‘Nurse Jackie’: Nights are different

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Tonight, Jackie worked the night shift. Though she gets to do the schedule, so she made sure she was working with all her favorites. Plus Mrs. Akalitus hangs out to check on any fraternizing. Then the doctors are all on 24-hour shifts. And what the heck, Eddie’s working too. These actors are getting paid, so they’d better be showing up every day.

Jackie explains the difference in the night shift. “Stab wounds. More drunks. Less nut jobs. Less children.” Then we get a stroke, a woman who wants a pregnancy test and a woman with lupus with her 10-year-old daughter/caretaker. Come on. Can’t we get just one stab wound? The gun shot last week was off screen. We don’t get to see any of the fun.

But before Jackie headed out for her action-packed shift, she had dinner with her family. Jackie and her husband continue to deal with their oldest, Grace’s, general anxiety and ‘sunless drawing’ disorder. Her latest signs are throwing a container she couldn’t get opened and running out the room after her sister stuck a French fry up her nose. Doesn’t really seem that bad. Then at the end of the episode Jackie finds out that Grace had a meltdown because her pencil kept breaking. Now that goes in the same column as “if she doesn’t walk around her desk three times, airplanes fall out of the sky.” This girl has Issues. Capital “I.” Though her drawings are really good. Maybe she’s just a depressed artist.

The young girl Nurse Jackie seems most interested in is Stephanie, who came in with her mother. Jackie must see herself in the girl. Partially because she takes care of her mother’s lupus but probably more so because she knows how to work the system. Stephanie claims her grandmother is coming from Jersey. That’s a good way to keep a call to social services at bay. Jackie looks after Stephanie, gives her free medication and scolds Dr. Cooper for offering her a sticker (but seriously, who doesn’t like a sticker? I’d take one).

Jackie has only one other focus for her night shift, trying to get a little alone time with Eddie. Unfortunately, Coop kidnaps Eddie off to get food. You’d think Eddie would fight a little harder to get away from Dr. Cooper so he could get some lights-out fun with his girlfriend, but then Coop suggested Quiznos, and I, for one, thought that sounded delicious. Eddie must have thought so too.

Speaking of strange lunch-fellows, Dr. O’Hara and Zoey went out to grab a bite. And by “grab a bite,” I mean reservations at a five-star restaurant. Zoey sticks out like a sore thumb. At first I thought, “Jackie doesn’t stick out this much, and she’s in scrubs too.” Then I realized that Jackie’s clothes don’t have little bunnies all over them.

Akalitus spent the evening spoiling everyone’s fun. By the time she’d separated Stephanie from her mom and tried to get on Jackie and Mo-Mo’s case for smoking, I was prepped for something bad to happen to her. So when she noticed the taser lying oh, so perfectly on the tile, I knew it was coming. Anna Deavere Smith (Akalitus) has done some really great physical humor on the show so far. It’s just strange how much it sticks out from the rest of the show’s tone.

Jackie returns home as the sun is rising. She hears her husband describe Grace’s meltdown, responding simply with “OK.” Before she heads up to bed, Stephanie calls, asking for more advice in caring for her mother. Jackie perks up and walks her through cutting a percocet (while doing the same for herself). Again, Jackie proves to be much more adept and interested in solving other people’s problems than in taking care of her own.

— Andrew Hanson