I love Edie Falco though I’ve never watched ‘Nurse Jackie’–I love her from the good ole days on ‘The Sopranos’ and because on that show she talked (both with accent and word) like all the Italian ladies I grew up around in Rhode Island. But now I’m captivated by Edie Falco again–though not because I decided to watch the first season of ‘Nurse Jackie’ to catch up in time for season two.

I’m captivated because season two ‘Nurse Jackie’ posters–they are literally plastered across the insides of entire subway cars in New York City–are quite religiously iconic. I kind of love seeing them. With a saintly halo of syringes and pills framing Nurse Jackie’s head, plus her right hand holding a pill bottle in such a way that it looks like she’s offering a blessing, these adverts for ‘Nurse Jackie’ are arresting to behold and quite clever. The idea that a nurse would be–or at least could be–saintly plays well, though of course, I am assuming the poster is meant to evoke some irony, since isn’t Nurse Jackie a bit of a renegade nurse? Maybe even a bit scary?
With Lindsay Lohan’s recent stint posing as Jesus (puh-leeze: Madonna can pull it off but sorry Lindsay, you’re just not there yet), among other celebs like Courtney Love posing as Mary a few years back, it’s not new for celebrity women to show up in such religious iconic ways. But the ‘Nurse Jackie’ saint icon is one of the most playful and uncontroversial I’ve seen of late–and makes me curious to actually try watching the show this season. Of course, I have a soft spot for Edie Falco, her Sopranos’ Carmela was a devout Catholic so I think she plays the saint part well.
Season two of Nurse Jackie premiers March 22 on Showtime.