Nurse Jackie is a Showtime TV series that started in 2009, and is currently airing its third season. It brought Edie Falco a well-deserved Emmy for her portrayal of the high strung nurse. Set up in a New York hospital ER department, with some very colorful characters, the show is both funny, sad and most of all entertaining. But aside from merely entertaining, it exposes an issue that is rarely explored in television: the working mom trapped in a life she doesn’t like
The story
The show takes place in All Saints hospital, a fictitious hospital name, in Manhattan, New York City. The story revolves around the main character, Jackie Payden (Falco), and her demanding work schedule and personal life. Jackie is trying to hold her life together while it is slowly falling apart. Her crazy work schedule and dealing with sick patients tear her apart, but she pretends to be just fine with the help of more than a few pain killers. At home, Jackie is a devoted wife and mother of two daughters. At work, Jackie is single, and having an affair with the pharmacist.
Everything seems to be holding up well in Jackie’s life. At least until it starts falling apart. We see at the end of season 2 that her husband, Kevin, and Dr. O’Hara, Jackie’s best friend, discover her stash of bills of expensive pain medication. They ask her to get help and season 2 ends with Jackie locked up in her own bathroom, not knowing her next move.
