# Nip/Tuck season 5

The fifth season of Nip/Tuck premiered on October 30, 2007 and concluded on March 3, 2009. The unusually lengthy interval, for this season, was a direct result of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike. The season consisted of 22 episodes.

## Cast and characters
### Main cast

* Dylan Walsh as Dr. Sean McNamara
* Julian McMahon as Dr. Christian Troy
* John Hensley as Matt McNamara
* Roma Maffia as Liz Cruz
* Kelly Carlson as Kimber Henry
* Joely Richardson as Julia McNamara

### Special guest stars

* Oliver Platt as Freddy Prune
* Craig Bierko as Bob Easton
* Jennifer Coolidge as Candy Richards
* Bradley Cooper as Aidan Stone
* Daphne Zuniga as Carly Summers
* Rosie O'Donnell as Dawn Budge
* Jessalyn Gilsig as Gina Russo
* Sharon Gless as Colleen Rose
* Joan Van Ark as Annette Wainwright
* Shari Belafonte as Catherine Wicke
* Deborah Shelton as Marla Middleton
* Morgan Fairchild as herself

### Recurring cast

* Portia de Rossi as Olivia Lord
* Paula Marshall as Kate Tinsley
* Lauren Hutton as Fiona McNeil
* Kelsey Lynn Batelaan as Annie McNamara
* AnnaLynne McCord as Eden Lord
* John Schneider as Ram Peters
* Leslie Grossman as Bliss Berger
* Maggie Siff as Rachel Ben Natan
* Donna Mills as Lulu Grandiron
* Jeannine Kaspar as Emme Lowell
* Lisa Darr as Darlene Lowell
* Adhir Kalyan as Dr. Raj Paresh
* Damien Leake as Dr. Moss
* Jaime Ray Newman as Daphne Pendell
* Katee Sackhoff as Dr. Theodora Rowe
* Elaine Hausman as Allegra Caldarello
* Richard Portnow as Manny Caldarello

## Episodes

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Patient portrayer | Original release date | Prod. code | Viewers (millions) |
| Part 1 |||||||||
| 60 | 1 | "Carly Summers" | Charles Haid | Ryan Murphy | Daphne Zuniga | October 30, 2007 (2007-10-30) | 3T6401 | 4.34 |
| In the fifth season premiere, Sean and Christian settle into their new plastic surgery practice in Beverly Hills and struggle to build it from the ground up. |||||||||
| 61 | 2 | "Joyce & Sharon Monroe" | Charles Haid | Ryan Murphy | Susan Griffiths & Merilee Brasch | November 6, 2007 (2007-11-6) | 3T6402 | 3.33 |
| Sean and Christian learn about the glamorous side of fame and the price that people are willing to pay for it. |||||||||
| 62 | 3 | "Everett Poe" | Richard Levine | Lyn Greene & Richard Levine | Michael Des Barres | November 13, 2007 (2007-11-13) | 3T6403 | 3.56 |
| Sean and Julia learn more about their family dynamics as Sean resists Eden Lord's advances. |||||||||
| 63 | 4 | "Dawn Budge II" | Charles Haid | Jennifer Salt | Rosie O'Donnell | November 20, 2007 (2007-11-20) | 3T6404 | 3.21 |
| A series of unfortunate events unfold for an unlucky Dawn Budge, who seeks reparative surgery from Sean and Christian. |||||||||
| 64 | 5 | "Chaz Darling" | Sean Jablonski | Sean Jablonski | Jai Rodriguez | November 27, 2007 (2007-11-27) | 3T6405 | 3.40 |
| While a patient inspires Sean to take his relationship with Kate in a new direction, Eden uses extreme methods to persuade Christian to perform surgery on a friend. |||||||||
| 65 | 6 | "Damien Sands" | Charles Haid | Hank Chilton | Ian Buchanan | December 4, 2007 (2007-12-4) | 3T6406 | 2.49 |
| Christian, jealous over Sean's newfound fame, convinces Sean to tape a reality show based on their careers as plastic surgeons, with desastrous results. This episode is a satire of reality television. |||||||||
| 66 | 7 | "Dr. Joshua Lee" | Brad Falchuk | Brad Falchuk | George Coe | December 11, 2007 (2007-12-11) | 3T6407 | 2.52 |
| As Sean tries to regain his youth through his relationship with Eden, a violent and traumatic event causes Julia to question her relationship with Olivia. |||||||||
| 67 | 8 | "Duke Collins" | Elodie Keene | Lyn Greene & Richard Levine | Joel McKinnon Miller | December 18, 2007 (2007-12-18) | 3T6408 | 1.94 |
| After suspecting that something more than just their Secret Santa game is going on, Sean confronts Christian and Julia about the secret they have been keeping. |||||||||
| 68 | 9 | "Rachel Ben Natan" | Charles Haid | Jennifer Salt | Maggie Siff | January 15, 2008 (2008-1-15) | 3T6409 | 2.19 |
| As Julia's health worsens, Christian falls back into old habits. Sean hires Gina as the new McNamara/Troy receptionist in order to get back at Christian. |||||||||
| 69 | 10 | "Magda & Jeff" | Craig Zisk | Hank Chilton | Selma Stern & Robert Gant | January 22, 2008 (2008-1-22) | 3T6410 | 2.84 |
| After Sean takes on an agent, his role on "Hearts 'n Scalpels" is expanded. Meanwhile, a suspicious Christian questions why Gina moved to Los Angeles and is working at McNamara/Troy, and what her motives might be. |||||||||
| 70 | 11 | "Kyle Ainge" | Dirk Wallace Craft | Brad Falchuk & Hank Chilton | Jeff Hephner | January 29, 2008 (2008-1-29) | 3T6411 | 2.89 |
| Christian attempts to cope in the aftermath of a death. Meanwhile, Colleen feels threatened when another talent agency shows interest in Sean's acting career. |||||||||
| 71 | 12 | "Lulu Grandiron" | Brad Falchuk | Brad Falchuk | Donna Mills | February 5, 2008 (2008-2-5) | 3T6412 | 3.34 |
| Eden looks to Sean for help after getting into business with Kimber and Ram. |||||||||
| 72 | 13 | "August Walden" | Sean Jablonski | Sean Jablonski | Stephen J. Oliver | February 12, 2008 (2008-2-12) | 3T6413 | 2.71 |
| A television critic gives Sean a dose of the ugly side of Hollywood. |||||||||
| 73 | 14 | "Candy Richards" | Richard Levine | Jennifer Salt | Jennifer Coolidge | February 19, 2008 (2008-2-19) | 3T6414 | 2.98 |
| Tragedy strikes the McNamara/Troy family after Julia learns what has caused her ill health. |||||||||
| Part 2 |||||||||
| 74 | 15 | "Ronnie Chase" | Brad Falchuk | Ryan Murphy | Michael Scheckenowitz | January 6, 2009 (2009-1-6) | 3T6415 | 3.12 |
| As season five continues, McNamara/Troy faces an unexpected, serious medical crisis. Christian decides to settle down with one woman and Sean discovers a new love in a moment of extreme vulnerability. In the premiere episode for this second segment of season five, Sean's physical and emotional well-being is greatly impacted after he survives the attack from Colleen. Meanwhile, Christian gets some troubling news. |||||||||
| 75 | 16 | "Gene Shelly" | Richard Levine | Lyn Greene & Richard Levine | John Fleck | January 13, 2009 (2009-1-13) | 3T6416 | 2.53 |
| Christian and Liz grow closer when his chemotherapy makes him ill and she becomes his caretaker. Sean reconnects with his broken family. |||||||||
| 76 | 17 | "Roxy St. James" | Lyn Greene | Jennifer Salt | Dina Meyer | January 27, 2009 (2009-1-27) | 3T6417 | 2.68 |
| Sean tries to deal with his feelings for Julia. Christian meets someone who gets what he is going through. |||||||||
| 77 | 18 | "Ricky Wells" | John Stuart Scott | Brad Falchuk | Brando Eaton | February 3, 2009 (2009-2-3) | 3T6418 | 2.70 |
| Matt gets jealous when Sean and Raj starts to develop a father/son relationship. Christian and Liz try making things work. |||||||||
| 78 | 19 | "Manny Skerritt" | Dirk Wallace Craft | Ryan Murphy | Misha Collins | February 10, 2009 (2009-2-10) | 3T6419 | 2.33 |
| Sean's hiring of a new anesthesiologist leads to trouble. Kimber goes to extreme measures. |||||||||
| 79 | 20 | "Budi Sabri" | Hank Chilton | Ryan Murphy & Hank Chilton | Chi Muoi Lo | February 17, 2009 (2009-2-17) | 3T6420 | 2.40 |
| Sean and Teddy explore their relationship and Christian relates to a patient with a unique condition. |||||||||
| 80 | 21 | "Allegra Calderella" | Sean Jablonski | Sean Jablonski | Elaine Hausman | February 24, 2009 (2009-2-24) | 3T6421 | 2.10 |
| Christian makes arrangements to secure his family's future after he's gone. Liz prepares for the wedding. |||||||||
| 81 | 22 | "Giselle Blaylock & Legend Chandler" | Lyn Greene | Lyn Greene & Richard Levine | Wendy Glenn & Graham Shiels | March 3, 2009 (2009-3-3) | 3T6422 | 2.39 |
| Christian searches for immortality and Kimber reacts to the news of Liz and Christian getting married. |||||||||

