HawthoRNe

Jada Pinkett has always been one of my role models and that was before her last name was hyphenated with "Smith."  She has the ability to get into any character that is given to her, although she plays the spunky/feisty female role the best.  It's natural to her and I imagine that that is what drew Will Smith to her, like a moth to a flame.  The latest addition to her extensive acting resume is TNT's HawthoRNe television series.  I love this show! I mean it reminds me of everything that I have seen in interviews or read in magazines. I mean she brings in it in every episode (there have only been two that have aired thus far J)!

Jada Pinkett Smith plays Christina Hawthorne who is the Chief Nursing Officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital.  She engages in actions that at the time are what she feels is in the best interest of the patient even if means that she is crossing the line or stepping on someone else's toes...usually those of Dr. Tom Wakefield who is the Chief of Surgery.  Dr. Wakefield is the complete opposite of Christina in that he prefers to take as few risks, if any, as possible.  He does not like to be questioned or undermined by the staff in the hospital, but she always finds a way to get under his skin and when he approaches her on it, she doesn't back down and he is left standing there.   

The show opened up in episode one with her talking to her husband...who by the way is deceased as a result of cancer.  She has conversations with him as if he is right there in the room or in the bed with her.  It has been a year since he passed away and she has a teenager daughter, Camille, whom she is now raising alone.  My heart went out to her in this episode as she tried to save her husband's best friend from jumping from the rooftop of a building on the anniversary of her husband's death.  Her daughter had rebelliously chained herself to the vending machines at her institution of higher learning in an effort to elicit the type of actions she wanted.  However, the end result was that her efforts were futile and when her mother (played by Jada) came to the school to meet with the principal to work something out, things got worse.  Her daughter went on to accuse her mother of not caring about her and that she let her father die.  At that point, my mouth hit the floor...figuratively speaking.  I could not believe that she would have said something like that to her mother considering the circumstances, but then it hit me.  She is hurting too.  She has recently lost her father and it's been a year since he's been gone and she probably feels alone.  Not to mention that she probably resents her mother for purportedly letting her father die.  She is lashing out in school because she is unable to deal with what is going on in a manner that is less detrimental than what she is currently resorting to.

Last week the second episode aired and she had a dilemma. There was an African-American male suffering from an aneurysm and also has been diagnosed with dementia.  This patient is played by Malcolm Jamal-Warner.  He believes that Christina is wife during the show and he at one point admits that he has had an extramarital affair and he confesses to her and asks her to forgive him and that he is sorry and he wants her to know that he has every intention of doing right by her now.  Unfortunately, Christina is not his real wife and his real wife is on the way to the hospital.  Christina speaks to Bobbie, one of the nurses, about this and asks her opinion as to whether or not she should tell his wife.  In the end, she opts not to tell as I believe that her own relationship with her husband played a factor in her decision.  Right before her own husband passed away from cancer, he mentioned that he wanted to tell Christina something, but he expired before he was able to utter whatever it was that he wanted to say.  Christina told Bobbie that and she went on to say something to the effect that if her husband was about to confess that he had been sleeping around right before he died, would she have really wanted to know.  That's some heavy stuff to think about and have to be left alone with to dwell on when someone passes away.  Is ignorance bliss?

I say all that to say this.  The show is a great addition, I think, to TNT's already explosive line-up.  Jada Pinkett Smith brings to the network what she does best, which is get into character and cause the audiences and viewers to hang on to her every word and action and wonder what will she do next week as it seems that there is nothing that she will not do or at least consider. 

The show airs every Tuesday night at 8 P.M. Central Standard Time.