There’s a reason why Nurse Jackie has quickly claimed the title of favorite medical series in the hearts of many viewers. It’s not the grimly humorous medical situations, although admittedly I’ve had my fair share of cat-attacks-man jokes. And, it’s not just because three time Emmy-Award winning Edie Falco delivers a more brilliant performance with each episode. The reason Nurse Jackie wins over the hearts of fans, time and time again, lies simply with the characters. Nothing brings this point home more clearly than Episode 7, “Steak Knife.”
Now, you may say, “Duh, the reasons any show is good is because of the characters.” Certainly, without strong characters you’d probably tune out instantly. But, whereas, most shows have only one or two strong characters with an array of sidekicks, each member of Nurse Jackie’s character roster is uniquely endearing to watch.
Episode 7, “Steak Knife,” was an introspective voyage into the mind of each character in Jackie Peyton’s world.
Akalitus finds an abandoned baby in All Saints Hospital. Despite her outwardly gruff appearance, she spends her day walking through the hospital cradling the baby. At the end of the day, or episode, she reverts back to her typical all-business self and threatens to call child services should no one claim the baby. Why she didn’t do that in the first place, is a motherly mystery left open for another day.
The ever-nonchalant Dr. O’Hara has been off her game since the moment she went to work wearing mismatched heels. For any normal person that wouldn’t be a big deal, but Nurse Jackie knows otherwise. O’Hara is anything but your typical doctor, and a simple fashion foible spells gloom and doom. O’Hara not only turns over the doctor’s reins to Coop, but she disappears into her office with a bottle of Scotch in one hand and some nifty pills in the other.
When Jackie asks O’Hara what’s amiss, the good doctor states, “That my friend would take a bucket of scotch to get out of me.” O’Hara offers the innocent Jackie, who claims to be a “bit of a lightweight,” one of her pills. Jackie pops a half, and sneaks away with a handful of more treats for later. In Jackie’s mind a few pills was a fair exchange for allowing O’Hara to spend the night with her family.
The pharmaceutical-drug dealing Eddie is having anniversary blues. After one year of dating Jackie, he decides to buy her a gift. Unfortunately, Jackie not only forgot their anniversary, but also didn’t realize they were officially dating. If the news was shocking to Jackie, it was even more shocking to wannabe-best friend MoMo, who never realized Jackie had a boyfriend. Jackie storms off when Eddie accuses her of sleeping with him just for the pills.
Eddie’s new “friend” Coop is busy doing what he does best, being Coop. When Coop spots Jackie’s tossed-aside gift, he decides to share a little anecdote with Eddie about a similar unisex bracelet he was robbed of. Eddie, dying for some alone time to wallow, gives Coop the bracelet. The gift giving is short lived. Jackie’s post-pill-pop apology to Eddie results in another lost bracelet for Coop.
Zoey continues to please audiences with her childlike mannerisms and nursing inadequacies. Zoey asks Jackie if she can remove a steak knife from a patient’s body. Jackie says, “You never remove a foreign object protruding from a patient.” To which Zoey replies, “But it’s so tempting.”
But, no one wins over the crowd more than Jackie’s two daughters: Grace and Fiona. Fiona’s exuberant personality to ridicule is almost a culture shock to O’Hara. Fiona makes coffee for O’Hara, but instead of pouring it right away she waits for every drop of coffee to be brewed. O’Hara bluntly says to her, “You are a tiny cruel little creature.” Fiona simply states, “I know,” filled with smiles. Grace remains the harbinger of gloom in the family. She’s now frightened that God will punish her for wearing the wrong clothes.
We caught our first taste of Jackie’s husband’s personality this episode, as he had to suffer through O’Hara’s “better than thou” personality. After basically ridiculing Kevin’s house, O’Hara decides to take up one of Jackie’s bills to pay. Kevin spots it and gives his wife the evil eye for allowing this woman into their house.
In Nurse Jackie Episode 8, “Pupil,” we’ll see what the future holds for the baby toting Akalitus. But, the real shocker will come as Jackie’s house of cards begins to implode, one secret at a time.
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