Nurse Jackie

[monkeygirl]

I'm really getting into this one, MAYBE it's the drugs.

 

"Miotic Pupils", the last episode I cached and watched last night was soooooooo sweet! Coop, you ARE a dick! And "takes one to know one" was the first real monkeywrench tossed at Jackie at work.

 

I just don't like her husband, he played a bit part in Sex and The City (as a dick) and I can't get that out of my head plus I think he's a terrible actor. But everything else is MUY bueno.

 

http://www.sho.com/site/nursejackie/home.do

[The Human Torch]

I don't have any of the premium cable channels. :shrugs:

[Wally Q]

I'm so used to hating Edie Falco from the Sopranos that I get mixed emotions whenever I see the program on down at my dad's.

[Darth Whoever]

I've been watching it, just because I got Showtime free for a year as a new customer. I'm not too impressed. I get the distinct feeling that the writing team don't really know what kind of show they want it to be, and so we get this kind of mishmash. It sort of feels like they're trying to pull off an ensemble piece but don't have the time to do it in 30 minutes. The side characters like Mo-Mo, Thor, and Akalitus seem so underdeveloped that you have to wonder why they're even there.

 

Sometimes the little character moments (like Dr. O'Hara braiding Grace's hair) can be touching but other times they just fall completely flat. I keep waiting for a sense that the show has found itself, but for the most part it continues to be really uncompelling. At least to me!

[monkeygirl]

All true. I 'm just fascinated at how much I flip-flop on liking Jackie and loathing her; the character is believable to me and fresh on TV for me, too. I wonder how long they can suspend her behavior without her getting caught believably, too. I like the actor who plays Coop and think he's doing a great job. Jackie's surprisingly different from Carmella to me (it usually takes me some time to shake an older character AND I'd seen Edie Falco in a couple other things I wasn't thrilled with). And I love Zoe. I've worked with Zoe WAY too many times.

[Wally Q]

She is different but Carmella was really just a stuck up "my **** don't stink" bitch and she really played that part well. So well that even though this is a different character I can tell the difference (Michael C. Hall went from awesome believable gay David from Six Feet Under to awesome believable serial killer Dexter), I still want to finish the job that even bad ass Tony Soprano couldn't at the end of Season 4 and throw her through a ****ing wall.

 

Wow, I'm channeling Hammurabi there!

[Tank]

I actually love this show. Probably my favorite of the summer season.

 

And Tami-- I thought many times you'd like this show. cause of the drugs.

[Wally Q]

(BTW, when does Dexter start up this season?)

[Darth Whoever]

Seth, it's like I don't even know you anymore.

 

Walter, September 27. To be totally honest I wasn't thrilled by the season 4 promo they played at Comic-Con but IMO the show has yet to falter. So maybe it will pleasantly surprise me yet again.

[Wally Q]

Well John Lithgow is going to be in it as Dexter's serial killer rival (don't worry, folks... that was in the press release!) and I like it when Lithgow goes all dramatic and such.

 

OK, done derailing Nurse Jackie.

[Pong Messiah]

I actually love this show. Probably my favorite of the summer season.

Every time I get done watching Nurse Jackie I can't help but imagine what it must be like to be married to one of my best -- and entirely platonic -- friends...

 

All the ingredients are there: quality acting, writing, directing, and stories. And there are plenty of hooks.

 

By all reasonable thinking, I should love it. But I've never made a conscious date with my DVR to watch the thing. It's just missing that intangible something that would pull me in completely. It feels like grabbing a beer with an old friend -- when I have the time, of course.

 

But yes, of course it's good. Very, very good. Finally finished season 1, and started season 2 today (only after catching the premiere of United States of Tara and realizing I still had close to 40 minutes of free time remaining, of course)... the Eddie thing could have been done really creepily, but they're keeping Jackie as a bit of an anti-hero, while keeping him pathetic, so it's working really well so far. I'm also looking forward to seeing what happens with junkie nurse, and when Jackie finally gets caught (both with the drugs and the cheating).

 

[Pong Messiah]

OK, apparently I'm the only one here still watching this show.

 

Season 2 is wrapping up right now. It's still missing that something that would make it not just very good but great, but it's been better this year. Enough so that I'm making time for it now.

 

Stories are more interesting, the characters are more defined (best supporting cast on TV, in my opinion), and with Jackie's increasingly erratic behavior, it's higher personal stakes, as well.

 

[monkeygirl]

I love this show more each time I watch it. I am head over heels with Zoe, she is the COOLEST nerd on the planet! I question why I even like Jackie so much, she's clearly a huge lie face and the fact that she can tongue kiss her husband in front of her boyfriend is disgusting. Does she mitigate my hate of that behavior with her faux compassion with patients? I don't know. I watch for Zoe, Thor and Gloria, mostly.

