70 replies to this topic

[TWoP Mars]

From Sho.com:

Kevin invites Jackie for a midnight rendezvous, where he plans to surprise her with a new diamond ring. She promises to be there. O’Hara asks Jackie to help her admit her mother, who is being flown in from London. Jackie promises to be there. The movie critic wakes up – his taste in movies has been altered (suddenly, he loves "Showgirls"). After spending the day drinking at Kevin’s bar, Eddie makes a scene at All Saints, threatening to tell everything.

[Last Time Lord]

I don't get the ending. Did I miss something? Is the secret out? Did Eddie tell Kevin? And what was with that rat on the other side of the light?

[valny]

Did Eddie tell Kevin?

Not sure about that but I wasn't even thinking about that because I didn't think he would. We'll have to wait until 2010 to find out.

I was thinking drunk Eddie was going to spill it any second to everyone that Jackie was married. Loved the look on Jackie's face when he told her. Now I'm wondering if she thinks he told Kevin about them.

Had O'Hara said before her mother was dead?

Zoe rocked again(hanging up on a screaming Akilitus) and Akilitus was funny in the elevator scene.

The intestine guy was icky. Cover that thing!

I hope we see more of the critic who now has forgotten things. Heh, he thinks Showgirls was a good movie. I'd sue that hospital for making me think that alone!

[CaliforniaSun]

Wow, what an amazing finale. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating as soon as Eddie arrived at the hospital and didn't start beating again til the end of the credits.

Edie Falco is so amazing. The end was quite powerful. I don't think Eddie told Kevin, but that's definitely what Jackie was thinking. I also loved the rats walking across the light.

I feel so bad for Zoey.

I can't wait as long as we'll have to for season two! I hope it picks up immediately after this episode.

[LMC28]

Am I the only one who is thinking that Jackie is lining up another dealer through Coop? I'm sure she is manipulating him by randomly kissing him, which confuses him, but I am thinking that at some point that she's going to use him the same way she used Eddie.

Just a thought.

[LTG]

I hope there are still some posters around with medical knowledge, because I'm wondering about that dosage of morphine (I think) that Jackie took at the end -- was that a dangerous quantity? Were we watching Jackie getting high to escape her problems, or were we watching a suicide attempt?

[braggtastic]

No medical knowledge here, but it looked to me like she was drinking out of the small vials that get injected. I think something that is supposed to go directly into your veins would have less an effect if you drank it. It didn't look to be more than 2 oz or so.

As I posted in the On Demand thread, I saw Dennis Potter being interviewed when he was at end stages of cancer. He had a flask with liquid morphine in it & swigged from it throughout the course of the interview. I don't believe he mentioned the dosage, but I don't believe we were watching a suicide attempt by Jackie.

[Brunehilda]

I think something that is supposed to go directly into your veins would have less an effect if you drank it. It didn't look to be more than 2 oz or so.

Yes, it would have less of an effect, or at least it wouldn't hit you as immediately. I don't think that it was accurate to show her hallucinating so soon after she swallowed it. I don't know very much about what a lethal vs. non-lethal dose of morphine would be but I was somewhat surprised that she didn't inject it. Considering that all of the pills she snorts are also opioids-- and that she clearly has built up a tolerance--she probably could have injected a decent amount before passing out.

(Disclaimer: my knowledge on this comes from working in cocaine research. Although people have certainly found all kinds of ways to get cocaine into their bodies, the way that stimulants act on the body is obviously different from analgesics like morphine.)

[hoodooznoodooz]

So just to confirm: Jackie realized that she will have a lot of questions to answer re the three vials of morphine, but she simply had no choice at that point?

I was surprised that she didn't inject it and also that she didn't ration it. A little short-sighted. And for that matter, I was surprised that she wasn't more careful, opening the vials: wouldn't an addict want to make sure she didn't lose a single drop?

[LTG]

I think Jackie realizes that injections would be too hard for other people to overlook. I think she really doesn't want anyone to know about her drug use. After the nosebleed and O'Hara's comment about the state of her nose, have we seen her snort anything? My impression is that since then, she's been ingesting things orally (but I haven't kept track of every instance in which she's used.)

Jackie realized that she will have a lot of questions to answer re the three vials of morphine, but she simply had no choice at that point?

Exactly. No pharmacist to supply her, the machine was not resetting the way he said it would, and she apparently never followed through on the mail-order. Her only option at this point is to use her code to get it from the machine and then figure out how to avoid blame later. Frankly, when we saw her decide that the only way to get the drugs was to enter a code into the machine, I feared she might enter a code belonging to someone else (Zoey, perhaps).

