Last night on Nurse Jackie, the title character bumped prescription drugs, made medical decisions her supervisors wouldn't agree with and struggled to find time for her family. But in a surprising departure from previous episodes, there were finally some revelations about the supporting characters. This show isn't Nurse Jackie & Friends, but some character development among the supporting cast is appreciated.
The show opens with Jackie running a sewing machine at Kevin's bar, which raises many questions, like "How did she get that sewing machine into the bar?" and, "Are any of the bar patrons annoyed by the sound of her sewing machine?" Jackie's kids, Fiona and Grace, enjoy a deep-fried snack in a basket while discussing corporal punishment ("What's purple punishment?"). Grace explains that a nun hits you sometimes, "but they don't do it unless it's for your own good." If Grace only knew how that statement applies to her mother's iconoclastic career.
Jackie returns to the hospital and sees lung cancer-stricken Paula alternating between smoking and hacking in front of a Jesus statue. They share a tender moment before Paula says, "After all of our years working together in this crappy, so called place of healing, I can't believe how fucking civil you still are." Those drugs, scored from the pharmacist she sleeps with, might help. Paula reveals her gloomy prognosis and mentions that she wants to die with dignity and "a little help from my friends." Message received. This moment would be overwhelmingly depressing if Paula wasn't such a self-proclaimed "bitch on wheels."
To drive home that point, Paula bickers with Mo-Mo at the nurse's station:
Mo-Mo: Don't mess with me, I'm an R.N. now.
Paula: Well you'll always be an L.P.N. as far as I'm concerned.
Mo-Mo: I have both certifications, what do you have?
Paula: Cancer, you big queen.
The conversation turns to "Bed #5." Mo-Mo tells Zoey that the most patients die in the fifth bed, a remark that will haunt me and any emergency room stays in my future. Witchy Akalitis breaks up the party by making a catty remark to Jackie about "pulling a plug upstairs." Jackie and Dr. O'Hara study Paula's x-ray and Jackie insinuates that she might need to mercy-snuff Paula. Dr. O'Hara offers to help.
Guest-star Blythe Danner is wheeled into the emergency room. It turns out that Blythe is Coop's overbearing mom, who is suffering nasty stomach pains. Blythe wants Coop to treat her but it's against the rules. Dr. O'Hara assesses the situation and directs her to a bed (don't worry -- it's not Bed #5). At this point, Swoosie Kurtz enters the E.R. and Coop address her as "Mom."
Record scratch. Coop has two moms! Maybe this is the reason for Coop's deep-seated psychological issues and nervous breast-grabbing tic.
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Meanwhile, Jackie and Zoey treat Paula. Zoey asks too many questions about Paula's prognosis and is swiftly dismissed on an ice-run. Mo-Mo wheels in Cat-Ball Guy (celebrity at All-Saints after his cat attacked his ... you know) who now suffers from a mangled hand after his possessed cat switched on the garbage disposal at an inopportune time.
Jackie fiddles with a syringe in the bathroom and mutters that she'll need "a lot more than this."
Dr. O'Hara orders Blythe Danner to the O.R. and Blythe insists that Fitch watch the surgery. Dr. O'Hara concedes "as long as he doesn't touch." Cut to the operating room, where Blythe's B.P. drops and Fitch instinctively grabs Dr. O'Hara's breast.
Back to Paula's bed, where Mo-Mo rubs her feet while Paula cleans her purse and reminisces. She forces Mo-Mo to take her defunct subway tokens. The moment is squashed by Akalitis.
Fitch and Swoosie share an intimate moment in Blythe Danner's recovery room. Even though Blythe is Fitch's Vagina Mom, Fitch tells Swoosie that he always liked her more because she taught him how to drive a stick, let him stay up late and because she is the cooler mom that presumably did not leave him with crippling O.C.D. The moment ends when overbearing Blythe wakes up.
Next, we see Jackie exhaustively reading files, an effect courtesy of several time lapse shots. Zoey watches Jackie suspiciously.
Word has traveled around the hospital about Paula's imminent mercy-snuff and Eddie pays his respects. Paula tells Jackie and Dr. O'Hara that Eddie was her "pipeline to Percocet" after her hysterectomy. Jackie plays the news off less-than-coolly by speed-reacting: "Seriously, he gave you extra pills? Really. Well what are you going to do, he's the pharmacist right? I'm going to get you some ice." Before Jackie can leave, Paula tells her that it's time for "a cocktail."
Back to the bathroom stall where Jackie prepares a syringe, but not before snorting a line of something with her hospital ID. Dr. O'Hara, who guards the door, overhears and asks if she is alright.
Zoey visits Eddie in the pharmacy to get his advice on participating in Paula's assisted suicide. Zoey assumes this is some kind of nurse rite of passage and she will be judged if she doesn't help. Eddie snaps at her ("Jesus Christ, do you even think before you talk?") Eddie tells her to participate or not, dealer's choice, he doesn't care and she won't be judged.
Back to the hospital stall where Jackie empties a syringe into a disposable glass of champagne.
The nurses gather around Paula as she makes a toast: "Here's to you, here's to me, and if we ever disagree, fuck you. Here's to me" before downing her last disposable party glass of bubbly. She asks for a priest and Jackie pulls one out of a last rites ceremony ("OK honey, you've got ten minutes. I need him for five") for Paula. After the priest finishes his rites and Paula has passed, Jackie repeats "fuck you and here's to me," effectively breaking the post-mercy-killing tension. Akalitis walks in on them and threatens to fire everyone if something funky just happened.
The episode ends with Jackie entering Paula's apartment to deal with her belongings.