Nurse Jackie is first and foremost and understudy in addiction. While it flirts with dark comedy and blatant humor, this drama at its core is really a look in the the life of an addict. The character is not meant to be liked and the show is not meant to follow fairy tale conventions towards a happy ending, given it resembles life more than not. The beauty of it all is Eddie Falco's performance, she brings empathy, charm and warmth and even likability to a pretty vicious character. In real life addiction does not warrant fans. And as such this show portrays its lead as a selfish, manipulative, lying and immoral person only worried about getting her next fix...but can we blame her? it's not her, its her illness. The best aspect of this show is not just the character and her illness, but the result of it on her environment and the effects of those closest to her. The depiction of their response to addition is the best thing given it plays with truth and logic and heartbreaking disappointment. The first 4 seasons focus more on humor and story, while the last 3 seasons really zone on the the darkness of addiction focusing more on the drama. The characters of Zoey, Akalitus, Eddie, and O'Hara are true TV gems, with great story development and very memorable performances, each one could head their own show.I did not like the ambiguous ending because I like clarity, but its ending does strongly go hand in hand with the tragic reality of addiction, you decide what that means. Its a perfect show incredibly hard to categorize in any genre, and that is usually what most classics are like. Final Grade, A

My dad is an alcoholic and I am so tired of trying to explain to people how someone who is as smart and accomplished as he is can be an addict. When I first discovered this show, I was disappointed. I thought this was just a House knockoff that would show the addiction as sort of a cute character quick which just served to humanize Nurse Jackie.Over time, I watched the show evolve into a sensitive portrayal of a high functioning addict; a woman who can take a handful of pills that would knock another person off their feet and continue to execute her job well. She loves her kids but continues to choose drugs over their happiness. She tells so many lies so well, you wonder if she even knows what the truth is. Over the seasons I watched her get everything back together only to mysteriously throw it all out the window.It was all so true.I noticed another reviewer who thought this was AA propaganda. I would say to that person, keep watching. I love how after she "recovers" she just uses all the AA bullshit to continue to use. "One day at a time" she'll say to someone on the phone as she pops a handful of uppers down her throat. Wow, she is a master manipulator. I thought it was quite an indictment of the AA crap myself.The friendships and the strains on them, too, are all too real. I like how her friends just hit the point where they stop believing anything she says, but they still love her - just distance themselves for their own safety. As a daughter of a user, the first seasons were the hardest. I could very much relate to Grace when she was young, not so much for the specific afflictions but more because of how she took in the emotions around her and developed illnesses and problems related to them without really knowing why. It was hard to see it, and rang true even though it was sort of over the top.I also like the religious imagery and names: Akalitus, Grace, etc. I thought these echoed the themes well even though Catholicism isn't my bag.

Edie Falco is just superb in this TV drama. She makes the character of Nurse Jackie very realistic. She has human flaws like all of us.The show has a perfect combination of lightheartedness, drama and reality to make it absorbing. I think they have done the right thing by keeping it to 30 minutes - it leaves you wanting more. Had it been an hour long show you would need a lot more characters to keep your interest.Knowing people in the nursing profession, Edie does a splendid job in portraying a fully qualified Nurse. She sounds like one and she looks like one (and I don't mean that in a stereotypical way!).She shows the challenges of mixing a home and personal life and dealing with all the periphery that entails. This is a well scripted, well acted TV drama - one of the few that I look forward to each episode! I've not enjoyed a TV drama as much since Friends and Dexter. I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet. Do watch it from the start though!!!

Good premise. Decent first season. Then, not unlike too many other shows that start out with a lot of potential Nurse Jackie quickly runs off the rails and never gets back on track. This show suffers from the all-too-typical "caricatures rather than characters" syndrome. There are simply too many one dimensional cartoon characters in this show to even begin to take it seriously. "Coop". Zoey. Thor. All cartoonish immature 1 dimensional clowns. And that's simply unacceptable. So is its schizo nature of taking itself way too seriously then not taking itself seriously enough. And so is the problem of having no one to really care that much about. So in short, this show is neither here nor there, and as such, the net result is a big waste of time.Furthermore the continuity from one season to the next is hands down THE WORST of any TV series I've ever seen. It's like the writers/directors/editors/producers were all on PCP. The gaps and unexplained events from one season to the next are appalling and any semblance of suspension of disbelief is totally destroyed.But possibly the biggest problem with this show is that it SEEMS to be focusing on addiction, when in fact, it's the lead character is a sociopath who is also an addict. Jackie has no conscience whatsoever, and her persistent incorrigible behavior makes it impossible to want anything for her except incarceration. Rarely has one TV character generated so much hatred.My suggestion? Please...pull the plug on this rotting comatose vegetable already.