(S07E06) I've been getting mixed signals, from commenters as well as fellow critics, about this season of Scrubs. A lot of TV Squad readers have been finding more fault with the episodes this year than I have, and the Star-Ledger's Alan Sepinwall called this season "flat and repetitive" on his blog. But I've been enjoying it so far; I think that the flatness some see is a low-key-ness that we haven't seen since season two or so. And the repetition? Final-season homages to the past. Anyway, I've been liking this season because anything that even slightly improves on last season's general clunkiness makes me happy.All that being said, this episode didn't do it for me. It just wasn't funny. Even the most reliably funny characters, ones that save otherwise clumsy episodes, just didn't have it in them this week. And even the touching J.D. - Elliot moment rang a bit hollow.
Remember when people used to be scared of Bob Kelso? I've noticed that for the last couple of seasons, the writers have made Ken Jenkins' character into a line-spewing caricature that no one seems to be intimidated by in the least. Even Cox hasn't needed to tell Kelso to "blow it out your ass" in quite a while. Is it because all the main characters are now attendings and there's no need to show Bobbo intimidating them during rounds anymore? Whatever it is, it seems like the old Scary Kelso has gone away and he's not coming back. Even Ted isn't scared of him anymore.
You'd think we'd see a little bit more about how Kelso was dealing with his impending mandatory retirement. But instead, all we got was a guy obsessed with eating his free muffins, drawing glasses on people who ruin the last Harry Potter book for him, and being a grudging sidekick to Carla as she finds out how Janitor was able to hook up with his lady Lady. Janitor, one of those characters that is reliably funny, wasn't much more than pathetic in this one, trying to make himself "normal" in order to keep Lady around. The part where he lets it all out -- "I stuff animals... sometimes with other animals." -- was the best we got from Janitor this week, along with his repeated assertion that he doesn't wear a jumpsuit: "shirt, belt, pants."
Was the RateYourDoc.org competition (which, as per NBC policy, has been made into a working site... check out The Janitorial newsletter) really good enough to be the A story this week? We got a couple of chuckles -- "What's up with Dr. Cox's hair? First he's bald and then the next week he looks like Shirley Temple!" and "But sometimes dat is what I'm talkin' about." -- but the story was really more of a series of lame gags than an actual story. Sure, J.D. wants to win something for once. But we all know he'd rather have a unicorn for a pet than win a contest. That's the reason why Perry Cox has been calling him girls' names for the last seven years (actually, I haven't heard Cox do that in a while, either. I guess he found it hard to do after J.D. helped pull him out of his depression two years ago. Or it just got old. Not sure). Even the unicorn gag wasn't that great, though I liked the recursive nature of the fantasy, ending in nothing but the sad realization by Johnny D. that, no, unicorns don't actually exist.
So, now we come to the first meaty story for Elliot in weeks: the ethical and moral dilemma she faces with an ALS patient she's grown close to. Does she let the patient kill herself in order to escape a disease that will progressively get worse or does she do her duty and tell her nurse to watch for it? While there was some nice acting done on Sarah Chalke's part here, it did feel like the whole plot was contrived simply as a way for J.D. to give Elliot a heartfelt speech about how well he knows her, didn't it? Is it the next step in bringing the two of them together? Probably. But I think the plot would have been better served if J.D. wasn't even a part of it, and it was just Elliot's struggle. By the way, even the most serious Elliot plots usually contain one classic Elliot ramble about her past, but we didn't hear one here. Maybe she was going to do one before she got cut off by Kelso's "let's fall asleep while the private practice doc prattles on" gag.
I dunno. Maybe I'm cranky from lack of sleep or not enough fiber in my diet or something. But this episode really felt like it was mailed in to me. Depending on the outcome of the strike, we either have 13 episodes left or five. Either way, there's too few left in the series to waste them on throwaway episodes like this one.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-07-2007 @ 2:26AM
SJ said...
Haha check out Franklyn's bio on the website:
"As the Primary Lab Technician, Franklyn is a hero to all. He gets results back in a timely manner, and his efforts contribute to saving many, many people, including a cheerleader. He hopes to someday travel back to Feudal Japan to visit his ancestors. As of Fall 2006, many around Sacred Heart have been abuzz about Franklin's striking resemblance to that of a character from a popular super-hero drama."
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12-07-2007 @ 4:48AM
Paul said...
I hope they found a way to get Franklin into an episode this year, even if briefly.
I was actually quite pleased with this episode, as I have been with every one this year since the first couple. I think it's easy and comfortable because these guys just know what they're doing. 2 seasons ago they went for the over-the-top crazy, which I actually quite enjoyed for what it was, but it left expectations (no matter what people thought about that season) that the show has been trying to shed itself of since then.
