Nip/Tuck

Quentin Costa

Season 3, Episode 15, Aired 12/20/05

Episode Summary

The Carver strikes at a sorority house. His identity is revealed. Ariel's dad kidnaps Matt and Cherry. Ariel's dad forces Matt to make a life threatening decision, while the carver tries desperately to get his last minute revenge. Julia discovers that there might be something wrong with her baby.moreless

8.7

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Cast & Crew

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Dylan Walsh

Dr. Sean McNamara
Julian McMahon

Dr. Christian Troy
John Hensley

Matt McNamara

Fan Episode Reviews (64)

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This epsiode is why i stopped watching nip/tuck

2.0

"Terrible"

By therealmoose, Oct 24, 2010 Report Abuse

for me they ruined an AMAZING storyline that could easily have brillinatly concluded if the writing was better! they took an amzing storyline from season 2 which had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish and totally F$%ed it up!

i mean quentin as the carver is NOT a good twist! it is just stupid, so much just didnt make sense and sure there was an explaination here and there but what the hell they were as stupid as they come! they writers should've figured outt he ending before they started the storyline, so stupid! i mean anything subtle a disgruntled client, something! they made me a die hard fan with the season 2 finale and completly lost me for the season 3 finale! i havn't watched the show since!moreless

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1 6
WTF?

4.0

"Poor"

By PabloExobar, Oct 24, 2010 Report Abuse

WTF????????

This was.... HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!

I love this show... love...D????

I still have hard time believing what I just saw! THAT WAS A... Disgrace to the first 2 seasons.

The Carver storyline has been building up since season 2.... what a brilliant build up it was... remember season 2? How creepy it was each time he appeared? Even in season 3. Of course The Carver started to lose his touch as, well.... it was a longly drawn reveal. And of course the fact that Literally EVERYONE has been accused being the Carver was a bit of a letdown aswell..

I mean, WHAT? Liz accused of being the Carver. Man, if she WAS the Carver, fine. But she was not, so add another one to the pile. So... Quentin the Carver. Oh wait. The writers clearly made us believe he was in the first place. THEN, they turned off that theory by giving us evidence that he has no penis I WAS SO happy! I mean; yeah, him being the Carver made sense (before the reveal) but would've been unsatisfying, because:

-- Quentin is not really acting by the Carver's "standards"
-- He's not a good character
-- He's a pain in the ass.

BUT, the writers magically got high and decided, oh, even though what we just did made sense and made everyone feel like "whew, it's not him!" to make him the CARVER.

Oh boy. And of course, also include Kit. Kat. Kit. Whatever. She was the worst character of the season by a mile, with her stupid fake brit accent and hardass attitude. AND YES. Quentin and Kit worked together ALL ALONG. LOL

Thats the part where i flipped.EVEN THOUGH it IS a belivable plot twist it's just SO fake and SO DISAPPOINTING.

And WHAT THE HECK? Troy and Sean knwos the truth and all they do is organize a family dinner? LOL?

Oh. And Matt suddenly becomes a good man, apologizes to the tranny he beat up only to get captured by that crazy racist father and... oh boy, that was PATHETIC, just like Matt's entire storyline this season.

THIS SHOW.... disappointed me. BIGTIME! I feel hate, anger, whatever.... I guess I'll just pop in the 4th season right away so MAYBE.... MAYBE all this bullcrap will go away and the show returns to its old, first 2 seasons self.moreless

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3 5
The good type of nerve-wracking, twisted plot that makes Nip Tuck what it is

10

"Perfect"

By Catwoman69y2k, May 01, 2010 Report Abuse

Holy smokes! What a fast paced episode. It made me want to throw something at my TV when they broke for commercials. Those two are real messed up cookies and if that was what the writer was going for (which they were) they did a very very good job of it. I am only sorry that they got away to some country where they can sip drinks in the sun.

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5 0
Another Amazing Finale!

9.6

"Superb"

By urbanlegend23, May 01, 2010 Report Abuse

NIP/TUCK "Quentin Costa"

This was a mindblowingly brilliant episode of "Nip/Tuck". The two torture scenes playing through the middle of the episode were unbearably intense and brilliantly written and acted. John Hensley in particular was amazing during these sequences. I absolutely cannot wait for season 4 to see how the dark and violent events of this episode affect Hensley's always-intriguing Matt.

Quite simply this has to be either one of or the most intense episodes of television ever, that reminds us yet again what a ballsy, daring and insightful television show this is. "Quentin Costa" just might be the show's best episode yet.moreless

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Masked and Anonymous

9.3

"Superb"

By maxpower03, May 25, 2008 Report Abuse

I don't fully understand some of the hate for this finale. The problem with the Carver arc was that it was never supposed to last so long. Originally intended for just one episode, a spike in ratings inspired Ryan Murphy to make The Carver season three's big bad, with the mask to be taken off in the season three finale. Most fans were annoyed at Quentin being The Carver but, thinking rationally, who else could it really be? Sean, Christian, Julia, Liz, Kimber and Matt are too valuable to the show to write-off as a masked psychopath, while somebody like Gina wouldn't have the intelligence to carry off something this huge. And if somebody like Ava or Escobar suddenly showed up behind the mask, it would spoil the characters we've gotten to know already, who just wouldn't realistically moonlight as a serial slasher.