[hoodooznoodooz]

LTG: Frankly, when we saw her decide that the only way to get the drugs was to enter a code into the machine, I feared she might enter a code belonging to someone else (Zoey, perhaps).

I was wondering about that, too.

I hope they show us MoMo's boyfriend in season 2.

Wow, your intestines can be hanging out like that with no bleeding?

I liked how Jackie could be jonesing for a fix but would still advise that patient to keep his hand elevated.

[LadySadie]

Wow, your intestines can be hanging out like that with no bleeding?

That was really creeping me out -- it looked like something out of a sci fi movie. Although his comment about his ex wife nagging him because he never talked, and now he was spilling his guts was pretty funny.

I liked how Jackie could be jonesing for a fix but would still advise that patient to keep his hand elevated.

I liked that too -- it was a nice touch.

I have to potentially call BS on the Pix-Sys (is that what it's called). Since the main objective of that is to improve controls and security around the drugs, would it really just be plugged into the wall like a soda machine? Wouldn't the cord/plug be somehow secured to prevent someone from randomly unplugging it? Also, I have to think there's some sort of memory in that machine that will record when it was unplugged.

A few years ago I made my mother install a breathalyzer in my brother's car, since he was on her insurance and he is pretty cavalier about drinking and driving, and has wrecked quite a few cars. After my brother went on and on about how degrading and demeaning it was to have to use it, I told him to take the car to the place that installed it, and had them mail me the downloaded information. Right there, big as life, listed as the last activity, was a notation that the breathalyzer had been manually disconnected. This of course revealed my brother to be a huge liar, but that's another story. So the Pix-Sys is a much more sophisticated machine, so I have to think that it has something similar.

When they start investigating the missing morphine, and questioning people about where they were at this time or that time, it probably won't be too hard to identify Jackie as one of the people who can't account for their whereabouts. Combined with the suspicions that Akilitus seems to have, I wonder how Jackie will get out of that jam.

[AaroniusLives]

When they start investigating the missing morphine, and questioning people about where they were at this time or that time, it probably won't be too hard to identify Jackie as one of the people who can't account for their whereabouts. Combined with the suspicions that Akilitus seems to have, I wonder how Jackie will get out of that jam.

It will be exceedingly easy to ID her as the morphine thief, since she used her code to take out the vials. It's not so much "who took the morhine? Where were all of you," as it is "Jackie, what did you use the morphine for once you used your code to check it out?" My bet is that she claims to use it on the intenstines guy. Although, it's just as likely that someone finds her high ass on the floor, staring at the light above, vials akimbo around her trashed self.

Frankly, when we saw her decide that the only way to get the drugs was to enter a code into the machine, I feared she might enter a code belonging to someone else (Zoey, perhaps).

Strangely, I don't think Jackie would set up Zoey for such a massive fall.

Am I the only one who is thinking that Jackie is lining up another dealer through Coop? I'm sure she is manipulating him by randomly kissing him, which confuses him, but I am thinking that at some point that she's going to use him the same way she used Eddie.

I'm not sure if Coop has any more access than Jackie. I think she's half-screwing with him, half-somewhat attracted to him. Even doofs that look like Peter Fancinelli...look like Peter Fancinelli.

[Guitargal]

OMG! I'm feeling like a dope for not noticing O'Hara's mother was dead. I thought she was all covered up because she was transferred. Geez! I will have to re-watch stat!

I also was wondering that wouldn't the Pix-sys show that Jackie was always the first user after it reset and they'd be able to bust her anyway?

I was disappointed in the finale, but probably more because we'll have to wait til next year vs that it was lame.

[PinkShoeAddict]

The hospital downgraded from the Pixsys and I'm wondering if these little glitches are going to come up next season as one of the drawbacks to getting the cheaper machine over the Pixsys. There has to be some reason why they had Coop going on about the Pixsys for so long and then whining when they got the Pillomatic or whatever it was called. Coop seemed to be familiar with the Pixsys and probably wouldn't have been disappointed if the other machine worked exactly the same.

[LadySadie]

It will be exceedingly easy to ID her as the morphine thief, since she used her code to take out the vials. It's not so much "who took the morhine? Where were all of you," as it is "Jackie, what did you use the morphine for once you used your code to check it out?" My bet is that she claims to use it on the intenstines guy. Although, it's just as likely that someone finds her high ass on the floor, staring at the light above, vials akimbo around her trashed self.

Very true. I was also thinking more of when/if Akilitus or whoever runs some sort of activity report, showing all the times the machine was disconnected and reconnected. That's got to only be a matter of time, especially when they've got the morphine red flag waving in their faces.

[LostLyra]

I think the whole point of the ending is that someone is going to find her there, and at least one person will know the scope of her addiction.

