(S07E07) God, what a snoozer this episode was. And you can't really blame it on the writers being rusty after the strike; this is the first of the last five episodes made before the strike, which NBC held until it could pair it with new episodes of the rest of the Thursday lineup. In fact, as we found out, this is the first of the five final NBC episodes, as the show wasn't picked up by the Peacock. We'll likely see an eighth season on ABC, but nothing has been set yet.Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the boringness of this episode. There were two decent laughs in this one: "brinner" and... you know what? I can't think of the other. There was some story advancement in this episode, but overall it was so unmemorable that I'm just going to pretend that next week's episode is the first Scrubs since the strike. Yeah, that'll work.
Oh, wait... now I know what I thought the second funny thing was; it was Cox's sly swipes of Kelso's food. I thought it was a clever way for Perry to bust Bobbo's chops. But what we find out is that Cox was really trying to help Kelso slim down. Awww... seeing Cox care about Kelso even in the slightest gives me the willies. It defused a perfectly good side joke that was devoid of all feeling or meaning. I'm not sure if having the episode end on Kelso retrieving that cake from the trash was intended to be funny, because all it did was make the guy look completely pathetic. Is the downfall of Dr. Scary something Bill Lawrence and company are doing on purpose?
Turk learning Spanish for an anniversary gift was admirable, and hiding the knowledge from Carla to get what he wanted was typical Scrubs trickery. And I'm hoping that the concept of "brinner" takes off; I'd love to try a nice malbec with my next Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich. But the only part of that storyline that really got me going was what Carla and Turk said to each other as they watched J.D. and Elliot talk to each other in the cafeteria. They were the only lines without subtitles, and it seems like the writers put it there just to make us all scratch our heads. This kind of misdirection is something I'd expect from How I Met Your Mother, and done with a lot more subtlety. If anyone can translate that piece for us, please help a blogger out and put it in the comments...
We're hurtling towards at J.D. / Elliot pairing, aren't we? While it was refreshing that the plot with the burn victim didn't quite work out like some of the other "feel good" plots from the last seven years have gone -- even some of the people who've died have had good exits -- that plot turned out to be a McGuffin, an excuse for more bonding between the long-time friends and former lovers. I think they're both maturing -- even J.D., now that he has Sam -- and it seems like soon they're going to look at each other as "the one." If so, we're not going to know until sometime in 2009. Ah, so close, but yet so far away.
Other tidbits:
- Not much from the side characters this week. Just a little bit of Janitor, teaching his off-camera Lady how to not fear things. Typical Janitor move to cure her fear of losing her loved ones by having her parents kidnapped.
- Speaking of side characters, is Lloyd a permanent one, on the same level as Ted and The Todd? If so, then giving him an ambulance job makes sense; he can only deliver so many different things to Sacred Heart.
- The lengthy "Amigoville" fantasy sequence wasn't at all funny. That's all I'll say about that.
- Kelso's rant against Cox's rants -- he said he should hire an awards show orchestra to play Cox off the stage -- would have been funnier if the Cox rant was written better. But even the rant wasn't that good.
- Interns as Space Invaders... not bad. They're probably too young to know what Space Invaders was. High-Pitch Intern is always worth a chuckle. And "Suck it, Turk" was an OK joke, though J.D. usually doesn't pull stuff on C-Bear like that.
Episodes like this tear me up, because it shows just how far Scrubs has fallen. Is it a new set of writers who just aren't getting the show's pace or humanity, or is it just a matter of a bunch of tired writers playing out the string? If it were almost over, I'd accept snorers like this, but since the finish line has been extended (most likely), it's going to make the next season-plus very hard to watch.
The Cheers episode Ken Levine's still writing in his head
Giveaway Tuesday: Fastlane - The Complete Series
Giveaway Monday: The X-Files: Revelations on DVD
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-11-2008 @ 12:15AM
Argus said...
I think you watched this show with a weird perspective comparing it to How I Met Your Mother won't work since they work in different ways. (In my opinion HIMYM works less too.) I used to hate Earl because I always wanted a traditional sitcom, and then realized what I was getting was something geared to be less "haha" funny and more "that's really, really, amusing" funny.
While there was definitely some off-ness to the episode, it felt like any other Scrubs episode that tried to do some status quo changes to me. Except in this one maybe they'll stick with the changes.
And everyone knows what space invaders is. Its like saying "they won't know what disco is because its from the 70's." Just because it's from the past doesn't mean people not born then are forbidden from ever hearing of it. If you know someone who doesn't know what space invaders is... Sad man.
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4-11-2008 @ 12:27AM
Aileen said...
I didn't know space invaders and I'm 25...