So it pretty much fell to Quentin to be the bad guy. I did appreciate the Kit twist, and I liked their unique backstory. While it was corny, and a little like something out of a bad horror movie from the '70s, it was at least a viable motive. It's also disturbingly twisted to imagine the both of them carving each other and being involved in this incestuous relationship centered on sex and violence.

Probably the only major issue I have with the finale is the revelation that Quentin has no penis While he does explain away some of the scenes this season where he appeared to have a penis it just came off badly, like the writers were desperately coming up with excuses for a twist that was only created at the eleventh hour. For instance, it's ridiculous to try and make us believe that Julia wouldn't have at least groped him while they shared a hottub, and no vapid sorority girl would simulate oral sex on a guy who has no penis especially when she was so drunk. She would scream and cause a big scene if she saw that. And I know this'll sound wrong, but I couldn't help wondering how Quentin peed. Or what he actually has there. Does he have testicles? Is it just a big gaping hole of skin? I know this is gross, but it really did distract me for a while...

The Matt subplot was probably more engrossing, especially since all the performances were so great. I felt a much greater sense of terror in the Matt/Cherry torture scenes than I did with Quentin and Sean and Christian. Quentin's madness seemed almost cartoon-y, while the Alderman family were terrifying, appearing so normal. It was difficult not to cheer Cherry on as she rose up behind Mr Alderman and slammed a shovel into his head. While The Carver arc was so huge across the media, the Alderman arc was, at least in my opinion, much more powerful to watch. Featuring truly phenomenal performances from John Hensley, Willam Belli, Brian Kerwin and Brittany Snow, this story featured better characterization and more believable situations, despite being about something as crazy as neo-Nazi's.

Season three has been a busy year for Nip/Tuck. Obviously darker than the previous two years, most of season three suffered from some inconsistent storylines (The Carver arc), some terrible surgery cases (like the god-awful Frankenlaura episode), and arcs that went nowhere (the unnecessary Spa De La Mer). It also sucked that so many of the characters were split apart this year. While Ryan Murphy may be commenting on how characters need to separate in order to eventually come back together in a happier state, it just wasn't fun to see Sean working alone at the FBI, Julia becoming an independent businesswoman and Kimber being kidnapped from her wedding.

However, season three did eventually get better. Julian McMahon held the show together with a truly epic performance throughout the year, and the writers really allowed Christian to completely re-examine himself and journey into the depths of his soul in order to find what kind of man he wants to be. Kimber had never been better, growing as a person and realizing she truly loves Christian (well, until The Carver ruined all that). Matt was also great in the end, and the Nazi story was both disturbing and violent, but ultimately hopeful. I loved his friendship with Cherry, and Willam Belli was a good addition to the cast.

This season finale pretty much summed up the whole year. Some of it worked. Some of it rocked hard, some of it was disappointing. But after two years of near perfection in seasons one and two, Nip/Tuck's occasional drop in quality is excused.

Director: Ryan Murphy
Writer: Ryan Murphy
Rating: A-moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Goof: In the sequence in which Kit is packing her belongings and detailing Quentin (and indeed her own) backstory she can be seen placing the lid on the box she is filling. The scene then cuts to a wide angle and we see Kit place the lid on the box again despite having already done it in the previous shot. Edit
- Music: Santa Maria by Gotan Project (played when Quentin "operates" on Christian and Sean) Edit
- "Cherry Peck/Quentin Costa" was watched by 5.7 million viewers. Thus making it the most watched program in FX history. It also drew 3.9 million viewers in the 18-49 age demographic. This made it the highest watched cable series for 2005 Edit
Notes
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- For this entire season, the show was nominated for the 2006 Saturn Award for Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series, and, for the 2006 CDG (Costumes Designers Guild) Award for Outstanding Costume Design For Television Series-Contemporary. Edit
- For this entire season, Julian McMahon (Christian) was nominated for the 2006 Saturn Award for Best Actor On Television. Edit
- International Air Dates: Czech Republic: November 12, 2008 on TV Nova Edit
Quotes
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- Matt: Do you mind if I crash your party? Sean: It's just a boring family dinner. Matt: I could use a little boring right now. Edit
- (as Gina goes into surgery to have her Carver smile repaired) Gina: (to Christian) Don't screw this up, asshole. I'm planning to get a book-deal out of this and I don't want to look like the Joker on my dust-jacket. Edit
- Christian: You won't get away with it, Quentin. Now we know who you are. Quentin: Understood. But revealing my identity to you was the only way that I could assure that my message would be taken seriously. Who's going to listen to the ramblings of some psychotic? But the well-thought out philosophy of a highly-trained highly-skilled plastic surgeon? Now, those quotes end up on the front page of the Times. My greatest fear is being relegated to the lunatic fringe. That's why I couldn't let you take all the credit for this, Christian. I am neither a psychotic nor a shallow, mediocre surgeon. I'm an artist. Edit
Allusions
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- Gina: "I'm planning on getting a book deal out of this, and i don't want to look like the Joker on my dustcover."
  
  The Joker is a fictional character from the DC universe that has a permanent grin on his face reminiscent of the carver victims. Edit