Andrew Leeds Movies

The owners of Miami's trendy McNamara-Troy cosmetic surgery clinic face multiple midlife (and other) crises as the FX comedy drama series Nip/Tuck enters its second season. Now that they have both reached the age of 40, longtime business partners Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) must make some crucial decisions that will affect their future lives, to say nothing of their professional futures as expert surgical face-lifters. For Sean, the big four-oh means that he will no longer allow himself to be bullied and cowed by his demanding wife Julia (Joely Richardson) and his insolent teenage son Matt (John Hensley) -- at least not as much as he used to be. One aspect of Sean's newer, bolder outlook on life is his brief romantic fling with a self-reliant blind woman, played by guest star Rebecca Gayheart.
As for Christian, he remains as avaricious as ever when it comes to money and creature comforts, but he is also beginning to exhibit a hitherto well-hidden streak of responsibility, as manifested in his desire to adopt the son of his girlfriend Gina (Jessalyn Gilsig). Major developments this season include the revelation of a devastating secret about Sean's son Matt, one that not only threatens to destroy his marriage, but also to permanently split up the firm of McNamara-Troy. Also, Sean invites New Age life coach Ava Moore (Famke Janssen) into his home to help deal with the personal travails of his wife Julia, only to stand by in shock and awe as Ava inaugurates a romance with Matt. Figuring into this delicate situation is Ava's own son Adrian (Seth Gabel), who has some serious issues of his own. And weaving throughout the proceedings is an elusive serial rapist known only as The Carver, who disfigures the faces of his victims -- and who is willing to slash up both women and men, as both Sean and Christian discover to their horror. Among the more fascinating clients passing through the doors of McNamara-Troy during season two are Julia's mother, played by Joely Richardson's real-life mom Vanessa Redgrave; Jill Clayburgh as a dissatisfied customer who is willing to make a public spectacle of herself to ruin Sean and Chris; Lori and Reba Schappell as a pair of conjoined twins who wish to be separated; and in the season finale, Joan Rivers as herself, insisting upon having her multitudinous face lifts "revoked" for the sake of her grandson! ~ Rovi

The first season of F/X's Nip/Tuck finds doctors Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) enjoying success at McNamara-Troy, the plastic surgery practice they built after having gone through medical school and much of their young adult lives together. While Christian is perfectly happy making tremendous amounts of money and using his status to bed all the beautiful women Florida has to offer, Sean is desperate to take on pro bono cases. Though this eventually comes to fruition, the limitations in his personal life continue -- his relationship with his son, Matt (John Hensley), is strained, while his marriage to Julia (Joely Richardson) is mediocre at best; both he and Julia have seriously contemplated extramarital affairs. This season also marks the entrance of a ruthless Columbian drug lord, who at one point was blackmailing Sean and Christian into helping him transplant drugs into the U.S. via heroin-filled breast implants. Though he eventually is brought to justice, it makes life even more difficult for the surgeons. Luckily, the constant stream of patients into McNamara-Troy all have something to offer -- their outside flaws, whether real or merely a result of societal pressure, help Sean and Christian examine their own internal imperfections. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi