(S06E14) Here's the scenario: We all knew that the Scrubs crew was going to kill off one of its long-running cast members. They tried to fake us out by making Jordan bed-ridden after pre-natal surgery, but we weren't fooled (I mean, even Bill Lawrence doesn't have the balls to kill of his own wife).
Then we get a plot line where Cox keeps trying to convince Jesus-loving Nurse Roberts that some things happen for no good reason. All of a sudden we see Aloma Wright, who plays Nurse Roberts, recite a meaty speech at the end of the episode, something she's never done in six years. Right then and there, we all knew who the killee was going to be.
Yep, Laverne's a goner.
Well, technically we don't know that yet. She just ended the episode in a coma. I'm guessing we'll find out her fate in part 2 of the episode in a couple of weeks. But it's not looking good for Laverne.
That whole storyline was kind of awkward, wasn't it? I mean, why was Cox so hellbent (pun intended) on dissuading Laverne of her belief that everything happens for a reason? Out of all the docs at Sacred Heart, Cox is the most aware that everyone has a coping mechanism to deal with all the sickness and death around them. And, although he's been critical of Laverne's devotion in the past, it still seemed ultra-cruel of him to try to break the poor woman. It just seemed like a long way to go to set up the auto accident that put her in the coma. I was kind of surprised they resorted to a car accident, though; I figured they'd give her cancer or some fast-acting disease. Heck, even having Nurse Roberts contract something from a patient would have been a better idea.
Of course, whenever Cox is around, funny things happen. He asks Laverne how to explain New Orleans, sugar-free ice cream and Hugh Jackman (boy, what did Hugh do for Cox to hate him so much?). Then he asks her what reason there was for him to dump coffee behind his back, which J.D. answered by slipping, falling, and refusing to get up unless Cox helped him. He was down there for so long, another nurse stepped right on him...
The funnier moments in this episode, though, happened away from the Cox/Laverne storyline. The best was about Heather, the lovely nanny that the Turks hired to take care of little Izzie. Both of the funniest parts were J.D. fantasies: The Todd's call of "Boooobiiiiieeesss!" to get all the men in to watch the nanny cam tape (don't care if the "Ricola" joke is overdone; it worked here), and the fantasy where J.D. not only makes out with the nanny, but the football players who beat him up show up and announce they're gay and his high school crush wanted a threesome. The reason Turk knew it was a fantasy? "How did Kristin know Heather's name?" Also, the visual demonstration of how ugly Turk finds all of J.D.'s girlfriends was equally disturbing and funny. Whoever played "ugly Elliot" earned his SAG card with the dress and wig.
The last storyline, about Kelso finally speaking to Elliot after she thanks him for making her the doctor she is now, was OK, mainly because of Ken Jenkins' performance. I like the face he told the Janitor to make when he relayed the news that Dr. Reed was suspended for bringing a patient's dog into the hospital. I also liked the line "I'm going to say the same thing I told my new gardener when he asked for Easter off: No way, Jose. His name is actually Jose. That's why I hired him." Janitor didn't have much to do, but I liked how he made like J.D. and looked into the distance, only to find out that's where he drunkenly threw all his cleaning supplies.
See? There's always something funny in a Scrubs episode (I forgot about J.D. wanting to give Heather a goodbye hug, and Turk going "yeah, she's a smoking hot racist thief."), and this episode had more funny moments than we've seen through most of this season. But, the laugh-out-loud moments have turned into chuckle-softly moments, which is not a good sign. Either way, the show is still entertaining to watch, and they still have the power to hook a viewer with the serious side of the story, as the show's fans are going to be curious to see how they treat Laverne's decline. As the fans know, even at 75%, Scrubs is still better than most comedies on TV.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-22-2007 @ 11:43PM
Bill said...
While Dr. Cox understands people's coping mechanisms, he's always had an intense desire to be right. The rants are part of that. And I think he's crossed the line before with it, and we saw when Laverne got really upset how quickly he realized he'd gone too far.
He's got to feel pretty awful, since I bet he was going to apologize to Laverne that day, but sometimes life... gotta go, booby horn.
http://popculturejunk.blogspot.com/
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3-22-2007 @ 11:55PM
dpmorri said...
Um...Thanks...I hadn't gotten to see it yet (as I'm sure many haven't either)...next time - keep the name of the person who dies on the otherside of the "continue reading" link please
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3-23-2007 @ 12:02AM
Joel Keller said...
dpmorri, my apologies. I'm usually good with leaving the spoilers to after the jump. I think this one was so obvious from the first second of the episode that I didn't even think I was spoiling anything by mentioning it up top.
Anyway, Laverne's not dead yet. Just in a coma. Who knows, she may come out of it like Meredith did on Grey's Anatomy...
I moved the spoilery part to after the jump. Again my apologies to those of you that got spoiled.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:03AM
Mel said...
Was it really so hard to move that sentence after the jump?
What made you even think doing what you did was a good idea?
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3-23-2007 @ 12:08AM
Mel said...
Now, good move hiding your mistake.
Don't ever censor your readers again. Unless you find "moron" a nasty word.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:13AM
Joel Keller said...
