After How I Met Your Mother ended, I needed a comedy with heart to fill the emotional void in my heart. With a great decision, I chose to binge Scrubs. I finished all eight seasons in a little over two months. You'll notice I said eight seasons. That is because the "ninth" season never happened. Nope. Scrubs ended with My Finale. Yes, it did. Scrubs was such a great show. So many great aspects to it. Dr. Cox's rants, the Janitor's stories, J.D. and Turk's bromance, the fantasy sequences, the flashbacks, the recurring characters. Everything about Scrubs was awesome. It is, of course, one of my favorites so I had no problem watching it from start to finish, despite having seen multiple episodes before. I thought to commemorate my binge, I would list my eleven favorite episodes and rank every relationship between the main seven characters. (Sorry, Ted, Laverne, Jordan, and the Todd!) Here, we go!
Episodes:
12. My Jiggly Ball: There are multiple episodes in Scrubs where you get an in-depth, emotional look to each character. In My Jiggly Ball, we get a better look at Dr. Kelso. An old man who needs to use his deprecating sense of humor to keep his sanity at the hospital. He's obviously burdened by the job and in this episode, he chooses to save the life of a rich hospital trustee instead of Dr. Cox's friend. After doing this, he gets enough money from the trustee, he is able to reopen the service which gives prenatal care to underprivileged women. As Dr. Cox angrily stews in his dead patient's room, Kelso watches from behind and leaves the hospital without whistling jauntily as he usually does. It's deeply emotional. Shows Kelso is human and it made me like him as a character.
11. My Princess: Dr. Cox tells his son a bedtime story based upon the day's events at the hospital. The cast plays their standard roles and the roles created by Dr. Cox. This is also the first episode of Scrubs I ever watched so it has some nostalgia value.
10. My Old Lady: J.D., Turk, and Elliot fight through the entire day, fearing the looming potential of death to their respective patients. One out of every three patients admitted to the hospital will die there, according to J.D., but the odds were worse in this episode. All three of the interns lose their patients. J.D.'s patient, the old lady (played by Kathryn Joosten), helps him come to terms with his first death in the hospital. She also gives him advice in life. Elliot learns she cannot second guess herself and realizes she made the right call. Turk learned the value of connecting with patients. This is the first emotional episode of Scrubs where you could tell what kind of show it was going to be. One of the saddest scenes is the montage while Hallelujah plays.
9. My Porcelain God: J.D. and Elliot seek advice from Dr. Ken Casey (played by Michael J. Fox). We get to see a troubled side to the short-live, fun character of Ken Casey. His OCD easily gets the better of him and J.D. can see it. From Janitor's thinking spot on the roof, Elliot has an epiphany and a really cool sequence where Ken Casey seems like Superman. It's really an adventurous episode.
8. His Story: The first of the His/Her/Their episodes is a classic. We get a peek into Dr. Cox's inner monologue and how he really feels about J.D. He respects him. It's just one of those fun episodes you can watch out of sequence at anytime. I like it.
7. My Musical: It wouldn't be a list of Scrubs episodes without the musical episode! It truly embodied the huge impact of music on Scrubs. Plus, it immortalized the legendary connection between J.D. and Turk with the song, Guy Love, that is still being sung today. Amazing.
6. My Fallen Idol: The episode after My Lunch (you'll see that soon). We get a better look into Dr. Cox than His Story, surprisingly. Plus, we get to see the true relationship between J.D. and Dr. Cox. Deep down, at the very core, these two care about each other. J.D.'s speech to Dr. Cox is forever one of my favorite moments on the show and Dr. Cox thanking J.D. is also a beautiful scene. Here's the quote:
"You're probably wondering why I didn't show up before, huh? I know you wanted me to, even though you'd never admit it. Normally I would kill to get into this apartment. And you would try and keep me out. I say try because at your Super Bowl party, which I was not invited to, I was lucky enough to watch the second half from right over there. I was the bearded Domino's employee you invited in because I said I was a fan of Jerome Bettis, whoever the hell that is. Anyway, I tried to convince myself the reason I didn't come earlier was because of you coming into work drunk. But that's not it. I was scared. I guess after all this time, I still think of you as this superhero that will help me out of any situation I'm in. I needed that. But that's my problem, you know? And I'll deal with that. I guess I came over here to tell you how proud of you I am. Not because you did the best you could for those patients. But because after twenty years of being a doctor, when things go badly, you still take it this hard. And I gotta tell you, man, I mean, that's the kind of doctor I want to be."
