Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 returned to old stories from a new perspective.
The continuation has been, and should always be, about how the characters are now responsible for shaping others’ careers, not the doe-eyed interns they once were.
“My Poker Face” brought that home in a number of ways, all without sacrificing humor in the process. More of this, please!
JD and Turk Have Been Down This Road Before
During Scrubs Season 1, JD and Turk struggled to find time to hang out, and JD took it harder than Turk.
Back then, Turk was JD’s best friend from medical school who quickly adapted to hospital life, made a ton of friends while working long hours, and simply wasn’t able to be part of the less popular, more awkward JD’s life the way JD wanted.
JD’s disappointment became one of the earliest Scrubs memes when he blurted out, “I miss you so much it hurts sometimes,” and Turk busted his chops about it.
Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 could have easily felt redundant to those fans who remembered the earlier episode, but it didn’t.
This time, JD and Turk’s inability to spend time together — specifically at the poker night JD was organizing as an excuse to hang with his old friend — came from their lives going in opposite directions.
Turk is more-or-less happily married with several children, so his priority is his relationship with Carla and whatever little alone time they can get, while JD is newly divorced and as lonely as he was when he was an intern.
It’s the adult version of a conflict that Turk and JD had many times once Carla entered the picture, because their friendship sometimes encroached on Turk and Carla’s relationship and vice versa, but the original version took place when they were younger and still trying to figure out their lives.
We take TV seriously — even the funniest shows.
If you love our passion, our newsletter is for you. Hit the button on the top right of the page to subscribe.
Although it seemed superficially like the same conflict as always, the difference in the guys’ life stages made it more profound.
It also made me wonder whether what went wrong between JD and Elliot had to do with JD not prioritizing the relationship the way Turk now prioritizes his with Carla.
JD wasn’t working at Sacred Heart again until recently, which probably changed the dynamic, but if he always had something more important to do than spend time with Elliot, the relationship would have unraveled quickly.
JD’s Behavior With Turk Was Immature, Unlike His Conversation With Elliot
JD may have grown older, but he still sulks and acts petty when he doesn’t get what he wants from Turk.
He used the demonstration that surgical and medical can get along to express his anger rather than teaching the lesson he planned.
However, his conversation with Elliot about the way she was treating Tosh was the opposite.
He helped Elliot understand why her frustration was inappropriate at a teaching hospital by using her own history, and that was beautiful.
Whether or not they ever get back together romantically — and I’m as much on the fence about that as I was when they did the make-up and break-up thing one too many times in the early 2000s — JD and Elliot have a lot of history and work together well as friends.
I’m happy the two stopped fighting. Their rivalry was more obnoxious than cute, and it only cut each of them off from a significant source of support.
Elliot seemed to have memory-holed much of her relationship with Dr. Cox from her time as an intern.
Do you think Elliot and JD should reconcile romantically?
Weigh in below, and don’t forget to share this article with your Scrubs-loving friends.
JD was right that Cox hurt Elliot’s already-fragile self-esteem.
She never understood why JD was so enamored with Cox, who felt more like a bully than a mentor to her, and Cox stressed her out more than he helped.
But now, it seemed like she’d forgotten what it was like to be that overeager intern who got shot down every other second.
Tosh was nothing but a source of frustration for her, and she thought the intern’s reliance on social media was problematic.
In a way, it’s too bad that Kelso is no longer around.
He dealt with a similar issue on Scrubs Season 4 Episode 20 when he rose to Cox’s challenge to actually work with a patient, only for the patient to keep Googling things on a then-new smartphone, embarrassing him.
While it’s not exactly the same, Kelso’s reminiscence about this incident could have added more weight to Elliot’s dilemma, though it was well done even without that.
This Storyline Was One of the Best Uses of an Intern
The idea of a new crop of interns on Scrubs Season 10 is both scary and exciting.
Scrubs Season 9 was a disaster because it focused only on interns, without JD or any of the other characters we already loved, and nobody wants a repeat of that.
But Sacred Heart is a teaching hospital, so it will always have interns.
As long as JD, Turk, and Elliot are teaching, I don’t mind the interns having subplots. It makes them more real.
I thought Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 humanized Tosh, and I cheered for her when she turned out to be right and helped the patient with a serious problem, and impressed Elliot.
My only real complaint is that a friendly Janitor is too drastic a change. Where is Neil Flynn?
What did you think, Scrubs Fanatics?
Was Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 up to par for you?
Hit the comments with your thoughts, and don’t forget to invite your friends so they can join in the conversation.
Vote in our poll below to rank the episode.
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like our coverage of St. Denis Medical, a similarly medically oriented comedy.
Scrubs airs on ABC on Wednesdays at 8/7c and streams on Hulu on Thursdays.
-
Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 Is the Most Powerful Reminder Yet of Its New, More Mature Perspective
Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 told an old story in a new way, and it was the perfect continuation for these characters. Our review!
-
Scrubs Season 10 Episode 3 Offers Emotional Callbacks to the Past While Finding a Way Forward
Thank goodness JD and Elliot’s feud has finally come to an end (for now, anyway). The fighting between them has been …
-
Scrubs Season 10’s Debut Reminded Me Why I Fell In Love With This Medical Sitcom All Those Years Ago
Scrubs Season 10 premiered and it’s as good as it was when the series went off the air in 2010. Our review!
TV Fanatic is searching for passionate contributors to share their voices across various article types. Think you have what it takes to be a TV Fanatic? Click here for more information and next steps.
The post Scrubs Season 10 Episode 4 Is the Most Powerful Reminder Yet of Its New, More Mature Perspective appeared first on TV Fanatic.