Nip/Tuck Allegra Caldarello
Original Air Date: Feb 24, 2008
Tom R. - Senior Staff Writer
tom@thetwocents.com
Oh, it’s the same old story... You’ve heard it a hundred times before... Boy meets couch, boy loses couch, boy catches nice operating table on the rebound. Or, it’s American Pie, but it’s a couch, not a pie. And we never saw the pie’s point of view.
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[photo: TVGuide.com]
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Oh, it’s the same old story... You’ve heard it a hundred times before... Boy meets couch, boy loses couch, boy catches nice operating table on the rebound. Or, it’s American Pie, but it’s a couch, not a pie. And we never saw the pie’s point of view.
ReplyDeleteAll things considered, the storyline isn’t handled that badly. When we first meet Dr. Logan Taper (Richard Burgi), he’s on the same wavelength as Christian. The compliments to Christian’s choices of décor seem like a suckup move. Later, as he and Sean scout locations for Christian’s bachelor party, it’s just a little goofy to hear him criticize the strip club’s furniture. When he takes over Christian’s office, it looks like OCD as he painstakingly cleans the desk and the couch. Even after Sean and Christian catch him with his pants down (literally), it keeps escalating. Rather than a simple fetish or arousal by a kind of fabric, Taper goes on and on, attributing a soul and emotions to inanimate objects. While he considers it a disorder, it’s what fetishism originally meant, before it was a sexual term... It’s taking inanimate objects and attaching way too much significance.
On the other hand, Allegra Caldarello’s husband has turned her into an object of sorts. Dying of prostate cancer, her husband brings her in for a makeover so she can get “back on the market”. Once in recovery, her husband wastes no time fixing her up with a butcher who has had his eye on her. (No, the “piece of meat” analogy is not lost.) When she turns him down, her husband returns with a younger, more attractive suitor. Realizing the trend won’t stop, Allegra takes him up on his offer.
The problem with the Taper storyline is the same problem as American Pie... Does anyone remember the rest of the movie? That one image is so graphic and so bizarre that it overshadows anything else that might be of merit in the film. Same thing here... What should be a “B” plot takes over the episode. It’s tough to focus on Liz and Christian’s wedding plans, and the parallels I just mentioned don’t connect as well. It’s a case where the desire to be outrageous puts everything else at risk. And while it doesn’t kill the story, it’s a noticeable distraction. Especially the nudity, and Taper’s encore with the operating table.
More interesting is Liz’s relationship with her mother. Mama Cruz is showing signs of relief through the episode, since her girl is apparently back to being straight. She has even given Liz a fourth generation gown to wear for the ceremony. Little by little, though, we see her wonder what Liz and Christian are doing together. When the truth about Christian’s illness comes out, so do Mama’s true feelings... ”So that’s why Christian would end up with someone like Liz”. Her continued disrespect for her daughter continues until Liz sends her away and asks her not to be at the wedding. Each transition is played well, from Mama’s relief at not having a freak for a daughter, to her suspicion of Christian, to the revelation of how deep her disappointment goes. It’s the real emotional center of the episode, which makes it a tragedy that the impact is stolen.
By the way... Christian should have forfeited his hiring privileges after bringing on Quentin Costa in season 3.
Music:
Strangers in the Night: 3 separate versions by Sergi Vicente, Knights Bridge and Beegie Adair Trio
Time Can Never Erase: Hatfield Jazz Quartet
You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You: Dean Martin
Kiss the Sky: Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra
Theme from Come September: Bobby Darin
Perfect Lie: (Theme) The Engine Room
Quote:
“Everybody’s replaceable. Even me.” -Christian, leaving the operating room for what could be the last time
So... What do you think? Drop your thoughts in the comments or email me at: tom@thetwocents.com.
Hey thanks so much for putting this information up here. I greatly apperciate it. Because of this I was able to find the song played. Thanks a bunch.
ReplyDeleteWith gratitude.
"Z"
O yah the show was good. great review.
Dude, the scenes of the new doctor banging the couch and then going TO TOWN on the OR table. Wow. I was laughing so hard I almost cried!!
ReplyDelete