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RSS'Scrubs': It's guy love, that's still all it is
We got a vision this week of what Scrubs might be like without J.D., and it was, uh, eh. But then we got some vintage Turk-J.D. man-crushing, and it was good. And anytime we get a reprise of "Guy Love," I'm OK with that.
I just got the urge to buy these spoilers a shirt.
"My Absence" presented us with no on-screen Zach Braff, just some voiceover work as Elliot's phone got stuck on speaker, and while the rest of the regulars -- with an assist from the Gooch -- managed to carry the episode reasonably well, the episode felt a little underinflated. Ted's exuberant introductions of his new girlfriend and Turk's disappointment over the reaction to the news about the new baby only carried me so far.
And was it me, or did Elliot's ceaseless mooning about J.D. -- who, after all, was just taking a couple days off, not trekking through the Himalayas -- seem a little out of character? Yes, Dr. Reeks of Beer (which was a decent, and not overplayed, bit running through the episode) is a neurotic mess, but even for her, it seemed a little bit excessive.
If all that was setup for Kelso and Elliot's heart-to-heart after his friend's wife dies and he lays out the way true love works for some people, then it was a long way to go for that one (admittedly quite well-done) scene. I think the show probably could have dialed back on Elliot's pining and still made the same point.
So after the first real letdown this season, it was in a slightly cranky-pants frame of mind that I entered the second episode, which frankly had me even more worried based on the description of the interns putting on a sketch comedy show. But between J.D. and Turk freaking out over their portrayal at the show and Carla fooling the janitor into believing he didn't see her pluck a particularly egregious booby hair (Kelso's words, not mine), all crankiness left me by the end of the hour.
"My Comedy Show" gave us the most sustained J.D.-Turk interaction we've had in several weeks, and it paid off. Turk's rescuing of the leukemia sketch ("Make 'em British." J.D.: "It's back in, but only because this man is a comedy genius." Turk: "Well, I have been called the black Wayne Brady.") was great, but their horrified reaction to being portrayed as more than just BFFs in Denise and Sunny's sketch made for some excellent, if I may borrow J.D.'s word, bromantic tension the day after.
Of course, these two just can't quit each other, and sure enough, the publication of one of Turk's papers creates an opportunity for the best comedy couple since Joey and Chandler to share a super-duper hug. "People are gonna look," J.D. says. "Let them look," Turk replies as "Guy Love" swells in the background. Their relationship has always been one of my two or three favorite things about Scrubs, so I'm almost never disappointed when it comes to the fore.
The subplot involving Carla and the Janitor also clicked for me, not least because it seems like Neil Flynn is just getting to do kind of whatever he wants in any scene he's in this season. His riff about the gross scrapbook he's compiling -- for which he needs Carla's hair -- felt so off-the-cuff that either the show's writers have completely mastered Flynn's style (a distinct possibility after eight years) or they're just pointing him in a direction and saying "Go." Either way, I'm enjoying it immensely.
Other good stuff from tonight's episodes:
- Intern Sunny, who has been prominently featured in the webisodes, made her debut on the show tonight. Her unfailingly chipper attitude is a bit much to take -- I don't know if I was supposed to side with Denise and her threat to beat Sunny with a hammer, but I kinda did. I suppose she's intended to balance out Denise's rough edges, and the actress who plays her (Sonal Shah) managed to show some vulnerability too, so there's hope.
- Loved the Janitor questioning all he thought was real: "Maybe I was never in The Fugitive." It was a nice little callback to the early episode where J.D. sees him in the movie -- which has in turn fueled speculation that the Janitor's name would eventually be revealed as "Neil Flynn."
- Cox to Turk on why he'll be in on his day off: "Life is too darn short to spend a day bonding with my family when I could be roaming these halls without the possibility of running into that bearded hug monster you call a best friend."
- Ted and the Gooch continue to be comedy gold. Her baby song to Turk was great, but her reaction to finding out it wasn't his first was even better. "The Gooch does not like being lied to" -- so noted, Ted.
- Percival Ulysses Cox. 'Nuff said.
