Nurse Jackie came to a close in 2015 but is there still hope for an eighth season? Nurse Jackie is a darkly comic drama from Showtime that debuted in 2009 and followed the titular character, a drug-addicted emergency department nurse in New York. The show followed Jackie trying to balance her hectic work life with her various addictions, and Nurse Jackie was a great star vehicle for Edie Falco.
The series was Falco's follow-up to The Sopranos, which ended in 2007, and it also boasted a fantastic supporting cast, including Eve Best, Merritt Wever and Peter Facinelli (Twilight). The show followed the intense ups and downs of Jackie's life, including a stint in rehab, and the final season dealt with the closure of All Saints' Hospital and Jackie's attempts to put her life back together.
Season 7 of the show finished its run in 2015 and its emotional finale received great reviews, though some viewers were mixed on it. It still has a fanbase so is there hope for Nurse Jackie season 8?
Nurse Jackie Ended On An Ambiguous Note
The final scene of Nurse Jackie season 7 sees Jackie give into her addictions and snort several lines of street grade heroin. She then has a hallucination of walking out of the hospital - which is having a party celebrating its final day - and doing yoga in Times Square. The show then cuts to her collapsed in the hospital overdosing, and the other doctors and nurses rushing to save her. Whether she lives or dies is left up to viewers to decide, though showrunner Clyde Phillips (Feed The Beast) stated in interviews he believed she survived.
Nurse Jackie Season 7 Almost Had An Alternate Ending
Nurse Jackie season 7 almost ended with Jackie's world literally burning down around her. This alternate finale saw the hospital burn down in an accident, with Jackie racing to rescue a patient handcuffed to a bed. She fails to save them and escapes through a basement window, but instead of heading back to let the others know she's safe, she decides to run away and let everybody think she died.
Nurse Jackie Season 8 Is Unlikely
While her fate may have been left ambiguous, Nurse Jackie season 8 is unlikely. The final season was crafted as an ending and even if Jackie lived, Clyde Phillips has stated her medical career would have been over following the overdose. The hospital is also gone so it's hard to see where Nurse Jackie season 8 could go that would be satisfying.
While Jackie's ending may have been frustrating for some, it felt appropriate - if tragic - considering her self-destructive behavior. Nurse Jackie season 8 isn't necessarily out of the question, but it's hard to see Edie Falco - who has since moved on to the Avatar sequels - or showrunners wanting to continue her story beyond the finale.