Many female-led television series struggle to have viewers connect with their lead. It is tricky to make a woman strong, passionate and conflicted, and compelling enough for viewers to rally behind week after week. You need a character that people want to watch. Edie Falco (Carmela, Sopranos) is exemplary in that role in the wry, dark-dramedy Nurse Jackie.
From the opening scene, where Falco is lying on the floor of the hospital, we know that this will be a different kind of show. Jackie, an experienced nurse at a New York hospital, struggles to get through her hospital shifts. Falco draws in the viewers, by being a tough-as-nails nurse, who knows exactly what she’s doing. She has no problem telling the young, new Dr. Cooper (played by Peter Facinelli from Damages) when he makes a mistake.
Falco is adept at playing a dual role. She is a healer, but she is flawed and has the potential to harm herself and others. Jackie suffers from back pains and is addicted to painkillers and finds creative and entertaining ways to get her “fix.”
Showtime has given her entertaining supporting actors. She mentors a new nurse and confides in her two friends, an acerbic male nurse and a fashionista doctor. Jackie works her way in and around the system to make sure all of the patients receive the care they “deserve.”
Jackie’s nuanced performance in the first episode gives the double-whammy surprise ending an even more powerful punch. The second episode does not disappoint either. We find out that her coworkers are also, in many instances, he coconspirators. In both episodes Jackie’s authoritative role in the hospital is a bit implausible, but watching her say exactly what is on her mind to the higher-ups, while advocating for those who can’t speak for themselves, make this show a guilty summer pleasure (Showtime).
Grade: B+
