S07.E05: Coop Out

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Jackie stirs up trouble when she rallies her co-workers against the developers, but an attractive offer challenges her allegiance. Coop prepares for his last day at All Saints while Carrie is confused by his excitement about leaving. Dr. Bernie Prince, Coop’s replacement, arrives and surprises everyone with his carpe diem attitude.

 

Promo:

 

Clips:

 

[Primetimer]

A convenient plot twist is still pretty satisfying.

Read the story

[fliptopbox]

What bugged me this episode (besides Monk, because he will ALWAYS bother me) was how Akalitus was talking about previous offers she had gotten and turned down over the years for the hospital. She's what, the ER supervisor/coordinator/whatever? She's in charge of ONE department of the hospital, why would anyone be making her offers on the the entire facility? That's for whoever the board is, and the actual owners of the property, etc. I liked Akalitus (mostly) up til this season. She may be an important person around the ER, but as far as the whole hospital?? She's another former nurse turned director/clerical pissant.

 

Also...the Carrie and Coop thing, just ugh. Of course now that he's leaving he looks cuter/she wants him back. Is this high school?

[Cramps]

As a New Yorker- I'm appreciating the hospital being sold to become condos plot, since that happened to one of our local hospitals. (The community had major protests...)

Also appreciated the trip to Sammy's Romanian restaurant!

[dangwoodchucks]

What bugged me this episode (besides Monk, because he will ALWAYS bother me) was how Akalitus was talking about previous offers she had gotten and turned down over the years for the hospital. She's what, the ER supervisor/coordinator/whatever? She's in charge of ONE department of the hospital, why would anyone be making her offers on the the entire facility? That's for whoever the board is, and the actual owners of the property, etc. I liked Akalitus (mostly) up til this season. She may be an important person around the ER, but as far as the whole hospital?? She's another former nurse turned director/clerical pissant.

 

Also...the Carrie and Coop thing, just ugh. Of course now that he's leaving he looks cuter/she wants him back. Is this high school?

I understood Akalitus to mean job offers she had received and turned down. I loved Tony Shalhoub as Antonio on Wings but I never watched Monk. This character on Nurse Jackie bugs me too for some reason. If this is how Monk was I'm glad I didn't watch it. Why bother introducing a new character when this is the last season? He brought nothing to the show except to be someone else who thinks Jackie is the bee's knees.

 

It pained me to see Thor and Zoey cheering Jackie on and putting their trust in her at that first basement meeting. Don't they know by now she'll always go with the highest bidder, no matter who she disappoints. Gloria seems to be the only one who knows this and isn't buying Jackie's shit. She gave some very good advice to Zoey last week. After rewatching last week's ep before this one, I have to say it again about Zoey, she's not fit to be head nurse. She told Gloria she couldn't supervise Jackie properly because her actions had consequences. Those consequences being that Jackie's brat thought Zoey was being an asshole because Zoey was supervising her mom in a program Jackie got herself into. Zoey was being as kind as she could about it and Grace should be taking away a lesson about bad actions having consequences instead of being an asshole herself.

 

Oh, and cue the replacement nurse who vomits at the sight of blood and can't perform adequately in triage. But hey, perfect opportunity to get Jackie to jump in, she's so great! 

[LuciaMia]

Well, that was a collosall waste of time.  Eddie was angry as  hell last week, now he's all lovey-dovey again. Jackie practically stiffens when he tries to hug her. Dude, get a clue.

 

Then Jackie the hero, then Jackie the sell-out, then she's the hero agAIN?    Did she ever get to the diversion meeting?

 

And nearly half the episode taken up with Coop's going-away party.

 

Tony Shaloub's character reminded me of the episode when Monk got on medication and became 'The Monk!'

[marsha]

I've noticed that lately most of the posts I leave (and it hardly matters what show/thread it is, anymore) are pretty ... negative (I guess would be the 'nicest' way of putting it) so I've tried not to post that much anymore but ... what the hell:

 

I used to absolutely love this show and, through good times and bad, Jackie. Over the past couple of seasons though my dislike of her lead to out-and-out 'hate'. I still love Edie Falco, of course, and think she is a phenomenally good actor but even watching her is not enough to take me out of my 'hate' for Jackie. Also, as a dedicated viewer, I really feel I'm being treated as a 'fool'. That TPTB feel that I'm just so 'charmed' by That Darn Jackie! that all I want desire is for her to come out of all this on top and be officially canonized as St. Jackie of All Saints once and for all.

 

Bleh!

