dex14

12 episode final season.

Mike86

I've never watched this before but was always slightly interested in it. Is it worth watching throughout the entire series or does it go downhill partway through?

dex14

It gets repetitive by season 4 and 5. I thought last season was ok though. It definitely didn't need 7 seasons. Like most Showtime comedies, it just went on for too long.

Mike86

I'm not sure what it is about Showtime but it seems like they have a lot of shows that start out good and turn to crap. Dexter and Weeds are two of the biggest examples. Both had pretty solid starts but by the end I couldn't even stand them anymore. They've always kind of come off as a second rate HBO to me.

Coral

It's worth watching, but I agree that it got a bit repetitive midway through simply because the show is very reliant on Jackie's drama - so they had to re-create it.

And it definitely does seem to be a Showtime trait - where shows go on too long and got repetitive. Dexter, Weeds, Nurse Jackie, House of Lies and Californication. Masters of Sex, Homeland and Shameless are showing signs of it too.

movieking

Honestly had no idea this was still on. I was interested in watching it as well (never saw an episode) but honestly thought that it finished after 3 or 4 seasons. Not sure that I'd want to slug through 7 seasons, since most shows tend to go downhill after that long.

dgmayor

I just marathoned all 6 seasons over the past week and a half and honestly I enjoyed the entire run.
I was bummed when O'Hara left, and I'm bummed to read that Coop won't be in the final season as well.




Quick question...is the prison from the premiere the same one used in Grand Budhapest Hotel?


Edit: hey look, it's Coop. I'm guessing it's short term (yeah I'm still watching it lol)

Mike86

It seems like Showtime wants people to view their original programming on the same level as HBO's to me. The problem seems to be that once they get a hit they run it into the ground where HBO seems to know when to end things or will leave it to the discretion of the creators.

whotony

Ah rats apparently just the season premier.


This is also on DTV on the Audience channel along with a couple other Showtime shows.

OldBoy

so what did people think of the finale?

me: i was a little perplexed. not that it should have had a happy ending and i guess it makes sense the more i think about it. once a junkie always a junkie i guess.

but overall, Eve Best just kills every scene she is in and her return was welcome and very well done.

overall, it was decent...

Jadzia

I was satisfied with the ending, if only because it seemed inevitable. If they weren't going to have her actually get clean and stay clean, going out with a bang like that was the way to end it for her.

The only thing I felt sorry for was her boyfriend. He basically confessed to save her, but if she is dead from an OD, then hopefully he is not going to prison for naught. They should have structured it like he hadn't confessed yet. Then he could at least fight the charges without worrying about it coming back on her.

OldBoy

i think they did it before to show that most will have a happy ending and that was part of Eddie's "happy ending". he was almost happy describing the "Martha Stewart" correctional facility for 1 year...

Jadzia

Little does he know he is really going to "federal pound me in the ass" prison.

alfredog1976

I liked it, was surprised by Eve Best's appearance. Could see her death (or not) coming from a mile away... They should have played "Don't Stop Believin" at the end instead

Coral

Yet another ambiguous finale for Edie Falco... at least to most people.

I'm pretty sure she's dead. The question is if it was suicide or not.

The first line of the episode are from Jackie asking God "make me good"... and the last line of the episode/series from Zoe telling Jackie "you're good".

Jackskeleton

Well, the interviews basically laid out it out that the writers figure she's alive and well, that's a shitty reset to all this last season of trying to get the license back and get her shit together only to go back to "fucked" again.

YAWWWWWN.

flashburn

Only the silence at the end made me think that she died, but she was clearly alive before the cut.

It's kind of a fitting ending for how this show has been, that whole "spinning wheel" thing (or whatever the phrase was) that was referred to earlier in the episode is Jackie. It's been pretty apparent for many seasons that she just isn't going to change. I honestly would of preferred her to be dead at the end, because all she is going to do is continue to cause pain to everyone in her life.

JZ1276

Which interviews are you referring to?
I wasnt even sure if she was actually on drugs again. I know they showed her popping something, but I thought they were trying to be misleading & end up showing she was actually popping something like candy or mints.
I really disliked how the storyline ended for Eddie. He's a great character and he didnt seem like he cared at all that he was going to prison and why assume he would only do one year at some 'Martha Stewart" prison?
I really dislike open endings in most shows unless they are done perfectly. I think this show would have been better off showing Jackie dying & then cutting to Eddie in a maximum security prison.

creekdipper

Haven't seen the "after the episode" interview yet, so thanks for revealing that the writers say that she was still alive at the end. Wouldn't appreciate it if they just did it to hedge their bets in case of a future renewal, though. I think it was purposely ambiguous so the viewers could decide her fate for themselves.

At first it seemed that she died but then her eyes fluttered & she seemed to rally a little bit. Agree with those who would have preferred that to clearly indicate her death since (again, echoing other comments) the cycle would just repeat itself. Barring a miraculous change, Jackie would just endlessly relapse (and, at some point, future employment as a nurse would have seemed ridiculous considering how many chances she'd already been given).

At least they stayed true to the nature of addiction. Sure, they could have given her a happy ending (or even showed her at Bellevue still popping pills), but this seemed more fitting. And I think the writers misread the medical charts...like an old west gunfighter, Jackie went out with her scrubs on.

Coral

Everything still seems to point to her being dead - regardless of what the writers are saying. It feels like they're trying to hedge their bets still.

One thing that stood out is when O'Hara tells Jackie that she's not just a nurse - that she's a mother, friend, person, etc. After Jackie takes the heroin we see the imaginary sequence of her removing her stethoscope, badge and watch and walks out of All Saints - and then we see that she's actually just collapsed. I look at her discarding the nursing stuff as an indication that she died - since being a nurse defines her (as O'Hara questioned) and without it she's nothing (ie. dead).

I don't mind ambiguous endings, but it seems that lately that's all I'm getting in movies and shows now. It really feels like writers/directors are using it as a crutch to make things more interesting while also hedging their bets. Without committing to a clear-cut ending it feels like they dodge any criticism of the final outcome of characters/situations. It's like by not answering a question it ensures you didn't get the answer wrong.

OldBoy

i think the ending was pretty clear...

creekdipper

Jackie was last spotted working at a logging operation in Oregon.

Coral

Thanks for reminding me that no matter how disappointing a shows finale is - at least it wasn't Dexter bad.

Jackskeleton

I'm not sure how it was cut and dry that she died. She had her eyes opened at the end. They could have easily made it darker if they wanted to hammer it home. Otherwise, it just felt like a waste of the whole last season of recovery/redemption.