[LMC28]

There has to be some reason why they had Coop going on about the Pixsys for so long and then whining when they got the Pillomatic or whatever it was called.

Pillomatic! Ha!

About the morphine that Jackie ingested, while I don't think it was a suicide attempt so much as a reaction to Eddie having knowledge of her other life and the potential of that other life having come to ruins, I have to bring up something that happened a few episodes ago when her nurse friend was dying from cancer.

They filled a needle full of something and dosed her champagne to send her off peacefully. That nurse ingested it, Jackie ingested it... Are we being set up for a full blown expose on Jackie?

[lovethatdog]

Jackie didn't ingest it; only the dying nurse's glass was dosed.

[photoshopgirl]

I'm not sure if Coop has any more access than Jackie. I think she's half-screwing with him, half-somewhat attracted to him. Even doofs that look like Peter Fancinelli...look like Peter Fancinelli.

LOL Good point.

As good as I thought the season/finale was and as excited I am for season 2 now, I'm only going to give them so long to explain how the eff she kept her entire life a secret to almost everyone for so long. Too many things do not add up and I'm tired to trying to excuse it away. Now that the jig is up on her with Eddie, I expect some clarity on the rest or I might bail. It's too big of a plothole for me to ignore forever.

[attica finch]

I do think this was a suicide attempt. The 'I'll use my code, fuck it' moment at the pillz dispenser, the door locking, the not even finding a gurney to sit on but the floor, The labels on the drugs said 'Morphine sulfate' which is one of the contins, and is a tablet. Shouldn't be chewed, which is what Jackie does. Plus she takes three packets, which is a big honking OD. Her singing herself off (With Creedence! Awesome.) was self-comforting, as she looks into the light (and intends to go to it). Until the rat, that is.

I love this show way way way more than I thought I would. There isn't a single character I wouldn't want to hang out with, so perfectly drawn and realized they are. How shocking it was to see Zoey in a color not pink, let alone grey! How great that all her coworkers were upset by the color of her scrubs! How much do I want to meet MoMo's bf! How much do I want to have cocktails with O'Hara, or hang out in a broken elevator with GA? Man.

My favorite line of the show was Eddie's "Tell me!" to Kevin, when he's describing what Jackie does after a night shift. So desperate, so eager, so not wanting to be either, so wanting to know who Jackie really is, so not wanting her to love her husband. Holy cats. But it's not like that line didn't have buckets of competition.

[hoodooznoodooz]

LadySadie: I have to potentially call BS on the Pix-Sys (is that what it's called). Since the main objective of that is to improve controls and security around the drugs, would it really just be plugged into the wall like a soda machine? Wouldn't the cord/plug be somehow secured to prevent someone from randomly unplugging it? Also, I have to think there's some sort of memory in that machine that will record when it was unplugged.

Totally, totally agree with you on this. (Also, loved: "like a soda machine"!!)

AaroniusLives: Strangely, I don't think Jackie would set up Zoey for such a massive fall.

I would like to think so, but remember, she blamed the ear-in-the-toilet incident on Zoey, IIRC.

Guitargal: I also was wondering that wouldn't the Pix-sys show that Jackie was always the first user after it reset and they'd be able to bust her anyway?

Very good point.

[valsinger]

Actually, Jackie would be the user before the machine reset itself, if it worked the way Eddie had indicated. She would take what she wanted, then reset it so that it wouldn't show previous transactions (unless, for some reason, the programming was such that it would only not show the immediate previous transaction). If it wiped out all the previous transactions, someone would get suspicious very quickly, but they could blame it on the machine - nobody really understands why computers are whimsical, and the machine is a specialized computer. When Jackie took the morphine and didn't reset the machine, it would be impossible for her to blame it on Zoe, because it had her name right there on the screen as the person making the drug request.

I don't think it was a suicide attempt; I just think she wanted to feel blissful and not face the problem confronting her. Jackie is very good at running away.

And I was really upset that she deserted O'Hara when O'Hara really needed her. Jackie was supposed to be there to admit the mother as a Jane Doe, and the mournful look that O'Hara gave, standing alone over the comatose body of her mother, waiting for Jackie to arrive, was heartbreaking.

I think Jackie is a supremely selfish person. She is good at giving to people who barely know her, and she has a desire to do her job well, but she has almost nothing left for the people who should be closest to her. She is a master of bad choices.

[BlakeSpeare]

Jackie didn't ingest it; only the dying nurse's glass was dosed.

Well, Jackie ingested it at the end of the season finale.

I think there's a very good chance that this was written as a suicide attempt - not just Jackie taking a risk of death, but actually trying to kill herself. Unfortunately, I don't buy that she would try to kill herself at that moment.

