Nurse Jackie Season 4 Review

25th Feb 2013

I remember when I first caught an episode of Nurse Jackie I really didn’t like it. It was one of those late night situations where you’re just flicking through TV channels looking for something mindless to watch as you fall asleep. I came across an earlier season of Nurse Jackie and just found it cold, harsh and there was something unpleasant about the whole thing. Strange how those first impressions are what actually makes it such a unique and enjoyable show to watch.

To briefly recap on what Nurse Jackie is, Eddie Falco (The Sopranos) plays Jackie, a nurse in a New York hospital. She is what you would call a functioning addict, heavily dependent on a variety of prescription drugs (obtained without a prescription) but able to hold down a busy fulltime job and a family. Well nearly. The show comprises of the small unit of nurses, Zoey (Merritt Weaver), Thor (Stephen Wallem), Sam (Arjun Gupta), Dr Cooper (Peter Facinelli) and chief of administration Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith). Then there is her best friend Dr O’Hara (Eve Best) and her ex-lover Eddie (Paul Schulze). The other side of her life is her family; her husband, Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) and two daughters, one of whom has anxiety issues. Jackie weaves a web of lies, keeping her family and work life separated with neither side (except for O’Hara) knowing about the other. This has begun to unravel since season one. Eddie found out about her being married with children and her work colleagues meet her husband. Eddie manages to become friends with Kevin after Jackie finishes her affair with him, leading to more lies. Season two culminated in O’Hara and Kevin coming to the realisation that she was addicted to drugs and confronting her. Throughout season three, whilst she manages to place lie on top of lie to cover the extent of her addiction, the threads of her life continue to unravel until Kevin admits he has had an affair. So what next?

If you are a fan of Nurse Jackie you will know that it is a unique creation, the reasons I mention above for not initially liking the show still remain true. Our protagonist is a drug addicted, compulsive liar. There is no moral story or outcome about the bad things she does, it just is the way she leads her life. She is controlling, manipulative and every negative thing the other characters come to realise about her. But she somehow elicits loyalty and love from those around her. Nurse Jackie can at times be a cold examination of human behaviour but reminds you that you can do some shitty things in life and people will still care for you. Season four does however throw everything you had gotten used to on its head. It is the season of change. New characters, new situations, clearly defined lines that had been put in place are thrown out of the window and the character of Jackie is seriously challenged and provided with a new and old adversary. Normally when a show performs this kind of change it is risky and can fail spectacularly. I want to say that the character arcs and the changes which occur are true to the show and explore what could have become stagnant after three seasons but I do feel a small niggle. Is this because at times it is uncomfortable to watch? Maybe this is the entire point of season four. Jackie is so far out of her careful prescribed existence that you need to join her too. If you’ve ever known an addict in a perverse way this may help you understand them a little more.

What has been creeping through in season three and comes into full flourish this season is the development of the supporting cast of nurses (reflected in the extras focusing on them). These sometimes side lined characters, placed for humour and used as a tool for Jackie are given more attention this season, they seem to come more to the forefront and rather than acting as the background for Jackie they become the supporting figures. I could not love the character of Zoey more.

Nurse Jackie remains a really fascinating show. What will be interesting to see is what they do with season five now that nothing is the same.