I'm confused, though...I thought this episode was filmed post strike. If not, how do you explain the Kelso weight gain? His face is a lot heavier than on the last episode...
4-11-2008 @ 1:58AM
Diego M said...
" i bet that in a couple of weeks, these two will be getting together again" (turk)
"people aren't gonna like that" (carla)
this episode was good, not great.
i guess not seeing new ones ina while blurred my perspective but the space invaders cracked me up.
amigoville was good, i'd love to get a churro that big and dip a giant chip in a guacamole river...
i agree on the whole "i know spanish but i won't tell even though it'll blow up on my face" that bit is old but some twists of it make it enjoyable.
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4-11-2008 @ 3:18PM
Jamie said...
Im guessing since Bill Lawrence thought this was the final season, this was his way of saying "Yeah, you know they're gonna be together... but screw you they will be even if you hate it."
4-11-2008 @ 2:07AM
Paul said...
It wasn't the best "Scrubs", but I think you're really being unnecessarily harsh on the show. It was quite an enjoyable half-hour of television, and not the worst the show has produced. And I'm not just counting the latest couple seasons, either -- there have always been a few stinkers here and there.
There were enough funny bits, callbacks to old jokes/storylines, and advancement of new storylines that I was happy with the show.
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4-11-2008 @ 2:28AM
Stella said...
I think Turk said something about JD and Elliot getting together again and Carla said "People aren't going to like that." At least I think she did. She was talking kind of quickly.
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4-11-2008 @ 5:24AM
Helen said...
I hope Scrubs doesn't go that route again with
JD and Eliot. These two make great fans but as a
couple they don't work.
Honestly, of all JD's girlfriends the only one that actually
got him as the Tara Reid character. She wasn't a very
likable person but the two of them worked somehow.
It was sort of like Dr. Cox and Jordan. They have
a fantastic love/hate relationship. They understand
each other and it works.
As for Eliot, I would love to see Scott Foley come back
to the show. He was the one and she blew it. I would
love to see Scrubs make it right for her with him.
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4-11-2008 @ 5:47AM
Louis said...
I found this elsewhere on the web:
In spanish, Turk says "I bet that Elliot and J.D. will be back together in the next week", which Carla responds with "not everyone is going to like that..."
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4-11-2008 @ 8:11AM
Dave said...
Janitor was using his knife/wrench!
If JD hadn't mentioned Sam, I would have forgotton all about him. Where is Sam's mom again?
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4-11-2008 @ 10:11AM
pahles said...
She's f*cking Seth Rogen.
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4-11-2008 @ 10:51AM
Sarah said...
I think that's a pretty harsh take on the show -- personally, I laughed more often and enjoyed it far more than The Office episode preceding it, but that's because I enjoy Scrubs' offbeat, daydream sequences way more than the cringingly uncomfortable Office scenes with Jan and Michael. If anything, this was a better offering than Scrubs has had for most of this season and I was glad to see it back in goof form.
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4-11-2008 @ 11:32AM
Oldwoman said...
This episode gets an "A" from me based on the Lou Reed bacon and ice cream reference alone.
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4-11-2008 @ 11:57AM
cdawg said...
I definitely enjoyed this ep more than the Office last night. I just really really LOVED intern space invaders.
I cant believe i missed janitor using KNIFEWRENCH! doh
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4-11-2008 @ 12:17PM
Odimerus said...
The episode was ok, but it looked like crap compared to the extremely strong episode of The Office that aired right before it.
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4-11-2008 @ 1:01PM
metz said...
Probably the worst Scrubs episode ever. Nary a chuckle to be found and I will be writing off the show if they start up the JD/Elliot love action again.
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4-11-2008 @ 3:39PM
bruiser said...
JD and Elliot have to get together once every season, it just part of the show
i personally liked this episode, it wasn't their best but it was still quite enjoyable
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4-11-2008 @ 3:42PM
Paul said...
Prestrike for sure. It was shot last fall, around sept/oct.
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4-11-2008 @ 7:11PM
Justin said...
I thought the show was one of the better ones this season aside from the Amigoville daydream.
Of course, that's because brinner IS totally awesome.
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4-11-2008 @ 9:15PM
JT said...
I love Scrubs, but episodes like this continue to tell me that the fantastic, creative writing of seasons 1-5 is long over and that the show is on a long decline. There are simply no more interesting stories to be told because the main characters are no longer interns and residents. This episode was simply boring and didn't stand out in any particular way.
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4-12-2008 @ 4:43AM
jordancda said...
I miss Elizabeth Banks. They messed her over. I think people would be happier with her and J.D. together than him and Elliot.
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