[Pong Messiah]

I'm glad you're enjoying it, monkeygirl. I'm getting that way with Jackie, too. She's definitely got a good side, but she's quite horrible in so many ways, too. Probably more bad than good.

 

I don't know. I watch for Zoe, Thor and Gloria, mostly.

And Eddie (creepy yet vulnerable) and Coop (so utterly hopeless... yet handsome), and Akalitus (first class bitch with a heart o' gold). Oh, you already mentioned Akalitus. Oops!

 

Not to reiterate my comment about it being the best supporting cast on TV, but really... it is!

[Pong Messiah]

It's been a good season so far. I can't figure out whether we're finally seeing the depths of Coop's character or if he's just becoming a caricature at this point, but that's my only real qualm right now.

[monkeygirl]

Yeah, Coop was a bit more interesting when he did lay his crazy out like a holiday tablecloth. Gloria just keeps getting better for me. I'm hoping for an episode in which Gloria,Thor and Zoe get stuck in a small space for an extended period together.

 

I'd also like to see a little more of God.

[monkeygirl]

At this point, I'm watching Nurse Jackie for Zoey

 

[Pong Messiah]

Well, I was in the middle of moving for Episodes 4-9 of Hannibal, and now they aren't available, so I binge-watched seasons 5-7 of Nurse Jackie over the last few weeks as a substitute.

 

A lot of the better characters became watered-down, predictable collections of tics as time went on, which was counterbalanced a bit by Edie Falco and Merritt Wever growing with their roles. So it's kinda weird in that regard: I feel it went on one or two (or three?) seasons too long, but without the tail end of the show, we'd be cheated out of some really nifty performances by both actresses.

 

It's a shame they added Tony Shalhoub so late in the game. He was great in his limited role, but it would have had more impact had he been around longer. Even so, it was awful watching him fall apart.

 

I'm glad they had the courage to avoid a "redemtion" arc (though it was nicely teased), and to keep Eddie weak. Jackie put him right back on the shelf when he was of no use to her, then he doesn't cop a deal in order to keep her from losing her job and to keep her out of jail, and she ends up overdosing. Thanks for all the help, Eddie! A punch in the gut for sure, but what do you expect from a junkie?

[Guest El Chalupacabra]

Sorry, I can't get into this show. Much like Californication and Weeds, I saw it after people I know raved about it, but personally didn't care for it and I didn't think it was all that interesting. Like those other shows, everyone just seems like a caricature, not a character, and the show relies on too much shtick and soap opera tropes.

[Pong Messiah]

I couldn't disagree more on the "everyone" part. There are a few characters on that show that were just really fine and nuanced.

 

Jackie and Akalitus in particular were great (though the bit with Akalitus' son was weak). Zoey grew as a character while staying true to she was, too.

 

I do think that too many in the supporting cast (which was brilliant when the show started) were reduced to caricatures over time, but as a broad brush, the "they're all caricatures" criticism really isn't fair.

 

Most of the plot lines in this show weren't terribly strong or original -- essentially "Jackie gets into trouble or ****s somebody over cause she's a junkie... how will she get out of it and/or fix the damage now?" but the stories were carried because the writers were good with people, and the actors rose far above the mundane, often tired situations they found themselves in, with all-too human (and IMO, interesting) characters.

[Driver]

I had watched up until Season 3 and then quit the Showtime. I too, once again connected, mainlined that latter half of the show in quick order.

 

I agree, that not giving her a happy perfect ending was a great choice-- but it didn't stop me from hating her. Ii think it was a flawed show, but ultimately making Jackie equal parts saint and sinner was done well, and therefor overall made for a good show.

 

I also think Zoe was amazing and grew and changed perfectly.

 

Where I thought the show failed was with the Kevin/Eddie stuff. I liked Kevin as being the dumb husband who got wise-- but I feel like he gave up on her too easily. Where as I grew to loathe Eddie for existing only for Jackie.

[Pong Messiah]

I agree, that not giving her a happy perfect ending was a great choice-- but it didn't stop me from hating her. Ii think it was a flawed show, but ultimately making Jackie equal parts saint and sinner was done well, and therefor overall made for a good show.

Same here. Like the show itself, Jackie was compelling at times, but flawed. She undoubtedly loved her family and her job -- and she was great at her job -- but wasn't above using them for what she really loved, which was her next fix. She did several things that were unforgivable through the course of the show. Even if she succeeded in sobriety, I would have been happy for her, but with the caveat that "I'm sorry, I am happy for you, but you can never be trusted again." -- basically how she was treated while in diversion.

 

I just viewed Eddie as a tragic idiot. The fact that he could have cut a deal but instead chose -- once again -- to put Jackie ahead of himself, and is now going to jail is the perfect end for that character. One-noted aside from a few brief moments of lucidity, but effective IMO.