How'd you like this week's Scrubs Power Hour? Having seen a Dorian-free episode, how do you feel about the prospects of the show continuing without Zach Braff?
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Zap2it Twitter Talk 
Just watched "My Absence". I liked it a lot more than you did, I guess. This whole season has been dialed back, but yet, it's still Scrubs. BL hasn't changed the vibe, and that was my concern about this season. It was odd not having JD, but it felt like the episode (title is slipping me) where JD was locked away by the janitor (their story?).
What I liked about My Absence was the fact that it explored the depths of it's key characters, sans JD. I liked the fact that Kelso, in this final year, has become a fabulous character, a guy who, now relieved of his responsibilities, isn't the "evil" guy that opposed Cox, but rather, a good doctor who just understands life a little better than the others. I love the fact that Cox is Cox - he's changed a tiny bit, but he's still who he is. I love the fact that Carla got scared about losing who she was. Everyone has that worry in their lifetimes. The Eliot stuff wasn't that huge with me, as I think they could've done more interaction b/w Chalke and the dying lady to establish some similarities and differences between the two, but the intent was good. They've been trying to show JD and Eliot as grownups, but there's a certain p***ion that comes missing with that, and in her pining for JD, I sort of got that feeling back a bit.
Gooch was awesome. They better keep those two for the duration of this season. The p***ive Ted vs. angry Gooch soon made me smile heartily.
I'll watch the 2nd episode in a bit.
Btw, sorry one quick post before I get to the 2nd episode - I agree with Kelso. Denise Rocks.
Gooch is crazy!
I loved Ted's comments about hios relationship with The Gooch and it's newness and how it was going to ultimately fail. Then he thinks she's mad at him and she says, "Not You" and he says something like "Still going" or "Still alive". Teddy Buckland, you'se a comedy genious. Also, enjoyed the return of Dr. Beardface' and the overly-touchy orderly (though they definately did leave him on too long).
And Denise and Sunny's improvised kiss as J.D. and Turk. Absolutely awesome.
i thought gooch was gonna el kabong turk.
"Plus, find some cardboard, stick it down the back of your pants right. Make that #$@ flat girl. Let me she what you got now. We can go flatter. We CAN GO flatter.". HILARIOUS!! This episode rocked!!
I'd respectfully disagree with Tony's take on this season's Scrubs. First, there are the cast MIAs that are regular occurences in each episode. JD's on screen absence in the aptly titled 'My Absence' was merely the most overtly stated one. (Both the Janitor and The Todd were also written out of this one.) And did anyone see either Ted or Dr. Cox in "My Comedy Show", even though Perry was parodied therein? Didn't think so...
If you go back and check, I don't think there was more than one other ep this year that included all of the "Big 4" (JD, Elliott, Carla, Turk), and each episode had some major cast member who was nowhere to be seen.
I'm a huge Scrubs fan and had m***ively high expectations for what could-and should-be the final season, but what I've seen so far is a show that once featured seamless interplay among a large cast in just 22 minutes of airtime and plenty of snap and s*** now reduced to an exercise in going through the motions. Maybe it's the busness of trying to work in a new group of interns, maybe it's a function of budgetary issues. All I know for sure is that this is no longer the show I've loved all these years in God-only-knows how many different time slots. One ususally doesn't see such a marked drop-off in quality unless the show runner moves on and leaves the reins to someone who attempts to (usually unsuccessfully) recapture the energy of the creator(s). Maybe BL is just tired and ready to move on. Whatever, I'll stay on board until the bitter end in hopes of finding some final magic moments among all the seemingly forced elements meant to remind us of Scrubs' glorious past.
Budgets are why they aren't featuring every cast member in every episode.
Even though that is going down, this season of Scrubs has been fantastic compared to the last few seasons on NBC. Seems like Bill and the writers found their voice again and know exactly how they want to end it. Gonna miss it for the next few weeks, can't wait til it comes back!
I heart Gooch.. she is awesome. I also love "Jo" (Denise). I'm glad she was in both episodes and I like that they keep mentioning how she is into fatties because they try harder. Funny stuff
Great review.
Q: Was that the last 2 episodes of scrubs for season 8 (and therefore ever...)?