S07.E12: I Say A Little Prayer

[iMonrey]

When I saw her pouring out all that heroin into three enormous lines I sort of figured she was trying to kill herself. She may be addicted to pain killers but heroin is something different altogether and that was a lot of it, and she had to know it. I think Eddie willing to go to jail for her is really what finally pushed her over the edge, so in a way what she did was sort of self-sacrificing. Between that and Eleanor and Zoey telling her how hard it was being her friend I think she just figured everyone would be better off without her. Why she chose to do it right there in front of everyone I'm not sure, and I'm also not sure how I feel about the ambiguity of it.

 

I have to say, much as I enjoyed the show at times, I'm glad it's over because they didn't really seem to know where to go with it after about the fourth or fifth season. 

[TimWil]

I just think it would have been so much more poignant if Jackie had managed to stay clean for several months and was looking forward to a new job, a life with Eddie, good relationships with her daughters and suddenly WHAM! her life is cut short by one stupid heroin overdose.

Edited June 29, 2015 by TimWil

[Joan van Snark]

As a big Sopranos/Edie Falco fan, I started watching this show from the very beginning.  I was thinking back to the last several episodes of the first season when I thought the show was really good.  There was a lot of suspense and it was thrilling to see how Jackie could juggle the pills, the affair with Eddie, hiding her marriage and kids, being reported by Coop, etc.  She was almost like a female Walter White--somehow she always manage to believably weasel her way out.  But then they continually neutered the characters more and more every season.  I thought the end of last season was fantastic and that Jackie finally hit rock bottom--only for her to have magically avoided getting in trouble again!

 

This show had some great actors - Edie of course, Anna Deveare-Smith, O'Hara (don't know her name); Merrit Wever (admittedly not everyone's cup of tea, but she was better in the beginning); I even thought Peter Facinelli and Paul Schluze were OK in the earlier seasons.  I think if the show would have moved to an hour, kept O'Hara and Momo, and downplayed the comedy it would have been better.  It got way too sit-com-ish. It was strange how Akalitus' character moved from bitch to friendly to bitch throughout the seasons because the writers didn't know how to use her properly.  I think it was obvious that the last showrunners really had no clue where to go with the story.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Joan van Snark

[TimWil]

I hated that conceit of the pill she hid in her mouth, Chattygirl. I just wish she'd been 100% clean until the heroin overdose.

You make an excellent point about Phillips' remarks. It is such a cop out for him to say what he did and pretentious as hell. Even a show as ludicrous as Revenge had an ending "open to interpretation (Amanda getting Victoria's heart)". Telling us a story includes giving us a f**king ending, people.

Edited June 29, 2015 by TimWil

[TimWil]

This is a very intelligent assessment which I have a feeling many will agree with:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/06/nurse-jackie-held-on-till-the-bitter-end.html

[DrivingSideways]

As bad as this ending was, the alternate ending where the hospital catches on fire from an e-cig and Jackie dies saving the heroin addict?  That sounds so incredibly stupid.

[Dobian]

But by constantly depicting her weaseling out every single corner and neutering and/or turning into a caricature every single supporting character, turning back any development they made and ignoring previously begun plot arcs (i.e., Grace following in her mother's footsteps) so that at the end of the day, the only one being effective is Jackie - that's a different show than what he claims he put together. 

 

I had a big problem with them not explaining this change in Grace.  One of the show's flaws was that after the first couple of seasons they spent less and less time on Jackie's family, so you had to fill in the gaps.  Grace was this rebellious, hard-partying, substance-using girl last season.  This season she is applying to an Ivy League university.  Those two things don't mesh.  The show needed an episode to at least explain Grace turning a corner.

 

Regressing Dr. Roman back into being Chrissy Snow after they had finally made her into something three-dimensional was a disappointment.  They also didn't do Zoey or Akalitus any favors this last season, though Akalitus still managed to be great even when undermined by the writing.

 

 

This is a very intelligent assessment which I have a feeling many will agree with:

http://www.vulture.c...bitter-end.html

 

I think the article nailed it.  I felt sad during that last sequence.  As much as I hated Jackie the last two seasons I still did an "oh no" when she walked into her Times Square fantasy land.

 

TIme article had some good points.

 

http://time.com/3939805/review-nurse-jackie-finale/

Edited June 29, 2015 by Dobian

[DrivingSideways]

The writing of Jackie's kids was always terrible.  The writers acted like she was raising two developmentally challenged special needs kids.  She treated them like they were stupid.  Kevin was terribly miscast and not a very good actor.  Those were my major complaints with the show early on, and I wanted them to focus on the workplace more.  Then when they made the workplace just as cheesy, it was all downhill.

 

I really think this show worked based on the amazing talents of the cast to elevate not very great material.

