The return of Scrubs has been something fans have been eager to see for over a decade, especially after the ninth season of the series soured many by replacing most of the cast and then ending with an unsatisfying thud. For the most part, the revival of the series that premiered this year has managed to scratch that itch, though there have been some bumps along the way that harken back to those Season 9 problems. Now, with the latest episode of Scrubs, the series has found a way to get back to its roots in a major way, in part by embracing something largely absent from the new episodes.
Videos by ComicBook.com
In “My Best Friend’s Barbecue,” the episode begins with the reveal of a term that will define the episode itself, “Doctor Face,” when they have to present a stern, emotion-free, and decisive look while presenting bad news, or when they hope just not to react to something. On the flipside of that comes “Nurse Voice,” meaning the tone that a message is delivered to a patient who needs to hear it. JD naturally loses his ability to hold Doctor Face after learning that he’s not invited to Turk and Carla’s annual barbecue, a problem that he tries to interrogate by approaching Carla directly. This leads to the backbone of the episode, and something the Scrubs revival has been missing: JD and Carla scenes.
Scrubs Finally Delivers the JD & Carla Scenes We Needed
Immediately after the opening credits, JD tries to sweeten the pot with Carla by saying he wants to spend more time with her and “water the garden” of their friendship. With Carla now going through menopause, though, Judy Reyes’ character is having a tough time, including hot flashes (hilariously shown on screen by what appears to be an actual stunt performer set on fire) and emotional outbursts (of which there are many in the episode).
To address this, and spend some time together as friends, JD and Carla meet in the morgue where he’s been chilling some ice cream for the occasion, and use it to talk about what’s going on with her. Carla confides in JD that she’s having trouble coming to terms with the woman that she’s becoming. JD tries to help here by taking work off of Carla’s plate, which she reacts poorly to, escalating the tension between them, but giving the episode some proper stakes.
In truth, by finally getting to a scene with only JD and Carla, which manages to not only juggle both the comedic sides of the show with its trademark emotional tenor, the Scrubs revival has finally reached a place where it’s actually matching the original series. Including these scenes isn’t the only reason the episode works, but it forms a basis for the entire episode that brings all of its storylines together, with the thread of “Doctor Face” and “Nurse Voice” colliding after Carla has to confront a patient with accepting needed changes to their life after aging (and realizing it’s a message she needed to hear).
This element of the series is one that Scrubs fans have been waiting to see, even if they don’t realize it ahead of time. One of the most foundational relationships in the original Scrubs was Carla and JD, who shared only so many scenes that were just the two of them, but who became an entertaining pair on screen in the very first episode of the show back in 2001. Carla is a foundational friend for JD while working at Sacred Heart, and he wouldn’t have even gotten to his place in the world without her help and guidance.
The bad news, of course, is that Season 1 of Scrubs only consists of nine episodes total, and this episode was the seventh of the lot. The next two episodes will arrive over the rest of the month, with no official word on the show’s future just yet. It would be a shame if it ended, though, as Scrubs appears to have found its groove again.
