Grid Effect

Last time on morally ambivalent happy hour, also commonly referred to as Nip Tuck, James The Woman is now murdering people for their organs in Sean and Christians office, Sean has re-inherited his not-son Wilbur after the kid’s biological father died. And Sean was mourning the dissimilation of his family.

The theme of this week, Sean is now feeling insecure about being in Christian’s shadow, professionally and socially. This has kind of been an ongoing theme in the series, and this is only the 7th or 8th time they have addressed it, so relatively speaking it is virtually new territory for this show. This resentment is exemplified when a woman comes in for implants, but also to flirt with Christian as he was apparently named one of Miami’s more eligible bachelors in a local publication. Sean storms out of the office virtually unnoticed.

When it comes to for her actual surgery, Sean busts in to oversee that everything goes smoothly. It is rather transparent and Christian calls him out on it. Luckily, they are both bailed out when Sean’s assistant informs him that he has a 2pm consoltation with a ventriloquist that is also feeling insecure… around his dummy. Sean walks away dejectedly. Is this a real issue with plastic surgeons? The alpha male gets the breast implants while his counterpart is forced to perform the facelift on the crazy stage-performer with an inferiority complex around his wooden dummy?

Anyhow, I am a little tired of Christian, but mostly Sean identifying his own faults through his patients and ultimately coming to grips with what is actually bothering him. Its trite, redundant and cheap. At least last week he vicariously recognized his emotional problems through a homeless man. And to complete the metaphor that is Sean’s despair, after the operation, the ventriloquist’s dummy (i.e. the ventriloquist) mocks his operation. Sean, clearly at his wits end, suggests Mr. Ward just take his hand out of the doll. The Ward holds his head down, choking back the tears and says through the doll, ‘He can’t doc, without me he is 176 pounds of nothing”.

Wilbur this week is sought after by a couple of predatory women. One is Gina, his biological nymphomaniac mother with AIDS. Last we saw her she was on the straight-and-narrow, operating a rehab center for patients out of elective surgery with Julia. She is still clean, yet still psychotic and wants to be allowed back in Wilbur’s life despite court order restrictions and the Father’s will. Christian isn’t interested either as he wants Michelle to be the legal mother.
James The Woman wants the child’s kidneys, as they are very valuable because few people are heinous enough to kill a child for his/her organs. She comes up with not so subtle threats such as, “He looks plump and juicy” when referring to Wilbur. Actually, they are subtle compared to those of Gina, who busts in on Michelle, Christian and Wilbur’s dinner celebrating the two of them officially becoming Wilbur’s legal guardians. She throws food on Michelle, screams all sorts of veiled threats and has to be physically restrained after she tears up the legal documents.

Of course, Wilbur is kidnapped when they are both sidetracked by a woman who looks like Gina at the park. We see James The Woman stalking them in the remote viscinity while Michelle is pleading with Christian to get protection from Gina, when she wants it for both her and James The Woman. At that very moment, Wilbur goes missing, and we are lead to believe James The Woman is the guilty culprit.

So of course it is Gina. She promptly returns him to Christian after an hour as the result of an epiphany and determines she is not cut out to be a parent, and this was evident three years ago in the days of “cab fair”. Christian says he still fully intends on pressing charges for obvious reasons, though it looks like he might recant after she goes into some sappy diatribe about parenting and gives Wilbur some toy that is supposed to have some sentimental value, but I am too tired and disinterested to care about it.

Meanwhile, James The Woman broke into Michelle’s house, stole her gun and has turned it on her. this is clearly just a PSA about gun ownership. Anyhow, right before James The Woman kills herself we learn that she lost a son at eighteen months old. So that is why she is such an unforgivable monster.

In incredibly dysfunctional relationship news, Matt and Kimber are having sexual chemistry problems, which makes sense because she is a former porn star and he is borderline jail bait. Matt seeks out advice from Christian, and ends up getting some from Sean who at first tries to be technical before Matt shows up saying he wants to know how to make Kimber “hot” not take advice from Dr. Ruth’s male equivalent. After like the 50th example of someone preferring Christian to Sean, Sean erupts into an incredibly candid explanation of what he did with Kimber, and its not for the faint of heart. Never the less, Matt’s only response is, If that’s what you did with her, I can’t imagine what Christian did”. Well buddy, it can get a little awkward when you marry and impregnate a woman who has already slept with your surrogate and biological fathers.

Ends up Matt was right, as Kimber confided her sexual frustration to her psychiatrist, who is also a Scientologist. So Matt gets the idea to hire a film crew that consists of several of Kimber’s old porn crew, including her mentor (what does this imply in the porn industry, exactly?). They do a role play thing with Matt as an OB/GYN and Kimber as a patient. I guess we are too assume she is fantasizing about Christian. Either way it makes me feel better about missing the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show in the same time slot.
Ends up her mentor is on the paper chase, posted the video online, and, gasp, the “church” knows about it. Now according to this cracked out Scientology doctor, the babies health as well as her future in the “church” is in jeopardy (Stretch, Yawn).

Sean decides he is selling his share of the practice to Christian and Michelle to get out from under Christian’s shadow because Sean believes he has no identity without him.

Another fairly mediocre if not flat out bad episode. Hopefully the season finale can compensate for the 10 of 12 sub-par episodes we have been subjected to.