Nip/Tuck - Season 2

Drama

Dylan Walsh
Julian McMahon

It's time for a follow-up appointment at McNamara-Troy, Florida's hottest--and most dysfunctional--plastic surgery center, and the setting for the controversial television drama Nip/Tuck, which gives audiences a peek into the professional and private lives of two driven doctors and their (mostly female) patients. If the first season had its share of shocking visuals and storylines, viewers should probably strap themselves into their easy chairs for the events in season 2. In addition to the usual offbeat medical issues (the team gives a man breasts, reconstructs a woman's sexual organs, restores a host of gruesome mutilations, and comes very close to undoing Joan Rivers's face work), Drs. McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Troy (Julian McMahon) must deal with a vicious serial killer known as the Carver, a vengeful former patient (Jill Clayburgh), a woman with alleged stigmata, and a life coach (Famke Janssen) who reveals a stunning secret past--all in the course of just 16 episodes. Guest turns by Alec Baldwin, Vanessa Redgrave (the real-life mother to series regular Joely Richardson), and Sarah Paulson (Deadwood) compliment the already high-quality performances by the cast, and the episodes seem to have ditched the glibness of season 1 in favor of a more serious tone, which makes for a more uniformly enjoyable watching experience. As with the season 1 set, The Complete Second Season includes several extras, most notably 45 minutes of deleted scenes, and a featurette titled "Recurring Pain," which explores the relationships between three female characters and Dr. Troy. --Paul Gaita