Maffia became a TV series regular in the high-toned medical drama "Chicago Hope" (CBS), playing a harried hospital administrator whose clandestine affair with a doctor helped bring on his heart attack and left them stuck in the MRI machine. As the struggling show ordered more doctors, she left the series altogether after only six episodes to pursue some of the many opportunities coming her way. She appeared in the features "Nick of Time" (1995), as Christopher Walken's cold-blooded henchwoman, and "Kiss the Girls" (1997), and of her many TV-movies, "The Heidi Chronicles" (TNT, 1995) and "The Defenders: Payback" (Showtime, 1997) stand out as particularly noteworthy. Maffia returned to the series ranks as a regular for NBC's "Profiler" (1996-2000), portraying forensic pathologist Grace Alvarez. During and after her regular TV stint Maffia also appeared in character roles in several feature films, most notably "Double Jeopardy" (1999), "Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her" (2001), "I Am Sam" (2001) and "Holes" (2002). Maffia then landed her most visible role to date when she was cast as the caustic lesbian anethesiologist on the hip, edgy f/x drama "Nip/Tuck" (2003 - ).