convoluted plot
lines involving debauchery and hedonism will find themselves
unfulfilled after an episode. Your grandmother would hate this
show.
I, however, am Nip/Tuck’s target audience.
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