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Review – Nurse Jackie, Season 3, Episode 5 – “Rat Falls”

  • By

  • April 25, 2011

  • 6 mins to read

Airdate: Monday, April 25, 2011, 10:00 pm ET/PT

Rating: ★★★★★

“Rat Falls” is not only one of the funniest episodes of Nurse Jackie, it’s also one of the saddest. The rat isn’t the only one who falls.

Coop (Peter Facinelli) and Dr. O'Hara (Eve Best) discussing the patient they just lost

Coop (Peter Facinelli) is practically floating on air thinking he’s going to be appointed Chief of the ER. I love the ‘holier than thou’ attitude he displays when talking to Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best) after they lose a patient, especially since she has an ‘I can care less’ attitude. I can’t believe he really thinks Akalitus (Anna Deavere Smith) is going to promote him, but then, that’s Coop.

O’Hara: “Is this about being chief?”

Coop: “Look, I respect you as a doctor, but I also respect you as a competitor.”

O’Hara: “One of the many differences between you and I, Dr. Cooper, is that you keep score of things that never should be scored.”

Coop: “You’re going to need those coping skills when you’re my subordinate.”

O’Hara: “Surely any woman who’s ever been under you has needed coping skills.”

Akalitus isn’t about to let her Virgin Mary be carted off to Staten Island like the other statues like the other statues the Catholic Church is repossessing, so she enlists Jackie and Thor’s (Stephen Wallem) help to steal and hide it in Eddie’s (Paul Schulze) storage room. I can’t begin to imagine what will happen when the priest finds out the Virgin Mary is missing. Something like, oh, the wrath of God, maybe?

Dr. O'Hara (Eve Best) and Jackie (Edie Falco) treating Lou (Michael Cumpsty) for a broken wrist

Lou (Michael Cumpsty), the down-on-his-luck salesman, returns to All Saints, having suffered a fall resulting in a broken wrist. Having lost his job and medical insurance, he can’t afford the meds to treat his depression and it’s in full swing. The poor man. How many of us can relate to that scenario? Color me surprised when O’Hara returns to his room with a bagful of pills, telling him to return in a year when it runs out. I was a little caught off guard since I didn’t think O’Hara had it in her to do something so illegal. I love the little smile that plays across Jackie’s face when O’Hara confesses her deed. Does Jackie really think this levels the playing field?

Coop is so happy to be brunching with his two mothers (guest stars Swoozie Kurtz and Judith Light), laughing, smiling, taking pictures and talking about his possible promotion. So, it’s difficult to watch him react when they tell him they’re divorcing. He’s a grown man, but acts like such a little brat as he sits in a canoe in the middle of a lake sulking and yelling back and forth at them. It’s a testament to Facinelli’s acting abilities because he is perfect in his portrayal of petulance. Kurtz and Light are also terrific, as they play off each other wonderfully, trying to reassure Coop they’re fine. Coop, however, is angry because he thinks there’s some cheating going on. By the way, if you don’t know, Fitch is Coop’s first name.

Mom 1 (Kurtz): “Honey, we’re ok. We’re always going to be your mothers. It’s just time for a change…

Coop to Mom 2 (Light): “You’re leaving mom for Dina, aren’t you?

Mom 2: “Dina is my business partner, Fitch. Besides, she’s straight.”

Coop: “You were straight too once, remember?”

Mom 1: “Honey, your mother and I love each other very much. We just can’t bear to be in the same room together anymore.

Mom 2: “Dina. Dina, how ridiculous!”

Mom 1: “How straight is she?

Jackie (Edie Falco) hiding her stash in the ceiling

The funniest part of “Rat Falls” deals with the rat who sits in the ceiling boards nibbling away at Jackie’s hidden stash of drugs.  We see him a couple of times throughout the episode, each time eliciting a laugh from me. And then, just as Zoey is about to eat her lunch, “Bon Appetit avec moi,” the rat falls from the ceiling onto her sandwich! I about fell off my seat, I was laughing so hard! Follow that with Jackie picking up the poor rat and flushing it down the toilet while saying, “You messed with my stash.” Priceless!

While Jackie previously had refused Bill (Bill Sage) the epileptic drug dealer’s offer of pills, that’s not the case this week. The look on his face as he slides a small velvet box towards Jackie is pure evil. And how sinister he sounds when he says, “It’s yours.” I could just picture him in my mind in a red devil suit, complete with tail and horns, evilly rubbing his hands together, waiting for his next victim. I am so disappointed Jackie takes the box, but I guess she just can’t say no. I wonder how far Jackie is going to fall, because at the rate she’s going, that’s definitely going to happen.

The funniest line belongs to Jackie when she tells a belligerent mother, who brings her supposedly asthmatic daughter to the ER regularly, to take a seat.

Mother: “Hello! She can’t breathe!”

Jackie: “We will get to you when we get to you. And we will get to you. Meantime, people are trying to die in here. Have a seat.”

Tune in next week for “When the Saints Go.” We’ll be meeting Kelly (Gbenga Akinnagbe), a new temp nurse who immediately rubs Jackie the wrong way.

All photos courtesy of Ken Regan/Showtime. ©2011 Showtime.

Linda

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!

Linda

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!