As you may have guessed from my series preview, I’m not a huge fan of Nurse Jackie. However, due to numerous factors (one of which being my fear of Debbie), I feel an obligation to keep up appearances.
In reality, while a lot about Nurse Jackie bothered me, as I said before, something still kept me watching through six preview episodes. Re-watching the pilot brought some ideas to mind as to why. Here’s one: I want to understand why the show does the things it does.
So, no, I won’t spend the entirety of my posts complaining. Instead, I have questions to pose, and I’m hoping that someone out there has some answers. Because, not only do I don’t, but I don’t think the series is going to provide them for me any time soon. Here’s what I got.
How is Jackie lucid? That’s right, the old drug addiction thing right off the bat. Beyond the fact that her dependency really gets to me, I can’t understand how in the world Jackie (Edie Falco) manages to function. How has she not lost it more than just the one time, when she “almost” killed that guy whose IV she was putting in? It’s impossible that Jackie takes only enough pain medication to get by, because her tolerance is continuously building up. That doesn’t automatically mean that more and more will do less and less for her; there will be side effects that manifest themselves in other ways. Tremors, fainting, headaches, and who knows what else. There’s no way in the world that she can function at the level that she needs to on a regular basis.
Even if the show is nurse-centric, why do the doctors have to be incompetent? Come on; Coop (Peter Facinelli) is that bumbling of an idiot? And, O’Hara (Eve Best) doesn’t care? Her analogy about taking apart the bunny, or whatever, would explain why she was a lot of things, none of which being an ER doctor. Just because the show wants to focus on nurses, doesn’t mean that the doctors can’t be capable, competent, or caring. Carla (Judy Reyes) on Scrubs had the same attitude as Jackie, but she used it in conjunction with the talented doctors around her. She understood the balance between doctor care and nurse care, the fleeting and the ever-present. JD (Zach Braff) wasn’t drawn as a buffoon for that reason. Give the docs some credit!
How are we meant to empathize with Jackie going forward? The ear-flush, forged donor card, stolen money, etc. were bad enough. But, after watching Jackie and her boyfriend, Eddie (Paul Schulze) all day long, having the episode end as she comes home to her husband and daughters was just despicable. And Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) clearly being the present parent was the least of the reasons why it was so bad, but, yeah, I have a problem with the idea that she’s cheating on him while he’s home taking care of their kids. Even if she is at work, too. How about showing your partner a little respect?
Are there more? You bet. But, there are also eleven more episodes to go in this first season, and, based on what my fellow reviewers almost everywhere else are saying, I’m guessing more seasons beyond. We have plenty of time to get into the psychological damage behind “girl talk” in a chapel.
And, believe me … we will.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 09, 2009 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
I didn’t think it was nearly as bad as you did, it was fine to watch. I loved when she went “Then would he (God) be kind of a prick?”, I have always thought that! lol
*POST AUTHOR*
I think you’re just trying to keep me guessing. No to Californication, yes to this? Nice try! ;-)
There were a lot of quoted lines in promotional materials from the pilot, and I’m being 100% honest when I say that I just didn’t laugh at them. When I went past one from the material that came with the screener, I rewound to hear it again, and it just wasn’t funny. The only thing I liked was something like “Can I ask you something? … Shut up.” But I don’t think it’s a Jackie original.
Was picked up for a second season today.
*POST AUTHOR*
Are you kidding?
its easy to be on prescription medication for years and be fully functional. once you get used to being on it, it takes a large dosage to impair you metnally.
*POST AUTHOR*
Even if you’re self-medicating and abusing them? Assuming that’s true, it still wouldn’t discount other side effects. She can’t be snorting pain meds and then not show any signs of it. I just don’t buy that.