After eight episodes, I'm pretty sure what I like and I what I don't like about Nurse Jackie. From now on, it's simply going to be a matter of the good to bad ratio because, at this point, I'm fairly certain we won't be seeing anything new, at least for the remainder of the first season. For a new series, that's about as much as you can really ask for. "Pupil" had plenty of good, but yet again another episode falls short of achieving this show at its best.

Because we haven't seen it very often (the first episode, mostly), there's still some dramatic currency in a hellishly busy day at All Saints Hospital. Because of ever-present budget issues, the ER is four nurses short for the day, requiring Jackie and everyone else on staff to pick up the slack. To make matters worse... well, that should really be the subtitle of this episode. It's all about making a hard day even harder.

So, in short order, these are the unnecessary problems plaguing Jackie's life during one of the busiest days of her career: The temp nurse assigned to her shift is an incompetent drug addict (as opposed to Jackie, who is a functional addict), Dr. Cooper is reacting to the mounting pressure of the day by disappearing for long periods of time and generally being pissy, Grace is having a panic attack at school, Eddie finds out Jackie has a kid and Zoey apparently isn't grown up enough to say "vagina".

In other words, every single problem in Jackie's life comes screaming into the day at once.

But I don't really want to do a thorough recap, mostly because this isn't an episode about surprises so much as it's a predictable but good example of what kind of mess Jackie's trying to juggle. Rather, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the Good and the Bad about Nurse Jackie.

First, the Good. Brief patient interactions are almost always better on this show than extended ones. We got examples of both in "Pupil". I was more entertained and interested in the two-minute scene with the "big glass of water" guy than I was with the grating "mom likes you best" family. Also good, Peter Facinelli playing the most deceptively layered idiot/jerk in TV history. Lastly, I'm glad later episodes proved my bad first impression of Zoey was unfounded. She was awesome in this episode.

Now, the Bad. I get the feeling that the creative team that developed Nurse Jackie honestly thought Mrs. Akalitus was going to be an amusing Pantaloon-type character and not the completely unnecessary drag that she is. Am I supposed to care/be entertained by this flaccid "bitchy admin takes care of a baby" plot? And, again, can we please get some character development on Dr. O'Hara? I'm tired of watching her do nothing but be glib in a fancy restaurant. Also, it's about time husband Kevin gets some flaws. Him being a nice guy all the time takes away from the necessary realism of this show.

I also want to mention that Steve Buscemi has directed several episodes of this series, but I'm not sure how I feel about his style yet. I mean, I really want Steve Buscemi to be a good director because he's always a welcome addition to any cast, but so far I don't really have any particular feelings about his style, or lack thereof.

Best Moment: Zoey busting the temp. It's nice to have a character around who can be funny just by being occasionally astute.

Notes: I know the Grace/anxiety plot adds some drama to Nurse Jackie but it feels like it's just standing still. There's very little progress and I just want to see more than another episode of Jackie worrying and Grace staying the same. Also, I'm ready to send Thor to the same narrative oblivion as Akalitus. You mean the (other) gay guy likes Broadway? That's so hilarious.

Episode Rating: 4/5- For all its faults, I still really liked this episode. Every character who is capable of being interesting was interesting in "Pupil" and the hospital felt like more than just a setting for drama.