That’s right … today’s lesson from Nurse Jackie? Crush the pills, put the powder in empty sugar packets, and simply add to your coffee all day long.
For those who thought the pill particles were bad enough, along comes the slow-mo pouring of the sugar packet, or whichever supplement it was. Great use of cinematography!
As bad as that was, the most disturbing part of the second episode for me was the deja vu I experienced during the opening scene, where Jackie (Edie Falco) is cutting Kevin’s (Dominic Fumusa) hair in the kitchen. Anyone else see the pilot of Malcolm in the Middle in there? No? Just me, I guess.
Ugh. This show is nothing more than the persistent march of despicable behavior, on display for us all to see. And, no, I’m not just hating on women. In fact, I think I wouldn’t care, were Jackie not a nurse, and married with children. The basic characteristics that make her who she is are exactly the reasons why I find her so reprehensible. Were she a man, I’d feel the same way.
And, it doesn’t make me see her in a different light after she gives a guy clearly on the edge a hospital bed to sleep in for the night. That’s a situation that calls for the tough love; troubled or not, he attacked her, and was in restraints for a reason. The writers want us to see a person with a bursting heart for the suffering, but all I keep seeing is someone with less than poor judgment. And someone who grumbles an awful lot about doing her job. So what if it’s annoying that the cab driver is having chest pains? You’re a nurse on duty! Hop to!
I did enjoy Jackie’s little speech to Zoey (Merritt Wever) about the responsibility, and privilege, that is nursing, but why can’t she be a little more compassionate and understanding? And we, and Zoey, are meant to just forget about that whole “pin the ear in the toilet thing on the new girl” incident? Just because Jackie’s her mentor, doesn’t mean that Zoey should just accept the abuse, say thank you, and ask for another. Speak up, for God’s sake!
The writers also continue to ride what they see as “quirky,” to add some levity to the seriousness of Jackie’s life. Like O’Hara (Eve Best) dumping a bag of her clothing instead of getting it dry-cleaned (FYI, just because the bag says Barney’s, doesn’t mean the clothing inside are anything other than torn rags. Just saying.) And, what’s with Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) being a clown? Forget about the actress’ resume; what possible place does that crap have on this show? Why can’t she just be the rigid administrator?
It’s rare that the end of an episode leaves you with anything other than feelings of satisfaction or frustration, all story-related. This week, Nurse Jackie managed something a bit different: a vomit-inducing moment.
It’s subtle, but Jackie does a little schooling of her husband, Kevin, using some of her newly gained knowledge about the Hadron Collider, knowledge obtained from her boyfriend, Eddie (Paul Schulze). She explains to Kevin about why it’s not a waste to spend $8 billion trying to discover the “God gene.”
Kevin inevitably asks Jackie: “How do you know that?” To which she responds: “I get around.”
Really, really gross.
Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Jun 16, 2009 @ 09:00 EST5EDT
Alright, so I am not missing anything then.