Nurse Jackie: Steak Knife

Seven episodes in, I think we can officially say that Nurse Jackie is having a rocky first season. Some episodes are spot-on, others don't seem to know where they're going. As much as I liked last week's episode, I can't really say "Steak Knife" really did the trick for me. Some of it was just pointless, like Mrs. Akalitus's adventures in babysitting, while the major emotional components mostly fell flat. The producers of this show seriously need to put together a more consistent writing team.

So, what about this episode actually worked? I'd say that Eddie and Coop's interactions were amusing as usual. Ever since Coop elbowed his way into some one-sided camaraderie with Eddie a couple weeks ago I've been looking forward to some more of their horribly uncomfortable repartee. Add to that last week's revelations about Coop's past, his two scenes with Eddie this week carry a nice balance of humor and melancholy.

The emotional crux of "Steak Knife" is supposed to be Jackie and Eddie's one-year anniversary. In short, Eddie remembers and Jackie doesn't. What could have been a source of rich, dramatic tension just ended up resolving itself halfway through the episode in the most mundane way possible. So much for plot arc.

I was really hoping that this episode would finally deliver on some character development for Dr. O'Hara, but any possibility of this deflated at the last minute. After being in a foul mood all day and hinting at some deep emotional pain, O'Hara comes home with Jackie, gets drunk and confesses some entirely non-specific problem with her step-father. Aside from attempting to throw her money around a few times, O'Hara remains the same, two-dimensional person we met in the pilot.

Our patients this week weren't terribly interesting either. One was a pedophile who was on screen for the sole purpose of allowing Jackie to cruelly rip a catheter from him, the other was a man who suffered multiple stab wounds on a date with his attacker's ex-wife. It gives Jackie an opportunity to be nice and otherwise floats around without any real connection to the rest of the episode.

And, as always, Mrs. Akalitus continues to waste our time. When an infant shows up in the ER and nobody claims it, Akalitus wanders around for the entire episode trying to find out who it belongs to. I guess this was supposed to be funny. I guess.

Best Moment: Eddie's first conversation with Coop. Sometimes there's nothing funnier than an angry guy talking to a well-meaning but oblivious twit.

Notes: The crazy guy who lives across from the hospital thinks he's God when he goes off his meds. Somehow, this managed to remain amusing throughout the entire episode. In fact, it was the one thing about "Steak Knife" that was consistent throughout. Also, Jackie and I have the same set of rocks glasses. Feel free to use that in your next game of 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Episode Rating: 2/5- Maybe the weakest episode of the series so far. The script was just flat and the entire thing pulled every punch it threw. And for the love of all that is good and entertaining, will the TV gods please get rid of Mrs. Akalitus?