Edie Falcos performance in the last episode of Nurse Jackie was a semester of acting classes.

We dont coverNurse Jackiehere atDen of Geek.

Historical inaccuracies, plot holes and series continuity problems drive them to distraction.

Edie Falco is an acting geeks dream.

Its all there forever etched in celluloid to be paused and rewound, pored over and emulated.

I believe Jackie Peyton is the most complex character on TV, sweeping indictment as that may be.

I didnt get around to seeing it until recently.

It is a white knuckle ride.

My stomach got tighter and tighter as Jackie got more and more desperate.

My balls dropped when her world unraveled.

This is a comedy?

It sure as fuck is.

There are set pieces of physical comedy.

There are beautiful scripted lines that surprise you into laughing, inappropriately.

Words are bricks in a dirty street fight.

That doesnt make it any less gripping.

It does not diminish the suspense.

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Edie doesnt have to yell or flail about wildly.

She doesnt have to scrunch up her face or grimace in pain.

Her desperation shoots through her like electricity.

Her emotions go one way and her body language goes somewhere else completely.

Falco does that a lot.

And through it all, everything she says and does is still a bluff.

Jackie is lying when shes telling the truth.

She doesnt have to show a thing and she shows it all.

And then theres Zoey.

Oh my god, Zoey.

Merritt Wever is a wonder in that scene.

I always believed you.

Zoey breaks and is reborn.

She doesnt deserve a hug even though everything she did was out of real love and real concern.

Zoey confronts that bully and flinches, blinks and pauses.

She hems and haws and stutters and stammers.

Zoey does not back down and it is killing her not to.

Jackie is nothing if shes not a nurse.

She would then be stripped bare to the junkie underneath the scrubs.

But even as her professional world comes tumbling down, shes worrying about her connection.

Where is she going to score if she is not a healthcare professional?

I am not an addict and I was chipping.

Jackie and Carmela both live in a world of two families.

Jackie has the hospital and her home.

In the first few seasons, she kept them separate.

Whatever happens, you dont take it home.

Edie Falco was born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island.

Falcos parents got divorced twice.

Falco started acting in the Teakettle Players childrens ensemble.

Falco studied acting at the Acting Program at SUNY Purchase.

She never seems to stop acting.

On her down time from TV roles, she does plays.

Falcos first regular role was as the jail cop Diane Whittlesey on HBOsOz.

Hmm, if you mash upNurse JackieandUgly Bettyyou getNurse Bettystarring Morgan Freeman and Chris Rock.

She was nominated for one Tony, so far, forHouse of Blue Leaves.

Falco was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, but didnt tell anyone for a year.

In the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Falco put in an appearance in a TV commercial for M.O.B.

(Mothers Opposing Bush).

She also told parents to keep kids away from the zoo in an ad for PETA in 2013.

Falco adopted a son in 2005 and a daughter in 2008.

And I give a little cheer when I see that an episode was directed by his brother Steve.

Gloria Akalitus, played by Anna Deavere Smith is almost a cartoon, but that doesnt diminish her performance.

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