AS CARMELA IN “The Sopranos,” Edie Falco didn’t take guff from anyone (well, except for Tony, but who didn’t kowtow to Tony?). And thankfully, she brings that same sort of steeliness and resolve to her starring role in “Nurse Jackie” — the show couldn’t work without it.
The Showtime series, whose first season wrapped up in August and is now out on DVD ($25.99), focuses on emergency room nurse Jackie Peyton (Falco), who has worked at Manhattan’s All-Saints Hospital for years and has learned to navigate between nurses, doctors and management to get her way.
Yes, you may see some touches of Dr. Gregory House in her (like a drug addiction and a sexually inappropriate relationship with her enabling pharmacist Eddie, played by Paul Schulze), and the show’s sometimes-sarcastic feel might bring to mind the goofy antics of “Nip/Tuck.” But over the course of the season, Peyton breaks free of those molds and proves she truly cares about the people she’s responsible for. And no, she doesn’t need a pesky cane or a child with lobster-hands to do it.
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The season starts off by introducing viewers to Peyton, who demonstrates her form of vigilante nursing justice almost immediately. Sure, she’s annoyed by obnoxious and overconfident young surgeon Dr. Cooper (Peter Facinelli, who also plays vampire-turned-doctor Carlisle Cullen in the “Twilight” flicks) and overenthusiastic new nurse Zoey (Merritt Wever), but that doesn’t stop her from helping them with their jobs. But the bloodthirsty psycho with diplomatic immunity who she has as a patient? Peyton’s polite to his face, but she flushes his cut-off ear down the toilet.
Share this articleShareIt’s exactly that kind of balance that makes the show work so well. Just as Dr. Cox in “Scrubs” treated J.D. like dirt for most of the series, but in the show’s eighth season finale finally relents by hugging him (J.D. craved physical contact, so that makes sense), Peyton works the system by demonstrating both grit and gratitude.
Over the course of the season, she first blames Zoey for one of her own mistakes and refuses to cut Dr. Cooper any slack, but she later grows to appreciate both of them for their skills and role in the hospital. Sure, she also uses Dr. Cooper’s power as a surgeon to fake an organ donation card and is later disgusted by Zoey’s incorrect dosage of painkillers for a patient, but for the most part, she’s got a heart of gold. Or at least plated with it. She’s not that selfless.
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Falco is undeniably the show’s solid center, bringing determination and resolve to her character. She handles the show’s plot twists (which come fast and furious toward the end of the 12-episode season) with the ease you’d expect from a mainstay of “The Sopranos.”
And thanks to the extensive interviews, commentaries and special features in the DVD set, which includes a “Prepping Nurse Jackie” extra that outlines the creation of the show, an “All About Edie” extra that describes Falco’s adaptation to the role and an “Unsung Heroes” extra that focuses on the nursing field and what medical realism “Nurse Jackie” brings to TV, you get a solid feel for the variety of positive factors that make the show so successful.
When “Nurse Jackie” returns on March 22, there will be quite a few cliffhangers to address, such as the status of Jackie’s family and her future with Eddie, as well as the impact of Zoey’s dosage mistake. But thanks to this all-encompassing set, you can — and should — surely be well prepared to start watching safely.
Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photo by Ken Regan
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