[dangwoodchucks]

I noticed an interesting theme rewatching the finale today. Jackie was asking people to go with her. She asked Zoey to go to Bellevue with her, she asked Eddie to go home with her, and she asked Prince to go to the party with her. Not that I'm blaming them for what she did, but any one of them saying yes and she probably wouldn't have OD'd, at least not at that time. I thought in particular Jackie asking Prince to go to the party with her was maybe synonymous with her asking him to commit suicide with her since he was dying. His reply was that he was sitting in the waiting room, waiting (to die?). Nobody could go with Jackie where she was going.

[LadyintheLoop]

The patient she had the most scenes with in the end was the heroin addict - and was she really connecting with him through the feet washing, or just greasing the wheels, so to speak, to get her grubby hands on his stash?

 

 

No, that much was sincere. She tried to give him his personal effects when he left, but he wouldn't take them. 

 

By discarding the tools of her nursing trade, one-by-one, in plain sight, Jackie makes a deliberate death ritual out of her end, leaving a clear message that she planned her death and was--for whatever reason--guilty of impenitence and indifference to the feelings of all those who cared enough to love her.

 

 

That was part of her hallucination. When she lay on the floor, her stethoscope was under her neck.

 

As for Eddie, are we supposed to see his actions as noble? "He proved he really would do anything for her, because he cared for her so much." I'd much rather think of it as, "The moron chose prison to save Jackie, and she died right after that, so now he's completely fucked."

 

 

The show portrayed more than one kind of addiction.

 

To me, the bracketing of "Make me good" and "You're good, Jackie" shows that she's dead. At this point the only good Jackie is a dead Jackie.

 

I still think her OD was consistent with an accident. Heroin wasn't her drug of choice but between the hospital running out of meds, Eddie heading for jail and the pill mill being under investigation, she couldn't afford to be fussy about her next fix.  

[izabella]

I had a big problem with them not explaining this change in Grace.  One of the show's flaws was that after the first couple of seasons they spent less and less time on Jackie's family, so you had to fill in the gaps.  Grace was this rebellious, hard-partying, substance-using girl last season.  This season she is applying to an Ivy League university.  Those two things don't mesh.  The show needed an episode to at least explain Grace turning a corner.

 

Hard partying, alcohol/drug using shouldn't mesh with Ivy League, but, in reality, it does.  The Ivies have plenty of alcohol and drug using, hard partying students.  Plenty.  And they graduate and get jobs, too.  Just ask George W. Bush.  So, if they had carried through with Grace the rebel, it would have rung true.  It would have felt real, too, because she had all the anxiety issues, so it wouldn't be surprising that she was using alcohol or drugs to compensate socially.  And they would have been showing that Grace was following in her mom's footsteps exactly - a mess in her personal/social life while excellent at her job/school. 

 

But to change rebel Grace into someone entirely different ruined what I thought they were setting up.  The Grace they gave us made no sense.

[Dobian]

Hard partying, alcohol/drug using shouldn't mesh with Ivy League, but, in reality, it does.  The Ivies have plenty of alcohol and drug using, hard partying students.  Plenty.  And they graduate and get jobs, too.

 

Yeah, but that's *after* they get into the school.  In order to get in, you need to pretty much be a 4.0 student with a really high SAT score and lots of highlights on your application like student body president or editor of the school paper.  Grace was never portrayed as an overachieving student, she was always portrayed as a troubled teen who spent her off-time running around with people she shouldn't and doing things she shouldn't as opposed to playing on her high school softball team or starring in the school play.  There was never anything in her portrayal that suggested "Ivy League material".  She was community college at best.  If they at least made it where she was trying to get into SUNY it would have been kind of believable.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Dobian

[txhorns79]

Whether or not she physically died in that moment, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, she was dead.  In her mind she was releasing everyone from her burden of being an addict.  The girls were happy and well-adjusted now with Kevin and his wife, Eddie could testify against the pill mill, Zoey and all her friends and co-workers at All Saints were moving on, she got to say goodbye to O'Hara who wouldn't have to yell at her anymore.  Jackie knew she would never give up drugs so this was the only option left.  I'm glad that the show gave an honest ending, Jackie followed the path of many addicts at the end.

 

I agree.  In her mind, everyone was moving on without her.  O'Hara said goodbye.  Zoey said goodbye.  Eddie said goodbye.  It just became too much in the moment, and Jackie couldn't handle it.  I suppose the blessing here is that it appeared to happen fast, and while it would destroy her kids, it's probably a better ending than them going through decades of dealing with their mother's on and off addiction issues.   

 

On the positive side, Eve Best looked incredible. 

[SomeJabroni]

Suicide?  Accidental overdose?  Not sure, don't really care.  What I really want to know is who stole the money bag from the wedding?

[Cosmocrush]

By discarding the tools of her nursing trade, one-by-one, in plain sight, Jackie makes a deliberate death ritual out of her end, leaving a clear message that she planned her death and was--for whatever reason--guilty of impenitence and indifference to the feelings of all those who cared enough to love her.

 

That was part of her hallucination. When she lay on the floor, her stethoscope was under her neck.