## U.S television ratings

| Season | Season premiere | Season premiere | Season premiere | Season finale | Season finale | Season finale | Viewers total (in millions) | Viewers age 18–49 (in millions) |
| Season | Date | Viewers total (in millions) | Viewers 18–49 (in millions) | Date | Viewers total (in millions) | Viewers 18–49 (in millions) | Viewers total (in millions) | Viewers age 18–49 (in millions) |
| 5th – Part I | October 30, 2007 | 4.3 | 3.5 | February 19, 2008 | ??? | 2.41 | ??? | ??? |
| 5th – Part II | January 6, 2009 | 3.1 | 2.4 | March 3, 2009 | 3.8 | 2.4 | ? | ? |

## Reception

The fifth season received very positive reviews from critics, holding a 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the highest-rated series of the show on the site. It was praised for its use of humour, with Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe writing "The plastic-surgery drama just keeps on spinning smart, tart, funny, tragic, sexy, grotesque tales about vanity and contemporary American life", whilst Charlie McCollum of the San Jose Mercury News wrote, "The shift in setting has resulted in opening episodes that are so wickedly funny and energetic that Nip/Tuck seems like a whole new show – or at least one that has recaptured its past glory." Ryan Murphy received praise for the show's change of location from Miami to Los Angeles, with Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times writing "Ten minutes into the season premiere of Nip/Tuck and you have to wonder what those deeply disturbed plastic surgeons were doing wasting four seasons, and all that unexplored sexual tension, in Miami when they so clearly belong in Los Angeles", whilst Brian Lowry wrote for Variety that "A change of venue has helped Nip/Tuck get much of its mojo back." Rick Porter, at Zap2it, wrote "The actors are relishing the change of scenery and all that it brings, and [Ryan] Murphy himself seems more engaged as well." Some criticism was aimed at the show s continued use of sexual content, with Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times writing "For four seasons Nip/Tuck danced around the idea that sex creepily ought to stay within the province of family life's pre-existing perversions; now it is saying so more directly, and with home-baked fruitcake."