Nip/Tuck/Thoughts: Bad Reception

The first new "Nip/Tuck" of 2008 delivered for the most part, especially in the sexy and funny departments. Still, I could've probably done without the show's take on suicide bombers.

More on the latter later, but first I want to talk about the (very good), which included the return of Bradley Cooper, Oliver Platt, Rosie O'Donnell and "Hearts 'N Scalpels". It seems like Rosie's Dawn Budge is now a producer on the show along with her boyfriend, Oliver Platt's Freddy (and she received a matching tracksuit)

I enjoyed Dawn clashing with the show's star Aidan Stone over the ridiculousness of using a severed toe to rebuild a clitoris. Sean defused the situation by saying he indeed rebuilt a patient's clitoris a few season's back (though I'm pretty sure they didn't use her toe). Then an excited Freddy showed up to announce that the show had been invited to participate in the West Hollywood Gay Pride parade.

This led to another nice exchange in which Dawn was mildly horrified (see, it's funny because we all know Rosie's gay in real life) and Aidan protected his gay fan base. As unlikely as it seemed, the storyline actually served as a stepping stone for the evening's more touching arc in which Liz gently convinced Freddie to come out (in a sweet scene) and we learned more about Dawn's character, who isn't so much bigoted, as she is prone to fall in love with gay men who share her sensitivities. Also, I think Freddie got tired of pretending he was into fantasy football. Finally, any scene with Rosie O'Donnell and Roma Maffia's Liz delivers.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, this being Nip/Tuck, Dawn was mutilated by a motorcycle-riding lesbian (again, a motorcycle gets her? as she tried to stop Freddie from being "dosed" at the gay pride parade. Fun times.

Not so fun times? Sean's arc with Matt's burn therapist Rachel. I thought the storyline itself — that Rachel wanted to have the pieces of the suicide bomber who disfigured her (and whose remains are embedded in her skin) removed — was interesting. But the show overreached when Sean began hallucinating about the suicide bomber, who began to convince Sean that it's a slippery slope from being an angry victimized man, to becoming an extremist.

It would've been a lot more effective if it didn't look like a cheap horror movie and if the suicide bomber's appearance hadn't been accompanied by the vaguely Middle-Eastern-ish music composer can't help but going to whenever there's a terrorist onscreen.

Of course, the reason Sean is feeling victimized is because Christian and Julia seem to be happy, as they're openly seeing each other. I liked it a lot more when Sean hired the hot receptionist with the ridonkulous breasts to sabotage Christian than when he imagined himself as a suicide bomber.

Other than the fact that Sean just needs to get over Julia, he need not worry. Christian started falling back to his old ways (the sex montage with the receptionist was funny and, yes, sexy) partly because he thinks Julia is pushing him away with her mystery illness, but mostly because, he's, you know, Christian.

In the end, Sean and Christian got into a fist fight and, while the sequence was well done, it didn't have the impact I'd expected. I mean, think about all the stuff these two guys have done to each other, and they FINALLY have a physical fight about it. Should've been a bigger moment, but it wasn't — especially since they predictably made up by the end of the episode.

Still, the last 10 minutes were livened up by the surprise return of Gina (pictured, left) and her familiar refrain of "Hey asshole". Sean hired her as the new receptionist because she would torture Christian and because he wouldn't sleep with her. Then again, that second reason may not really matter judging from next week's preview. Also, what's the deal with Jessalyn Gilsig? The actress was just on "Friday Night Lights" as Tami's sister who earned her real estate license and moved out, and now she shows up on this show four days later as Gina with, you guessed it, her real estate license. Coincidence? (Probably).

So what'd you think of this episode? Did you miss Eden, Olivia, Kimber or Ram? Is Eden poisoning ALL of Julia's food? I'm assuming it was just the fruitcake, because that would mean that Julia has been eating fruitcake for, what seems like, weeks now? Who were you most glad to see back, Dawn or Gina? Finally, am I the only who thinks Christian and Julia are surprisingly chemistry-free (especially compared to Sean and Julia)?