Review, Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 2 - "Enough Rope"

Air date: Monday, April 4, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT

Grade ★★★★★

Directed beautifully by Steve Buscemi, fighting to keep friends is a recurrent theme throughout “Enough Rope.” Jackie (Edie Falco) is struggling to hold onto her best friend, Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best). Coop (Peter Facinelli) is trying to make amends with Sam (Arjun Gupta), while Eddie (Paul Schulze) wants to hold onto his friendship with Kevin (Dominic Fumusa), sans lies. And so it goes on another wonderful episode of Nurse Jackie.

Review, Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 2 - "Enough Rope" 1

Bringing in an elderly patient are Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, Merritt Wever as Zoey, and Peter Facinelli as Dr. Cooper

Watching Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) trying to imitate a picture of her idol, First Lady Michelle Obama, jumping rope is so funny, but not quite as funny as the expression on her face when Zoey (Merritt Wever) takes the rope and jumps her heart out while singing an old elementary school ditty! Zoey initially goes to Akalitus’ office to complain about maternity ward nurses stealing ER gloves and Akalitus tells her to steal them back. The conversation between the two leads to some really funny scenes throughout the episode, played to perfection by Wever. Her comedic genius is beyond compare.

Eddie doesn’t want to lie to Kevin anymore about who he is so he asks Jackie to tell Kevin that he works at All Saints. Pardon me, but wasn’t it Eddie who weaseled his way into Kevin’s life last year when Jackie tried to break it off with him? So whose fault is it that Kevin thinks of Eddie as his best friend? Jackie’s not too happy with Eddie’s request and initially refuses, but then comes up with a perfect remedy as only our liar extraordinaire can do. How nice that Kevin played right into it by suggesting that Jackie find out if there’s a job available at All Saints for Eddie!

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Jackie (Edie Falco) and Zoey (Merritt Wever) as they tend to their patient

Sam and Coop try to treat Mimi (Jessica Hecht), a mother of four boys with chicken pox, who comes into the hospital with a finger she almost hacked off accidentally while trying to fix the toilet. But Mimi has a meltdown, insisting she can’t be treated by a man. At first, I’m thinking “Huh?” But then Mimi lets loose and I totally understand! Her diatribe about the urine around the toilet from her husband and sons, with the innocent-looking boys listening, is just hilarious!

“…who aims? Nobody! They just pull out their wieners and let’er rip…I mean how hard could it be? It’s not like it’s skeeball, a tiny hole 10 feet away. <Voice raised, talking to her boys> It’s a big fucking punch bowl right in front of your zipper!”

Hecht’s portrayal of her character is spot on. She flawlessly brings to life the harried mother who’s been nursing her kids back to health and has been cooped up with them for far too long. Having done the same myself with two kids with chicken pox, I can totally relate. As a matter of fact, I think I had a similar meltdown! Well, not about the toilet. But you understand, right?

It appears the crack in Jackie’s relationship with O’Hara isn’t as wide as it was in “Game On.” When Jackie learns O’Hara is looking for work elsewhere, she realizes she has to do something to prevent O’Hara from leaving All Saints. I mean, without her, there goes Jackie’s shoulder to cry on. Her heartfelt plea to O’Hara, telling her she’ll follow her to any hospital and practically begging her to stay even got to me. Thank heavens O’Hara appears to soften just a bit. Falco shines in this scene, showing a more subtle side of Jackie than we’re used to. Best as well as she turns O’Hara from icy and acerbic to sympathetic and soft-hearted.

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Jackie (Edie Falco ) goes off on the EMTs after Zoey (Merritt Wever) finds a DNR note

An elderly gentleman, suffering from heart failure, is brought into All Saints by the EMTs who found him lying out in the sun. When asked why he was outside, he whispered to Zoey it was because he wanted to die outside. When she finds a DNR (do not resuscitate) pinned to his jacket, Jackie goes off on the medics. What I wonder is exactly whom she was referring to when she tells Zoey, “People gotta stop trying to save people who don’t want to be saved. End of story.”

Favorite lines:

Coop: Dood, can we please bury the hatchet?

Sam: Yeah, let’s bury it in your head.

Tune in Monday, April 11^th at 10:00 pm ET/PT for the next installment of Nurse Jackie.

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Linda

Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!