Nurse Jackie Finale Leaves Us Salivating For Season Four

The season finale of “Nurse Jackie” aired Monday, surprising us all as we wondered throughout the season whether or not the truth ever catch up to televisions most compelling compulsive liar? At the end of Season 2 it seemed it would, as her stories began to unravel when both her husband and Dr. O’Hara realized Jackie was a full-blown drug addict.

This season she managed to weasel her way out of a surprise intervention by promising to stop using immediately and seek treatment. Although she flirted with sobriety, she was eventually forced into abstinence after her drug dealer died (how inconvenient!) and her ex-lover pharmacist Eddie cut her off.

It is interesting though that her drug dealer was actually a recovering alcoholic who sold drugs to drug addicts to help them hit their bottom; if they could hit their bottom, they would eventually become desperate for treatment and completely serious about their sobriety. I guess Jackie is immune to her late dealer’s method and philosophy as she continues to avoid hitting rock bottom.

By the end of Monday's Season 3 finale, Jackie looks like the luckiest lying, cheating, stealing, manipulating, philandering addict that ever lived. She was still tweaking on any drug she could get her hands on (like her daughter’s prescription for Xanax), she had won back O'Hara’s support, and her all-important charade in the workplace remained intact.

As it turns out, Jackie was not the only one having an affair, her husband did too. He promises that it is over and it will never happen again. But when he asks if Jackie could please forgive him and work to restore their marriage. There is a riveting pause, until Jackie answers: “pack your bags.”

Jackie has been cheating for awhile now without any trace of guilt, but would she admit it after her husband confesses he was also unfaithful? No way, Jackie is finally free from the marriage that she always seemed so cruelly indifferent to. There is a even a whiff of exhilaration in the air as the scene, and the season, finally comes to a close.

The scene was brilliant and this show is brilliant because it is the story of an anti-hero who is both loveable and despicable at the same time. Jackie at work is seen as so flawless that she is probably the most respected and reliable nurse at All Saints Hospital, and she will do absolutely anything – even if it means breaking the rules – to help and protect the well-being of her patients.

But the reality of Jackie and her many character defects is very different from her co-workers perception of her. In the end, Jackie is still standing and has managed to evade any real consequences to her many dishonest actions. But she is still an unpredictable addict and you can’t stay on top all the time.

This was the season we got to see that Jackie is not simply a pill-popping cheater, but a full blown addict and adrenaline junkie who constantly needs to live on the edge. She needs a fix and she will get that despite any blockades standing in her way. Even when she was sober, she walked through traffic just to feel something and get some sort of rush.

Tonally, Nurse Jackie is a delicately balanced slow-burn, but it is exceptionally funny and surprisingly light hearted, and the shocking twist at the end sets off Season 4 for Jackie to vehemently pursue her drug habits, without any restraint or restrictions. Jackie can continue to live on the edge, but if she falls and crashes to her bottom – which she surely must at some point – then she is going to crash hard.