Scrubs (Season 7)

Because of the writer's strike, Season 7 of Scrubs was cut short. This happened to several shows and while I think series like The Office and 30 Rock adjusted well enough, this strike was a pretty huge blow to Scrubs and made for the weakest season of the show, easily.

Due to its short length, Season 7 doesn't have too much in the way of plot. The season starts with Elliot and JD both breaking up with their respective love interests, and shifts to focusing on them rebuilding their relationship so that they can finally get back together. However, as mentioned above, this season got cut short, so all the Elliot and JD buildup didn't actually end up paying off until Season 8. The other big plot point in Season 7 is Kelso retiring, which is easily the best part of the season and leads to some pretty solid and emotional final few episodes. But the season being lacking in terms of plot isn't necessarily a bad thing as long as its funny, since the comedy and standalones were what saves Season 6 for me. Unfortunately, even the comedy and writing in Season 7 has felt a bit weaker than how it usually was, not only lacking in creativity but just not landing their jokes as well, most likely due to the show just starting to overstay its welcome. The drama is also a lot less effective, not to mention prevalant, as Season 7 focuses a lot more on cartoonish humor than grounded pathos.

But the writing being weaker than usual isn't what really made this my least favorite season, it's the way they decided to end it after the strike. Because My Dumb Luck, which had Kelso retire, could have worked as a great impromptu season finale. The following episode, My Waste Of Time, could have been a solid denouement that sets the stage for Season 8. But instead, we got My Princess, an awful fairy tale parody that isn't just the worst Scrubs finale by far, it's also easily the weakest episode of the series. What's worse is the fact that it had a smaller production code than a few other Season 7 episodes (not to mention Kelso's still around), so the executives purposefully moved My Princess to the end of the season. This wasn't an accident caused by the Writer's Strike, that I could forgive, they made a conscious decision to end Season 7 (and at the time what was assumed to be Scrubs as a whole) with the worst episode of the show. This whole situation really frustrates me and ultimately causes me to not look back on Season 7 all that fondly, even with its good episodes. 

Highlights:

My Own Worst Enemy: Believe it or not, I actually really liked the way Season 6's cliffhanger was resolved. I do think the cliffhanger itself was a bit cheap, but I thought it was really cool that JD and Elliot used their almost kiss to really reevaluate things about themselves and their love interests. Granted, JD doesn't break up with Kim for another episode but Elliot breaking things off with Keith after being together for so long is huge!

My Dumb Luck: As mentioned above, Kelso's retirement is hands down the best episode of the season. Even with how much of a jerk the guy is, it's pretty sad to see him go (until you realize that "retired Kelso" is one of the best things about Season 8 but more on that later). But I also think it's worth mentioning that this episode has my favorite cutaway gag in the series: The Love Train scene. If you've seen the episode, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Overall, Season 7 is not a great season, and suffered pretty heavily from the Writer's Strike. It has its really good moments, particularly when the plot is involved, but the writing is weaker, the season's big storyline didn't get a proper resolution, and the season finale was downright awful.

2/5 Stars