Posted Nov 2nd 2009 2:04PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
A funny thing happened when I turned on
Bravo over the weekend. Instead of an avalanche of
Flipping Out flip outs or
Real Houswives' table-flipping or Tabitha's disgusting beauty salons, there was drama on the cable net. Bravo aired NBC's medical drama
Mercy on Saturday morning.
On Saturday morning there really wasn't a lot going up against
Mercy. In fact, it had the field pretty much to itself for any viewers looking for a quality, fresh TV show.
I say fresh because unlike the reruns of
House or
NCIS on USA, I hadn't seen these episodes of
Mercy. So, rather than watch infomercials or pre-game college football chatter or animated cartoons, I watched
Mercy.
Continue reading Bravo boosts Mercy with Saturday marathon
Posted Aug 25th 2009 4:20AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E12) "I've never been a fan of movies where idiots talk to people in comas." - Mrs. Akalitus to a comatose Mr. NuttermanWell, things didn't go as wrong as I thought they might have, with the whole Eddie hanging with Kevin at the bar business. Yeah, it wasn't good, and Jackie downing three vials of morphine was just ... not sure what to think of it. Was she trying to kill herself, or just numb the pain from everything?
My favorite part of the episode was Zoey and her sweetness at wearing the gray scrubs and being all mopey after getting sacked from dealing with patients. I was glad when she put on the bunny scrubs again, but things don't look good for movie critic guy losing his memory. "Oh my god, I broke him," she says.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Health Care and Cinema (season finale)
Posted Aug 18th 2009 2:46PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E11) Nothing really jumped out at me about this episode ... well, ok, the spider scene. And the end scene. That opened up a big can o' worms for Jackie that I'm sure will have big consequences for her one way or another. And I appreciated seeing Victor Garber as the movie critic patient, and the mess Zoey made while caring for him.
But that's how
Nurse Jackie operates. There usually aren't any major "wow" scenes; the episodes just sort of float along, one playing off of the other in more of a real-life fashion.
In case anyone hasn't seen the episode yet, I'll get into more details after the jump.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Pill-O-Matix
Posted Aug 11th 2009 6:10AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E10) "Just for the record, I'm officially questioning your judgment." - O'Hara to JackieThis episode of
Nurse Jackie drove me a little nuts. All through my notes are little messages to Jackie, like I think she's going to see my notes and take my advice -- before she ruins her life even further.
I mean, I've commented before how difficult it must be keeping her personal life completely separate from her work life, and this episode was like a time bomb waiting to go off.
You just know that sooner or later, she's going to be so fried that she'll forget who knows what, and say something to reveal her secret -- just like she almost did to Mo-Mo when she started talking about the mother-daughter tap dance class.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Ring Finger
Posted Aug 4th 2009 4:30AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E09) "She's just a nurse." - Dr. Cooper to Melissa, talking about JackieSometimes I think Dr. Cooper is starting to be a human being, and then he turns around and says something really stupid. Females are naturally more empathetic than guys, so I would think that having two moms would have made him a little bit more sensitive. Guess not.
He really was a jerk in this episode, and I imagine Jackie having to make the decision about the organ donor (the PETA card!) will come back to haunt her. But what's a nurse to do? Get another doctor maybe? I don't care if he DID stay awake for 53 hours once.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Nosebleed
Posted Jul 28th 2009 4:16AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E08) "Honey, I know I'm pretty, but you just wasted 30 seconds staring at me." - Mo-Mo, to a male nurse who needs to get back to workWell, there are certain things about
Nurse Jackie that you just know are going to come into play. Like the assisted suicide story we had recently, and tonight's chilling opening scene where Jackie's daughter accidentally gets Jackie's drugs mixed into the sprinkles on her doughnut (loved that slo-mo camera work, though).
Sooner or later, Jackie's not going to catch stuff like that, and it'll be disastrous. I know we've talked about this before, but you have to wonder how she can function so well doing all those drugs. And what would happen if she suddenly didn't have access to them.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Pupil
Posted Jul 21st 2009 3:51AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E07) "I am God, and you are an asshole." - GodOh, the times I've wanted to say that in my life. I'm sort of living vicariously through
Nurse Jackie these days. She does stuff that everyone else wants to do, but doesn't because they don't have the guts. Like:
- Yanking the catheter out of the repeat sex-offender, then telling Mo-Mo, "He's a fucking pedophile!"