Amazing.
5. My Screw-Up: This is a heart-wrenching episode and contains what many consider to be one of the saddest moments in the history of television. One of J.D.'s patients dies and Dr. Cox blames J.D. for the death and the rest of the episode is Perry and his best friend, Ben, (played by Brendan Fraser) trying to deal with everything going on at the hospital after the occurrences. When going to Dr. Cox's son's birthday party, Ben tells him to forgive himself for the patient's death and he does. Then, he asks about the camera for pictures of all the average birthday party happenings. J.D. says "Where do you think we are?" and just like that, Ben is gone. And he'd been dead the whole time. It's very sad and emotional. Check out the clip here:
4. My Life in Four Cameras: J.D., while facing the death of a patient, wishes his life was more like a sitcom where things always work out for the best. Everything is brighter, more orderly, and fixed. Janitor receives applause from the audience. Laughter pours in from the fourth wall. But this is not what happens. The reality is far harsher. Very funny, but sad episode. Good description of the majority of Scrubs episodes.
3. My Finale: This episode contains my favorite moment in television history. The end. There's so much greatness in the episode from start to finish. J.D. and Turk's goodbye and final "Eeeeeagle!", J.D.'s moment with Carla, the handshake with Kelso, Glenn Matthews, Dr. Cox's sentiment, the hallway, and the final fantasy. So very great it can only be described with some clips:
Flawless.
2. My Way Home: The entire episode is one big illusion to The Wizard of Oz. The Worthless Peons singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow, the Janitor painting a yellow line, painting J.D.'s shoes red, Dr. Cox saying "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain," Turk needing a heart, Carla needing courage, Elliot needing a brain, and J.D. needing to go home. "Going home, Dorothy?" It all came together so perfectly and I just really do love this episode. Plus, J.D. sings Africa so that's fun!
1. My Lunch: Just the absolute best episode of Scrubs. I knew it was coming. It's so emotional, sad, and just overall powerful. I clearly love the heartfelt episodes. The last three minutes of the episode are very strong. Plus, again (it seems to be a recurring theme) J.D. and Dr. Cox's relationship is heavily shown. I really don't wan to say much more, but here is this clip:
Bonus clips!
Hooch
is crazy.
Now, to rank the relationships of the main characters! Fun fun! This is in place of ranking characters, an impossible task.
21. Carla and Janitor: They really never did too much together.
20. Turk and Janitor: Barely even knew each other was there.
19. Turk and Kelso: "Turkleton."
18. Carla and Kelso: The classic story of nurse versus boss.
17. Janitor and Kelso: A charming back and forth for a management position.
16. Elliot and Kelso: A little bit more going on here.
15. Dr. Cox and Elliot: Never had the same connection he had with J.D.
14. Turk and Dr. Cox: Turk stood up to Perry more than J.D. ever did.
13. Elliot and Janitor: A fleeting crush made for some humor, but not much else.
12. Turk and Elliot: They started out as friends by association, but became real friends.
11. J.D. and Kelso: For some reason, there always seemed to be a mutual respect here.
10. Dr. Cox and Janitor: Another relationship built on respect.
9. Dr. Cox and Carla: The crush thing was weird, but these two truly are friends.
8. J.D. and Elliot: I'm not a big Elliot fan, but these two were always endgame.
7. J.D. and Carla: He's Bambi!
6. Elliot and Carla: They started out as unable to tolerate each other, but they became "best friends."
5. Turk and Carla: A very real relationship. Like actual relationship. With marriage.
4. Dr. Cox and Kelso: As much as they claimed to hate each other, they needed one another.
3. J.D. and Janitor: They're just so much fun to watch together, especially in the first season with improv.
2. J.D. and Turk: I know they're the big bromance and I truly love that. But they're second to...
1. J.D. and Dr. Cox: Of course. This is one of my all-time favorite television relationships.
I love Scrubs.
