Nurse Jackie Review: "Enough Rope"

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The latest episode of Nurse Jackie played right into my biggest pet peeve when it comes to medical shows: cases that directly reflect what a character is going through.

This was one of the main reasons why I stopped watching Grey's Anatomy, as it's just lazy to have a patient with a unique ailment come in and - what do you know?!? - his/her disease/struggle/diagnosis just happens to be a perfect complement to whatever life issue is affecting the professional treating him.

It's even a bit insulting. On "Enough Rope," for example, did we really need Jackie to go off about the DNR dude and how some people just want to be left alone? Hey... wait! That's just how Jackie feels about Kevin and O'Hara butting into her life. Amazing!

He's DNR!

Sarcasm aside, I was left with a similar feeling here as I had after the third season premiere. Has anything really changed on the show?

It seems clear Jackie and O'Hara's friendship won't dissolve, which is disappointing because it would have been interesting to see Jackie go through a long period of time with absolutely no support system. But at least we were treated to one of Edie Falco's better moments in her speech to her friend at the restaurant.

Kevin may also be suspicious of his wife - great scene in the bar when she so transparently attempted to shower Kevin with love and he responded with an icy stare - but they're still married. She's still lying to him. She's even still popping the occasional pill. It would be nice if Kevin moved out or something. Give us something different in this relationship.

Still, there's always Zoey and Cooper to bring a smile to my face. The latter was especially hilarious with his apology card to Sam. Boy, is he sorry! Great stuff.

The Akalitus/Michelle Obama storyline feels a bit desperate, though. I give the show credit for altering this character since season one, as she's no longer simply used as a source for random hijinks. But I always prefer my humor to be more subtle than her overt shenanigans, more of which I can only assume we're in store for as she pushes for a visit from the First Lady.

Not a great episode overall, but the acting on this show will often make up for other shortcoming. What did everyone else think?

Enough Rope Review

Editor Rating: 3.4 / 5.0
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User Rating:

Rating: 4.0 / 5.0 (9 Votes)

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.

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Nurse Jackie Season 3 Episode 2 Quotes

Akalitus: I know Michelle Obama.
Father: Excuse Me?
Akalitus: You heard me.

If you want company I'm totes avail. Totally available.

Zoey