- Giving the Cartier bracelet that Eddie gave her to the morphine-drugged, steak-knife guy to give to the girl who's really just looking for a nice guy.
- Telling God to get back on his meds.
Yes, I want to be Nurse Jackie when I grow up.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Steak Knife
Posted Jul 14th 2009 7:21AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E06) "Nonsense. Nothing is better if I leave." - O'Hara to Nurse JackieCome on, people! I'm not getting much comment love on my
Nurse Jackie reviews. Is no one watching the show? Because I'm sort of loving it at this point.
Well, I guess it had to happen. It was a sure bet that we'd get a storyline where Jackie plays Dr. Kevorkian and helps a patient end their life. I have to think there's no way that crusty old Nurse Korsenowski would have done well in palliative care. Why not let her go out in dignity?
Jackie is all about breaking the rules for the good of the patient, but was this really for the good of the patient? I think it was, and the "do no harm" thing would have been if she
hadn't helped her die. It would have done more harm for her to go into hospice. Thoughts, please!
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Tiny Bubbles
Posted Jul 7th 2009 5:47AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E05) "It wasn't even my money. I got it off a dead guy in the morgue." - Nurse Jackie to Zoey, after giving a surly woman money to buy a pregnancy test at a drug storeLots of interesting stuff in this episode, the above quote being one of them. Jackie told Zoey she was kidding, but I'm pretty sure she wasn't. Giving a woman money to buy a pregnancy test at a drug store -- rather than clog up the emergency room because she doesn't have enough money or is too cheap to buy a pregnancy test herself -- is classic Jackie. Getting the money from a dead guy in the morgue? Spot on. Hey, that money might as well be used for the greater good.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Daffodil
Posted Jun 30th 2009 6:45AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E04) I liked
Nurse Jackie from
the first episode, and I continue to like it more and more each week. I like that the characters look like real people, not stick-thin Hollywood types. And even though Jackie is worn down by life, she seems to thrive on the hospital stuff and caring for patients. I guess that's the sign of a good nurse (ya think, Jane?).
Let's take the scene where Dr. O'Hara is telling a young patient's mom and brother all this scary stuff about his lung collapsing. She's not all that great with kids, is she? When the brother hugged her, I just wanted to smack her for not hugging him back, after all he'd been through that day with his twin getting shot. Meanwhile, in the background, Jackie is mouthing to the mom and brother that it's not that bad, that he'll be alright. It's this kind of hope that families need when they're going through a trauma.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: School Nurse
Posted Jun 23rd 2009 5:46AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
There were some awesome guest stars in this episode of
Nurse Jackie! Eli Wallach played Mr. Zimberg, the old guy who refused treatment for his heart issues. Wallach was born in 1915 (!) and has been working steadily since the 1950s. I mean, what a life he's had and what a piece of film history he is. His credits include
The Misfits,
The Magnificent Seven, and
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. It's such a pleasure seeing him on
Nurse Jackie.
Playing his wife was Lynn Cohen, who played Magda on
Sex and the City and Uncle Pete's wife on
Damages, not to mention dozens of other film and TV roles.
And then there's the wonderful Anna Deavere Smith (pictured above), who plays the ongoing role of Doctor Akalitis. She's such a great actress; she makes me despise her character, but in a good way.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Chicken Soup
Posted Jun 16th 2009 4:40AM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free, Nurse Jackie
(S01E02) Nurse Jackie is such an interesting show. Just about every scene has both drama and humor, though sometimes it leans more one way than the other. Like the opening scene with Jackie cutting her hubby's hair that ends up with them having sex on the kitchen floor:
Kevin: "What am I rolling around on down here?"
Jackie: "Fruity Pebbles."
Kevin: "Feels more like Cap'n Crunch."
You do have to wonder how Jackie is able to function so well doing all those drugs. I guess she's built up a tolerance level, but it sort of drove the point home when hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus accidentally swiped some of Jackie's Percocet-laced Sweet-N-All and ended up loopy.
Continue reading Nurse Jackie: Sweet-N-All
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