★★★★★ 0/5

Nurse Jackie

Edie Falco is utterly believable as a resolute, fragile, harangued and occasionally unethical Emergency nurse in Showtime's oustanding drama.

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nurse_jackieWhen Nurse Jackie opens to Edie Falco reciting T.S. Eliot to the strains of Dionne Warwick singing Theme from Valley of the Dolls you just know we’re in for something different.

In the crowded TV world of medical  dramas it’s no surprise that Showtime is looking for a point of difference and it has it in ‘Nurse Jackie Peyton.’

On the floor of New York’s All Saints Hospital she is many things, but principally, one helluva nurse who knows the job like the back of her hand. Skilled, intelligent, tough and pragmatic, Jackie is there for the greater good. But she’s also imperfect, and it is in the cracks in her character that this thirty minute drama shines.

“What do you call a nurse with a bad back?” her voice over asks. “Unemployed.” When we meet Jackie it’s clear the relentless workload has already taken its toll. She is addicted to Oxycotin painkillers snorted around the corner from patients whose lives she is saving (Dr. Gregory House is also addicted to painkillers and it hasn’t damaged his popularity any). As the pilot episode unfolds,  Jackie takes the flaws a little further.

Jackie is rarely cheerful, flatly telling talkative patients, “Quiet and Mean are my people.” In a restaurant when a woman is choking on her meal she hesitates, cherishing her time off duty while esitmating the time it will take before brain damage sets in.

But somewhere beneath her resilience lays the heart of a guardian angel. When the young and inept Dr. Cooper (Peter Facinelli) ignores her advice and loses a patient it is Jackie who is left to pick up the pieces with a grieving family. She reprimands Cooper who clearly doesn’t know this city, and the people who inhabit her ward, as well as she.

Edie Falco sets a profound benchmark with Nurse Jackie, utterly believable in this most intriguing character. Her wearied face looks like it has lived through years of emergency cases, medical politics, double shifts and shrinking budgets. She is resolute, fragile, harangued, stubborn and occasionally unethical.

The supporting cast includes Merrit Wever as wet-around-the-ears first year nursing student Zoey Barkow, Paul Schulze as pharmacist Eddie Walzer, Eve Best as Dr. O’Hara and gay co-worker nurse Mohammed ‘Mo-Mo’ de la Cruz (Haaz Sleiman). With ‘Mo-Ho’ Jackie escapes from the pressure and bleak Emergency Ward, having deep and meaningful conversations on the pews of the hospital chapel.

Nurse Jackie is a stark essay, but with a glimmer of hope. At just thirty minutes it doesn’t outstay its welcome. At the disappointing timeslot of 10:25pm Sunday, when TEN notoriously struggles, there is more hope in the storyline than in its likelihood of success here. If you have faith in good writing, good performances and an engaging storyline none of this should deter you.

And just wait for the final scene.

45_starsNurse Jackie airs 10:25pm Sunday on TEN.

34 Responses

  3. OMG. I so wanted to sleep at 9 then get my alarm to wake me up at 10:25 for a half-hour show! Please TEN! Play the series again but earlier! Have an encore presentation! This show (plus Glee) could seriously help boost ratings! I’m begging you guys!!!
    TY for adding new shows which would appeal to younger generations! NJ would be a fun show to watch!
    I read on the TV guide on Sunday that it was a show to watch and the author wrote “shame on TEN for putting it on so late”. And finally a doctor drama unlike Grey’s Anatomy and All Saint’s!!!

    ILY TEN! 🙂

  4. David, you’re review was right on the money! The final scene was brilliant! I had high expectations for NJ after I read your review, and I wasn’t disappointed. NJ is now my favourite show and I’ve only watched 1 episode. Agree with you David and all the other comments however – this show is wasted in its current timeslot. I don’t blame Ten for putting NJ late on Sunday night however – Dexter is similarly critically acclaimed and despite trying Monday nights, still only receives mediocre numbers. Unlike Dexter however, I think this show would attract a larger audience if it was in a better slot – its not nearly as visually explicit in the way Dexter is and NJ is a very likable character, unlike Dexter who you either love or hate.

  8. David Knox says:
    Edu: Tangle… Tangle…Tangle

    I am looking forward to this show – let’s hope it is just as good as the hype I have been reading/hearing.

  11. I agree.. it’s a pretty poor timeslot.. i would have liked to have seen it take the place of United states of Tara at the end of it’s run on the ABC.. i think i can see why TEN might have put it there though, because it doesn’t fit their timing.. it’s a 30 min drama without ads, and therefore with ads it’s 40 mins.. which messes up all the start and end times (not as though GNW messes up monday’s times).. so i’m guessing that’s one of the reasons why they put it later..

    I’ve seen the pilot of Nurse Jackie, and David has really hit the nail on the head.. Falco really does make the character very believable.. Definitely check it out.. maybe just set up a recording though.. hehe

  14. I’m gunna tape it at this most ridiculous time. Their whole schedule is in the toilet and something gold comes along and they shaft it? Shame on you TEN. I thought you took risks (MC/TBYG)? I’m guessing your putting all the cable shows in the one basket – “they have not worked in the past so they never will” -poor move. Have you guys at TEN even watched it?

  18. Has Ch 10 even bothered to advertise Nurse Jackie? I have to admit i don’t watch mush of 10 these days, so was just wondering if anyone had even seen any ads for this show. I am really fustrated they have decided to put it on in the worst time slot of the week! Its like they want it to fail.

  20. Just watced the first 4 episodes last night – brilliant! Ten is self – sabotaging itself; this show could be a real hit here as it is in the US. Do yourself a favour and set your PVR to record if you can’t stay up that late!

  23. im not even going to bother watching this on TEN in this timeslot, there is no way in hell its going to work in that post – Rove sunday night ‘death slot’ ….shame Showcase or something didnt pick it up…

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