Showtime has become the home for characters we should hate but cannot help loving. I have gnawed through my nails worried that Dexter, a serial killer and the titled character of Dexter, will get caught by the police. I have laughed and cheered for Cathy from The Big C, a woman who cheated on her husband and kept her cancer diagnosis a secret from her friends and family for months. Showtime even made me love Russell, a man who never met a vice he didn't abuse, from the canceled-too-soon series Huff. I can say with full confidence that when Showtime announced they were producing a medical dramedy with Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie was exactly what I expected. Jackie Peyton is a deeply flawed woman while also being a character with rich potential for must-see TV, making Showtime the perfect home for Nurse Jackie.
At the end of season one of Nurse Jackie, Jackie (Edie Falco) is learning how hard it can be to balance a high-stress job, a husband, two children, a lover, and a pill addiction. Eddie (Paul Schulze) has found out about her family and is stalking Jackie and her family. Dr. Cooper (Peter Facinelli) has discovered Twitter and thus has found new ways to annoy everyone. There is also another returning character, a nurse named Sam (Arjun Gupta) who has gotten over his addictions since the last time working at the hospital, and he is the only one who sees through Jackie's lies. The only things that remain steady in Jackie's life are her sweet and all-too-understanding husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa), her best friend Dr. Eleanor O'Hara (Eve Best), and her protege Zoey (Merritt Wever, who I adored on Studio 60 On the Sunset Strip).
Jackie Peyton has a lot in common with another beloved and flawed medical practitioner on TV. Dr. Gregory House of Fox's House is a brilliant doctor, but he suffers from many of the same personal shortcomings as Jackie. Both are addicted to prescription pain killers. They mouth off to superiors and take drastic measures if it means helping a patient. At some point in both shows, their addictions lead them to behave extremely selfishly and hurt the few people who genuinely care about them. Still, they have moments where the audience cannot help but feel for them and empathize with them, often thanks to the people around them. House has Wilson, and Jackie has Dr. O'Hara, Dr. Akalitus, and Zoey.
What I wonder about Nurse Jackie vs. House is whether people would be more or less willing to accept a woman with a pill addiction and a sarcastic personality. So far, the show has been showered with critical praise including an Emmy award for Edie Falco and the show has a following, but I think House still has more loyal viewers. However, I think the wider appeal of House is (and I know this is controversial) House is a safer than Jackie. He is tamer and easier to love. We always know that beneath his harsh exterior, House is a good guy, and it is several seasons into House until his pill addiction starts affecting his friends and his work. Besides that, he is not living a double life like Jackie. She comes to the hospital, slips off her wedding ring, and sleeps with the pharmacist. After work, she goes home to her husband and children. House doesn't have a family, and aside from Wilson, he has no one in his life he can really disappoint. As Eddie puts it at one point, Jackie is greedy. She isn't content to be a loving wife and mother as well as great at her job. She has to have all that plus a lover and the license to use those around her to keep getting her fix.
Season one set up the premise that Jackie can have it all if she keeps her work and home lives completely separate. During the course of season two, Eddie slowly makes the transition into Jackie's life outside the hospital, and Jackie starts to lose control. By the end of season two, Jackie sees all the blessings in her life slipping away and she desperately does everything in her power to maintain her ever-growing string of lies. It is painful and sad at times to watch, and I appreciated Showtime's honesty about what addiction does to your finances, relationships, and sanity. Fox's House showed House's addiction as a necessary evil. Showtime, in contrast, had the guts to show Jackie's addiction as just being evil. Bravo to Showtime for producing a show that is powerful, truthful in its depiction of drug addictions, and entertaining as all get out.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The Blu-ray release comes with cast and crew commentaries on several episodes, several behind-the-scenes featurettes including one on Dr. Cooper's “sexual Tourette syndrome,” and a gag reel.
"Nurse Jackie: Season Two" is on sale February 22, 2011 and is not rated. Comedy, Drama. Directed by Paul Feig. Written by Liz Brixius, Evan Dunsky, Linda Wallem, Nancy Fichman, Liz Flahive, Jennifer Hoppe, John Hilary Shepherd, Rick Cleveland, Mark Hudis, Christine Zander. Starring Anna Deavere Smith, Arjun Gupta, Dominic Fumusa, Edie Falco, Eve Best, Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Peter Facinelli, Stephen Wallem.
