A Look At The Final Season of Scrubs

Written by: Phoebe Raven, CC2K Staff Writer

Everyone’s favorite sitcom and TV’s most realistic medical show [Editor’s Note: I don’t think either of those two things is true] kicked off its seventh and final season a few weeks ago, and it did so without copping out. I had feared after last season’s final cliffhanger that they would simply jump a few weeks ahead and reveal that the respective conflicts of Elliott and J.D. had resolved without our getting to see it. Luckily this was not the case. The new season started exactly where the old one left off, and delivered J.D.’s trademark humor right off the bat.

Now, for all who haven’t been watching, Elliott was only a week away from getting married to Intern Keith, and J.D. had gotten his girlfriend Kim pregnant on the first date and was now a childish man facing impending fatherhood. Both Elliott and J.D. wanted out, but only one of them escaped in the first episode of Season 7. Elliott broke up with Keith (though not without break-up sex, then make-up sex, then another break-up first), and now has to deal with him hating her for a while.

Now personally I always liked Keith, but on the big plane of course I see why he and Elliot had to break up. Who really wants to argue with the fact that Elliot and J.D. are ultimately going to end up with each other? The entire series has been headed in this direction, and the only problem the two of them had was that they were both equally afraid of commitment. But after seven years they both will have learned and will finally be ready. It would be a more than gutsy and surprising move by the writers to not have those two lovebirds ultimately get their happy ending.

Which leads me to J.D.’s trouble in the first few episodes of the new season. He decided to stay with Kim at first, even though he didn’t love her, because it was the right thing to do. Well, yeah, that might be true, but what viewer can honestly say they want J.D. to stay in a relationship that will ultimately kill his cheerful and happy nature? Sure, as Dr. Cox so poignantly said several times in the first episode, J.D. is a “whiny, annoying man-boy”, but ultimately all he needed to get to the right place emotionally was a push from his best buddy Turk and a nag from his big brother. And voila, our own J.D. broke up with Kim, struggled a bit with the idea of being a father, and then realized it was time to grow up. If he isn’t going to do it in the final season, when would he ever?

According to a recent poll on the official Scrubs website, roughly 53% of viewers want J.D. to end up with Elliot while only 19% want him to end up with Kim, no doubt the idealists and moralists out there. (By the way, Turk comes in a whopping second as J.D.’s final partner with 28%.)

Nineteen episodes are scheduled for this season – of which fourteen are secured to air on NBC –  and the majority of them will be directed by Zach Braff or creator Bill Lawrence. (All of this is not taking into account the writer’s strike, so the season could end after 11 episodes.)

My major concern is this: will this whole season merely be a dance of Elliott and J.D. around each other until they finally realize they should be together, or will the writers actually throw a couple of curveballs our way and surprise us? Zach Braff promised in his blog that there will be “a lot of surprises” and the return of everyone who once had a small part on the show, including “crazy Hooch.” So far the show has delivered. J.D.’s brother Jack was there, Colin Hay returned and sang “I come from a land down under”, Snoop Dog Intern/Resident/Attending had his moment, and even Dr. Beardfacé was seen again. But will someone finally pick up J.D.’s script for Dr. Acula and make it into a movie? Will Turk and Carla have another child? Will Dr. Cox get a bigger, better job at another hospital? Will Dr. Kelso find a technique to make Headless Doctor happen? And what is the Janitor’s real name, Jan Itor or Neil Flynn?

All these are questions that should and could be answered, but I fear not a lot of big surprises plot-wise will come our way. I hope I am proven wrong though. And I most definitely hope the writers are back to their old tricks and raise the bar on the hilarious scale back to old levels pre-Season 6, which was strangely recycled in terms of jokes.

Episode 1 pointed in that direction, it had me laughing out loud several times, especially with J.D.’s wacky sidetracking thoughts and the imagined “Who Cares-ies Awards” at Sacred Heart. Classic Scrubs right there and it deserves appreciation, because as natural as it may seem when we see it on screen because we are used to this kind of humor, remember that someone actually has to THINK of these things first.

Episode 2 and 3 didn’t have me giggling in my seat, but they dealt with admittedly serious themes, so I forgive the rather lame banter between Cox and Elliott about her weight and the unfunny scale sketch the female hospital employees performed.

All in all, color me excited for the final season of Scrubby fun!