By Jacob
Coop thinks it's a good idea to tell Sam about sleeping with his girlfriend, which is not true, and Sam thinks it's a good idea to punch Coop in the nose, which is always true. Coop tries to get Sam fired, but Gloria's not going for it, and then presents him with a bill for the six weeks of the Face of All Saints campaign, just like he wanted.
Meanwhile, Sam goes on a bender that ends up with Jackie taking him down to the basement and literally tap-dancing, with Thor, to keep Sam awake and alive. That was beautiful -- as was Eleanor and Jackie's no-tears reconciliation, which takes the form of Eleanor agreeing, against her better judgment, that Jackie's pain management regimen is her own deal. You can actually see Jackie relax at the thought of telling somebody even one-tenth of the secrets.
Lenny and Zoey finally get it together, which is sort of lovely and sweet, and Gloria finds God hiding in the rafters over Emergency. God is very clear about Jackie's posh mugging victim -- that he's not one of the flock -- which is proven true when he menaces Jackie out in the hallway. Thor tackles him adorably, which makes Thor two for two this week. And Eddie seems firmly comfortable being back in the hospital, offering advice and finally acting like a true friend again to Jackie (and Kevin!). In some ways they seem to have the most honest relationship of all.
But what about Jackie? Well, Kevin eventually calls Eddie for help after Jackie drives off and abandons him in the wilderness. They talk about the money issue and Kevin calms down, but then immediately finds the PO box key and thus, the serious pharmaceutical bills she's been hiding. He calls Eleanor -- I know! -- and they hold a little intervention in Queens. There's the usual nastiness, with a truly shitty song playing, and Jackie imagines for a moment saying "I'm Jackie and I'm a drug addict" ... And then laughs her ass off at the very thought. It's the most touching, and bad-ass, and awful moment of the season, bitter and sour and sweet all at once, and thus a perfect image to end things on.
Well, it's nice that the rats in the ceiling are now God, it's always nice to see him. And as a finale, and cliffhanger, it's awesome. But I wouldn't hold your breath for seeing any huge changes for Jackie year. I think she's got us on lock, which is after all the genius of the show. Mostly I'm just glad that she was able to be honest with Eleanor, to the degree she can be honest with anybody; I'm glad somebody actually told her what she was, so she can at least suck on the idea for awhile; and, as surprised as I am to say it, I'm glad Kevin finally manned up. His complicity in her bullshit has been made so clear this year that it almost feels like he's taking one for the team just looking at this shit for himself. Not to mention the fact that, between last week and this newest catharsis, Grace might finally get a chance to breathe. Very, very exciting end to a much stronger season, and promises a third year that will be out of this world.