Thank you for this. Even after reading the PTV recap, all the posts, Alan's column and interview with Phillips, the Vulture review, etc.  I was 100% certain that not only is/was Jackie dead but that it was deliberate since she intentionally removed her tools of the trade.    So now, while I'm still sure she died, I'm not so sure it was deliberate. 

 

I can see it both ways: suicide or accident and by accident I mean in the "I don't give a fuck, I'm snorting all this shit." kind of way.   I thought her ending was well done; I've been thinking about the finale all day and that almost never happens.   I thought it was sad and powerful and inevitable.   Jackie's death, in that setting with that song really  got to me.  

Suicide?  Accidental overdose?  Not sure, don't really care.  What I really want to know is who stole the money bag from the wedding?

LOL SomeJabroni!  Lots of plot holes in this show, but I'd watch Edie Falco in anything anytime. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by Cosmocrush

[luvly]

Am I the only one who thinks that Bellevue is primarily known for the psych ward and Jackie was going to be a patient there? 

A part of me is still a little suspicious of that. I find it really hard to believe that a newly reinstated Jackie managed to get a job at the very same hospital she did her forced prison detox at and we didn't even get an interview or a mention of an interview. We see Akalitus interviewing, but not Jackie?

[txhorns79]

I find it really hard to believe that a newly reinstated Jackie managed to get a job at the very same hospital she did her forced prison detox at and we didn't even get an interview or a mention of an interview.

 

In fairness, the people who were doing the hiring would likely not know she was ever a patient there.  It isn't like they would be able to go through her medical records as part of the interview process.  Also, while you might ask staff if they have heard of her, that hospital is huge, so it would be unlikely they'd happen upon the nursing staff who not only treated Jackie, but was able to recall her having been there months before, given the normal patient volume at that hospital. 

Edited June 30, 2015 by txhorns79

[SaabStory]

I actually liked the final scene a lot. As big of a train wreck this season was, the final episode brought Jackie back to reality. O'Hara returning was a big part of that, and emphasized how much the show missed Eve Best.

 

I knew I missed Dr. O'Hara, and this episode made it clear to me that the show missed her, too.

And yes, Eve Best looked terrific.

 

In my mind, Jackie died.

On purpose? I hope not, but I'm not convinced.

Overall, I enjoyed the show. But I enjoy Edie Falco in anything.

And the show introduced me to Zoey Barkow/Merritt Wever, so I will be eternally grateful :)

Edited June 30, 2015 by SaabStory

[terrymct]

By engineering her own shocking, unexpected end in front of people who loved and respected her, Jackie does look guilty of impenitence. Jackie is like a terrorist who detonates herself, a bomb wounding and hurting others with her personal shrapnel.  

 

 

This.  The amount she snorted was much greater than we've seen her do before.  Consciously or subconsciously, she was going out and hurting everyone in her personal and professional life.   

 

The scene with Prince and the man with the gun was amazing.  Absolutely frickin amazing.  

[txhorns79]

t is very dicey to say anything negative about an employee (current or former), and as I mentioned previously in relation to the unbelievable plot development of Eddie not just so quickly getting another job but one with access to controlled substances, it's likely that all All Saints would have said - at any point, really - is confirm dates of employment, job title and salary.

 

At this point, what would Jackie do?  Sue a no longer existent corporate entity for revealing the truth about her publicly available license status?   

[dangwoodchucks]

If bringing in Dr Prince and his terminal illness this season can be interpreted as a foreboding of Jackie's death (as I've seen suggested), does that mean Dr Prince was Death? It would bring a new meaning to him telling her he was just in the waiting room, waiting. Waiting for her to kill herself? It also puts a new perspective on Dr Prince telling Gloria he wanted to stick around and just be near people that day. And what about the scene where Jake comes in the ER with the gun? Did Dr Prince tempting death plant the idea of suicide in Jackie's mind? That scene had to have some purpose. It happened after Jackie spoke to O'Hara, but before talking to Eddie and Zoey. I've wondered about the addition of Dr Prince all season and what his purpose was. Maybe to be Jackie's guide to her inevitable death?

 

ElectricBoogaloo pointed out on the thread for 7.11 that Jackie's conversation with Vigilante Jones on the roof was echo-y, meaning it wasn't reality. They also used the echo effect when Jackie was putting her stethoscope, watch and badge on the counter. I wonder what really happened up on the roof if the conversation was just a hallucination of Jackie's.

 

 

Thank you for this. Even after reading the PTV recap, all the posts, Alan's column and interview with Phillips, the Vulture review, etc.  I was 100% certain that not only is/was Jackie dead but that it was deliberate since she intentionally removed her tools of the trade.    So now, while I'm still sure she died, I'm not so sure it was deliberate.

 

I can see it both ways: suicide or accident and by accident I mean in the "I don't give a fuck, I'm snorting all this shit." kind of way.   I thought her ending was well done; I've been thinking about the finale all day and that almost never happens.   I thought it was sad and powerful and inevitable.   Jackie's death, in that setting with that song really  got to me.

