At the peak of season nine, the cast of Scrubs is back! That is, the cast that the writers have decided to gradually fade out of the show and replace with a far less charismatic one. The truth is, everything I love about Scrubs (and believe me, I have seen every episode at least three times) has been ruined in this new season.
After the finale of season eight, the most beautiful finale of a television series I have ever seen, during which I cried for the last ten minutes straight, I came into this season with low expectations, knowing that nothing could top the first eight seasons.
The ninth season of Scrubs was always meant to be a bit of a spin-off. The story is set about a year after J.D. (Zach Braff) has left Sacred Heart Hospital. He returns to the site, which has been bulldozed into a new medical school, to teach. He has now married Elliot (Sarah Chalke) in a wedding I am quite angry I did not get to witness, and she is pregnant.
Friends Turk (Donald Faison) and Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) join him as teachers at the school to a new cast of medical students, including Lucy (Kerry Bishe), Cole (Dave Franco), and Drew (Michael Mosley). The season began with the back-to-back episodes “Our First Day of School” and “Our Drunken Friend.”
The first main problem I have with the new season is the obvious shift of focus on the main characters of the series. Apparently, the original intention of the show was to have a rotating cast, similar to that of Grey’s Anatomy. But somehow, J.D. remained the central character for eight seasons straight. In the ninth season, it looks like the writers are going back to their original idea by adding new characters and switching the names of the episodes from “My ____” to “Our____.”
I guess the purpose is to eventually make this new girl, Lucy, the new J.D. But let’s be clear. Dr. John Dorian is irreplaceable. He has always been endearingly sweet and hilarious, and he never ceased to make me cry in the more touching moments of the show. Lucy will never live up to his legacy.
Not only does Kerry Bishe lack the charm and charisma of Zach Braff, but she is also, at times, a terrible actress. In the scene on the bench, as her character tells J.D. about how Dr. Cox is giving her a hard time, she reminded of the amateurism of a middle school theater production.
In addition, as far as “inner monologues” go, Lucy sucks. Yes, the voiceovers of Zach Braff have always been cheesy, but there’s something about them that just makes the show. Now, I have to listen to stupid Lucy’s annoying voice whining about her problems for an entire season.
Speaking of new characters, where are all the old ones? I guess all the actors whom ABC felt like paying to do another season were somehow cheaply incorporated into the plotline (because a medical school is the all-too-perfect setting for all the wanted characters to come together, and all the unwanted ones to just disappear unnoticed).
Carla (Judy Reyes) is completely gone from the series, and Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins), and the janitor (Neil Flynn), and Elliot have been reduced to bit parts. I’m not sure if Elliot and Dr. Kelso are returning, but the janitor, apparently, was never seen again after J.D. left Sacred Heart. The only members of the original cast who still have decent roles are J.D., Turk, and Dr. Cox.
Another thing that really bothered me about the first two episodes of season nine was the change in scenery. I have always loved how realistic the setting was. J.D. and Turk’s apartment was small and cheap-looking, and the hospital was grimy and had dim lighting.
In fact, in season four, in the episode “My Life in Four Cameras,” J.D. had a fantasy that his life had turned into a sitcom. Suddenly, the lights of the hospital were bright, the floors were squeaky white, and the outfits became stylish and impractical. I cheered in this episode, as Scrubs mocked traditional cheesy sitcoms. I thought my favorite show was better than them.
Now, all of a sudden, Scrubs looks almost as made-up as it did in the sitcom episode. It takes place in the setting of a brand new medical school, where it’s always sunny and the grass is always green. This is not the Scrubs I learned to love.
Which brings me to my next point—the deterioration of the writing quality in this season. Maybe it’s just me, but the script is not nearly as funny as the previous seasons. I feel like this has been a gradual trend for Scrubs, which reached its peak around season five, and became slightly less funny by season eight. This is mainly due to the overwhelming emphasis on J.D. and Turk’s bromance. Their freakishly close relationship was once hilarious, but is now overdone and has lost all the subtlety which once made it great. Plus, it made J.D.’s character a little too weird and less relatable.
Although the writing in season nine took a turn for the worst, I have to give some credit to Bishe. While her acting was awful, she didn’t have much to work with. The truth is, the writers are just using the same jokes (J.D. and Turk’s love affair, Dr. Cox’s general animosity, and Dr. Kelso’s outlandish comments) with the same plotline (a young doctor-to-be struggling to make it through the heartbreaks of his/her new hospital under the guidance of the tough, but caring Dr. Cox).
That’s when I realized the plot of Scrubs has been beat into the ground. It’s over. The show should have ended last season. I’m now embarrassed to call this my favorite show. You know the saying “quit while you’re ahead?” They should have listened to that.
Charlotte Hagerman can be reached for comment at [email protected]