(S08E05) After four episodes that have ranged from the pretty-decent to the almost-classic, we start this week's double-shot of Scrubs with the season's first real clunker. Which is odd, because you'd think the presence of everyone's Sesame Street favorites in J.D.'s fantasies would have made for a funnier show. But I'm starting to wonder if it's becoming less funny because it's nothing we haven't seen from this show many times before.Don't get me wrong: the Muppets were cute: Oscar saying "My eyes never close!", Grover asking for a "high four," Elmo getting chummy with Denise/Jo, and the fourth one (name please, Sesame fans?) who's relieved to find out that all his problems stem from having a hand up his bum. But they really didn't help the plot like some of J.D.'s other more elaborate flights of fancy have.
What got me annoyed was the inconsistent characterization of Denise/Jo. It's already established that Jo's a hard-ass whose biggest effort to empathize with her patients is to say "sucks to be you." So why was J.D. so surprised to see her turn from a smiling fake to the crude broad she's always been? Methinks that this episode was written for earlier in the season and quickly adapted to run later (Elliot references the fact that she and J.D. have started dating again, for instance). It just wasn't adapted well enough.
The characterizations of the other two main interns -- Ed's a good student but is lazy, and Katie is a manipulative kiss-ass -- were more consistent. It was interesting that this episode really showed J.D. and Elliot come full-circle professionally. First of all, they let Cox's insults pretty much roll off their backs (heck, Elliot intercepts Cox's tired insult about J.D.'s beard just so it gets out there). Second, they have the same issues with interns that Cox had with them all those years ago. That'll probably be the most interesting aspect of this "final" season.
Fun stuff and notes:
- Missing cast member alert: all hands on deck, at least among the big six. No Sam Lloyd or Christa Miller, though.
- Most memorable non-Muppet line was Janitor telling Cox how to suck out Ed's Adam's apple with a plunger ("in theory," he says as Cox storms off with the plunger).
- Despite the inconsistent writing for Jo, it was interesting that her non-sympathetic take on the results of putting that patient on a respirator was what did the job -- and was completely accurate. I bet we'll see more of that in the coming episodes.
- Szwa! I have to tell you, Aziz Ansari isn't the world's best actor, but I'm enjoying the hell out of him as Ed. He's bringing a little life to a bit of a tired ensemble.
- Who wouldn't pick a guy who signed his name to a list using all three colors on one of those three-color pens?
- If you haven't seen it, go see the intern-centric webisodes that are playing at ABC.com. I've seen all of them, and they're pretty good. But so far, we've only seen Jo and Katie on these, along with two other interns we don't see on the main show. Wonder why they decided to do that?
Ok, on to the next episode...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
1-28-2009 @ 10:14AM
Justin said...
You're crazy--both of last night's episodes were the best of the season. Oscar as Chief. Elmo hittin' on Denise. Denise in general. This is the Scrubs fans fell in love with seasons ago and that Lawrence and company kept away from us for nearly 3 seasons. For the first time in a long time, I'm sad that the show--in its current form--is ending.
I think you're off on Aziz as well. He's just not fitting well but it may be his annoying character, which I'm sure he'll be a derivative of in the not-Office spin-off.
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1-28-2009 @ 11:00AM
Grover said...
Justin, I completely agree. I thought both episodes were strong. The first one took a while to come together, I had to rewind a couple times to understand what was going on/catch a joke. But, all in all, I thought these two episodes really showed promise for the rest of the season.
Ed... meehhhhh... i'm back and forth with that character
1-28-2009 @ 10:32AM
viewdrix said...
Besides the scene where J.D. was surprised by Jo's personality change, which I agree was inconsistent (though I don't think this episode was necessarily 'adapted' - remember that the Jo nickname came from the season premiere), it was a pretty fantastic episode. All three of the new interns and the dynamics they bring are entertaining.
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1-28-2009 @ 11:13AM
cdawg said...
Agreed 100%. I noticed the inconsistency right away, but let it roll off my back because of the great storytelling.
This is DEFINITELY a return to the Scrubs of yore. I actually was a big fan of the crazy years of Scrubs as well, but when a show can make you laugh and cry like this one can... there's a reason it is my favorite sitcom of all time - better than 30 Rock and Office even!
1-28-2009 @ 11:02AM
StillBash said...
"Real clunker" - hm.
Compared to every single episode in Season 6 and 7 this one was still stellar.
Scrubs is back where it was in Seasons 1 to 3, this episode is no exception. Calling it a clunker - I don't know. Show Scrubs some love. It's real fun to watch at the moment.