 

Even if it was just her hallucination, she still removed her tools of the trade. Death was the only way Jackie would ever stop being a nurse and she realized she couldn't be one anymore and still be an addict. I believe she died and that it was deliberate. Maybe she did it in the hospital with everyone around because she didn't want to be alone. Intentional or not, after Jackie opens her eyes and Zoey tells her she's good, it sort of looks like Jackie mouths "thank you" before her eyes close again.

 

I think the finale was well done too. I hadn't wanted her dead even after hating her the whole season, but I think it was a realistic end. Like Cosmocrush said, sad, powerful and inevitable. In a way I feel like I don't have to worry about Jackie anymore.

[txhorns79]

The licensing board would be the source of the information about the status of nursing license.

 

My point is that the information is publicly available, and Jackie would have no actual claim to bring against anyone for telling a potential employer to look at Jackie's license status, so it wouldn't actually matter.  As any seasoned HR person working in a hospital would tell you, they all ask the question regarding licensing on their application, and unless Jackie lies (which would be pretty quickly found out), the issue is going to come up.      

 

 

Even if it was just her hallucination, she still removed her tools of the trade. Death was the only way Jackie would ever stop being a nurse and she realized she couldn't be one anymore and still be an addict. I believe she died and that it was deliberate.

 

I agree it was deliberate, but I felt her suicide was more in relation to her feeling that she was losing everything, rather than a realization she could no longer be a nurse.  I felt like the main delusion Jackie always had was that she was such a good nurse, that the drug use didn't matter or could otherwise be controlled.  O'Hara and Zoey essentially saying they were done with her was just too much.       

[LuciaMia]

 

But to change rebel Grace into someone entirely different ruined what I thought

The abrupt change in Grace this season just made her seem so insincere, in the first few episodes she had something up her sleeve, like spying on Jackie for her father. Everytime she spoke or made nice with Jackie it just didn't seem believable.

[The Solution]

A part of me is still a little suspicious of that. I find it really hard to believe that a newly reinstated Jackie managed to get a job at the very same hospital she did her forced prison detox at and we didn't even get an interview or a mention of an interview. We see Akalitus interviewing, but not Jackie?

Not to mention a drug screen...

[txhorns79]

Not to mention a drug screen...

 

Perhaps these are things that would be done when she actually started?  I know nurses' unions typically have strict rules about that kind of testing.  

 

 

When asked specifically about Jackie's tenure, All Saints will not give out explicit negative job performance feedback (this is common best practices); they would say that all they were able to confirm was her job title (at that point, no longer head nurse regardless of license status), her date of hire and her salary.

 

I don't know.  It isn't as though All Saints has the strictest HR department given the stunts people have pulled during the course of the series. 

[Dobian]

Again, it comes down to the timeline of there being only a window of a week from the time she was reinstated to the hospital closing. Did she apply for the job when her license was suspended? Surely if Bellevue checked during that time, she would not have been hired. It would have had to have happened in that week she was reinstated (the luck, always the luck!). And of course, All Saints' hands would have been tied if called to confirm her employment and any specific reference requests. It is very dicey to say anything negative about an employee (current or former), and as I mentioned previously in relation to the unbelievable plot development of Eddie not just so quickly getting another job but one with access to controlled substances, it's likely that all All Saints would have said - at any point, really - is confirm dates of employment, job title and salary. (As she was technically still employed, they would not offer that she was ineligible for rehire.) But hiring managers understand these cues as red flags.

 

Basically the writers had to distort or ignore reality a number of times to carry the story down the path to their intended outcome, starting with Jackie receiving no real consequences for causing a car accident while high and with a suitcase full of pills in her car.  A good writer would ask at each step along the way, "what would really happen in this situation?", and then let story unfold naturally from that.  Instead, they forced the pieces to fit where they didn't in order to get to where they wanted to go.

[dangwoodchucks]

He will always be 'Clyde Phillips, Showruiner' to me.

 

Speaking of ruining the show, what was with Carrie in the finale? She spoke to O'Hara with a British accent, and her behavior at the party was odd. And why did Thor say she should leave when Jake pulled the gun in the ER? Was he not concerned about any of the other ladies present?

 

It just dawned on me that everyone at the party was drinking. Anyone treating Jackie would have been impaired.

 

Edited to add: Thor wouldn't have been impaired since he couldn't drink. He was probably just having some sugar-free gummy bears.

Edited June 30, 2015 by dangwoodchucks

[iMonrey]

 

But to change rebel Grace into someone entirely different ruined what I thought they were setting up.  The Grace they gave us made no sense.

 

I honestly have no idea what they were doing with Grace this season. One minute she is seemingly sabotaging Jackie's relationship with Fiona and the next she's asking if she can move back home. I assumed there would be some eventual explanation for her contradictory behavior and it never came. It's as though they had something planned with Grace and then either lost interest or ran out of time. Among the many failures of the season that was perhaps the biggest. They would have probably done better to simply write the character off after her father married someone else, furthering Jackie's isolation. But by the end of the season it seemed like Jackie was in a pretty good place with both her daughters which worked against the idea of her suicide.

