Nurse Jackie: Another Hit for Showtime?
Or will this new medical drama quickly be put on life support?
Meanwhile, Jackie must train a chirpy rookie nurse and find time for a quickie with one of the hospital’s doctors. No wonder she needs a little medicinal pick-me-up to make it through her shift. She’s like the cop who bends the rules to bring justice, total justice, to the streets. But in Nurse Jackie’s case, justice means forging an organ donor card signature or dressing down a doctor who refuses to heed her advice.
There’s immediate potential there, much like the tension which charged FX’s The Shield for seven seasons. Lives are at stake, and one suspects so is Jackie’s troubled heart. And that heart sure does beat loudly.
“Quiet and mean, those are my people,” she tells a young nurse to stop her from chatting endlessly. Naturally, it’s a front, but Falco is just the actress to pull off such posturing.
Black humor is such a natural in hospital settings, even though ER rode the earnest express for umpteen seasons.
The show’s best bits are droll little moments, like when Jackie mechanically performs the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow restaurant diner, annoyed that she has to use her life-saving skills off duty. The scene is played with the kind of precision that tells the audience the show isn’t interested in broad humor — thank goodness.
It’s every medical show’s sworn duty to come up with the most imaginative, funny, or downright gross malady that needs fixing. Here, a stoner shoots a Roman candle out of his rectal aperture and suffers severe burns down yonder.
It’s too early for any cast member save Falco to shine, but it’s worth noting that Haaz Sleiman, who proved so charming in the 2007 sleeper The Visitor, plays Jackie’s nursing confidante.
The show’s big visual flourish comes from the cascading pills that Jackie takes to keep on top of her insane work schedule. Or is it to stop her from caring too much? She seems to care less about herself and some of the relationships in her life, something which becomes clear in the final moments of the first episode. It’s the kind of sucker punch meant to make you tune in for episode two, but here it comes off as one gimmick too many.
Nurse Jackie still holds promise, both for its uncompromising attitude and the talent of its lead actress. But a few more big twists so early and the show could quickly be put on life support, something a network on a creative roll can ill afford.
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Christian Toto is a freelance writer and film critic for The Washington Times. His work has appeared in People magazine, MovieMaker Magazine, The Denver Post, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and Scripps Howard News Service. He also contributes movie radio commentary to three stations as well as the nationally syndicated Dennis Miller Show and runs the blog What Would Toto Watch?
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13 Comments
1. RandyChandler:Good review, good first episode.
Looks like Showtime has the makings of another fine series, while the best HBO can do these days is a funky soap opera featuring vampires and shape-shifters. It isn’t that “True Blood” is all that bad, but it may be a barometer of where things stand in the premium-channel rivalry — Showtime is brimming with life while HBO is merely undead.
Jun 8, 2009 - 5:08 am 2. keebs:Meh. I’m a nurse. I was a bit turned off by the show opening with her snorting narcotics. It plays into stereo-types. However, even though a day in the life of an ER nurse is certainly interesting, it probably doesn’t carry enough excitement to hold audience attention. Gotta juice it up a bit, as it were.
Jun 8, 2009 - 6:20 am 3. C. Siegel:Keebs is right. I’m a surgical nurse, and I don’t see how Nurse Jackie has time, energy, or noney for those drugs, let alone the concentration and focus to cover her tracks (no pun intended).
But aside from that, the show looks like a lot of fun. I’m sick of medical shows where the doctors do everything everywhere, all the time. Nurses have to manage crisis situations by themselves a lot of the time, and a smart nurse with an attitude may actually do something to improve the image of the profession.
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:23 am 4. Sebastian Shaw:Marvel Comics years ago published a comic book called Night Nurse; is this the unofficial updated television version?
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:56 am 5. Well Educated Cad:Another “Nurse good- Doctor BAD!” show?
Jun 8, 2009 - 11:14 am 6. C. Siegel:Who said “nurse good-doctor bad”? It’s usually “nurse invisible/sexy/servant”.
Jun 8, 2009 - 7:51 pm 7. Well Educated Cad:No shows about male nurses?
Jun 9, 2009 - 2:45 pm 8. C. Siegel:Didn’t see it yet, but I think “Nurse Jackie” has a male nurse. He’s gay. Is this Good For The Profession or not? Depends on how he’s portrayed.
When I was in nursing school, the faculty was REALLY upset about Nurse Ratched. They felt she damaged our Professional Image. We students felt it was kinda Ratched-like to take her so seriously, and used to play “Charmaine” at all our parties.
Jun 9, 2009 - 3:27 pm 9. Derek:Weeds jumped the shark last season but I can’t stop watching it because it’s still so damn funny.
Nurse Jackie had that same cruel wit to it, but I don’t know if I can take watching 2 shows back to back where I hate the main characters. Although Jackie at least has a duality about her that gives her redeeming qualities (something none of the weeds characters, even the kids, have). I dunno, I’ll watch the second episode and see where they go with it.
Jun 9, 2009 - 7:46 pm 10. Tristan Yates:I thought the show definitely had clever writing, but its always hard to draw any conclusions about a series from the first episode.
Jun 10, 2009 - 12:59 pm 11. National Nurses Movement:Nurses are watching this series pretty closely. Is it fair? Accurate? Free of gross clinical errors? Entertaining?
America’s RN union is collecting reviews and opinions by nurses about the show, which we’ll share with the executive producers. If you’re a nurse, drop by RNVoices.net to add your thoughts—we’re running a commercial on HawthoRNe to let RNs know. You can also learn about the national nurses movement and our new legislation for national safe RN-to-patient ratios….
Jun 16, 2009 - 4:20 pm 12. Nanette Hayakawa:Showtime is my favorite and I love the series Nurse Jackie, mostly because its very well written. The acting is next to perfect from each & every one of the actors. I’m not a nurse but I can honestly say that this show is a keeper! I’ll keep watching it until it drops off the planet. Love it! I like to laugh but I also like the seriousness of the series – hats off to everyone involved including the screenwriters! A + keep on going.
Jul 10, 2009 - 1:46 pm 13. nurse humor, nurse jokes, jokes for nurses, humor for nurses:nice article. but are you aware that there is also many nurses humors and jokes? want to know about it? its interesting and fun to read. i hope you will post an article regarding this.
Sep 27, 2009 - 10:14 pm