TV Review: Edie Falco Returns With Great ‘Nurse Jackie’

CHICAGO – After years without many strong roles for women, 2009 saw the debut of at least three in the great turn by Juliana Margulies on “The Good Wife,” the lead performance by Toni Collette in “United States of Tara” and, the best of them all, Edie Falco in the great “Nurse Jackie,” which returns tonight on March 22, 2010 on Showtime. The second season starts on slightly shaky ground but this is still one of the better shows on television.

Television Rating: 4.0/5.0

Last season ended with Jackie (Edie Falco) in a more disastrous state than usual. After Eddie (Paul Schulze), her pharmacist hook-up who fed both her pill-popping habit and her infidelity, was replaced by a machine, Jackie struggled to get the drugs she needed to keep her balance on the tightrope of her life. When Eddie came to the bar owned by Jackie’s husband Kevin (Dominic Fumusa), the double life she had worked so hard to keep together collided head-on.

Paul Schulze as Eddie, Merritt Wever as Zoey, Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Eve Best as Dr. O’Hara, Anna Deavere Smith as Mrs. Akalitus, and Peter Facinelli as Dr. Cooper in Nurse Jackie (Season 2)
Photo credit: Showtime

“Nurse Jackie” opens with a happy Jackie and family on the beach. How long can that last? The key to the success of the writing on the show is that there’s no clear answer to that question. Unlike what inferior writers would do with the same set-up, “Nurse Jackie” isn’t about the collapse of a life, it’s more daringly about how people keep that disaster at bay. There are thousands of people juggling addictions, infidelity, and daily drama while raising a family and, in the case of a nurse like Jackie, saving lives.

The first episode of the season opens in much the same vein as the first. Despite the very unwise departure of Haaz Sleiman (more on that later) and the drama between Eddie and Jackie, it feels basically like an extension of last season, focusing again on weekly drama at the hospital and the continued problems with Jackie’s oldest daughter. Don’t expect a radical shake-up in tone, style, or plot. Any changes on “Nurse Jackie” are likely to come more gradually.

Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton in Nurse Jackie Photo credit: Courtesy of Showtime Networks

The biggest development at the hospital is the replacement of Mo-Mo by Sam (Arjun Gupta), the drug-addicted RN who appeared in one episode of the first season and called Jackie on her sh*t. He’s back and reportedly clean. The rest of the staff hasn’t changed much with Coop (Peter Facinelli) continuing to screw-up, Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) struggling with bureaucracy, Zoey (Merritt Wever) still getting her feet wet, and Eleanor (Eve Best) offering the little stability in Jackie’s work life through her friendship.

After the health care vote just passed, it seems ironic to tune into a show that features a character discovering he’s not covered for catastrophic surgery after paying over $400 a month. Jackie is forced to stay on the phone with a deaf woman’s insurance company after she loses her hand and they refuse to cover and the scene, in which she brilliantly convinces the guy on the other end of the phone, to do the right thing, is both hilarious and as timely as anything you’ll see on fictional TV this year.

But “Nurse Jackie” is not a political show. It is a show about human faults and how we continue despite them. With just one season under her belt, Falco has created one of the most truly human characters television has seen in a long time. There may be some ridiculous behavior and moments on “Nurse Jackie,” but she always grounds them in reality. The rest of the cast is great but trading Sleiman for Gupta is a deal I’m not convinced was worth it quite yet. Sleiman is a very talented young actor who brought his own energy to the show and he’ll be missed. As for ensemble stand-outs, mine is still Facinelli, delivering not only the best work of his career but developing a great character in a way that I didn’t think he was capable.

If there’s any notable difference in season two, it’s that, like a lot of programs, “Nurse Jackie” simply feels more confident. The chemistry between certain leads is more developed as the cast has been through a season and developed a rhythm. And the writers are more confident as well, more clearly aware of their characters and how to write for them. The first season of “Nurse Jackie” was very good. This one could be even better.

[16]	By BRIAN TALLERICO [17] Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com [16]