Mel, you had the same comment out there three times, all of which were made active. I kept the one where you said what you needed to say in the most civil manner. If the one with the "moron" remark was the only one you had, I would have left it there, reluctantly. But you gave me a choice, so I picked the least offensive of the three.
I find it interesting that I listened to the readers, admitted my mistake, but still got insulted for it. I mean, even an experienced entertainment reporter such as yourself appreciates that people make mistakes, right?
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3-23-2007 @ 12:22AM
Mel said...
Let's not kid ourselves.
You know and I know that when I posted those comments, that faux pas was still out there.
"Hiding your mistake" is the just the truth, and it isn't exactly insulting unless you have quite the delicate disposition.
I am grateful (for others sake) that you're not one of those writers that do not respond to the comments page. So there, feel better?
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3-23-2007 @ 12:31AM
Scott said...
mel, RELAX! it's a blog about Scrubs... SCRUBS!
and i have only read the 'moron' post but if that's apparently the nicest one, wow. you wonder how those can be insulting but i can only imagine that you would be far more incensed than Joel was after your comments. once again it's a blog.
now, on to the actual episode. the laverne development was easy to spot and Dr Cox's behavior comes from the fact that despite being a very perceptive guy, he can't get around his ego until the shit hits the fan.
a good/entertaining episode. hope next week's can build on it.
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3-23-2007 @ 9:10AM
Tim said...
Man, people are harsh with comments around here lately. This season has been hit and miss for me but even then it's still better than the majority of other comedies on TV these days.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:35AM
viper5dn said...
Hey Mel,
Get over yourself, you're a pretentious prick, don't use words you don't really know how to use "faux pas"... it only makes you look like a dick. Don't like reading his stuff, then don't come back. Its pretty simple. Joel amended his mistake, admitted it... nothing more anyone rational can ask for.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:42AM
Mel said...
Let's not all starting sticking oars in. Especially when you weren't there when the mistake was out there. Like I said, I'm glad that he rectified it but that doesn't take away from the fact that I'm unhappy about what happened in the first place.
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3-23-2007 @ 1:00AM
Joel Keller said...
Mel, there's no conspiracy here: people -- including you -- pointed out my mistake, I rectified the mistake, admitted wrongdoing, and apologized. Oh, and you posted the same comment three times. I just deleted the two where you called me and TV Squad a bunch of morons. I'm just trying to keep the conversation civil.
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3-23-2007 @ 1:04AM
TVblogger said...
Joel,
I WAS here and SAW the mistake, and am glad you fixed it.
So, consider me sticking my "oar" in. But, I guess there's always going to be people like Mel that can never admit THEIR mistakes, and let go of their pride :(
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3-23-2007 @ 1:17AM
Mel said...
Boo Hoo. I didn't say there was a conspiracy, I even thanked you for rectifying it. But do I need to fawn over you now just because you did something you should have done before posting it up?
Gee, Mr Internet Man, I'm awful sorry about getting angry because I got spoiled just for having the nerve to scroll down the site's front page.
You made a mistake. It affected me. I'm not happy about it. I reacted angrily and called you a moron. But then you fixed it. And it's good that you did.
It's really that simple.
Now for the obligatory episode analysis:
One of the better eps this season, the jokes flowed better from scene to scene.
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3-23-2007 @ 1:30AM
TVblogger said...
Nothing like Grade A high school idiocy to kill all rational thought.
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3-23-2007 @ 1:42AM
Jothie said...
Personally I think the only MORON here is someone that starts to read a blog about a show he hasn't seen yet then complains that is spoiled it for him. Talk about stupidity. If you truly wanted to see the show without any inside information about it you could have skipped over completely and read it later.
This is a sight where we.. you know.. actually talk about TV shows AFTER the air. Who woulda thunk that discussining an episode of tv show they just seen would have details about that tv show. I know who wouldn't have thought that...
A MORON
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3-23-2007 @ 1:50AM
Curt said...
You know what I find funny? That you all fall for an obvious troll named Mel.
With "people" like him, it's best to just ignore his "opinion" and continue with a rational conversation about the topic at hand, which would be Scrubs, not what an asshat someone can be.
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3-23-2007 @ 2:15AM
Rob said...
Don't worry Joel,.. most all of us are with you on this one. While I may not have been directly affected by the "faux pas", I can appreciate your owning up to it and fixing it. And even beyond that, I'm glad to see that you are one of the bloggers that actually interact with us in the comments section. Keep up the good work!
I was very pleased with this episode. Chalk up another good one for B.L. and the cast of Scrubs.
Peace.
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3-23-2007 @ 2:21AM
Nick said...
Here is an idea. Lets drop it and talk about the episode.
Can anybody tell me what song was playing during JD's wrap up spiel?
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3-23-2007 @ 2:19AM
Rob said...
Aww man,.. it deleted my fake tags...
It was supposed to read:
.
Don't worry Joel,.. most all of us are with you on this one. While I may not have been directly affected by the "faux pas", I can appreciate your owning up to it and fixing it. And even beyond that, I'm glad to see that you are one of the bloggers that actually interact with us in the comments section. Keep up the good work!
.
(for a HTML idiot, I was pretty proud of that one)
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