Somewhere around Season 3 in 2005, Nip/Tuck went from being the most daring series on cable to just daring anyone to keep watching. --- Blame it on that Carver serial-killer/rapist arc, not to mention too much misplaced focus on plastic surgeons Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Christian Troy (Julian McMahon) instead of one of their usually far-more-interesting patients. Then there was last season--which was split in half by a year-long gap, no less--wherein McNamara/Troy moved operations from Miami to Los Angeles in a quick grab for glamour and sleaze that fell flatter than Christian’s oft-seen ass.

The opening of the new season shows some signs of getting back on track, even though Sean’s new girlfriend has been abruptly recast (from Katee Sackhoff to Rose McGowan) and his creepy son Matt (creepy John Hensley) is still as utterly inconsequential to the series as he was in Episode 1 (this is No. 82). Tonight’s return is good, but things heat up more next week with the most disturbing patient in several seasons (named “Enigma”) and Sean’s bizarre remedy for insomnia (involving a redhead, self-mutilation and public sex). Finally, Nip/Tuck will be back on the Parents Television Council’s radar!

In the following season preview, you'll see Rose McGowan not looking at all like Katee Sackhoff, Christian angrily throwing yogurt and battling beach-ball-sized tits, and Matt ... as a thieving mime. It's all happening--on FX, there is No Box!