It seems Scrubs really is out of the coma it had been in the last few seasons, as they put in another solid performance this week.
“My Saving Grace” was centered around the idea of being accepted or rejected from Sacred Heart Hospital, depending on your attitude. The center-piece of this was apparently Carla and the self-centered back-stabbing new intern Katie having a conversation about how Katie needs to accept the hospital as her home in order to survive there. The problem with this plot line was that Katie herself isn’t really developed enough for us to be invested in if she stays or goes from the hospital. Perhaps if we’d been given more exposure to her before this chat it’d have been far more engaging. As it is, it’s a nice yet underwhelming set piece for the episode.
The outing of Dr. Maddox in retaliation for her going down the road Katie is being told not to is more successful, even though Maddox probably wasn’t mined for all of her potential either. The patients this week (good to see patients being used properly again as well) were used to cement the idea that Maddox had to go, even though Kelso would probably have gotten away with it back in S1. The cast working together as a team to this end is quite interesting, and leads to some amusing team-ups, such as the Janitor and Cox. What is interesting here is the way the cast do indeed come together like a family to get rid of a threat to the hospital. The evolution of their relationships between S1 and now is fairly interesting, and Cox revealing respect for Kelso is particularly telling of how far they’ve come, given a previous season finale involved Cox smacking the bullying Kelso on the kisser.
“My Happy Place” was the more enjoyable episode for me, focusing on the idea of the pursuit of happiness. Bob Kelso was fairly central to this episode, and they directly confronted the fact he’s always floating around the hospital these days, which was very nice to see. He has also mellowed a lot since S1, going from a feared villainous ruler of the hospital to something of a friendly grandfather, albeit one with a sharp tongue when need be. They could have easily just had him standing around telling jokes all season just so they didn’t have to write him off, but they instead go for a more interesting angle and explore the fact that a rather dissatisfied Bob Kelso has little in his life outside of the hospital. In a way, this ties back into the idea of Sacred Heart as a family from the previous episode. I’m intrigued to see if that will be a season-long theme. Janitor conning his way back onto the payroll is very similar to this, and we see yet another amusing Janitor team-up, this time with Ted. The fact Ted is desperate for Janitor to return further the sense of belong the characters have to the hospital. Turk gaining Cox’s trust also ties in, and it’s becoming clear that by the end of the show Turk, J.D. and Elliot will be on the same level as Cox as doctors.
J.D. and Elliot get back together in this episode, and in a very surprising turn the way they do it is actually quite enjoyable. These “will they, won’t they” storyline's always run the risk of getting annoying or melodramatic by a certain point, but a more mature approach taken by both J.D. and Elliot, showing how both have grown as people since earlier seasons, leads to some good character moments for both. What’s particularly enjoyable here is the way J.D. and Elliot pondering over whether or not to risk things for happiness is worth it is what causes Kelso to decide he doesn’t care what others think of him as long as he’s happy, which in turn also sways J.D. and Elliot into giving it another shot. All in all, a very successful episode that hits its thematic points perfectly.
“My Saving Grace” was centered around the idea of being accepted or rejected from Sacred Heart Hospital, depending on your attitude. The center-piece of this was apparently Carla and the self-centered back-stabbing new intern Katie having a conversation about how Katie needs to accept the hospital as her home in order to survive there. The problem with this plot line was that Katie herself isn’t really developed enough for us to be invested in if she stays or goes from the hospital. Perhaps if we’d been given more exposure to her before this chat it’d have been far more engaging. As it is, it’s a nice yet underwhelming set piece for the episode.
The outing of Dr. Maddox in retaliation for her going down the road Katie is being told not to is more successful, even though Maddox probably wasn’t mined for all of her potential either. The patients this week (good to see patients being used properly again as well) were used to cement the idea that Maddox had to go, even though Kelso would probably have gotten away with it back in S1. The cast working together as a team to this end is quite interesting, and leads to some amusing team-ups, such as the Janitor and Cox. What is interesting here is the way the cast do indeed come together like a family to get rid of a threat to the hospital. The evolution of their relationships between S1 and now is fairly interesting, and Cox revealing respect for Kelso is particularly telling of how far they’ve come, given a previous season finale involved Cox smacking the bullying Kelso on the kisser.
“My Happy Place” was the more enjoyable episode for me, focusing on the idea of the pursuit of happiness. Bob Kelso was fairly central to this episode, and they directly confronted the fact he’s always floating around the hospital these days, which was very nice to see. He has also mellowed a lot since S1, going from a feared villainous ruler of the hospital to something of a friendly grandfather, albeit one with a sharp tongue when need be. They could have easily just had him standing around telling jokes all season just so they didn’t have to write him off, but they instead go for a more interesting angle and explore the fact that a rather dissatisfied Bob Kelso has little in his life outside of the hospital. In a way, this ties back into the idea of Sacred Heart as a family from the previous episode. I’m intrigued to see if that will be a season-long theme. Janitor conning his way back onto the payroll is very similar to this, and we see yet another amusing Janitor team-up, this time with Ted. The fact Ted is desperate for Janitor to return further the sense of belong the characters have to the hospital. Turk gaining Cox’s trust also ties in, and it’s becoming clear that by the end of the show Turk, J.D. and Elliot will be on the same level as Cox as doctors.
J.D. and Elliot get back together in this episode, and in a very surprising turn the way they do it is actually quite enjoyable. These “will they, won’t they” storyline's always run the risk of getting annoying or melodramatic by a certain point, but a more mature approach taken by both J.D. and Elliot, showing how both have grown as people since earlier seasons, leads to some good character moments for both. What’s particularly enjoyable here is the way J.D. and Elliot pondering over whether or not to risk things for happiness is worth it is what causes Kelso to decide he doesn’t care what others think of him as long as he’s happy, which in turn also sways J.D. and Elliot into giving it another shot. All in all, a very successful episode that hits its thematic points perfectly.
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