Our Dear Leaders
Scrubs finally starts to make some headway into establishing the lives of the interns as the primary focus of the show, though it still spends a lot of time dealing with Turk growing as the chief of surgery. Dr. Russell (Reno Wilson) makes a visit, and threatens the status quo as the most popular person at the hospital.
In the main story, we have Drew abandoning Lucy and the group during hell week, leaving them to their own dysfunctional personalities as they prepare their coursework for the upcoming report. On the second story, we have Turk continuously trying to assert himself as the leader of the hospital, despite Dr. Russell easily taking all the attention away from him.
It's a pretty loose episode overall, and there weren't very many laughs I thought. Kelso is still hanging around, and there is still no definition as to who is the focus character with it switching between Lucy and Turk all of the time. The final takeaway this episode, I guess, is that leadership is knowing when to step up and take charge, and when to step aside in follow. The whole season so far continues to feel like an afterthought unfortunately, and I'm not sure how long it can hold out.
Observations
- Mahoney talks about her throat seizing up from her hell week, and she ends up with a rough voice the rest of the episode. I'm not sure if that was acting or if she actually did have a sore throat.
- "You are a nasty old man." - Mahoney "Thanks, dear." - Kelso
- Mahoney watches "The Bachelor"! And cries!
- There is a terrifying amount of horse paraphernalia in Lucy's room.
- Supermodel intern didn't have any lines at all, which is a disappointing to me personally.
Our Stuff Gets Real
In what I feel was a pretty drab episode of Scrubs, we have the return of JD and Elliot as they come to terms with the fact they are about to have a baby forever changing both of their lives. It feels like this show can't seem to let go of their old cast. The episode centers around the challenges that can arise from becoming too emotionally involved with your patients. Lucy still hasn't quite come to terms with her patient Ben dying and now becoming her cadaver. Just as J.D. and Elliot are coming to terms with their baby, Cox is coming to terms with the fact he has to create a will for Jordan and is growing old.
With the intercut inner dialogs of J.D. and Lucy, the show just continues to lose traction while staying fairly confusing. There are a few witty moments, but overall the episode just never gets going comedically and just seems to resolve at the end. I understand that the writers want to ease their viewers into a new series, but if the old characters never leave, we are never going to have a new series but rather a rehash of loose plots never used during the first eight seasons. Who is the main narrative for the show? Lucy or J.D.?
Observations
- Of all the doctors, Cox connects best with the emotionless Dr. Denise Mahoney. She's also the only one he both fears and respects.
- Knight Rider is based on fact.
- "Yeah that as always Ally McBeal's problem too. It's so hard being a working woman in the mid 90s." - Denise to Cox
- "Step-kids aren't the same. There a rental. You gotta take mildly good care of them, return them with a full tank of gas and not too many dents." - Cox
- I think of all the characters, old and new, Denise is my favorite. She has the most depth. She's ruthless and emotionless and can hold her own against Cox, as she's just like him.