10. “Handle Your Scandal” on “Nurse Jackie”

By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff

We finally got to see Jackie clean and sober last season, and it was deeply satisfying after four long years watching her destroy herself and her family. In the season finale, Emmy-nominated Bobby Cannavale’s cold Dr. Cruz has to face his dead son, played by his real-life son, Jake Cannavale. Grief-stricken, he yells at Jackie, “Don’t say his name, it’s not yours to say.” It’s a piercing moment. Meanwhile, in another part of the hospital, O’Hara gives birth. Yes, one kid dies and another is born — it’s a cliché. But it worked, embodying the choice Jackie has had to make for herself. At the end of the episode, when Jackie says, “I made it,” it’s a beautifully earned victory cry.