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1-28-2009 @ 11:07AM
Joel Keller said...
I never understood how my opinion is treated as "wrong" because it's different than the majority's. Isn't it the point of opinions that they're not right or wrong, it's just that... an opinion?
Anyway, you folks know that I'm a Scrubs devotee, so this perspective isn't coming from a fan without knowledge of the show and its ups and downs. I liked the dramatic parts of both episodes tonight... but the eps just didn't make me laugh like other episodes this season -- and, yes, some of the ones from last year -- did. And, to be honest, it's still a sitcom, so the "did it make me laugh?" test is still the biggest one for me.
1-28-2009 @ 11:15AM
cdawg said...
Oh Joel, no one is saying your opinion is wrong. We're just saying we disagree and really liked it. don't take it personally. We love you and your reviews, and especially the fact that you are one of the true devotees.
I personally thought Elmo hitting on Jo made the entire episode
1-28-2009 @ 12:27PM
StillBash said...
I hate it when this website eats my comments.
Joel, I never said that you are wrong. To be honest I'm more on your side.
But this has been the best season within half a decade and I understand your need to be a good critic but c'mon even though they had a hard time integrating the muppets into the show they were kinda cute.
I mean the other alternative would be standing Annie Wu right into your face and then have you tell your story about how this was a clunker again *snicker*
1-28-2009 @ 2:12PM
Annie Wu said...
Whut.
1-29-2009 @ 6:02AM
StillBash said...
I remembered that post you wrote about the 34th(?) season of Sesame Street, so I thought you would maybe like this episode.
But hey, just a guess :-)
1-28-2009 @ 11:18AM
Diego M said...
well Denise had been there a few weeks i guess and JD thought she had changed since the "my last words" thing.
she is a bitch but like she said
"i look good naked so i can get it whenever i want it" truer words had never been spoken.
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1-28-2009 @ 11:29AM
jasahl said...
It would explain alot if this episode was out of order (for one, Katie was acting like she did before Carla straightened her out).
That said, this is still my favorite season in a while (and I've yet to have a season I didn't like).
Has there been any explanation as to why Elliot isn't Private Practice anymore? Did I miss something or did they just choose to ignore that she didn't work for the hospital for the past two seasons?
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1-28-2009 @ 12:29PM
StillBash said...
They ignored that.
I'm fine with that. I like the idea of forgetting what happened the last three seasons. I like happy Elliot better. Maybe her HIMYM guest-stint would've had a more positive effect on me if she hadn't become cynical Elliot.
I mean look at 8x06 - she's not obsessive anymore and don't you just want to cuddle her in her cookie-dough pants? ;-)
1-28-2009 @ 7:39PM
jasahl said...
I'm fine w/ it too - just wanted to make sure I didn't miss something.
1-28-2009 @ 11:34AM
jasahl said...
Left out my favorite lines (paraphrase):
Ed: Besides, I wasn't really interested, I just wanted to try out my new pen using all three colors - it looked pretty cool.
Turk: I know - that's why I picked you
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1-28-2009 @ 11:59AM
Courtney said...
I got the same sense that this episode was out of order from the rest of the season. It's bugging me because I've gotten this feel from all of the episodes this season. I completely agree. And I was hoping there'd be more Muppets. I enjoyed what I saw, but I was hoping there'd be more. Overall, though, I did enjoy it.
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1-28-2009 @ 12:58PM
Tony said...
Definitely not one of the better episodes this season. The Sesame St. infusion was overdone and totally unfunny.
Also, the janitor was even more pathetic in this episode. He serves no purpose whatsoever. I'm tempted to fast forward my DVR every time he's on the screen. It's time for him to go home and bring Doug back instead. I miss Doug's antics with the cadavres.
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1-28-2009 @ 1:35PM
scrubsperson said...
This episode was aired out of order - it was originally supposed to be the season premier, but was moved.
Re: the webisodes, the interns you haven't seen will appear in the show in the coming weeks. They were added, in part, to replace Ed, who quit do to the new Greg Daniels show.
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1-28-2009 @ 1:51PM
Zach said...
hey guys i agree w. you. I love scrubs so much its so funny! But, the reason i commented was do any of you know what that song was called at the end of the episode? Well i know its can you tell me who to get to sesame street but does anyone know whos it bye?
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1-28-2009 @ 2:00PM
Joe said...
I have to admit I was worried at first about if the quality of Scrubs would suffer with the move to ABC. I'm happy to report that I don't think so. So maybe last night's first episode wasn't stellar, but it was better than about 90% of the crap out there.
http://www.joeonthetube.com
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