It's a relaxing, funny journey, this last season of "Scrubs". I just hope it gets to end properly, with 18 episodes and a wrapped-up story. Because, while I support the writers 100% in their strike and EVERYTHING they're striking for makes perfect and logical sense, I don't know what I'll do if "Scrubs" ends with a whimper and a false finale. *Sigh*
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12-07-2007 @ 9:43AM
margot said...
Was it me or was the ALS patient Nurse Rose on Grey's Anatomy? I looked her up, but didn't see it listed on her imdb page.
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12-07-2007 @ 11:27AM
russianspy said...
what the hell is wrong with you? this episode, and this season in general shows how much the characters have grown. Just as real attendings would not be as scared of Bob-o as they were when they were young residents, so are these guys.
This is one of the few shows that no only portrays medicine realistically, but also is consistent with their characters emotional developments. Elliot is no longer insecure and completely frazzled. Carla is not as judgmental. Cox is less of an a-hole. Turk and J.D. have matured somewhat. This is all progress.
Besides, this show is not created for critic's but for audiences. And this audience member loved it.
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12-07-2007 @ 11:54AM
JDog said...
"... even the most serious Elliot plots usually contain one classic Elliot ramble about her past ..."
The closest we came to it was when JD was telling Elliot how she basically overreacts when she feels guilty ... like when she broke a teenager's iPod and so agreed to go to prom with him. Elliot replied something like she only let him go "a little bit of the way" or he only got "a little bit lucky" ...
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12-07-2007 @ 11:54AM
Wii60 said...
"One blueberry muffin please"
*throws in trash*
"Because I can, damnit!"
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12-07-2007 @ 12:37PM
Jen said...
I love that Franklyn is on the Web site!
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12-07-2007 @ 12:56PM
keithnl said...
I gave up on this show when JD dumped his baby and Elliot dumped the dudemeister, makes the entire series feel like its been nothing but filler episodes since season 2.
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12-07-2007 @ 1:04PM
John Darc said...
yeah, but here's a problem with all the "final season homages". they did them already, last year, when they thought they were gonna get canned.
so it's rehashing jokes not 7 years old, but 1 year old.
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12-07-2007 @ 3:24PM
kevjohn said...
Oh c'mon, people! Janitor's joke about stuffing animals with other animals was by itself worth sitting through this failry boring episode.
And for the record, I think I would base my RateYourDoc vote based upon who I would most likely want to do the "turn your head and cough" test with. So Dr. Elliot won hands down -- no pun inteded.
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12-07-2007 @ 8:24PM
penguendedektif said...
Dr. Jan Etor: "I don't believe in moon. I think it the back of the sun"
Legen...
wait for it...
dary.
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12-08-2007 @ 2:19AM
Takayo said...
This episode was really lame to me too. Personally, I think a lot of the reason the show has been snoozing lately is because there's no love interest for JD or Elliot. Which is why I figured the writers would've put them together by now, so we'd have 13 episodes (BTW, isn't this seasons supposed to be a downgraded season of only 17 episodeS? Don't we only have 11 left if the Writer's strike is resolved?) of that drama. But no, they just broke up their pretty nice relationships and have barely hinted at JD/Elliot since last season's almost kiss.
As for Kelso, I think more of the reason he's not really feared is because he doesn't incite fear anymore. Which, who can blame him. The guy's kind of depressed about having to give up a job he loves so much soon, I imagine. At first I thought it was kind of odd that Carla could boss Kelso around, but then I remembered... It's Carla....
The only storyline I really liked in this episode was the Janitor's. I hate his girlfriend though... I mean, if she's going to keep being around then she'll stifle his craziness, no matter how little he doles out at a time.
Here's hoping next year has better episodes...
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12-08-2007 @ 10:49AM
Jimmy said...
I've been critical of this season -- especially of last week's episode -- but I thought this week was pretty good.
One reason: No babies!
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12-08-2007 @ 10:50AM
Jimmy said...
P.S. Check out TheToddTime.com!
12-10-2007 @ 2:24PM
J Rock said...
i think the fact that the docs aren't scared of Kelso anymore is good, but why can't we see him terrorizing a new group of interns, like he scared JD and co. just so we know that he still has that spark in him even though he may be put out to pasture soon
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12-11-2007 @ 2:20AM
Jeremiah said...
I agree, this episode was trash. I found it mildly interesting, and the only time during the 20 minutes of show time that I found my interests peaked was when J.D. gave his little speech to Eliot.
I mean, way back when, (Season 2 was it?) J.D. has been madly in love with Eliot. Every time the two near each other after she broke it off with Kieth, I can't help but scream in my head "OH COME ON ALREADY!!!!".
"By the way, even the most serious Elliot plots usually contain one classic Elliot ramble about her past, but we didn't hear one here."
Technically, she did go on about the kid she took to prom, but that was very brief.
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