Nip/Tuck/Thoughts: Sleep Disorder

After what was probably an overly-jokey season premiere (whatever, I kinda loved the infomercial), “Nip/Tuck” came back with its darkest hour in recent memory.

This downer of an episode was like a cross between “Fight Club” and, well, early “Nip/Tuck” before the show’s outrageousness became a parody of itself.

That’s not to say there wasn’t a laugh or two to go around (Christian whining, “I want my goddamned Yoplait!”) but this episode had both feet firmly, drearily and unsettlingly planted in the dark side – and I was digging it.

The tone worked because it probably reflected the hopeless bleakness Sean was feeling from his lack of sleep. Turns out he took too many sleeping pills at the end of the last episode and had to be revived by Christian and Teddy, who both scolded him. Christian then turned his ire to Teddy for being so clueless about Sean’s financial and personal stresses.

Eventually, Sean and Teddy broke off their engagement. When Teddy picked up her ring in Sean’s office, she spied his life insurance form. Apparently, Sean is worth $5 million dead and Teddy became interesting for the first time since Rose McGowan began playing her. If you remember last season – I didn’t since I had to go back and ready my own recap – Teddy killed a doctor in Las Vegas while living a double life there. From the previews, it appears that she’ll marry Sean and try to off her second doc (that we know of). I’m still not buying the McGowan for Katee Sackoff switch, but at least they’re doing SOMETHING with this character.

That being said, the MVP of this episode was guest star Amy Price-Francis as Sean’s scary insomnia buddy. He met her at a dinner and soon she was letting him slide into third base in the middle of an ER waiting room while she wallowed in other people’s misery. She was also at the hospital so she could stab herself with a fork and score free painkillers and sleep. When it was Sean’s turn to take cutlery to a limb, he came to his senses, so Vivian stabbed him in the leg. Sean scored the drugs, but (in a rare moment of clarity) left them at the hospital.

Price-Francis was absolutely extraordinary as Vivian. I felt like I was going to catch an STD just watching her on TV. (I swear that I mean that as a compliment.) All of the Sean/Vivian scenes had a transfixing creepiness to them that this show (or any other) hadn’t achieved in a long time.
Not too far behind was the patient of the week, a troubled teen who insisted people call him Enigma (pictured, right). He had lots of freaky scars and tattoos on his body that reflected the darkness inside. His parents brought him to McNamara/Troy to have them removed. I think we could all guess where this storyline was headed, even after “Jared” claimed there was a lightness in him, but his eventual murder-suicide was still affecting.

It certainly left a mark on Liz, who decided to drop her lawsuit against Christian. She saw what happens when a person lives in the darkness too long.

Earlier, she’d had a tense (and terrific) face off with Kimber. She scolded her for going back to Christian, insisting that there was no goodness in him, not matter how badly both women wanted there to be. I actually felt for both women in this argument. Kimber is simply too weak (and dumb?) to resist Christian whenever he comes calling (that almost sex scene was the hotness, no?) Liz is mad at herself because she’s smarter, should know better and STILL fell for it.

Speaking of people who are smart, I posed the question (is there any goodness in Christian?) to my girlfriend Erica and she came up with what I believe is the exact right answer: “Not towards women.” It’s easy to understand Liz’s anger toward Christian, but we’ve seen too many instances of Christian being protective toward Sean (including in this episode) before (sadly) ultimately sabotaging himself. He also ABSOLUTELY loves Wilbur. (There’s also a lot of goodness in Erica for having the patience to answer hypothetical questions involving fictional characters.)

Even with the lawsuit gone, Christian did not have a good week. He’d recruited Kim, aka “Orange Face”, to create a mold of his penis to sell as a sex toy. Unfortunately, Dr. Mike Hamoui swooped in and stole his thunder with his own urinal-splashing member (and probably snatched up Kimber in the process). Sure, Christian is down now, but it’s pretty obvious the show is setting Mike up for a MAJOR fall, right?

So what’d you think of this episode? Any chance we see Vivian again? Can Christian and Liz be friends again? (And should they be?) Finally, which relationship will last longer - Mike/Kimber or Sean/Teddy’s marriage?