[Eire]

Basically the writers had to distort or ignore reality a number of times to carry the story down the path to their intended outcome...

That’s it, Dobian.  No hospital will hire someone who will be dispensing pharmaceuticals and caring for ill patients, including children, without a very thorough criminal background check.  But we all know what the outcome of that would have been and then the storyline could not have ended as it did.

Details, schmetails.

[Cherrio]

I would agree with you except for the way she pulled off her ID and watch. That was someone shedding their skin, just like the advice she gave the addict except she chose to do it with death.

I agree, her whole life was that hospital, it was really her home. She only felt good and comfortable being there and being a nurse.

    Everyone left her so she wanted to die at home.     

 

    I predicted months ago that God would come back.  My other idea didnt make it. :)

Edited June 30, 2015 by Cherrio

[qtpye]

This is what I think the writer's were trying convey and doing a poor job.  They wanted to show that everyone was doing well.  Grace is going to be attending ivy league schools and cost will be no problem, since now they can just sell Jackie's house.  Zoey has finally cut ties with Jackie and is going to do well on her own.  O'hara is awesome as usual and very happy in her new life with her son.  Thor is happily married and probably has a bright future.  Eddie would be okay if he is allowed to testify against the pill mill.

 

When O'hara was mentioning all the things Jackie was, besides being a Nurse I think that is when Jackie realized that the only thing she tolerated well was being an addict.  She loved her pills.  The gleeful look on her face when she popped a pill into her mouth was her moment of nirvana.  The rest of her life was just a distraction until she could get her next high.  I think she realized she did not really value being a mother, wife, or friend.  Heck, I think she even realized that she cared about her oxy more then being a nurse.  This is why she did the only honorable thing in her mind...overdose and stop being a burden to everyone else.  She was finally good.

 

I think this is what they were going for...but they kind of failed in the execution.

[Hecate7]

By engineering her own shocking, unexpected end in front of people who loved and respected her, Jackie does look guilty of impenitence. Jackie is like a terrorist who detonates herself, a bomb wounding and hurting others with her personal shrapnel.  

 

Think about the aftermath on her daughters and ex, Kevin, who were just getting along again at her daughter's confirmation. Or her enablers, Zoey and Eddie, who are left to wonder if she ever cared about them at all, or was just using and manipulating their love for her. Even Akalitis and Dr Prinz will ask themselves for years whether they could have done more or done it differently to avoid the unthinkable end. Jackie explodes from her own pain, and diabolically damages others with the shards. The opposite of loving others is her indifference to the pain she will surely cause.

 

Oh, for heaven's sake, she was doing them a favor! Her daughters couldn't stand her and her ex was sick to death of her shenanigans. She was never going to change, so she did the best thing for them she could possibly do. This makes absolutely no difference in their lives, apart from a slight reduction in stress. They will sort of angrily mourn for a year, and then go on with their lives. And Kevin won't even do that. He'll manage respectful silence for the girls' sake, but he won't really be too broken up about this.

 

Prinz will not ask himself anything for very long because he's got a very short time to live himself, and he will go knowing that he did everything he could to help Jackie. Akalitus knows for a fact that she did all that anyone in her position could possibly have done for Jackie, and although she'll be sad and a little angry, she won't for very long. She already washed her hands of Jackie some time ago.

 

O'Harah has better things to think about, and has had for a couple of years. She'll cry hard, then go home and dry her tears and get on with her life. Now and again she might call Fiona, but she's good at compartmentalizing and might even forget that she calls Fiona because of who Fiona's mother was.

 

The only ones I worry about are Eddie and Zoey, who really did genuinely love and believe in Jackie. Both of them will be devastated, but fortunately they were already friends, and so they can talk each other through this. I worry more about Eddie than Zoey, because this could push him over the edge. Or it could be the thing that makes him finally look at his codependency, and he might end up with someone like Antoinette. Zoey loves having a project, which is how I think Eddie will survive. And Zoey herself has so many friends and such a genuine desire to help and do good, that she will do just fine. She will grieve the most for Jackie, but she will recover the most healthily because she is a healthy person.

[Cosmocrush]

This is why she did the only honorable thing in her mind...overdose and stop being a burden to everyone else.  She was finally good.

 

 

Oh, for heaven's sake, she was doing them a favor!

 

 

Wow,  I'm not sure what the writers were going for either but I would hope it wasn't this.

[txhorns79]

Oh, for heaven's sake, she was doing them a favor! Her daughters couldn't stand her and her ex was sick to death of her shenanigans. She was never going to change, so she did the best thing for them she could possibly do. This makes absolutely no difference in their lives, apart from a slight reduction in stress.

 

I can see why Jackie would think she was doing good, because she was very selfish. However, even if ultimately Jackie saved her kids years of having to deal with her BS, I'd imagine her death would destroy them.  Even with a junkie mom, losing her at such a young age would be pretty horrible. 

