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. 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
  2. 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.
  3. 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
  4. 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

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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