Nurse Jackie: Season Two

The badass, pill-popping Nurse Jackie is back in the second season of “Nurse Jackie.” In <a href = http://www.dvdtown.com/review/nurse-jackie-tv-series/blu-ray/7857> the first season </href>, we are introduced to Jackie’s addiction, her infidelity, and her complicated world. Through various episodes, we learn Jackie’s double-faced approach to the life. She hides her marriage and continues to have a relationship with a hospital pharmacist, Eddie (Paul Schulze). On the home front, we see her as a caring mother but also as a disconnected, absent wife of Kevin (Dominic Fumusa).The first season raised a number of questions, ranging from Jackie’s addiction to her unexplained fidelity. But, are these questions addressed in the second season? Let’s find out.

The second season follows the first season’s template with no modifications. The second season begins with Jackie ending her relationship with Eddie. This time around, she is more focused in reconnecting with her two daughters and with Kevin. Eddie was fired in the last season, and he is currently working as a pharmacist at a drug store. Eddie still loves Jackie, and through various events we see him developing a friendly bond with Kevin. Jackie’s close friend at work, Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best), offers to give Jackie the money so that she can pay for her daughter’s tuition fees. This does not go well with Kevin, and it eventually causes a major rift between them. On the hospital front, the booby-grabbing doctor, Dr. Fitch Cooper (Peter Facinelli), keeps on grabbing more boobies, but somehow he still ends up being one of the top doctors in Manhattan. A new nurse, ex-addict Sam (Arjun Gupta), arrives at the hospital and has run-ins with Jackie all the time. Of course, Jackie, as in the first season, continues to be a bully to the junior staff. Jackie’s daughter, Grace Peyton (Ruby Jerins), continues to have psychological issues as a part of growing up. Finally, Jackie and her family undertake a family adventure in upstate New York, where Kevin makes a startling discovery.

It may appear I have given away too many of the plot details, but this is not the case. If you are looking for well-developed subplots in this season, then you will be sorely disappointed. In fact, the second season is really hollow in developing the story further. We still continue to understand Jackie’s pill addiction; nonetheless, in this season the writers have again held back the relevant details. We see Jackie downing the powered pills maybe two or three times in this show. To introduce a new story element, the writers have spent more time creating the domestic world around Jackie, thereby taking her attention away from hospital chores.

In several episodes, Jackie is shown as a responsible mother but still emotionally disconnected from the core issues surrounding her two daughters. Jackie’s busy schedule means less time at home with the family, but still, she tries. At work, she continues to be a badass by making life difficult for both Sam and Fitch, as she can do whatever she wants in the hospital. As a nurse, she is quick to respond to the needy, be it calling an insurance company and yelling at them or helping a cancer patient with marijuana or helping a person suffering from a seizure because of his drug addiction. She breaks every ethical rule prescribed by the medical profession. But, her actions reveal that she is genuinely a caring person.

Eddie coming back to Jackie’s life has certainly complicated things for her again, although she is adamant not to get involved this time around. More so, Eddie has become an obsessive psychopath, and his behavior resembles that of a stalker. With a weird smirk, Eddie appears creepier than anything else, and Jackie rightly pushes him away. She senses danger in Eddie’s presence and warns him to not come any closer to her family. Considering how Eddie conducts himself, I don’t understand why the writers have played down this issue that can have a possible impact on the Jackie’s family. The problem is, apart from the Jackie’s character, even Kevin’s character is shown to be pretty dumb when interacting with Eddie.

Jackie’s complicated approach to leading her life goes unexplained in this season. It is difficult to fall in love with her character; after all, she is an unfaithful, unethical person and a longtime pill addict. However, this season the infidelity is not the central issue. Obviously, being a deeply flawed personality, there is nothing instantly redeemable about her character. When an ex-addict, Sam, comes onboard, Jackie is presented with a scenario to address her pill addiction. Nonetheless, the show’s creators overlooked an important subplot here, and as a substitute, the writers made Jackie as much an ass-kicking office bully as ever. Her conflicted state is only represented by her balls-busting nature, which wears down slowly.