[paramitch]

I absolutely don't think Jackie killed herself, and while I think she was a terrible person many times on this show, I also don't think she would spitefully inflict her suicide on those she loved deliberately like that.

 

I just think she OD'd -- the too-common and most predictable outcome for many addicts who continue to lie to themselves. It's awful but it was very very gutsy of the writers, I felt, and absolutely true to who Jackie was. I think she went in there wanting a fix, found the motherlode, and overestimated her tolerance in her greed. It was going to happen at some point because Jackie is so incredibly willful and in denial about herself and her addiction that it was just a matter of time.

 

Well said, Marceline! I entered the finale without an ounce of sympathy left for Jackie, and the ending seals the deal.

 

I'm curious -- what greater punishment could Jackie have undergone? All season long, a vocal number of posters have been clamoring for Jackie to be punished. And now she finally was -- and it was the ultimate punishment possible. I don't understand not having an ounce of sympathy for this woman who died from her addictions.

 

And please know -- I don't mean to be combative at all -- it's totally cool if mileage varies on this. But while Jackie could often be a terrible person in the throes of her addiction, she was also a superb nurse, and she was at times a sympathetic and kind, funny friend. I'll never forget her bringing groceries to the AIDS patient, or helping the little girl manage caregiving for her mother, or countless other times Jackie was a good person on the show, and acting selflessly.

 

I abhor what Jackie's addictions brought her to. But I still found her a complex character who had shades of goodness, and that doesn't mean I don't still care about Jackie the person underneath. I did in the first episode, and I did all the way through the last one. 

 

The only ones I worry about are Eddie and Zoey, who really did genuinely love and believe in Jackie. Both of them will be devastated, but fortunately they were already friends, and so they can talk each other through this. I worry more about Eddie than Zoey, because this could push him over the edge. Or it could be the thing that makes him finally look at his codependency, and he might end up with someone like Antoinette. Zoey loves having a project, which is how I think Eddie will survive. And Zoey herself has so many friends and such a genuine desire to help and do good, that she will do just fine. She will grieve the most for Jackie, but she will recover the most healthily because she is a healthy person.

 

I agree with you on Zoey, but not at all on Eddie (and honestly I hate the whole idea of Zoey healing or ministering to Eddie -- I don't see that at all). Frankly, I hope Zoey loses his number and never talks to him again after Jackie's funeral.

 

I feel sorry for him, but Eddie's an enabler who paid the predictable price. And he's the most toxic kind -- an enabler who had unlimited access to drugs, and who kept her from getting the help she should have gotten in this final season several times. I know he loved Jackie, and I'm sorry for his loss. But the guy was always creepy and pathetic, and to me -- a person who eagerly enables the object of his obsession just so she's tied more firmly to him is slime. Eddie was so delighted that she needed him, he didn't care what for. He was going to say yes to any question from Jackie to the end of days.

 

Meanwhile, I do think Zoey will be fine, as will O'Hara, Kevin, Akalitus and everyone else. Even Jackie's kids will be fine. I think they'll mourn her but they'll also feel some relief (which they probably won't ever admit to out loud) because at least now, they won't have to worry anymore. I think the loss will hit Zoey, Akalitus and O'Hara hardest (and the girls), because they knew -- and clearly saw -- Jackie the addict and Jackie the nurse/saint and were never able to save her. But they will also remember her best, and I think they'll still love her in spite of her demons.

 

Whereas Eddie never recognized the divided Jackie at all and he'll never realize that the woman who agreed to marry him wasn't Jackie the nurse, it was Jackie the addict. 

 

I agree with those who felt that the show probably should have ended a year or two sooner, but I liked a lot about the final season, and the finale broke my heart. I've been thinking about it for the last two days since viewing it. Jackie's final, dreamlike walk into the light was haunting, and the repetition of so many little aspects and themes from the pilot episode I felt was some of the best writing the show has ever offered. The use of the 'Valley of the Dolls' song once again was incredibly tragic, and watching Jackie die like that (and I do absolutely think she dies) while the song just went serenely on really haunted and upset me.

 

I was just glad that in a way, Jackie got her wish. For seven years, we watched her keep praying to be good. She wasn't able to give herself that -- she kept on going, kept on lying, to herself most of all. Yet I was oddly comforted by the idea that her last moments were Zoey's face and the words, "You're good, Jackie. You're good." 

[Hecate7]

I can see why Jackie would think she was doing good, because she was very selfish. However, even if ultimately Jackie saved her kids years of having to deal with her BS, I'd imagine her death would destroy them.  Even with a junkie mom, losing her at such a young age would be pretty horrible. 

 

People live through it all the time. They are not destroyed by it. And in this case they don't live with her and they're not that young anymore. Grace is starting college. I know a girl whose father committed suicide when she was about that age. It was upsetting for her, yes. She missed him. But what she missed most was stuff he did for her back when she was in Elementary school. She missed her childhood, really. And with or without him it was never coming back anyway. His death did not destroy her, and he wasn't even an addict.

