Unfortunately, a series cannot live exclusively on soap opera-style shenanigans, which means we're required to meet a whole lot of 'patients of the week,' some of which have some pretty fascinating stories to tell - and some of which land on just the other side of seriously outlandish.

Frankly, when Nip/Tuck S3 sticks to its main characters and backbone plot threads, it's as entertaining as anything on TV.

Beneath the surface we still have all the delicious surprises, unpredictable character behavior, and big buckets of witty dialogue. The docs' third season deals with a wide variety of malformed, desperate, and/or egocentric patients, and on an episode-by-episode basis, Nip/Tuck still holds up as a devilishly appealing series (even if S3 dives off the deep end a handful of times) - but when series creator Ryan Murphy focuses on his strongest assets (Christian and his porn star girlfriend, Sean and his estranged wife, and the colorful cast of recurring characters who keep popping by), that's when Nip/Tuck really shines.īy this point, Nip/Tuck has transformed into a fairly predictable formula. The whole cast is back, and as strong as ever, and the writers have cooked up some really compelling plot twists, turns, and divergences, but there's three or four episodes in the middle of Nip/Tuck's third season that skirt dangerously close to shark-jumping territory.īack for a third series of surgical misadventures are Doctors Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon), two old friends who share no shortage of closeted skeletons and hidden secrets. I'm going to keep this review shorter than that one, mainly because I don't feel the need to regurgitate all the praise I lavished upon the series last year, but also because, well, the show's starting to flounder just a little bit.ĭon't get me wrong Nip/Tuck is still one of the craftiest, strangest, and most darkly alluring shows on television, but now in its third season - the producers seem to be spinning their wheels just a little. Just about one year ago to the day, I spent a very entertaining weekend with the second season of Nip/Tuck, a document of which can be seen right here.

Nip tuck season 3 episode 11