HawthoRNe: The Complete First Season

Jada Pinkett Smith stars as Christina Hawthorne, the chief nursing officer at a dysfunctional, financially starved city hospital serving both military veterans and local civilians in this made-for-cable medical drama series. A widow still struggling with the death of her husband (the show opens on the one-year anniversary of his death), Hawthorne is passionate, angry, headstrong, rebellious, and confrontational. While protective of her staff and the people she cares for, Hawthorne has no patience with intolerance, superiority, or apathy (from either doctors or patients), and on the homefront she struggles with being the single mother of a rebellious teenager. Hawthorne is not as interesting as the more self-destructive Nurse Jackie from the Showtime-aired series, but she is another in a growing lineup of strong female professionals on the small screen. Suleka Mathew costars as Bobbie Jackson, Hawthorne's more diplomatic second in command; Michael Vartan plays Tom Wakefield, the chief of surgery who alternately defends Hawthorne to the board of directors and butts heads with her defiant approach; and Hannah Hodson is Hawthorne's daughter Camille. Featuring all 10 episodes of the 2009 first season of this TNT-aired series, DVD extras include several behind-the-scenes featurettes and an interview with Smith. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)