 

Jackie's children did not particularly like her anyway, and Fiona hasn't really seen her in at least a year. It's not like if Zoey's Mom died, or if Jackie had died season one. They barely knew Jackie, really, and what they knew of her they didn't like much. Plus they have already grieved for her twice. So has Akalitus. People have a hard time grieving that hard for someone more than once. I think Kevin will want to be sad but not even be able to--his main emotions will be relief that she's gone and happiness that they can sell the house.

 

Was it an intentional overdose? Probably not. Did she know she was taking too much? Probably.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Hecate7

[buttercupia]

IMO it was absolutely a suicide.  Jackie was a nurse.  She knew how much heroin she was snorting and she knew it would kill her. It was a complicated act, selfish and selfless at the same time.  she knew she'd be an addict forever. 

The one it will hurt most is Zoey because she will always wonder if she could have done something, anything, to save her. I know this from bitter experience.

Yes, the past few seasons could have been written better but as far as I'm concerned, this is the only way she could have ended.

[Eire]

All I really want to know now is: WHO IS TAKING CARE OF SLIPPERS?

Wasn’t there talk of Slippers and Duck Phillip’s dog hooking up?  I like to imagine them living in a nice little cape out on Long Island. There!  A happy ending.

[A Boston Gal]

I also feel the execution of the finale was gawd-awful. The concept of Jackie OD'ing at the end (intentionally? mistakenly?) was a good one, but since this last season was so badly plotted, I felt there were too many nits left to pick to give the finale a thumbs-up.

This ambivilence has led me to like many posts here that are in direct contradiction to each other. My apologies if anyone is keeping track of my logic, which, like the logic of this season's story arc, has gone completely out the window.

Edited July 1, 2015 by A Boston Gal

[iMonrey]

 

I just think she OD'd -- the too-common and most predictable outcome for many addicts who continue to lie to themselves.

 

That would be true if she took too many pills. Jackie is no dummy though. She isn't addicted to heroin. That's not her drug of choice. When she poured out those huge, fat lines on the counter, she knew damn well it was an overdose. She meant to overdose. I cannot believe she didn't intend to kill herself, unless it was some kind of desperate cry for attention. And that's a real possibility. But I do not think for one second it was just an accidental overdose. She knew what that much horse would do to her.

[Eire]

That would be true if she took too many pills. Jackie is no dummy though. She isn't addicted to heroin. That's not her drug of choice. When she poured out those huge, fat lines on the counter, she knew damn well it was an overdose. She meant to overdose. I cannot believe she didn't intend to kill herself, unless it was some kind of desperate cry for attention. And that's a real possibility. But I do not think for one second it was just an accidental overdose. She knew what that much horse would do to her.

I think you are on the money.  I originally thought that she may have accidentally overdosed, but on re-watch I don’t think so.

She’s watching her happy, partying co-workers with a slight smile, almost like she has recognized something and then she goes into the bathroom and stares at herself in the mirror.  Her eyes are dark and vacant and I think she has realized and accepted that happy is an emotion she will never really be able to feel.  Then she pulls out the three bags of heroin, presumably pre-portioned by serving size by an experienced heroin addict, and inhales all three.  Jackie was never one to dwell on a situation and her decision to do all three bags makes sense.

That said, the overdose scene, with that beautiful version of the Valley of the Dolls song sung by K.D. Lang, had me in tears on the re-watch.

 

Is there anyone on here that’s into yoga?  I know yoga poses have meanings, so I’d bet the farm that the yoga scene in Times Square was full of symbolism.  Here’s hoping that someone in the know chimes in.

[dangwoodchucks]

 

Is there anyone on here that’s into yoga?  I know yoga poses have meanings, so I’d bet the farm that the yoga scene in Times Square was full of symbolism.  Here’s hoping that someone in the know chimes in.

Savasana - Corpse Pose

[Cosmocrush]

That would be true if she took too many pills. Jackie is no dummy though. She isn't addicted to heroin. That's not her drug of choice. When she poured out those huge, fat lines on the counter, she knew damn well it was an overdose. She meant to overdose. I cannot believe she didn't intend to kill herself, unless it was some kind of desperate cry for attention. And that's a real possibility. But I do not think for one second it was just an accidental overdose. She knew what that much horse would do to her.

Good point.   I'm more in the, "She knew what that much horse could do to her." idea.   She knew death was a possibility and just didn't care right then.  Everyone was leaving her,  the hospital was gone, and the drugs were just there.  Unplanned and yet inevitable.  

 

I agree with others; though I'm not sure she was consciously thinking, "I am going to kill myself," I certainly think subconsciously that was her intent.

That's how I am thinking too. 

 

 

Is there anyone on here that’s into yoga?  I know yoga poses have meanings, so I’d bet the farm that the yoga scene in Times Square was full of symbolism.  Here’s hoping that someone in the know chimes in.

the initial movement was almost like they were beckoning Jackie to join them and when she did it was perfect timing for the Savasana pose as dangwoodchucks posted.  Also red often symbolizes death and the yoga mats were all red.

