(S05E09) "I was never in any danger of being drugged by the gays." - Freddy

After a month off, Nip/Tuck is back. Only 14 of this season's 22 episodes were finished pre-WGA Strike, so it makes sense that FX threw that mini hiatus in there. I was really looking forward to this episode, and even though I liked it, there was still a lot of stuff that just didn't feel fresh to me. Recycled is probably more accurate. I love this show, but c'mon... Sean and Christian fighting over Julia is really getting old.

Gallery: Nip/Tuck - Season Five

Honestly, I'm hoping that this episode signifies the end of it since Sean seems to finally be willing to forgive Christian. They physically fought about it for the second or third time and the whole plot is just stale at this point. Just let Julia sleep with Christian and wait for him to disappoint her. You know he will. Whether they're in love or not, he never was a one woman man. Plus Gina ("Hey asshole." I love it.) is back and you know Christian won't be able to keep his hands off her. On a side note, this is the one thing that bugs me when a show "moves" to a different location. To make it work, all the characters need to have reasons to move. Gina just so happened to get her California Realtor license. It's just a little odd to me. After Christian got Wilber, I would have never expected to see Gina back. I'm glad she is though.

Moving on, Dawn Budge and Freddy Prune were back. She started pumping money into Hearts n' Scalpels and Freddy made her a producer. Hilarious. Rosie O'Donnell is great in this role and I can understand why FX once considered spinning her off into her own show. She got run over by a lesbian biker! Plus she had one of the funniest lines in Nip/Tuck history: "Chop chop people. We got a clit to build." Too funny, especially since it's coming from O'Donnell's mouth. Granted, the story went a little overboard in the "OK, we get it. How ironic that Rosie O'Donnell is playing a homophobe" department, but she was still great. I also loved the fight she got in with Aidan. ("I'm not a bigot." "Bigots always say that.")

This episode also saw the return of Rachel Ben Natan, Matt's rehabilitation counselor. If you recall, she was next to a suicide bomber in Palestine when he pushed the button and now she wants his "human shrapnel" removed from her body. Nip/Tuck has always handled the similarities between its doctors and patients well, but this was particularly well done. Comparing Sean to Rachel's suicide bomber and seeing the anger and resentment of Christian and Julia build inside him was great. Just really well done. Of course, as good as that was, it culminated in my original gripe. Matt sure can pick 'em though huh? Transvestites, white supremacists, port star meth addicts, and now Rachel. Quite the track record.

More thoughts...

• Freddy finally came out. Not like we didn't see that coming. No straight man calls his girlfriend "petal."
• Whatever Eden dosed that fruit cake with isn't leaving Julia's system. She's getting daily bloody noses now. Plus, she's been to three doctors who all say she's fine. It sounds terrible, but I love the idea of her being killed off. That would really force things to change.
• For those wondering where the toe/clitoris surgery on Hearts n' Scalpels came from, got check out S02E03, "Manya Mabika."
• Also, for those dying to know who played Rachel, it was Maggie Siff. Most will remember her as Menken's daughter on Mad Men. Can't really tell who she is in this show though... for obvious reasons.
• I had forgotten that Dawn donated one of her kidneys to Liz.
• In some completely unrelated FX news, I saw some new promos for Dirt and The Riches. Both return in March, Dirt on Sunday the 2nd and The Riches on Monday the 10th. Even though both series have a shortened season due to the strike (I know Dirt only has 7 eps), the placement of these two shows has me wondering if The Shield will still be back in April as planned.

Nip/Tuck is back next week with the second of its final six episodes. Marlee Matlin and Sharon Gless guest star.