Hello, Nurse!: Putting Hawthorne on the (Round)Table
Hosted by Special Correspondent Arturo R. García
The premiere of Hawthorne wasted no time defining Jada Pinkett Smith’s title character: emotionally conflicted over her husband’s death and a classic, though caring, workaholic, fighting authority – not to mention the local authorities – in the name of her job and her corps of nurses.
What makes the show more notable isn’t just Jada’s star turn; it’s the fact she’s joining Holly Hunter and Kyra Sedgwick as star/executive producers of their TNT vehicles. The idea is, the network gets the star power, and in Pinkett-Smith’s case, as she told USA Today, she gets “a lab where [she]I could learn about story structure.”
Ahh, but how did the first story play out, with its’ suicidal patients, homeless miracle babies, patient sexin’, rebellious daughter and posthumous interracial(?) romance? Before tonight’s episode, let’s consult some friends. ROUNDTABLE, ASSEMBLE!
Ok, kudos, first off, to JPS for being both the star and an exec. producer. But how do you think she’s handling the character or Christina so far?
Andrea: I think Mrs. Pinkett Smith had to exec-produce the show in order to keep it from descending into Gross Negress Stereotype Territory–namely the Sassy Angry Black woman who neck-rolls her way through her nursing shifts. I’m glad Jada plays Christina as spunky and tough, but 1/2–if not 3/4–of what she did during that one shift would have gotten her spunky, tough, Black female ass canned, regardless of her position. In this respect, I think Jada exec-produced the first hospital sci-fantasy, not hospital drama.
Mahsino: Actually, that’s pretty much how my mom is at work, and she’s a nurse. Of course, she doesn’t work at the hospital anymore, but I’ll buy it. Hell, that’s pretty much how I am at work, “the look” and all.
Diana: I like the fact that JPS was able to bring a drama with black female protagonist to the small screen. But I had to make a note to self–we’ve been here before–Diahann Carroll as Julia, in 1968. She too was a nurse, recently widowed, raising a child.
Andrea: True about Julia. But I got “dignified” from that show.. At least Christina’s spunkiness makes her interesting, if unbelieveable.
Diana: And Christina had a scene with “wild” hair–reminded me of the ladies of Heroes.
Andrea: LOL!
Mahsino: Ha. Wasn’t Angela’s sister’s name also Christina? Sidenote, next season they’re getting rid of the wig. Now this has noting to do with JPS’s acting ability, but I generally hate background music that tries to tell me how I should feel (take a note, Grey’s Anatomy). I don’t need quirky upbeat music to tell me something amusing is going on- good acting should convey the message, and they were doing a good job of that without the damn music. In short, she did a good job.
Erica: I loved the wild hair look. And loved the security guard escape routine — and how she’s totally on the job herding patients back where they should be even when racing to the roof to confront a suicidal patient. Spunky and smart, that’s a character I can be interested in.
Was it me, or was baby Moses eyeroll in pretty good-looking shape, considering the twist regarding his parentage?
Andrea: As always, I’m surprised at how big the baby was to be a newborn. When I think of newborn, I think of this. Or this. Again, considering the level of disbelief we have to suspend for Christina’s behavior, I guess we have to also suspend our belief regarding the baby, too. (Can I say how utterly adorable that baby was? His cheeks were soooo kissable!)
Diana: He was a sweet looking baby. I think we did have to just suspend disbelief. What about the mother. She was walking around like nothing had happened. I was like, how did she give birth with all those clothes ? And why isn’t she laid out somewhere recuperating?
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