 

I hate what they've done to Gloria and Zoey (refer to any/all posts in this thread/forum). I can't stand how Grace just gets away with any/everything. I can't stand Eddie (never liked him and, even though Edie has become 'Jackie' for me over the years and made me somewhat forget she was 'Carmella' I always see 'Father Phil' when I see Eddie).  Again, I know that there are still five or six episodes left of the series and much can happen to 'wrap thing up' but ... the way things are going and the way TPTB have handled things thus far I've pretty much lost hope.

[txhorns79]

I'm firmly on Akalitus' side. Everyone should have washed their hands of Jackie by now.

 

I'm tired of Jackie getting bailed out by contrivance.  I don't know what the point of her being arrested and losing her license/job last season was, if they have essentially made it so she gets out of having to deal with any real consequences. 

[Nyrha]

I had to sign up to vent after last night's debacle, because this is the only place on the web that's not literally crying over Coop's departure.

Also, as a dedicated viewer, I really feel I'm being treated as a 'fool'. That TPTB feel that I'm just so 'charmed' by That Darn Jackie! that all I want desire is for her to come out of all this on top and be officially canonized as St. Jackie of All Saints once and for all.

Yes. The writing is so manipulative I feel like the showrunners' hands are reaching for me through the screen. I guess maybe they're trying for some kind of meta-point, like "See how Jackie gaslights Zoey? We're running the same game on you!" All these rich, complicated people have been turned into absolute idiots so the writers can canonize Jackie. It's not enough for her to avoid jail and rebuild her relationship with her daughter and be a better person than her ex-husband. She can't just get back what she's lost, she has to be awarded even more good things, because she's such a good decent person.

 

I really miss the Jackie who tricked Julie White off the wagon and back into rehab. I miss the Zoey with a brain and the Akalitus with a heart and the Eddie with a spine. It used to be easy to care about these people because their actions made human sense and weren't just serving the writers' agenda of making Jackie as aww-cuddly and lovable as possible. Two more months of this.

[RococoChanel]

Ugh. Coop and Carrie were NEVER interesting. What a fun and original plotline! She finally likes him as he's going away... yawn. Boring. I could have fast forwarded through any of their scenes. Awful.

 

Also, how awful was the actor playing the Evil Norwegian Developer? As a linguist and as someone who dated a Swede (close enough, linguistically) and who knows many Scandinavians... I thought his portrayal took me completely out of the scene. He sounded like a scary eeeeeevil Cheeeerrman dude.

[Decider]

If Carrie ends up pregnant again after her hookup with Coop at the restaurant, I am going to lose all hope.  I would bet my last dollar that she will be and will end up going off to join him in Boston.

[Trillian]

What bugged me this episode (besides Monk, because he will ALWAYS bother me) was how Akalitus was talking about previous offers she had gotten and turned down over the years for the hospital. She's what, the ER supervisor/coordinator/whatever? She's in charge of ONE department of the hospital, why would anyone be making her offers on the the entire facility? That's for whoever the board is, and the actual owners of the property, etc. I liked Akalitus (mostly) up til this season. She may be an important person around the ER, but as far as the whole hospital?? She's another former nurse turned director/clerical pissant.

Actually, I know a nurse who had that exact career path: administrator of ER to administrator of an entire hospital. He's much in demand and routinely receives offers to take the same, or better position at other hospitals.

I'm having a lot of trouble buying that Jackie is allowed even to be in the ER, and more trouble accepting that she has been allowed to stay after she has repeatedly involved herself in patient care. Having an unlicensed nurse (even a super-nurse as they want us to believe Jackie is) treat patients exposes the hospital to HUGE liability. It would also be a breach of her suspension order, which, IRL, would likely result in an extension of said order and more disciplinary proceedings - maybe even a revocation of her licence. Hey, you can't follow the rules of your suspension? We can't trust you to follow the rules again if we let you back into nursing. Goodbye.

Falco's tv husband on the Sopranos was far more likeable, and he was a cold-blooded killer. Jackie now has no redeeming qualities and I hope the series ends with her getting what her unrepentant ass deserves. Sadly, I fear it won't.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I think the most telling thing for me is that after I watched this episode, I had nothing to say about it. Although I know some stuff happened, it felt like nothing happened. And the few things that happened were not very interesting. It's sad to see this show limping to the finish line.

[cocobeans]

I can assure you that this is NOT how a nurse with substance abuse problems is handled!  The state BON (Board of Nursing) becomes involved and the road back is usually 3-5 years of meetings, constant testing, and tons of paperwork (a HUGE deal).  The entire process is run by a state division that is outside the reach of any hospital or staff, and they have seen/heard/know every trick in the book.  There are many nurses who earn their license back, but they have to *earn* it back.

 

This entire show has become an insult to nurses, ARGH!  Just had to vent about that, thanks :-)

[goodbyeglittergirl]

I don't want a happy ending for anyone except Zoey.