Kevin’s character continues to operate in a monotonous manner as seen in the previous season, although his character is a step up from the previous season. That said, the writers still haven’t fleshed out his role in the main story line. He is the husband of the main protagonist, and yet we don’t know much about him. In the later part of this season, he expresses his feelings to Jackie, mainly surrounding the money she took from Dr. O’Hara. The interplay between Jackie and Kevin gets interesting when Kevin questions Jackie’s commitment to their marriage; but it is never overly tense, as it lacks the potency of a matured adult discussion. With a tender heart and calm composure, Kevin cannot be dismissed as a submissive husband, and we witness Kevin’s firm demeanor on various issues surrounding the domestic front. Still, in spite of several positives, Kevin’s character never becomes multifaceted. Other characters, like Fitch, O’Hara, are merely the puppets in the show, and their characters don’t add much to the story line, either. By the final episode of the second season, it is evident there only three core characters in the Jackie’s world:  Jackie, Kevin, and Eddie.

The second season touches on several health-care issues present in the U.S., starting with an insurance company denying coverage, followed by how the Medicare system functions, to the difficulty obtaining a legal prescription.  But the show merely scratches the surface of theses issues. Moreover, the writers are unsure how to craft the subplots that will eventually connect to the main story; and the absence of subplots makes the show one-dimensional.  I don’t understand why everything has to revolve around Jackie. There could have been a few interesting elements inserted to the story--like exploring Eddie’s past, instead of making him a creepy character--or there could have been more emphasis on developing the characters of Kevin and O’Hara. As such, these deficiencies make it difficult to connect to anything that’s happening around Jackie. And whatever transpires among the supporting characters and Jackie seems superficial.

By focusing too much on Jackie, the writers are uncertain how to present this show and make it distinguishable from other medical shows on TV. Nonetheless, the characters remain underdeveloped, and Jackie’s life has hardly progressed in the last twenty-four episodes.

Video:

The Blu-ray edition presents the show in its 1080p glory utilizing an AVC format and an aspect ratio of 1.78:1. The transfer looks great, with consistent picture detail. The show is shot mainly in brightly lit indoor settings, and as a result the appearance of objects in some scenes is washed out. The palette comprises mainly bright whites; but, occasionally other colors pop out that are solid and deep.  The close-ups reveal adequate detail, and skin tones are lifelike.  Overall, this is a good-looking transfer.

Audio:

Lionsgate has included a lossless English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track. The show is mostly dialogue driven and mainly supported by the front channels. The dialogue is crisp and consistent. The show does not have any loud moments, and the surround channels are rarely used, except in the opening montage. Overall, I was satisfied with this audio track because it works well with the overall theme. Also included is the option to watch the movie with English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras:

Lionsgate has released the show in a two-disc set.

Starting off disc one, we get an audio commentary track with the crew of the episode “Comfort Food.”  Following this, we get a short interview featurette, “All About Eve,” with Eve Best, who plays the character of Dr. O’Hara.  She discusses her experience at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England and her first major role in the show, “Tis a Pity She’s a Whore.” Also, included is a main title music montage.  Finally, finishing off the extras on disc one, we get a gag reel.

On disc two, we have four audio commentaries by the cast on the episodes ”Monkey Bits,” “Sleeping Dogs,” “What the Day Brings,” and  “Years of Service.” Following this, we get another short interview segment, “Perfecting an Inappropriate,” with the actor Peter Facinelli, who plays the character of Dr. Fitch Cooper. He talks about, his first acting gig, his favorite segments from the second season, and how Paul Newman inspired him.

Parting Thoughts:

“Nurse Jackie: Season 2” evaporated all my hopes of its coming back from a disappointing first season. Jackie’s life is still inadequately developed, and the rest of the cast fails to do anything with the underwhelming writing. Our emotional connection to the characters is missing. More so, the story arcs are absent, and as a result the show is still struggling to find its footing. It is sad to see how quickly “Nurse Jackie” descended in quality. Issues aside, Edie Falco’s performance is still fun and entertaining to watch.