Those Three Little Words. Retrospective: Nurse Jackie - "Heart"

Season 5, Episode 9

Air Date: Sunday, June 9, 2013, 9 pm ET/PT on Showtime

Rating: ★★★★★

“I love you…you knew that, right?” – Frank

What a way to open “Heart.” Not only do Frank (Adam Ferrera) and Jackie (Edie Falco) have sex for the first time, but he admits his true feelings for her. What could have been an awkward moment becomes fun with the honest, light-hearted dialogue and terrific delivery by both Ferrera and Falco. Although, I did glimpse a bit of fear in Jackie’s eyes before she turns the light out. Could it be that not all is what it appears to be?

Carrie tries to seduce Dr. Prentiss with this sexy outfit.

I can’t help but feel sorry for Coop (Peter Facinelli). He’s doing the best he can to mentor Carrie (Betty Gilpin) and goes to the trouble of purchasing an expensive large male dummy so she can practice intubation. Instead, she’s shadowing Dr. Prentiss (Morris Chestnut) while he examines a patient with an eye problem. This leads to my first big chuckle of the half hour—Zoey (Merritt Wever) trying to calm Coop’s irritated feathers with a hilarious imitation of Carrie by adding a sexy, seductive tone to her voice and pretending to read messages on her cellphone. Not only that, but the look in her eyes and the way she rolls her shoulders truly had me LOLing. Have I said lately how much I love Zoey? I’ve tried to picture someone other than Wever in this role and honestly, I just can’t. No one can “do” Zoey like Wever does.

Thor and Gloria try to scare Grace straight during their tour of the E.R.

After Kevin (Dominic Fumusa) finds drugs in Grace’s (Ruby Jerins) backpack, he drags her to All Saints to confront Jackie. Who else wants to smack the crap out of Grace? Does she really think she can blame the drugs on Jackie, or get away with lying to her about using drugs? The way Grace speaks to Jackie during their mutual blood tests just makes my blood boil. To say nothing of how rude Grace is to Eddie (Paul Schulze). I can’t believe the “balls” on that girl! Perhaps her tour of “Scare the Shit Outta You High” with Gloria (Anna Deavere Smith) and Thor (Stephen Wallem) will set her straight. But I also want to smack Kevin for believing the little shit. Granted, Jackie doesn’t exactly have a great “track record,” as Kevin says, but he knows Jackie has been clean for the better part of a year now.

Things that make you go “hmm…”

Remember the pill Jackie placed inside her wedding band in her night table at the beginning of the season? Now that Grace has spilled the beans about it, I think Zoey is right to be concerned. Jackie may say she uses the pill as a reminder of all of the things in her life that she “fucked up,” but its mere presence can be dangerous for a drug addict and a very scary thing for a teenager to find.

Jackie talks to Frank while Kevin is in the kitchen but Frank doesn’t want to hear what Jackie has to say.

Why doesn’t Jackie open the gift Frank sends to All Saints? Is it really because her day was crappy, or is there something deeper to her reason? Is Jackie subconsciously pushing Frank away? If so, why does she tell him “I love you” when he calls. Is she trying to divert his attention away from the fact that it’s after midnight and Kevin is there, or does she really mean it? Am I wrong to be confused about what’s happening here?

Something happens with Zoey and Prentiss that I don’t want to talk about in case you haven’t seen “Heart” yet. Suffice it to say, it’s a beautiful scene with some surprising emotions but all I will tell you is—I told you so!

Laughable and memorable lines:

Kevin: “It’s every father’s dream…mother/daughter blood tests.”

Grace to Jackie: “I fucking hate you.”

As penultimate episodes go, “Heart” does a good job of setting up the season finale of Nurse Jackie. With Grace headed down the rabbit hole, I don’t blame Jackie for wanting the girls to live with Kevin. But the question is whether he’ll allow that and what kind of effect the move will have on Grace and Fiona (Mackenzie Aladjem). Things also seem up in the air between Jackie and Frank. All season long, Frank has been a very happy-go-lucky kind of guy so I’m not quite sure what to make of the angry look on his face when he ends the call with Jackie so abruptly. And then, there’s the spoiler I don’t want to discuss here. I can’t wait to see where that goes!

Tune in to the season finale of Nurse Jackie Sunday, June 16 at 9 pm ET/PT, only on Showtime.

Follow the show on Twitter @Sho_Network using the hash tag #NurseJackie. Like Nurse Jackie on Facebook, and stay up to date with the series on its official website.

More Twitter follows for you: Coop @peterfacinelli, Gloria @AnnaDeavereS, Thor @StephenWallem, and Dr. Prentiss @Morris_Chestnut.

[nggallery id=574]

Biography of the Author(Read Below)..
Latest Posts (view them )..

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!