[LuciaMia]

 

would likely result in an extension of said order and more disciplinary proceedings

And again, points up the absurdidy of her supervision given over to the one person who's the most reluctant and most likely to cut her some slack; Zoey.

[Lone Wolf]

I'm not sure how a real estate developer from another country would be able to expedite a disgraced nurse's license reinstatement, but whatever; I guess it was a necessary plot device so that Jackie could (appear to) betray her colleagues and then redeem herself at the last minute.

They should have had Coop going around at the party grabbing everyone's boobs because he was anxious about leaving his familiar life and starting anew in Bahston. You know. For old times' sake.

[dangwoodchucks]

I would like to see Gloria get a happy ending. They've made me dislike Zoey too much this season to care about her.

 

Apparently Carrie thinks that she and Coop haven't broken up, even though she told him she doesn't want to marry him. She can leave too as far as I'm concerned.

 

I really don't like hate-watching a show so I'm glad it's almost over. I feel sure we won't get a satisfying ending.

 

P.S. I can't stand the creepy guy from the basement.

[roughing it]

I had hoped for this final season that we would see Jackie fully embrace her sobriety and really work to keep it.  However she's still just coasting until she can use again.  She's staying sober just so she can get her job back, not at all for her own well-being.

[Dobian]

Yay, so Jackie's going to be the hero who saves All Saints.  Meh.  She's still a drug dealing druggie drughead.  So long Coop, I'll kind of miss you.  What's the point of bringing in Tony Shalhoub as a new character with a little over half a season to go?  The show should just focus on the remaining cast at this point.

[Blakeston]

I can assure you that this is NOT how a nurse with substance abuse problems is handled!  The state BON (Board of Nursing) becomes involved and the road back is usually 3-5 years of meetings, constant testing, and tons of paperwork (a HUGE deal).  The entire process is run by a state division that is outside the reach of any hospital or staff, and they have seen/heard/know every trick in the book.  There are many nurses who earn their license back, but they have to *earn* it back.

 

This entire show has become an insult to nurses, ARGH!  Just had to vent about that, thanks :-)

 

I'm very curious about how this works in real life. Is a program like that just for nurses like Jackie who were actually caught being high while working? Or is it for any nurse who fails a random drug test? What if a nurse checks himself/herself into rehab, without there being any known issues at work - does that mean they'll have to go through something like this?

[cocobeans]

Blakston --

It varies by the State, however most have a program that oversees any kind of violation or perceived lack of judgement.  Those can include: drug use, suspected diversion, failed drug test, DWI, improper documentation of patients meds, improper handling of patients meds, and/or mental illness.  The most important skill a nurse has is their critical thinking skills, so anything that can be considered a lapse or an impairment to this ability is taken under review.  There is usually an individual review, followed with an individualized monitoring and treatment plan.  While this is ongoing their nursing license is either suspended or placed under restriction. 

 

Once the process has been activated it is usually very long, tedious, and costly.  The nurse has to pay for all their tests, appointments, lawyers, etc.  The fact that they lump self-reporting mild depression in with PCP use seems quite ridiculous, and keeps many nurses from seeking help.  

 

For the record, I am not advocating allowing impaired nurse to practice, they are dangerous to their patients and fellow nurses!  (And I have never been in this program!).  Just wanted to assure folks that this is an issue that state nursing boards do take seriously. 

[Dobian]

I understood Akalitus to mean job offers she had received and turned down. I loved Tony Shalhoub as Antonio on Wings but I never watched Monk. This character on Nurse Jackie bugs me too for some reason. If this is how Monk was I'm glad I didn't watch it. Why bother introducing a new character when this is the last season? He brought nothing to the show except to be someone else who thinks Jackie is the bee's knees.

 

I loved Antonio on Wings too.  And no, this character on NJ is NOT Monk.  Monk was extremely insecure, neurotic, and OCD.  I never watched the whole series but have watched episodes here and there.  Tony Shalhoub could be quite endearing in the role and did a fine job.  Sometimes Monk could be annoying regardless, as frustrating to watch as it was for his supporting characters to deal with him.  But he could be very funny as well, and oftentimes very touching, and the show had a good supporting cast for him to bounce off of.  I like the show for being a sort of throwback to the old school 1970s whodunnit with a quirky lead character like Columbo.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Dobian

[marceline]

I feel like I've seen this a million times on medical shows from MASH to ER. You just know that Dr. Monk is a drug addict. Or bipolar. Or a serial killer. Or not a doctor at all. Whenever characters come in all competent and "fun" there's a breakdown coming.

[EverCat]

Interesting - I never even considered that.  I thought he was supposed to be like Dr. Oz.

[scrb]

What's the deal, the actor playing Coop decided to leave?

 

Or the producers wanted a better actor playing the doctor?