Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Showtime's Nurse Jackie Season 2 Episode 1 Comfort Food

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Showtime's Nurse Jackie Season 2 Episode 1 Comfort Food

Buh-bye Nurse Mo-Mo. No explanation of why you've gone. No mention of your having been on the show. Oh and by the way Nurse Jackie producers the perfect moment to have worked in such a scene would have been when nurses Thor and Jackie are in the hospital chapel chatting. But, nope, didn't happen. And in case you were wondering---oh whom i kidding, you couldn't care less---but anyway, yes the fans miss that character. Supposedly the motive for making Mo-Mo disappear, was that the character had outlived his usefulness. Ostensibly, the character's sole purpose was to be Nurse Jackie's best bud and sounding board, and now that Jackie is hanging with Doctor Eleanor O'Hara, that eliminates the need for Mo-Mo. But there's a flaw with that theory. Nurse Jackie still spends time sharing secrets with Nurse Thor, who happened to have had a crush on Mo-Mo. That dynamic alone could have continued to provide a season's worth of scenes for the 3 pals to explore that aspect of their friendship. The decision to eliminate Mo-Mo feels like a bad parody of the Seinfeld episode when Jerry is explaining to Ramon that there's a limited number of people he feels comfortable being friends with, and having Ramon as a friend would exceed that limit. Funny on the Seinfeld ep---as a Nurse Jackie plot device, not so much.

O.K. Mo-Mo rant over [for now ;D]. Another beef the fans have with season 2's first episode, is Jackie's season 1 finale O.D. not being acknowledged. How was she revived? Did she regain consciousness on her own before someone else came in the room and found her on the floor? Did Doctor O'Hara find her and enabling, keeping what happened secret? idk, and the writers aren't telling.

Season 2 opens with shot of a variety of pills falling, their placement when they hit the ground shown via overhead shot, dissolving into a scene showing Jackie reclined on a blanket having an idyllic day with her family at Orchard Beach. It is visually perfect, giving the impression that Jackie is hallucinating, but no, she and her family actually are having a day at the beach. Despite the lack of dialog exposition, to her credit, being the wonderful actress that she is, you can see in Ms.Falco's eyes, a processing of what has gone before, and an appreciation of what the day is providing, and even though she is the show's star, she shouldn't have to carry all the load, and the fans shouldn't have to work that hard either.

The scenes between Jackie and Dr.Cooper are extremely funny---he is the perfect foil. Of course Jackie shines best when caring for patients. A woman is admitted to the trauma ward, fingers on her right hand severed. As Dr.Cooper is asking the patient questions she doesn't speak. Jackie notices she's signing with her left hand and informs the doctor and others working on her that the patient is deaf. Acknowledging her ability to look beyond the obvious gives insight into why Jackie is a very good nurse. The creative lengths she goes to to get the patient's insurance provider to approve the surgery necessary to re-attach her fingers, display why she's extraordinary.

Showtime's Nurse Jackie airs Monday Nights at 10:00pm with an encore airing at 11:00pm. Please check your local listings. Showtime's online site also has video available for viewing for a limited time.

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