Nip/Tuck - Season 3 [DVD]

The writing here is fantastic, and is more than matched by the smooth direction and the conviction of the performers, with the three leads (Dylan Walsh, Joely Richardson and Julian McMahon) each offering further dimensions of depth to their characters, whilst also getting to indulge themselves in some seriously weighty topics. Throughout the series we see the surgeons juggle their usual work-related duties - with episode one finding the pair confronted by a morbidly obese woman, whilst a later episode finds Sean doing reconstructive work on a woman entering into the F.B.I. witness protection program - whilst simultaneously finding themselves with even more problems at home. Added to this, there is the arrival of macho cad Quentin Costa (as seen briefly in season two), who takes up residence at McNamara and Troy after Sean becomes disillusioned with the surgery's approach to superficiality, whilst the hunt for the Carver creates a further degree of animosity between the principal characters, and generally, leads to the revelation of a number of family secrets that were probably best forgotten.

The central concept of ugliness lurking beneath the superficial veneer of perfection couldn't last forever, so the writers here attack more topical issues... not least the central idea of The Carver, who casts a shadow over the season as a whole, but also racism (in the form of Matt's new girlfriend Ariel), pregnancy (I wouldn't want to give anything away!!), and workplace ethics too. In a number of episodes the team is faced with making a series of important decisions, having to decide between what is right and what is wrong and what will net them the biggest stack of cash... for example, dealing with a patient with O.C.D. who wants to have their perfectly fine leg amputated in order to feel complete; a HIV positive man who wants to have his withered face re-built so that he can get back to picking up men; and a very "now" episode in which a mother weighs up the pros and cons of allowing her comatose daughter's face to be transplanted onto a young woman with a degenerative muscle disorder. Sure, it's quite often over the top and melodramatic to the full, but the show succeeds over other contemporary U.S. dramas thanks to the deft characterizations, witty one liners (Quentin and Julie's post-hot-tub exchange is camp genius; with Sean's now successful ex replying to Quentin's assessment of her as "a bitch" by offering the cool kiss-off, "yeah, but at least I'm not yours") and some really quite thought-provoking moments of drama.

Some might argue that this season suffers slightly from the over-reliance on the Carver subplot and his ultimate reveal in the final episode, and, to an extent, I suppose they have a point (the final episode seems rushed, clumsy, and introduces a number of gaping plot holes that run as far back as season two!!), however, to dismiss the entire season on the failure of one episode is churlish, as the series as a whole more than delivered great entertainment and gripping storylines week after week. It's not only Sean and Christian who have to juggle the moral issues here, with the duo's trusted assistant Liz finally having enough of the surgery and it's politics by taking up residency at Julia's successful spa De La Mer, whilst later in the series Julia herself is forced to make a serious and life changing decision when she believes her mother has been involved in a massive plane crash (the whole episode is one of the best of all three seasons combined and features Richardson's greatest on-screen performance to date).

Nip/Tuck Season Three more than measures up to the success of seasons one and two, offering the same combination of caustic one-liners, intelligent characters, trashy melodramatics, over-the-top surgery scenes and edge-of-your-seat tension. Some will probably find the ultimate revelation of the Carver's true-identity to be something of a let down (which is understandable when something is as hyped as this... for more, see the Bad Wolf climax of the recent Doctor Who!!), but I felt that the escalating sense of mystery, tension and drama, coupled with the great performances, writing and direction, was more than enough to make up for the last episode's thematic short-comings.