Almost immediately after television became the focal point in most American
homes there has been programming set in hospitals. There is an inherent life and
death drama mixed with virtually every conceivable human emotion that people can
readily identify with. For many people life begins and ends in the hospital. It
is a location found in most communities where people face the worse possible
news. During the golden age of television hospitals were populated by handsome,
dedicated doctors and intrepid nurses consoling the patients. In day time soap
operas depicted hospitals as a place of constant sex and intrigue. One of the
latest hospital series to hit the Showtime network is ‘Nurse Jackie’. In the
spirit of full disclosure I first started watching this series after a prolonged
stay in a hospital recovering from a stroke, when released I moved in with my
best friends, home of whom is a nurse practitioner. Having a medical background
myself we began to discuss ‘Nurse Jackie’ in light of our personal experience
working in such sittings. The major plot points of this series include sex in
the hospital and the flagrant abuse of controlled substances. My friend and I
agreed that with decades of onsite experience neither of us have ever
encountered anything remotely akin to such hedonistic behavior. Doctors and
nurses are not having sex on any semi horizontal surface available and there are
stringent local, state and federal regulations requiring every single dose of
narcotics be accounted for. The thought that nurses like Jackie or someone like
Doctor Gregory House downing handfuls of narcotics is absolutely ridiculous.
That said you don’t watch a show like this for the stark realism. The series may
fall very short in that department but it does work at least on the level of
dramatic entertainment. The series boasts a stellar cast performing a tautly
crafted script and that translates to an entertaining show.
The series has a certain experimental theater feel to it, sort of like some
of the one I used to see in Greenwich Village back when I was a much younger
man. The creators of the show, Liz Brixius, Linda Wallem, and Evan Dunsky, who
have some experience in more traditional crime shows and sit-coms but and
heading in a new professional direction here. The stories told here are not like
any you might have seen on TV before. One thing is the naturally center on the
nursing staff. The so called traditional medical shoe revolves around the
doctors but the truth of the matter is it is the nurses are vital to the day to
day functioning of a hospital. As one character here explains to a new nurse the
doctors are there to address the illness but nurses are the primary advocate for
the patient. The titular character Jackie Peyton (Edie Falco) works in one of
the most stressful departments in the hospital; the emergency room. Jackie has
been at this job for as number of years and the constant pressure is getting to
her. First of all she is a barely functioning drug addict whose substance of
choice involves schedule II and III medications such as Vicodin and Adderall. It
is not enough that she abuses them orally Jackie frequently grinds the pills up
for the bigger rush from sorting them. In order to keep her supply of illicit
drugs flowing Jackie is having asexual relationship with the hospital’s
pharmacist Eddie Walzer (Paul Schulze). This also puts Jackie in the precarious
position of cheating on her husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa), father of her two
children; Grace (Ruby Jerins) and Fiona (Daisy Tahan). At the hospital Jackie’s
best friends are British transplant Dr. Eleanor O'Hara (Eve Best) and fellow
nurse MoMo (Haaz Sleiman). When Jackie feels completely overwhelmed, which is
quite often, she turns to them for advice or at least a shoulder to cry on. Her
husband is loving; unaware of just what extracurricular activities his wife is
up to. The one person that truly looks up to Jackie is nursing student Zoey
Barkow (Merritt Wever) who typically appears as a wide eyed doe trapped in
oncoming headlights. From a story telling perspective Zoey was necessary to
provide at least one cheerful character.
This is the major hurdle that the writers had to overcome; there is very
little to admire about Jackie. Nursing associations have complained about the
reckless disregard Jackie shows for every moral and ethical tenant his proud
profession holds to. The other side to the coin here is the formidable challenge
playing this kind of character offers to the actor. Falco is best known as the
long suffering wife of a mob boss on the Sopranos. There she was the victim of
infidelity instead of the instigator. It also addresses a serious problem in
health care; substance abuse. Although the series begins with Jackie fairly
successful juggling her addiction and sexual indiscretions but by the end of
season one her professional and personal lives spiral out of control leaving her
facing up to the ugly truth of her self-inflicted predicament. For Falco to play
such an unlikeable character with such pathos is a testament to this woman’s
amazing talent and mastery of her craft. The one slightly redeeming quality
possessed by Jackie is she cares about her patients; albeit not enough though
not to be high while treating them. There was some doubt as to whether the
series would be picked up. In fact the final episode of the season could very
well serve as a conclusion for the series. Showtime offers the first season in
DVD and Blu-ray but as usual the high definition edition is mastered to near
perfection. If you are a nurse you will find a lot to hate here but you have to
give credit to production values.
Posted 03/01/2010