On this week's episode of Nurse Jackie, we get more of a focus on the hospital and the drama that is happening there, rather than on Jackie's personal life. It gets blended somewhat when Frank is forced to come to the hospital in order to accompany another cop. His and Jackie's relationship seems to be getting stronger through each episode, which is good to see because he is definitely the best match for her and treats her well. The episode starts out with Jackie getting ready and putting on lipstick in preparation for a lunch date, but unfortunately, the date does not end up happening; however, he comes to the hospital to tell her that he will not be able to take her out, which Zoe says is a good sign.
In an important encounter that we have been awaiting for weeks, Jackie is finally able to confront Gloria about her forgetfulness. She was supposed to get an escort for a psych patient who had just flipped out and destroyed the medicine room, but Gloria plays it off like nothing is wrong and says that it must have slipped her mind. Jackie tells her that she understands, but that it has become a problem and will not be able to continue. Jackie is very brave to speak to her in this way and it is obvious that is hard for her to do, especially since it has taken her this long to do so. As expected with her character and is typical of people in this situation, Gloria does not pay attention and storms out of the room in frustration after Jackie tries to talk to her about the problem. Jackie asks Eddie about it, since he is also in the room during the conversation, pondering whether it could actually be Alzheimer's or some other disease afflicting the supervisor that they have known for years. It takes a lot of courage to bring something like that to someone's attention and Jackie certainly shows that she that has it in this scene.
In the next scene, we see Zoe listening to recordings and although we can't make out what she is actually listening to, but it appears that they have listening devices in the hospital in order to monitor people. She hears the recording of Dr. Cooper having sex with Dr. Roman (from the previous episode), and she is so horrified that she freaks out and runs to Jackie. The innocent character of Zoe does not know what to think or make of the situation, as she is clearly not used to hearing such things in a hospital; her reaction is really funny to witness. Jackie makes a bold statement to Dr. Cooper in the next scene and makes it clear to him that he can no longer allow himself to be controlled by Dr. Roman and needs to take control by showing her what she is supposed to do. Jackie plays the recording for him and it embarrasses him to know that other people found out about what they were doing. During the time that they were involved with each other, it seemed that Dr. Cooper enjoyed it but was always feeling bad about what he was doing, and it is good that someone has finally found out, causing him to really rethink what he is doing.
Later on, we see Dr. Roman upset about the way she mistreated a patient and Dr. Cooper is trying to help her deal with it. He ends up having to patronize her in a way, and they finally have a conversation that has been coming for a long time, during which he explains to her that she needs to start doing some real work and deal with the tough patients if she wants to continue working there. Of course, we know that Dr. Cooper does not have any kind of authority to fire Dr. Roman or anything, but this statement certainly scares her into wanting to do her job right. Dr. Cooper even takes her phone away after telling her that she needs to stop being distracted and that the hospital can not be responsible for the death of a patient simply because she is not paying attention. Could we possibly see a good side to Dr. Roman after this? For the sake of her character and the future of this show, I sure hope so.
More drama goes down at the hospital as a call comes in that an NYPD cop is coming into the hospital. Gloria takes the call and tells everyone to get ready and to prepare for an intense gunshot wound. She is surprisingly calm; meanwhile Jackie has started to completely freak out, knowing that it could be Frank coming in at any second. In a very emotional scene, we see Jackie really show how much she cares about Frank after realizing that he could have been shot while on the job. She watches the body get rolled in and the scene is even in slow motion to heighten the intensity. Luckily, the gunshot victim is not Frank and he later assures her that he would not have put her through trauma like that. They have a nice moment together in which Jackie explains how worried she was and how that makes him feel. Frank was accompanying a man who got shot twice and it could just have easily been him being wheeled into the hospital, a possibility that really worries Jackie. After only dating for a short time, it is nice to see such a tough person like Jackie showing her emotions in this situation. She reacts as any person would in this situation, feeling terrified that something could have happened to someone that she cares for.
Frank explains to her that he will be going out with his cop buddies to drink at the bar after they finish up at the hospital. He assures her that he will call repeatedly and will drunk dial her for sex. In a very mature scene, he acknowledges that he does not want it to be that way and as a result does not even want her to pick up the phone. He tells her how he enjoys what they have so much that he would not want to wreck it by taking advantage of her. This episode may have lacked its usual comedic elements, somewhat like the previous episode, but at the same time we are able to see Jackie showing her bravery and speaking up with her co-workers as well as showing her true emotions with Frank. Edie Falco's acting is superb throughout the episode, and it is also good to see Dr. Cooper's attitude improving.
Thoughts and Quotes
-- After Frank is forced to cancel their lunch date, Zoe is right there and able to comfort Jackie by saying, "He came to cancel in person. That's a good sign, and you still look pretty." Zoe's willingness to brighten the mood and make things better is one of her character's better attributes.
-- In response to Zoe's request for a hug, Dr. Prentiss sarcastically says, "I don't believe in gestures." This comes across as a funny statement; his character seems too serious sometimes, but that is just who he is. Zoe attempts to fix this by buying coffee for everyone and saying that Dr. Prentiss bought it.
-- Dr. Prentiss: "I guarantee you he will walk out of here." He says this to the police officers just after their partner had been admitted to the hospital. Seems like a bit of a dangerous statement to say to people about a patient in some cases, but maybe he knew what he was talking about for sure in this case...what if he died or ended up permanently disabled following a statement like that?
-- Frank: "I kind of like it when you worry about me." Frank shows Jackie his emotional side after finding out how worried she was when hearing that a cop had been shot.
-- Thor: "Stop miming. I'll never tell you anything again." Thor made it known that he went out with a mime the night before and did drugs with him, which results in mocking from Eddie.
-- Dr. Cooper: "I want you to learn something every day, and if I do my job right, I am going to teach you something, so it's not just about you, okay?" Wow! Well this is the type of statement we have been waiting for from Dr. Cooper; Dr. Roman has needed this kind of guidance for weeks. What a profound speech and overall great acting job.
