Featured TV on DVD Review: Nurse Jackie: Season Six

February 10, 2015

Nurse Jackie: Season Six - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray

I have reviewed four of the previous five seasons of Nurse Jackie and for the most part thought the show was good, but has some problems. I thought the fourth season was the best season. Did the show continue to grow? Or did it suffer in the year that I missed?

The Show

The show has suffered. The biggest problem I had with Nurse Jackie was the repetitiveness. Nurse Jackie would use drugs, she would get into trouble as a result, she would get out of it, but she wouldn't learn a lesson. Also, Jackie would metaphorically crap all over her boyfriend. Finally, her daughter Grace had anxiety issues and that made if difficult for them to have a strong mother-daughter relationship. At the end of season four, Jackie had kicked her drug habit and she and Grace even began a real mother-daughter relationship. There was personal growth and that is why I considered it the best season in the show's run so far.

Season five, apparently, undid all of this personal growth. Nurse Jackie is back on drugs, as is Grace. She has a new boyfriend, Frank, whom she metaphorically craps all over.

Season six is just more of the same, but I was no longer interested. There are still parts of the show that do work, including the acting. Edie Falco is still excellent, as is most of the cast. I especially like Merritt Wever and the storyline with Zoey and Dr. Ike Prentiss is a highlight of the season. The coming of age story for Grace works, but again I feel like this is territory we've been over before. It got to the point where I could predict jokes and larger plot points in advance and it was at that point I gave up on the show. This show needs characters that move forward, but the show seems to be moving backwards.

The Extras

Extras on the first disc include audio commentary tracks on two episodes and a dozen deleted scenes. Disc two also has two audio commentary tracks, plus two featurettes. The first is a 12-minute featurette called Deceit, Descent, Destruction: Jackie's Fall and it talks about how they needed to have Nurse Jackie go lower. Growing Up Peyton is a nine-minute look at Grace's character development and Ruby Jerins as an actress.

Like last time, the technical presentation is great, for a TV show. TV shows rarely have the budget to look as good as a theatrical release, but I have no complaints here. The level of details is high, the colors pop, etc. There are also no digital artifacts or other flaws I noticed. The Blu-ray has a 7.1 surround sound track, which isn't the most active I've listened to, but it still strong.

The 3-Disc DVD and the 2-Disc Blu-ray cost the same on Amazon.com. This is obviously great news for those who prefer high definition.

The Verdict

I think next season will be the last season for Nurse Jackie and hopefully we will see some major progress, because the past two seasons we've seen major steps back. There are enough extras on the DVD and the Blu-ray that they are worth picking up for fans of the season, but I'm not among them.


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Filed under: Video Review, Morris Chestnut, Edie Falco, Adam Ferrara, Merritt Wever, Ruby Jerins