Nurse Jackie

:

Season 1
  • Network: SHOWTIME
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 8, 2009
Season #: 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 64 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 52 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 64
  3. Negative: 7 out of 64
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User Reviews

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  1. charlie47272
    Apr 16, 2014
    10
    Superb, funny, compelling stuff. Addictive too! .
  2. Richard
    Jun 30, 2009
    2
    I've now watched 5 episodes of 'Nurse Jackie' and my review is as follows. This is an idea put into place without a plan. With an average of 2 laugh's per episode, it is not a comedy. With no compelling medical cases, it's not a drama. It goes without saying it was never meant to be an action thriller. Which leaves us with what lies on the surface. A show of I've now watched 5 episodes of 'Nurse Jackie' and my review is as follows. This is an idea put into place without a plan. With an average of 2 laugh's per episode, it is not a comedy. With no compelling medical cases, it's not a drama. It goes without saying it was never meant to be an action thriller. Which leaves us with what lies on the surface. A show of despair with no characters we can relate to, no character we would choose to spend time with, and certainly no character we ever hope to see as care givers. I see no value to this show, entertainment or otherwise. I'm done with it.… Expand
  3. Ed2
    Jul 6, 2009
    0
    I am shocked that so many people like this show. The writing is despicably bad - my friends and I were literally howling at how (unintentionally) bad it was. The writing is like, so OBVIOUS, just trying _so hard_ to be cool (and have you seen the theme song/intro? My lord!) but comes up painfully short.
  4. DougM
    Aug 13, 2009
    2
    I find this show to be painful to watch. There are no redeeming characters or people to root for or care about, and Edie Falco - who is a terrific actress - is completely unlikeable. Let's run down the roster of characters. Falco is an adulterous absentee mother who is poorly behaved at work, leads an (impossible to pull off) double life, and abuses drugs. The lead female doctor is I find this show to be painful to watch. There are no redeeming characters or people to root for or care about, and Edie Falco - who is a terrific actress - is completely unlikeable. Let's run down the roster of characters. Falco is an adulterous absentee mother who is poorly behaved at work, leads an (impossible to pull off) double life, and abuses drugs. The lead female doctor is cold and self-centered, and the Cooper guy is goofy with a 'tick' that doesn't exist. The nurse administrator is a laughably mean bureaucrat, but you can't root for her when her opponents are an unlikeable motley crew of misfits. The nursing student is annoying. The pharmacist has been providing drugs to the staff for years and has sex in the middle of the day in an ER with this Jackie loser. Jackie's husband is a bore, but she "loves" both. . . though there's no character development. All of that is enough, but then we have a horrifically unrealistic set of medical situations. Sanctioned euthanasia. Nurses gone awry and making medical decisions without doctors. Unprofessional behavior in front of the patients. I worked as a doctor for ten years and don't do it any more and don't take any pride in being a defender of the profession - but this is just so horribly done. The only redeeming quality is that it makes me so mad and the characters are so easy to hate that you can turn it on when you need to blow off some steam. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I've been watching Mad Men to get ready for that season and they're not even in the same stratosphere writing and quality wise.… Expand
  5. kuehnau
    Jan 4, 2016
    5
    The concept for the show itself, I enjoy. There's a lot of unique, funny characters, and they all have enough drama following their lives to make for a entertaining TV series.

    My biggest problem with the series rests solely on the main character, Nurse Jackie. She is easily one of the show's worst characters. She is completely unlikable in any capacity. She's a thief, a liar, a total    The concept for the show itself, I enjoy. There's a lot of unique, funny characters, and they all have enough drama following their lives to make for a entertaining TV series.

    My biggest problem with the series rests solely on the main character, Nurse Jackie. She is easily one of the show's worst characters. She is completely unlikable in any capacity. She's a thief, a liar, a total **** she refuses to accept any form of responsibility and drags down anyone who dares to even get remotely close.

    From stealing drugs from the ER, to stealing her children's medication, to cheating on her husband, the longer I watch the show, the less I like Jackie.

    This TV show comes from a time television writers all decided to start making super edgy characters that had no redeeming qualities, but even Breaking Bad had good reasons for it. Jackie is just a terrible character for the sake of being terrible.    … Expand
  6. dianaa
    Jul 3, 2009
    9
    Edie falco is great.
  7. JimW.
    Jun 20, 2009
    10
    A wonderful mix of comedy & drama. Falco is razor sharp with her portrayal of an overworked, yet skillful ER nurse. Showtime hits this one out of the park!
  8. IgnorantDick
    Jun 11, 2009
    8
    Edie Falco is terrific, and the supporting characters are well-developed from the start.
  9. [Anonymous]
    Jun 8, 2009
    10
    Amazing.!
  10. JennS
    Aug 26, 2009
    10
    I think the casting in this show is brilliant! The story line and the characters are complex and interesting. I cannot wait until next season.
  11. OscarPicks2010
    Dec 19, 2010
    9
    Edie Falco's performance in Nurse Jackie is always gripping with drama. Jackie, a prescription drug addict, who works as a nurse in a hospital. She sees patients going in and out every day but never really cared for them other than treating them and let them go. Jackie also leads a double life, where as the people in the hospital have no idea she has a family. So Jackie can cheat on herEdie Falco's performance in Nurse Jackie is always gripping with drama. Jackie, a prescription drug addict, who works as a nurse in a hospital. She sees patients going in and out every day but never really cared for them other than treating them and let them go. Jackie also leads a double life, where as the people in the hospital have no idea she has a family. So Jackie can cheat on her husband with another man. Nurse Jackie develops the character well and offers plenty of drama with Jackie and plenty of humour from Joey.… Expand
  12. stevedfld
    Dec 7, 2016
    9
    Jesus fu*ken christ, I'm loving this show! I got netflix and was trying a bunch of stuff out, you know, house of cards, arrested development, breaking bad, you know the drill. I come across nurse jackie, you know ""carm" from the sopranos.