I find it believeable that she would say "fuck it" and allow herself to go on record with the morphine, just because she wanted it so badly. And I find it believable that she would be willing to risk death to get high, especially since she may not have felt like she had much to live for.

I cannot, however, find it believable that she would actually try to kill herself. If you're going to kill yourself in that situation, wouldn't you first make sure that your marriage is actually over? I don't think people commit suicide at a moment's notice like that, unless they're psychotic or they have every reason to believe that any chance they had at happiness is over. (For example, if someone has just killed their family.)

[PinkShoeAddict]

Since Zoey is only a student nurse, I doubt she'd even have access to the pill machine (which is presumably not used for the IV bags). I got the impression that the machine stored each transaction once it was completed, but if you unplugged the machine, that transaction would not be stored. I think it would be too suspicious if you can in at 9pm and it wiped out everything from midnight to then (assuming that's the backup time).

I think Jackie is a supremely selfish person. She is good at giving to people who barely know her, and she has a desire to do her job well, but she has almost nothing left for the people who should be closest to her. She is a master of bad choices.

I don't think this is that uncommon for people starting out in medical careers- especially young doctors during their residencies. Presumably Jackie's been a nurse for a long time and should be out of that phase. I'd expect it more from Zoey than I would from Jackie.

[LadySadie]

Totally, totally agree with you on this. (Also, loved: "like a soda machine"!!)

Glad you liked that. :) I am only potentially calling BS on the whole thing, since I think it's possible Eddie was intentionally setting Jackie up when he showed her that trick. She never could get it to work, could she? I also wondered what prompted him to follow her to the bar, where he saw her with Kevin and her kids. To me it's possible that he realized that Jackie was only using him to get access to drugs, and so as a final F-You, told her to unplug and reset the machine, knowing that it wouldn't work and would probably get her into trouble.

As good as I thought the season/finale was and as excited I am for season 2 now, I'm only going to give them so long to explain how the eff she kept her entire life a secret to almost everyone for so long. Too many things do not add up and I'm tired to trying to excuse it away. Now that the jig is up on her with Eddie, I expect some clarity on the rest or I might bail. It's too big of a plothole for me to ignore forever.

Isn't that the way it is with accomplished addicts though? That they're able to appear to function normally and are able to fool everyone for much longer than anyone would expect? Then, the second there's any little change in their house of cards, things come crashing down.

I do agree with you though -- we need more backstory. How long has Jackie been an addict? How did she and Eddie hook up? If she's been an addict for a long time, who was her source before that?

I was surprised that she didn't jump onto the solution of ordering drugs from the internet, from Mexico or somewhere. Could she have gotten a PO box, paid cash for it, and gotten a credit card and the drugs sent to that address? Seems like a much lower risk and more self-contained way to sustain her habit. But then again, is part of the thrill for many addicts taking the huge chances?

[LTG]

Could she have gotten a PO box, paid cash for it, and gotten a credit card and the drugs sent to that address?

When she got the keys to the dying nurse's apartment, I assumed that she would use that place for exactly this purpose, and maybe use it for assignations with Eddie. I still think this plot line could be picked up next season.

[Madmarsha]

Fuckety fuck, I watch this show but didn't REALLY like it until close to the end of this epi. Why did I find Eddie strangely sexy admitting into Jackie's neck like that "By the way, I met Kevin. You got yourself a really nice boy"? I never found him anything but pathetic before. I even loved the ending "Anybody else seeing that?" I dunno why because I have no idea what it's supposed to mean seemingly breaking the 4th wall like that but I liked it.

Scariest part? That image of the kids and Kevin as the perfect nuclear family. That's not idyllic, that's Stepford-ish with the tap dancing Grace and the old school matte background (I'm guessing) of the "white picket fence" 1950's Levittown tract house. Chilling. As was Jackie in the old school nursing uniform.

I totally didn't get that mom was dead either, though I did wonder why and how she was transporting a live person overseas.

I like Zoey in the grey scrubs. Those too-cute scrubs just look like PJs and would make me want to choke the living shit out of the pollyanna nurse wearing them. I'm just sayin'.

Where am I going to watch next season? My free year of Showtime is up. Fuck.

[attica finch]

You got yourself a really nice boy

I heard this as 'really nice bar' not 'boy.' Which would be worse, since he was telling her he knows allllll about her.

Edited by attica finch, Aug 26, 2009 @ 3:16 PM.

[hoodooznoodooz]

attica finch: I heard this as 'really nice bar' not 'boy.' Which would be worse, since he was telling her he knows allllll about her.

I'm pretty sure that my closed-captioning transcribed that as "boy". But CC-ing is often inaccurate, so who knows.