Nurse Jackie – Season Two (2010/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Episodes: B-
Edie
Falco returns as the immorally moral Nurse
Jackie. We ended Season One with Jackie doped up and
passed out on floor in front of the Pill-O-Madix (the machine that dispenses
pills in the hospital). Though Jackie
seems to be the picture of perfection to the outside world, she is in fact
falling apart inside. Jackie is a pain
killer popping, lying, adulteress who tries desperately to save her world from
falling apart.
Like the
series Dexter viewers are kept on
the edge of their seat, waiting to see if Jackie gets caught or what trouble
she has gotten herself into this week.
The only difference between Jackie the nurse and Dexter the Serial Killer
is that I actually like Dexter. Dexter
is a murderer and though his actions are morally questionable, he seems to have
some justification and is likeable even at his worst. I find nothing likable about Jackie. Perhaps if I was one the characters in her
world I would be just as ignorant as them, but since I (as a viewer) have a
backstage pass, I find her disgustingly unlikable.
In Season One I wavered on how I felt, but
in the end I decided that Nurse Jackie was
only worth watching if you had a lot of time to kill. The series is well filmed, well acted and the
writing is good enough; but nothing out of this world. The only thing that saves Nurse Jackie: Season Two is the
supporting cast. Whereas Jackie’s world
is crumbling around her (*yawn*) we are treated to the intricacies of the other
characters’ lives. Dr. O’Hara (Eve Best)
has her own relationship troubles and is hilarious, Zoë (Merritt Weaver) has
come into her own and stands as the moral compass, and a ton of other
characters share the spotlight with Jackie making the series not a total loss
as if were to just focus on Jackie’s woes.
The
technical features on this season release are pretty much in line with Season One, but somewhat improved. The picture again is presented in a 1080p
1.78 X 1 High Definition and has seemingly done away with the few artifacting
issues that were present in Season One.
The colors, contrast, clarity have all been upgraded from the previously
adequate presentation. The stand out picture moments are with detail and
clarity, though color still needs some work.
The sound is again a lossless 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio that remains
poor. There are very few moments that the full speaker range is utilized
and instead mostly everything comes from the front. With that said the
dialogue is crisp, clean and clear but with only the occasional music burst
using the rest of the speakers, I was unimpressed.
The
extras include Cast and Crew Commentaries on 5 episodes that bounce between fun
and informative, All about Eve featurette that explores Eve Best’s character,
Gag Reel, Full Opening Montage, and Perfecting an Inappropriate Touch
featurette.
I was
hoping for more this season, but again Nurse
Jackie only seems good if there is nothing else to watch.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
