Somewhere towards the end of the third season of Nip/Tuck, the show seemed to go off the rails, careening into the absurd, and losing it's keen sense of humor. Last season it suffered much of the same, but towards the end, the show seemed to find it's heart (and humor). This season, the show got a much needed face lift, with a relocation to Beverly Hills (the heart of "tell me what you don't like about yourself,") and it's a welcome change of scenery from the suddenly crowded Miami (Burn Notice, Dexter and Cane).
One of the benefits of the relocation is the availability of guest stars, and if last night's episode is any indication, it might be walking the line of distraction all season long. Having Christian and Sean consult on a television show provides some plenty of opportunity for self-reflection, and guest star Jennifer Coolidge's surreal acting turn ("my lady cha cha!") seemed like creator Ryan Murphy having some fun at the overwrought drama that the series was accused of in the past couple seasons. It also gives the opportunity to take a different look at some past surgeries, like the Coolidge character's pussy lip surgery re-imagined from the second season (episode 2.06, "Bobbi Broderick").
Musically, it's business as usual, though, with the eclectic mix of hip-hop, indie rock and pop from music supervisor P.J. Bloom. We're given a visual tour of the offices to "The Best is Yet to Come," the docs get dressed for a night out to "Lean Like a Cholo," and a network executive gets his dominatrix wounds healed to Nazareth's "Love Hurts." But my favorite had to be the use of Battles' "Atlas" during the parallel surgeries of Christian's hair plugs and Carly's feather lift surgery. Their album Mirrored is one of the best albums of the year, and it's no small feat to get their somewhat inaccessible sound on primetime television. Kudos for making it work, PJ.Playlist: Nip/Tuck - Ep 5.01
1. "The Best is Yet To Come" - Michael Buble - Opening tour of new office
2. "Keep the Drums Out" - Voom Voom - Sean and Christian play basketball
3. "Lean Like a Cholo" - Down AKA Kilo - Sean and Christian get dressed
4. "Tango" - Palermo Nuevo - Sean and Christian look for business at a nightclub
5. "Let's Elope" - Koop - Fiona tells Sean and Christian about Hearts & Scalpels
6. "Love Hurts" - Nazareth - Sean and Christian perform surgery on Bob Easton
7. "Atlas" - Battles (YouTube) - Sean gives Christian hair plugs / Christian performs 'feather lift' surgery on Carly
8. "New Kid in Town" - The Wynners - Sean performs liposuction surgery fan while explaining the procedure to Aidan
9. "Space Maker" - Air - Christian makes an anonymous phone call to Us Weekly about Carly's surgery
Compiled by Avalon at NipTuckforum.com
Previously: Cut and Run (California Here I Come) - Season 4 finale
tags: music, television, soundtrack, nip/tuck, battles, indie rock, playlist
2 comments:
So far I like h enew season. The only story line I'm unsure about is the Dominatrix one. Mostly because I have met several real life Doms over the years through selling ads and working at The Cramp back in the day, and I've never met any that are anything like the one on the show. It seems a little too "fluffy" in that way.
Otherwise I like the whole Christian midlife crisis angle. It is about time. Maybe they can turn him human again?
Still playing catchup... watching two back-to-back tonight.
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