TL;DR – There were all the components of a good episode here, but they didn’t quite gel as a whole
Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that aired this episode.
Scrubs Review Introduction
Today is a bit of an odd one, because from a sheer composition perspective, it should work gangbusters. However, as I watched it, I just could not get into the episode the way I was expecting. Which, given it is one of the few episodes where nearly all the cast is there, is quite peculiar.
So, to set the scene, it is Halloween at Sacred Heart, which makes differentiation between the traumas and the costumes a lot more difficult than a regular day. JD (Zach Braff) is still pinning his single-era status; however, much of his day is taken up by the new concierge doctor, none other than Dr Cox (John C. McGinley). Now, from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.
Holding Back and Rehashing
When I think back to this episode’s three main stories, I am not including Dr Summers (John Higgins) not being able to get laid in that list; two of them just did not land for me. The first is JD and Dr Cox, which is not the rehashing part of this title. I do believe the story they are telling here today was a good one, but in the end the focus landed on the wrong person. The final big moment was telling the rich patient to get his act together and not waste his new organ, which is a good point. However, there is a strong story in how a person could be a chief of medicine at a hospital for a large part of their life and not have enough money to pay off medical bills. That is played as a ‘yes and’ in the episode rather than the big deal it should be. Then we have Dr Reid (Sarah Chalke) trying to get her clinic off the ground, only to be thwarted by the new female administrator. Look, we have been here before with Courney Cox, and we got Cougar Town out of it, but it didn’t land here. Also, what was up with that odd animation in the generic not Mary Poppins section?
Hit the Right Point
For me, the one story that did land this week was Turk (Donald Faison) lamenting that his last daughter no longer wants to go trick-or-treating with him. Not only was it actually thematic to the episode. But it gave Donald Faison a lot of space to emote this week and let him play off Judy Reyes wonderfully. It was the story that became the heart of the episode, even if you saw the resolution coming. Also, look, I don’t know why, but I too want to know if it would change the volume of the hot tub, and I don’t think it would, as it is just moving blood around that is already there. I may have thought about this too much.
Recommendation
In the end, do we recommend Scrubs? This week was a little hit and miss for me, but it was an improvement on My Best Friend’s Birthday. While not all the stories landed, when they did, it was a blast. Also, I don’t think I will forget that John C. McGinley smile. 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 – Craig Zisk
Written by – Alan Yanaga
Created by – Bill Lawrence
Developed by – Aseem Batra & Tim Hobert
Based On – Scrubs by Bill Lawrence
Production/Distribution Companies – Doozer, Seemu! Inc., 20th Television, Hulu & Disney+
Starring – Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, Ava Burn, John C. McGinley, & Judy Reyes
With – David Gridley, Layla Mohammadi, John Higgins, Kurt Fuller, Robert Maschio, Michael James Scott, Stephanie Koenig, Eddie Leavy, Tim Cappello, & Vanessa Bayer
And – Milana Wan & Cassie Collis