Edited July 2, 2015 by Cosmocrush

[Cosmocrush]

And please know -- I don't mean to be combative at all -- it's totally cool if mileage varies on this. But while Jackie could often be a terrible person in the throes of her addiction, she was also a superb nurse, and she was at times a sympathetic and kind, funny friend. I'll never forget her bringing groceries to the AIDS patient, or helping the little girl manage caregiving for her mother, or countless other times Jackie was a good person on the show, and acting selflessly.

ETA:  The more interviews I read with Clyde Phillips the more I think he is a dick; it's almost like he never saw this show.  Among other things, he calls Jackie a sociopath.  Now either he doesn't really know what that word means or he experienced a completely different character.  The Jackie I've watched all these years was much closer to the character paramitch described above:

Edited July 2, 2015 by Cosmocrush

[DiabLOL]

To paraphrase the late great Mitch Hedberg, "Addiction is the only disease you can get yelled at for having."

[semisweet]

I am personnaly sure that it was suicide. I say that because of the way she paused and gave herself a long look in the bathroom mirror, a look that seemed to show determination and the decision to see it through. Also. as an ER nurse she knew that amount would cause the OD. I have a different take though about her reasons. First off, the symbolism of the hospital running out of meds/drugs was ultimately what was happening to her. Eddie was going to be gone for a year, and I believe she only had him around to supply her. I don't think she could relate to his happily ever after vision of their life after jail., with no more pharmaceutical connections. As far as being upset about Zoey not following her, it was because she still needed to have the easy to manipulate Zoey around. As far as her kids and O'Hara, there was some degree of love, but her only real relationship was to drugs. So no more drugs, no one left to manipulate, a new environment that would not be her personal pharmacy....nothing left for Jackie. I think the writers nailed addiction, and the final episode rang true to me. What is ironic is that even knowing all of that, I will miss Jackie.

[semisweet]

I'd just like to add that I don't think it was planned prior to the last day. Some harsh realizations hit her in quick succession, the heroin appeared, and ever the opportunist, Jackie took advantage of it.

[dangwoodchucks]

 

Wow. And Clyde Phillips really thinks people are going to buy his "undetermined" claim about Jackie's fate with layer after layer of evidence pointing to her demise?

But those who believe she lived use the fact that after lying down on the mat in the corpse pose, just about to die, she was brought out of it by Zoey calling her name. While that did make her open her eyes, after Zoey told her she was good her eyes closed again and her head fell to her left a bit and, fairly obvious to me, she died. After watching that final scene again, I'm convinced she mouthed 'thank you' to Zoey.  Carrie brought over oxygen, why wasn't it administered if they thought she could be saved?

 

As to intentional OD or not, in addition to all the reasons already mentioned, what convinces me is the "gotta get off of this ride" line when she walked out of the bathroom. The relationship between the line in the song about the merry-go-round and O'Hara telling her she was going in a circle is very obvious. She knew death would be the only way she'd stop using, and the only way she would stop being a nurse.

 

I had heard of, but never seen "Valley of the Dolls", so I watched it last night on YouTube. Terribly cheesy, and that theme song was terribly overplayed. Jennifer absolutely could not catch a break, but her final scene was much less poignant than I expected. Hell, the other two women seemed to barely register what happened to their friend. I had trouble watching Sharon Tate without constantly thinking about her tragic end.

 

Using the "Valley of the Dolls" theme in the NJ finale was absolutely perfect. I've been haunted by that song ever since and it really added to the sadness I felt for Jackie thinking that death was her only option. I preferred the k.d. lang version they used rather than Dionne Warwick's used in the movie.

[dangwoodchucks]

 

True, though I still think that there are so many other things to rebut the "she lived" claim: Final impenitence, the return of "God" who now rejects that identity (so, there is no God), the washing of the heroin addict's feet (calling out to the Last Supper), the shedding - however hallucinatory for Jackie - of the things associated with her identity as a nurse, etc. One just doesn't fill a teleplay with that much loaded imagery, only to claim, "But hey, maybe she lived!" in the end.

Absolutely. There are a ton of things in the finale indicating her death. I was just pointing out that people who believe she lived point to the fact she opened her eyes. Clod Phillips just makes himself look like more of an idiot each time he opens his mouth about his ambiguous ending. I haven't noticed anything to make me doubt she died.

 

Coincidentally, Neely's (Patty Duke) last name in "Valley of the Dolls" was O'Hara.

[roughing it]

I don't remember if I watched all of the original Valley of the Dolls (I was pretty young then) or all of the remake (80s?).  But usually the books are much better than the movies.  I might have to read the book this summer.

 

I may be naive, or let's call it hopeful, but when Jackie finished her diversion program and put on her nurse's scrubs, reached her hand into her pocket and popped pills...I was really hoping they were skittles...as a gotcha to the audience, since we were all so sure she relapsed.  But yep, she relapsed.  I was always rooting for Jackie to get clean.