Note: The following review contains spoilers for all aired episodes of Nurse Jackie, including the most recent, “Sleeping Dogs.”
Although there are quite a number of brewing plots in this week’s Nurse Jackie episode, ”Sleeping Dogs,” I can’t help but focus on the encroaching disaster that is surely going to occur when O’Hara finally confronts Jackie, who is reeling out of control–perhaps more than ever before, with the exception of whatever happened at the end of the first season finale. The fact that Jackie gave O’Hara someone else’s MRI instead of her own has some fascinating implications. Is it possible that the show is leading to the revelation that Jackie’s never had back problems? That would be a truly great twist, because we as viewers would experience the same sense of betrayal at Jackie’s behavior as her friends and family would. As viewers, we like to feel that we know more about a protagonist than other people in her life do, and we’re generally allowed to be ahead of the game, which leads to great moments of dramatic irony throughout the series, such as in this episode, when O’Hara comes charging in to her friend’s defense when her friend had actually been lying to her. This, however, would be a case of the narrative having tricked us for a long time. It’s a revelation that would both make sense and be absolutely devastating, so I’m definitely curious to see where that goes. Whether or not the back problems were a complete fabrication, one can truly see the hurt on O’Hara’s face at discovering the person she thought was her best friend had lied to her and manipulated her. Jackie altering the prescription and later stealing the oxycontin from the man having the seizure are actions of a desperate woman truly losing herself. The rest of the season looks like it’s going to be quite the tumultuous affair.
