Review - Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 4 - "Mittens"

Air Date: Monday, April 18, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT

Rating: ★★★★★

Once again our favorite nurse searches for new hiding places for her stash of drugs. At least, Jackie (Edie Falco) and Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best) have mended fences. That makes me happy. I love their heart-to-hearts. While lunching with O’Hara, Jackie is at her best when she comes to the defense of a hapless waitress (Julee Cerda) when her customer (Doug Willen) loudly and rudely complains about the lack of chicken in his Caesar salad. Not only is the waitress grateful, but O’Hara comments, “Oh, I have missed you …”

Jackie is always so willing to help others, no matter what’s going on in her own life. First, it’s the waitress, then a man (Donovan Patton) who is so unnerved about his wife being upstairs in delivery that he’s nauseous and about to pass out, followed by a down-on-his-luck salesman, Lou (Michael Cumpsty), who took a bad fall on his way to a job interview. She’s so compassionate with all of them, taking the time to give the husband Valium and making sure he’s calm enough to join his wife, and taking Lou’s broken glasses to the optician to be fixed. That’s what I love most about her. Sure, she’s a drug addict but she never lets it interfere with her job.

Review - Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 4 - "Mittens" 1

Jackie (Edie Falco) welcomes Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) home from Al-Anon with Fiona (Mackenzie Aladjem), Eddie (Paul Schulze) and Tunie (Jaimie Alexander) watching

I really feel sorry for Coop (Peter Facinelli) this week. Not only does he accidentally find out from Sam (Arjun Gupta) that Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) has offered the position of Chief of the E.R. to O’Hara, but he’s gimping all over the place with some basketball injury. Coop’s not about to go down without a fight for that promotion though, so he goes to Akalitus to throw his hat in the ring. At first, I was surprised to hear her tell him it’s not too late for a competition. I thought O’Hara’s promotion was a done deal. But getting him to work overtime to prove himself? Oh Akalitus, you are so sneaky!

Week after week, Zoey (Merritt Wever) makes me laugh. In “Mitten,” I was actually laughing out loud! She wears a pedometer that speaks to her and the way she moves her body each time the device says “Your pace has slowed,” or “Keep moving,” really cracks me up. Even funnier is what she says to the husband Jackie is treating when he questions her about walking in place.

Patient: “Are you on speed?

Zoey: “I am speed, muthaf*cka.”

Review - Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 4 - "Mittens" 2

Jackie (Edie Falco) finds the mittens with her drugs

Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) invites Eddie (Paul Schulze) to a barbecue after work at the house to celebrate his “new” job and to fix him up with Tunie (Jaimie Alexander). While Eddie schmoozes with her in the backyard, Jackie goes upstairs to change. When she finds the drawers and closets empty, she freaks. Has Kevin really left her? Nah. He’s only gone to drop things off at Immaculate Virgin for their clothing drive. Jackie appears to be relieved, but is she? According to Tunie, however, he’s really at an Al-Anon meeting where he feels free to talk about Jackie’s drug problem. After the party, Kevin asks Jackie, “Do you want me to go with you?” when she tells him she’s going to the church to recover things that were mistakenly given away. I guess Kevin doesn’t quite trust Jackie yet, but who can blame him? I wouldn’t trust her at this point either. His distrust is proven when Jackie fumbles her way through the cartons and finds the mittens she had previously hidden her stash in. Oh Jackie.

The funniest dialogue this week belongs to Akalitus as she speaks to a nun on the phone, trying to secure money for the hospital’s drive:

Akalitus, yelling: “What I want and expect is your full support. And a list of potential donors. And if I don’t get that, there will be a bunch of obese children standing outside your door every day until I get what I need! Listen Sister, you married God. I married this job!” You go girl!

Tune into Nurse Jackie next week when Jackie hits a new low in “Rat Falls,” Monday, 10:00 pm ET/PT only on Showtime.

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Love TV, movies, and books--mostly mysteries, with a good love story thrown in every now and then. I have four adopted dogs who I adore. I love trying new recipes, and enjoy eating what I make. English language perfectionist. Reading in bed, Italian food, warm weather, the beach, all types of games = favs!