Music on Nip/Tuck: Fame's a Killer

It's the mid-season finale for Nip/Tuck and the number one question on my mind is: What will it take for McNamara/Troy to finally get a security system? Seriously, throughout this season -- and really, throughout Nip/Tuck's existence -- folks have been breaking into both the offices and the home of the suddenly-famous plastic surgeons, while Christian and Sean react as if it were all just part of the job. Same goes for the set of Hearts & Scalpels -- even a restraining order against Colleen doesn't seem to inspire an increase in security. But enough on that (and we'll table Colleen for later).

The theme of this episode was the price of fame, which is appropriate given McNamara/Troy's move to Hollywood. (Of course, N/T's take pales in comparison to what Ricky Gervais did with the finale for Extras, an episode that did a better job on all fronts -- but we'll try to look past that.) Jennifer Coolidge reprises her role as Candy Richards, an actress who's caught up in believing she's famous when she's really just this week's dead girl on Law & Order SVU. Coolidge's great over-the-top performance hinted at the outrageousness of all that that followed. Her character also threw out a reference to 'the locusts' that had me thinking of Nathanael West's The Day of the Locust, which tells a tale of Hollywood dreams gone sour -- an appropriate reference to be sure, whether it was intentional or not.

Speaking of dreams gone sour, Julia survived being shot in the head, but couldn't escape falling victim to tired plot device #32: she's lost her memory. Sean, like Edie last season on Desperate Housewives, sees this as an opportunity to start fresh with Julia. We can already see how this ends -- even without the benefit of last season's flash-forward. (And, back to tightening security, why does anyone still trust Eden, exactly?)

I can't help but think the Matt-sleeps-with-his-sister story arc was put into play purely so we could hear Christian say: "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you can't sleep with your sister again!" That, and to set up the above-shot of Christian riding Emmy's amputee mother, his bare ass splitting the uprights. Perhaps Emmy herself is a representation of the eponymous award, suggesting that winning the award is like making love to your half-sister -- it may feel good on a certain level, but it's just not worth it. Well, I don't think N/T has to worry about sleeping with its half-sister in the foreseeable future.

Finally, let's get to the music, (and in turn, back to Colleen). At the end of the episode, when Sean begins to perform surgery on his daughter, we hear David Bowie's "Fame." On the surface it seems like a benign choice given the theme (and the prior use of Irene Cara's similarly titled song) -- but let's not forget who else wrote and helped sing on Bowie's song. It's none other than John Lennon, who was killed by his own stalker/fan Mark David Chapman. So even though there was no "Tubular Bells" to signal Colleen's entrance like in the past, Lennon's voice was a good clue that she was lurking with psychotic intentions. We'll have to wait until summer to find out Sean's fate -- and whether Colleen had The Catcher in the Rye on her at the scene of the crime.

Other favorite lines this week:
"And people... let's try and save that camera, it's a damn good Leica!" -- Sean, in character on Heart & Scalpels, prepping his team to remove a camera from a paparazzo's anal cavity.
"If a tree falls in the forest, and there aren't a bunch of nerds with cameras there to record it, does it make a sound?" -- Candy, on why she called the paparazzi.

Playlist: Nip/Tuck - Episode 5.14
1. "Fame" - Irene Cara - Candy's surgery
2. "Take A Picture" - Swizz Beatz - Candy sets up her exit for the paparazzi
3. "Fame" - God Lives Underwater - Sean and Christian are mobbed by paparazzi
3. "Fame" - David Bowie - Annie's surgery / Colleen stabs Sean
Compiled by Avalon at Niptuckforum.com

More: While the song title is the key reference here, you could really just substitute Bill Wither's "Lovely Day" in place of "Take a Picture," as N/T just used the sampled intro minus Swizz Beatz's vocals. And really, any excuse to listen to Withers is reason enough in my book.

Previously: Always a Critic (Episode 5.13)

drake lelane
all in the (fame) game at the music/soundtrack blog thus spake drake

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