So we start with Jackie and her secret family walking down the street, enjoying pastry. Cute little Fiona is really enjoying her cupcake, but she sure is making a mess all over her face.
Jackie gets out a napkin to clean things up a bit, does so, and notices at the last minute that some cheery little granules of whatever drug she's currently taking have spilled out of the napkin onto the cupcake. Horrified, Jackie smacks the cupcake away, telling Fiona there was a dead bug on it and it's no good anymore.
Great. The poor child will be in therapy for decades due to this incident. Food was rudely and violently taken away from her, insects are bad because they change the course of your day, and Mommy thinks your're dirty. Good luck with those issues.
Jackie arrives for her shift at the hospital, and one of the first patients is a car-wreck victim who initially appears okay but may be masking her real symptoms in an attempt to not "bother the nice doctor" and instead hook him up with her younger daughter. Great, more examples of messed-up parents influencing their offspring.
Quick scene with Jackie explaining to Zoey that most of the people in the waiting room are addicts just wanting a quick fix in the form of whatever drug they can get. "Drug seekers are a waste of time." Kettle black, Jackie?
And we're also dealing with a temp nurse who is clearly zoned out on something, playing with his iPod, apparently speaking to imaginary friends, and ignoring patient alarms that have been going off for 30 minutes. He's a mess, but Jackie initially keeps looking the other way. Interesting.
Scene with Jackie telling Thor he CAN'T leave at the end of his shift, they're swamped and they really need him. Thor: "You're cute when you're ruining my life."
Dr. Cooper has decided to try wearing a rubber band around his wrist, and snapping it every time he gets the urge to, you know, grab a hooter or two at inappropriate times, like during surgery or when a nun is lighting a votive. Have fun with that, looks VERY mature and professional.
Jackie and Coop get into a somewhat heated discussion, and right at a very inconvenient time (because this is when ALL relatives choose to pick up the phone, it's a rule somewhere) Jackie gets a call from Grace at school. She's crying hysterically, wants Jackie to come get her. As with with most sobbing children given access to communication devices, it's not clear if there has been an injury, the meatloaf in the cafeteria tasted funny, or she's missed an episode of Dora the Exlorer.
Meanwhile, Coop is still yelling at Jackie about something meaningless as Jackie tries to console Grace. It's getting to be a bit much and Jackie snaps at Coop that she is ON THE PHONE WITH HER EFFING KID! Oops.
Empty bag, cat running away into the night.
Coop is stunned and speechless for a moment. (Hey, that worked better than the rubber band did at stopping you from performing rude actions. Maybe Coop should just hire someone to follow him around, and if it looks like he's about to reach for a body part in a non-medical manner, this person can yell out an announcement about an unknown relative.)
Coop finally wanders away, and Jackie finishes up with Grace and then calls Kevin, the boring husband. (THAT's his name. Got it.) He'll go get Grace and determine whether it was meatloaf or Dora.
Scene with Zoey rolling a gurney over Stoner Temp's foot, and he doesn't feel a thing or even notice. And this guy is treating patients. Hoo boy.
Jackie meets Dr. O'Hara for lunch. Jackie is not happy that Coop now knows at least some of her private business. O'Hara is still blue about HER private life being a complete mess, even though we really aren't clear on what that mess entails.
But the most interesting part of the meal is that Dr. O'Hara lights a cigarette while sitting at this table in an NYC restuarant. Jackie is amazed. You can't do that here, in this city where lighting up in your own bathroom is closely monitored. O'Hara: "They're too afraid of me to tell me not to."
A bit later, when Jackie decides to light up, the prissy little waiter rushes over like somebody just whispered that Judy Garland was kinda boring. "You can't do that in here." Then girlfriend sees O'Hara sitting at the table as well. "Forgive me. Smoke away."
I am so jealous of that kind of power. I want it. I want it NOW.
Anyway, Coop runs to Eddie and tells him that Jackie has a kid. Terrific.
Jackie finally wanders back from lunch. (They are 4 nurses short in the ER, but Jackie has time for a 7-course meal and some relaxed conversation in the smoking lounge with Dr. O'Hara.)
Zoey rushes up, all atwitter that there is something really wrong with Stoner Temp. ("I played flashlight tag with his eyes and everything!") Jackie sighs, she can't ignore this anymore. "Okay, nice catch." Zoey scampers off all excited that she has provided this insight, even though Stoner Temp's issues are so apparent that even some of the comatose patients are wanting some of the same brownies he's having..
Jackie confronts Stoner, telling him to get out and never come back or she will have him tested right here in front of the nuns and everything. Surprisingly, he dares say to her "takes one to know one" before finally wandering off, presumably to go play video games and say "dude" a lot.
Jackie stands there and twitches for a minute.
Then she goes to see Eddie, in his pharmacy playground. "How's your kid" he asks.
Jackie twitches some more. Even her hair is twitching. (She's a REALLY good actress.)
Eddie again: "You explain to me when you're ready."
End scene. Very interesting.
Cut to later, with Jackie and the kids at Kevin's bar thing. Apparently it's open mike night, and Gracie is all excited that she put Mommy's name in to sing. Jackie's not that thrilled about it at first, but then she reconsiders. (Probably reasoning that if she makes the kid smile NOW, there's less of a chance that Gracie will get bored and emotional during the day, and call Jackie when she's busy yelling at doctors and telling Zoey to quit being nice.)
So Jackie breaks into her version of "Up On the Roof". Everyone thinks it's real pleasant and all. Except for Grace. Who gets a pouty sad expression on her face and turns away.
WHAT is wrong with that girl? Sweetie, are you also afraid of heights? Was there an awkward social situation on the roof, perhaps involving an embarrassing stain and rude laughter? Were you really hoping for some Led Zeppelin instead?
Or did someone just text you that the Dora episode you missed was the "very special" one where the bilingual gay monkey moves in down the street and not everyone is immediately happy about it. And now you're sad because you won't know what to do when it happens to you. Especially if it happens in spanish.
You never know the real reason for anything on this show.
No comments:
Post a Comment