    I start to watch and the cast of characters is enchanting, "coop, thor, zoey, o'hara & eddie" her children and husband?! She's married? LOL, you'll    Jesus fu*ken christ, I'm loving this show! I got netflix and was trying a bunch of stuff out, you know, house of cards, arrested development, breaking bad, you know the drill. I come across nurse jackie, you know ""carm" from the sopranos.

    I start to watch and the cast of characters is enchanting, "coop, thor, zoey, o'hara & eddie" her children and husband?! She's married? LOL, you'll get it if you watch the show. The show go by so fast and they are all interesting with good premises and you see even though "jackie" is a drug addict she works everybody around her like puppets, all to help sick people, her family & friends. It really is amazing, she is such a good person who does a lot of fu*ked up things, all in order to do right.

    You know its a good show when I sit down to watch an episode or two and I end up sitting for 6 lol but I'm enjoying the drama, comedy and the raw emotion. great show.    … Expand
  13. bru-nonono
    Oct 22, 2015
    9
    One of my favourites TV shows so far. Characters are appealing and it feels so good to watch them along the seasons. Edie Falco is definitly a great actress.
  14. BigBear
    Jan 18, 2016
    0
    Out of boredom, I binge watched this entire series on Netflix because a friend told me I'd like it because I liked House MD.

    It's nothing like House MD. This show starts off terrible and gets worse. Where to even begin... Nurse Jackie tells the unbelievable story of Jackie Peyton, an unlikable character who uses and abuses everyone around her who never, ever turns likable. Every    Out of boredom, I binge watched this entire series on Netflix because a friend told me I'd like it because I liked House MD.

    It's nothing like House MD.

    This show starts off terrible and gets worse. Where to even begin... Nurse Jackie tells the unbelievable story of Jackie Peyton, an unlikable character who uses and abuses everyone around her who never, ever turns likable. Every episode serves as a teaching aide of bad writing to aspiring writers everywhere as the titular character's horrible actions and zero planning is constantly saved by deus ex machinas and astronomical coincidences time and time again.

    Is there a problem? Will Jackie get caught? Is she clever enough to avoid detection? NO! The problem will always solve itself in an unbelievably dumb way! Someone knows her secret? No worries, they'll just drop dead (this happens... several times). Marvel in awe as the same group of 10 people around her constantly have terrible memories and constantly fall for nonsense time and time again. These characters would lose peekaboo competitions against infants (infants at least catch on eventually).

    I found myself watching to HATE this show and it's character. It's just so dumb and stupid. The writing is horribly bad and inept as the writers don't even seem to understand how the real world works. From introducing a character being commonly known to be diabetic in one episode to having him be commanded to skip meals while working (are you serious?). Or having Jackie forge prescriptions for controlled substances and filling them at pharmacies all over the state (which would sic the DEA on her arse almost immediately). Or having a doctor push too much insulin on a patient by accident causing her to pass out IMMEDIATELY (which isn't how insulin works). I could go on and on with examples but this review only lasts so many letters.

    Storylines and events are brought up, then dropped when the writers realize they've painted themselves into corners. Jackie just skates through each episode doing unbelievable nonsense to the people around her and when it looks like she might be in trouble - BOOM, the Hand of God intervenes... or the entire matter just gets dropped. Oops, wrote ourselves into a corner there. No cleverness. No planning. Nothing.

    This show only serves a few functions:
    1. It should be used as an example of horrible writing for aspiring screenwriters. Each episode is rife with scores of examples of what not to do.
    2. it will make you hate humanity. (Watching this show will make you hate everything on two legs and remind you of the worst humanity can possibly be.)
    3. If you are curious how good Metacritic's userbase opinion is, watch this entire show, then look at this score. You won't trust the ratings anymore.

    Only two people come out of this series looking halfway decent: Merritt Wever and Tony Shalhoub, both of which are golden.    … Expand
  15. samcho
    Apr 4, 2018
    8
    Loved the show but the last season annoyed me. I felt like the show was trying to get me to sympathize with Jackie who was a pathological addict & lyer & it annoyed me too no end. She was shown as such a martyr & I found myself skipping thru all episodes until the last where she OD. Through out the series she was really such a horrible person, although essentially an amazing nurse - sheLoved the show but the last season annoyed me. I felt like the show was trying to get me to sympathize with Jackie who was a pathological addict & lyer & it annoyed me too no end. She was shown as such a martyr & I found myself skipping thru all episodes until the last where she OD. Through out the series she was really such a horrible person, although essentially an amazing nurse - she lied, cheated, stole, and didnt care who she hurt that got in her way. I guess I really wanted her to finally pay the price for her actions. The cast and storyline amazing - until the last season where I felt such a bitterness towards her. I am late for my review as here it is 2018 and the show ended in 2015 but its definitely a must watch, but don't count on feeling good at the end of the series.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best TV Season of 2009
66
#66 Most Discussed TV Season of 2009
4
#4 Most Shared TV Season of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 23 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 23
  3. Negative: 0 out of 23
  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Joanna Weiss
    70
    If there's a glaring flaw, it's in the character of Dr. Eleanor O'Hara (Eve Best). As comic relief, she's far too thin. Nurse Jackie has much richer, darker comedy to offer.
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  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    83
    With Falco front and center, you don't really care if Nurse Jackie gets silly, as with the patient whose cat attacked his scrotum.
    Read full review
  3. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Randee Dawn
    80
    The fantastical creation of Jackie Peyton, perhaps surprisingly, has shades of gray that make her very real indeed. Both show and character are something wonderful to behold -- and worth taking multiple doses of.
    Read full review
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