NURSE JACKIE 1.3 - "Chicken Soup"

I reviewed the first two episodes last summer when Nurse Jackie aired on Showtime, but now that it's arrived on BBC2 I made an attempt to resume my viewing. "Chicken Soup" ended up reminding me why the first few episodes did little to endear me to this show, sadly. Half an hour isn't long enough to form any connection to the guest-stars, or even to pull off much of an interesting story. So far, we're just getting little vignettes (most with a dark, twisted take on life), like this episode's patient who suffered terrible scratches to his scrotum when his cat attacked his testicles as he cleaned his bath naked...

And that's fine, I guess. It's wryly amusing black comedy fare. But a lot of Nurse Jackie reminds me of an unfunny episode of Scrubs -- like intern Angela (Merritt Wever) spending the episode trying to get her "borrowed" stethoscope back from Dr. O'Hara (Eve Best). Right now, the show feels quite smug to me, too -- as if it believes it's the first series to hit upon the idea that nurses are the backbone of the medical profession and doctors are overpaid, academic, uncaring cultural figureheads who just diagnose. Or that medical staff sometimes have -- gasp! -- quickie sex in their offices and store rooms. Maybe in America that's true, but there's been quite a few of these hospital dramas in the UK -- from Cardiac Arrest, through No Angels, to Bodies -- so it feels less "shocking" to me.

Still, it was nice to see 94-year-old Eli Wallach on our screens; here playing a Jewish man dying of a heart problem, who believes his wife's chicken soup has kept him alive longer than any medication could.

I'm going to keep watching for awhile longer, to see if it finds shape, but I'm not too impressed right now. Is anybody else watching every night? Or are you addicted to Celebrity Big Brother already? Would it be worth posting about Nurse Jackie on a purely "open thread" basis for discussion, perhaps? Let me know. Also, I've noticed that the term "black comedy" is being replaced with its synonym "dark comedy" more often now, to describe shows like Nurse Jackie. Political correctness gone mad?


6 January 2010
BBC2/BBC HD, 10pm

written by: Mark Hudis directed by: Craig Zisk starring: Edie Falco (Jackie Peyton), Eve Best (Dr. Eleanor O'Hara), Merritt Wever (Zoey Barkow), Haaz Sleiman (Mohammed 'Mo-Mo' De La Cruz), Paul Schulze (Eddie Walzer ), Peter Facinelli (Dr. Fitch Cooper), Eli Wallach (Bernard Zimberg), Dominic Fumusa (Kevin Peyton), Ruby Jerins (Grace Peyton), Daisy Tahan (Fiona Peyton), Anna Deavere Smith (Gloria Akalitus), Lynn Cohen (Mrs. Zimberg), Daniel London (Mr. Batali), Anna Koonin (Bonnie), Jay Wilkison (Terry), Stephen Wallem (Thor) & Mark McDonald (EMT)