(S02E01) Remember seeing the variety shows where a guy was spinning plates and the point of the trick was to keep all the plates spinning so that nothing fell to the ground and crashed into a million pieces? That's the ongoing life of Nurse Jackie.

Season two commenced not unlike the season one premiere, with Jackie flat on her back and a 1960's tune underscoring the moment. Instead of 'Valley of the Dolls,' it was 'Say A Little Prayer," but the sentiment remained the same. Jackie's a high wire act even when she's on her ass.

Jackie's home life seemed almost idyllic with Kevin and the kids at Orchard Beach, but as long as that diamond ring on her hand reminds her of Eddie and the hospital, Jackie can't be at ease. Kevin, bless his heart, loves her so much he seems oblivious to her extracurricular life.

The idea that Eddie was out of Jackie's life because she didn't return his calls was a self-deception. She could try to ignore him since he was no longer in the hospital pharmacy, but Eddie had his own ideas. How screwed up is he to purposely overdose on xanax to get Jackie's attention?

In typical Jackie fashion, she shrugged off the Virgin Mary getting shot at in the All Saints entryway, managed to use Akalitus' orders to instruct the staff about the pill computer to score some meds, and kept Zoey completely in the dark. Sam may be a problem, however, because he came back from rehab and he can tell Jackie's just like him.

If there's one thing that makes Jackie so compelling it's that she gets things done. She can cut through the crap. The business with Andy, the insurance guy, was on point. The deaf woman needed microsurgery to replace the fingers on her hand, and using her guile and charm, Jackie got the company to give the approval. She had to lie to do it, but the bottom line was she got it done. That's why you have to love Jackie, even if you can't understand why she has all those plates spinning at the same time.

Other points of interest

-- Was Coop crying about Jackie rejecting his invitation to 'Hair' or was it really about her calling him out in front of the other nurses? He's so shallow, it could be the former. His complaint to Akalitus was taken very seriously ... yeah, right.

-- Considering her economic situation, Jackie really should let Connie Eleanor set up college funds for Grace and Fiona. She has too much money and nobody to give it to.

-- Looks like Momo's being replaced by Thor. He and Jackie get each other, even though their addictive urges go in very different directions.

-- Favorite line of dialogue, Jackie to Coop: "It's no come here. It's all go away. Go away."