Scrubs continues its solid trajectory with yet another solid second season. This still isn't one of the best seasons of Scrubs, it's mostly more of the same as Season 1, but it does improve on several elements and takes the sitcom in some interesting new directions.
As mentioned in my last review, it's hard to really pin down what any given season of Scrubs is about. However, I think as a whole, Season 2 of Scrubs feels like it's about the novelty of being a doctor slowly going away for JD, Turk, and Elliot. And it's not even about all the deaths, which they've seen plenty of at this point, it's all the boring stuff like monetary issues, monotony, family struggles, and generally just being an adult. Despite what my use of the term "boring" may have you believe, however, I think this is a really novel and cool direction to take the show. The ex-interns are still pretty young adults, so I like that Scrubs puts a bit of focus on them adjusting to adulthood. However, I actually wish this storyline was given even more of a focus rather than just being a running theme in the background of the season. Thankfully, there are a bunch of great subplots to add a bit of much-needed serialization, between Elliot's difficulty with her father, Jordan having a kid, and Turk trying to propose to Carla.
Compared to most seasons of Scrubs, Season 2 doesn't really have all that many straight-up dramatic episodes, at least in the way that you might be used to seeing from the show. Not to say there aren't deaths this season, but they're not as crushing as the ones in Season 1. Thankfully, Season 2 makes up for all that by focusing a lot more on the comedy, which has generally improved since the first season. It also helps that the cast has gotten a lot more comfortable with each other since the start of Season 1, as is usually the case for a long-running sitcom like this. However, my complaints about the show not being all that inventive with its storylines still mostly applies. There is one really cool episode that shifts perspective to Dr Cox, which I'll definitely be talking about in greater detail later, but otherwise, Scrubs doesn't really start to play around with structure until Season 3. It may seem odd that I'm harping on this so much if you haven't seen the show, but trust me, Scrubs is always at its best when it experiments.
I'm running out of ideas for segues, here are the highlights:
My Overkill: Coming after Season 1's cliffhanger, My Overkill mostly serves to clean up the mess that Jordan caused by revealing everyone's secrets, and it makes for a fantastic premiere. There's a nice blend of comedy and drama here, and it believably ties up loose ends while maintaining the feeling that things have been irrevocably changed. I feel like I have to watch My Overkill every time I see My Last Day, it works that well as a followup.
My Fruit Cups: Change. That's it, that's the episode. Jordan reveals she's pregnant, Dr Cox gets back together with her, Elliot gets cut off from her father, and Turk decides he wants to propose to Carla, all in the course of a single episode, and that's not even counting the financial issues the residents all have to deal with. It's a messy but memorable turning point in the season that pretty much sums up what it's all about.
His Story: This is the start of Scrubs's once-or-twice-per-season trend of having an episode focused on and narrated by someone other than JD, and are usually called "His/Her/Their Story" episodes. It's an awesome concept and leads to a lot of great episodes, but it's the first one, which focuses on Dr Cox, that remains my favorite. It uses its premise for a bunch of great comedy while also delving deep into easily the best character of the series, revealing a hidden caring side to the outwardly abrasive doctor.
My Dream Job: My Dream Job is such an interesting case, because it should feel like a disappointment coming after My Last Day's ridiculous cliffhanger. It's low-key and introspective and, aside from one punch, pretty uneventful. However, it's also one of my most-watched Scrubs episodes to date and one of my favorite finales of the show, so what gives? I think it's because of the low-key and mature nature of this episode, all the characters reflect on something here, from Turk and JD's disillusionment with their jobs to Cox dealing with being a father. And all that reflection culminates in one phenomenal moment of catharsis to end off the episode... which also happens to be a pretty sick cliffhanger in and of itself.
Overall, Season 2 is another pretty good season of Scrubs, even if it's still not the series at its best. It's funnier than Season 1, and the way it tackles adulthood is pretty neat, but otherwise Scrubs just hasn't been giving it its all yet.
3/5 Stars
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