Each season some storylines ended with cliff-hangers and others with resolution. The audience numbers started dwindling simply because hearing the doctors ask patients "tell us what it is you don't like about yourself" gets old. Eventually, the doctors move the practice to Los Angeles, the playground of rich, famous, and plastic-surgery hungry.
As this series comes to a close and goes even darker than previous episodes and seasons, the show's inconsistent flow underscores the various characters de-evolution as the raw nature of each is revealed. With no surgery turned away, Sean and Christian compromise whatever integrity they had and in turn so did the writers by not giving either of the main characters any backbone.
The relationship between Sean and Christian becomes a score-keeping rivalry mixed with a bromance. They don't learn anything from their relationships gone sour with women, children, colleagues, and even patients. While watching these episodes, I was disturbed that they did not see until too late that they starting to become "fun house mirror" reflections of each other: distorted, twisted, bloated by disturbing behavior. I found this season left a bad taste in my mouth except for the justice meted out and resolution attained between Julia and her mother (played by real-life mother, Vanessa Redgrave). This was probably my favorite thing in the entire series. Nothing else floated my boat.
By this season, the series has lost its patina and not aged well. Too bad that the writers did not get a plastic surgeon to work on the scripts to see about doing a facelift for the show finale. I would suggest that unless you are a die-hard Nip/Tuck fan, rent this series and don't spend the money on this.
There is one special feature: Tell Me What You Don't Like About Yourself - The Psychology Behind Plastic Surgery
Article comments
1 - NTL
I do recommend buying the series. The entire series. It's just that good. Not always consistent, though it holds gems in every episode. The acting is superb. Music and set design alone is worth the viewing.
2 - stevie wilson
Agreed! while there are parts of every episode that are great, this final series looks like a balloon losing its' air.
3 - NTL
I agree it looks 'deflated' towards the end, in part because Ryan Murphy was too focused on Glee and his movie projects, but also because it reflects the spark being gone from the bromance. I admit I always envisioned an electric ending to this intense drama, but the writers decided to pull the rug out from under us in a melancholy way. Tear jerking, yet, content that they will go on as they always have. Maybe learning a few lessons after all.