I arrived to the scrubs show very late in the game, around half way through season 5. I was apprehensive to the fact that only seeing Zach Braff in Garden State, I thought he was a terrible actor. It turns out that he was only playing his part and he can in fact act well. After the initial shock of the incredible wit and humor of the show while watching a season 3 episode caught on television, I realized that I had been missing out for a very long time.
Season 1 starts off pretty slow in my opinion, it had definitely not hit its stride that it reaches in season 2, but its still great television. Theres quite a lot of drama in this season thats absent for most of the rest of the show. The 3 patients that die in episode 4 was a pretty big shock considering the tone of the show, and the drama that unfolds when J.D. and Carla fight when J.D realizes he knows more than her. Towards the end of the season is when the show really starts to pick up, when J.D.’s monologue becomes more than just small comments and really starts the total genius of the show.
Season 2 continues seamlessly and starts to really hit its stride with less drama and more of that comedic genius that is so rare. J.D and Elliot have their next sex adventure, and Turk and Carla are engaged. This season also exhibits the first of the “His/Her Stories” that are narrated from someone other than J.D, and offer some great perspective on how the others in the cast are thinking.
Season 3 is in my opinion the best season, this is when the show just starts nailing it every single episode. All the characters have their back stories pegged, and their personae are all in place and it is all glorious. The 2 episode arc with Michael J. Fox are just amazing, and all the other episodes are just as good. “My Screw Up” the so called Sixth Sense homage episode has some pretty good writing for a comedy, and definitely got me at the end.
Season 4 is almost as good as season 3, but it starts to get a little sillier. This season the show starts making fun of itself with the so called sad music piano tune, and a little more ridiculous situations. The story arc with Heather Graham was decent, but wasn’t all that interesting. The story with Kylie is a little better, but the quarantine episode was almost completely useless and boring. The episode “My Life In 4 Cameras” is pretty amazing though, one of the best episodes period.
Season 5 is a tad hit or miss, there is more drama in this season than in season 4, especially with the episode “My Lunch” which has Dr. Cox accidentally killing 3 patients, and the episodes following it. Some of the situations get a lot more silly in this season and sometimes get ridiculous like in the deja vu episode in which situations repeat themselves and leads to a really boring episode. “My Way Home” which is a reference to The Wizard of Oz, was an amazing episode and really does show Zach Braff’s ability to direct.
Season 6 so far is even more hit or miss, the episodes are still funny, but there is more drama and even more silly situations that aren’t nearly as funny as I’ve come to expect. While I do love some of the drama, there are plenty of other shows out there that can provide me with all the drama I need, and I’d like Scrubs to get back to its roots soon, at least for the last season if it is made. The clips episode was also really bad, even though it slightly made fun of itself, it was still a clip show so it didn’t serve as a satire in any way.
