TL;DR – While it is nice to be back with old friends, I was most surprised at who made me tear up in this first episode back.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that aired this episode.

Scrubs Review –

Well, well, well, the show that uplifted me in my youth and also blindsided me with emotions I was absolutely not prepared for … looking at you, My Screw Up. Scrubs is one of those comfort shows that you could sit down and watch any time, and it will bring you joy. However, I have seen old shows being brought back and not being able to work in the modern environment, so I came in here with some trepidation. Turns out I didn’t need it, at least not this time..

So, to set the scene, it has been a long time since JD (Zach Braff) worked at Sacred Heart hospital [which was not torn down, I do not know how that rumour got started]. However, while he spends his days being a concierge doctor for the wealthy, it is not exactly a stimulating profession. But as fate would have it, today he is back at his old stomping grounds, because one of his patients got admitted. It is a place of joy with old friends, old mentors, and more recent ex-wives. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Returns

Going into this episode, I was really wondering how it would feel coming back to a place you once visited regularly, but not in a long time. Like that fish and chip shop down the road from where you grew up. It has that familiar feeling, even if you cannot quite place why everything looks exactly the same but also very different. It is this eerie, yet compelling feeling that draws you into the episode, even though you know that Hooch (Phill Lewis) is still crazy. Did anyone look into that over the many years since we were last here?

It is in this space that we get to return to Sacred Heart, a place we spent eight wonderful seasons at. While the clear focus will be on the new interns, and a new space and time, and helping them to become doctors, there is a focus on the old cast right from the start. I think that might be lessons learnt from the last attempt at the show. While most of those old cast members will not be in every episode, I can honestly say that it was great to see JD, Turk (Donald Faison), Elliot (Sarah Chalke), Perry (John C. McGinley), and Carla (Judy Reyes) again. Old friends, and now a slightly antagonistic one, back together again.

Emotion

For a show like Scrubs to work in the modern age, it needs to have something going for it more than nostalgia. Look, yes, nostalgia is doing a lot of the heavy lifting, however, you still need more than that. It is the emotions that will bring you back every week, and it is those emotions that made the show what it was to begin with. On that front, I found two examples, one that reassured me for the show going forward, and one that made me pause.

Let’s rip the bad news Band-Aid off first: I have real concerns that JD and Elliot are now divorced. Not because they broke up, but because the earlier seasons were almost plagued with their “will they/won’t they” relationships. I don’t mind that they are divorced, stuff happens, I am worried that we will be treading over the same thematic ground again for the umpteenth time, and if that is the case, why did we reboot it? However, the real surprise for me was Percival “Perry” Cox, M.D. I was not expecting Perry to be the one who started to make me tear up with an earnest speech about his inabilities and JD’s strengths. It was hard not to be caught up in it all.

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend Scrubs: My Return? Yes, we do. The first episode did everything it needed to do; it brought the characters in, it had some deep-felt moments, a couple of lessons were learned, sometimes the hard way, and we ended up on the roof drinking a couple of beers. And while I know that roof is now on a soundstage, it still hits home. Have you seen Scrubs yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Scrubs
Directed by – Zach Braff
Written by – Aseem Batra & Tim Hobert
Created by – Bill Lawrence
Developed by – Aseem Batra & Tim Hobert
Based On – Scrubs by Bill Lawrence
Production/Distribution Companies – Doozer, Seemu! Inc., 20^th Television, Hulu & Disney+
Starring – Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, & Judy Reyes,
With – Joel Kim Booster, Ava Burn, Jacob Dudman, David Gridley, Layla Mohammadi, Amanda Morrow, Anna Maria Horsford, Robert Maschio, Phill Lewis, Sierra Sidwell, & Vanessa Bayer
And – Monroe McWilliams, Robert Moloney, Ava Frica, Tyler McClendon, Ava Poyer, & Blaine Perrin.