Scrubs (Season 1)

Scrubs is a great sitcom, and probably a perfect dramedy. It's simultaneously a surreal comedy with ridiculous cutaway gugs and a surprisingly realistic and at times heartbreaking depiction of being a doctor. It's a really consistent show too, to the point where it's a bit tough to differentiate each of the different seasons, though that won't stop me from trying to do the series in as much justice as I can.

Scrubs is a show about a group of interns starting their jobs at Sacred Heart Hospital, and eventually becoming full-on doctors as the series goes on. JD is the main character here, he narrates every episode, and his friendship with fellow intern Turk, unlikely mentorship with the abrasive Dr Cox, rivalry with teh hospital janitor, and romantic subplot with another intern named Elliot form some of the central character dynamics in Scrubs. I wouldn't say JD is one of my favorite characters, but he does have a great arc about slowly losing his naivety as the series goes on. Outside of all that set-up, Season 1 (and the series as a whole) is fairly episodic, though it does have a bit of a running theme about the workers keeping secrets from each other. Cox develops a crush on Turk's girlfriend Carla, JD has his crush on Elliot, the evil Dr Kelso lies about giving Cox a promotion, and JD sleeps with Cox's ex-wife. This whole secrets storyline does feel a bit aimless for most of the season since it isn't quite clear where it's all going, but man does it all lead to an absolutely magnificent payoff.

Scrubs is a show of two parts, the surreal comedy and the heartwrenching hospital drama. Since JD is narrating the whole show, we get a lot of great imagine spots that make up some of the funniest moments of the season, since they let the actors go wild and play completely opposite their character. But even in real life, Sacred Heart has plenty of gloriously weird elements like the aforementioned Janitor that gives Scrubs an almost parodical vibe... but it's not a parody. Because Scrubs is still a show about a hospital, and sometimes people just don't make it. Scrubs could've just not had anyone die and focus on the comedy and romance, but I think its willingness to be frank with the audience is one of its greatest strengths. It's always heartbreaking whenever a patient doesn't make it, especially if it's a character we get to know, but it's never done out of shock value and always has a lasting impact on the leads. It also helps that apparently Scrubs is surprisingly realistic, even moreso than the hospital show Grey's Anatomy. I'm not a doctor and I haven't seen Grey's Anatomy, but if Scrubs is as realistic as people say, that only makes the series better in my book. However, being the first season of a sitcom, Scrubs does have a few growing pains since it does have to establish all of the characters and get into the swing of things. Despite having its high points, the surreal humor doesn't land quite as often as in later seasons, and the storylines aren't quite as creative as they would eventually become. JD's narration has the potential to really play with the structure of any given episode, but outside of two notable instances, this rarely happens in Season 1. 

While not one of the best seasons of Scrubs, Season 1 does have its high points, one of which being impressively early on in the show's run:

My Old Lady: This is the episode that proved to everyone just how good Scrubs's dramatic chops were. The beginning narration of My Old Lady establishes that one in three patients die, implying that one of the cast's three patients is going to die, instantly giving the episode a sense of tension, especially as we get to know all of the said patients. But then they all die. It's a shocking and gut-wrenching twist that proves Scrubs won't pull its punches, as well as showing that JD's narration can be misleading or unreliable.

My Occurrence: Speaking of JD's narration and imagination being misleading or unreliable, My Occurrence has the crushing reveal that he was just trying to imagine away the leukemia of one of Cox's best friends Ben Sullivan. It's another fantastic twist, but one that wouldn't work nearly as effectively if Brendan Fraser's performance as Ben wasn't so effortless charming and lovable. That man is an absolute treasure and he improves every episode he's in. 

My Hero: My Hero is simply the follow up to Mr Occurrence, and while not quite as shocking, is no less emotional. Focusing on Dr Cox dealing with Ben having to take chemotherapy, this episode falls in line with one of my favorite types of episodes: Characters dealing with the prospect of death. It's not super funny, but My Hero is very deep and mature for a sitcom episode, and it thankfully ends on a pretty happy note (for now). And once again, Brendan Fraser is a treasure.

My Last Day: My Last Day is mostly a pretty satisfying finale, with the interns having their last day as interns and pulling off an incredibly clever plan to save a patient. There's a great sense of finality to the whole episode, to the point where it could have been a series finale... at least until Jordan comes into the scene at the very end and reveals everyone's secrets in one of the most explosive moments in sitcom history. Still one of my favorite cliffhangers ever, such a ridiculously ballsy move.

Overall, Season 1 of Scrubs is a solid start for a great series. While it has its growing pains and its main storyline doesn't really click until the final episode, the surreal comedy, great hospital drama, and lovable cast of characters that the series is known for are all established right from the very beginning.

3/5 Stars