Dr. DVD Review: Scrubs - The Complete Sixth Season
Posted by Ben Moser on 10.31.2007
I don't know if you heard, but there's a musical episode in this season.
Ah, Scrubs. If you've been reading the DVD reviews for this show on 411 long enough, you know well of my unabashed love for this show and my borderline creepy crush on Sarah Chalke. So I'll dispense with the usual opening where I praise the show from on high and get right into season six.
Seasons four and five(especially five) started off a little shaky, with the balance between strong narrative and silliness skewed towards the silly side for the first few episodes. I've since read that this was based on the cast and crew not knowing how long the show had. They must have figured it out by the time they were scripting out this season, because it begins with the balance actually better off than it had been even when the previous two seasons finally got back on track. The quirks are still there, but once again they're serving the story rather than driving the show.
Season six shows J.D. dealing with the prospect of becoming a father, Turk actually becoming a father, and Elliot's relationship with Keith coming to a crucial point. Once again, I have to heap praise on the show for addressing those story arcs as the season progresses while still letting each show stand alone. Of course getting J.D.'s baby-mama(Elizabeth Banks) out of the picture for the middle of the season might be cheating just a little bit, but it allows Scrubs to deal with the J.D., Elliot, and Turk's growth as the overarching theme in a way that we haven't been treated to since the show's perfect third season.
With those stories being told well, of course it's a given that the characterizations are also the best they've been in a while. Not only for the big three characters, but Carla(check out the episode "My House" for a killer example), Dr. Cox, Jordan("My Mirror Image" is superb from both of them), Leverne("My No Good Reason"), and even Janitor("My Point of No Return") are also more fleshed out than they've been allowed for some time. It's a shame that the counterbalance to this is the increasingly caricature-like portrayal of Dr. Kelso(at it's best/worst in "My Conventional Wisdom", but almost forgivable for a great turn in "His Story IV"). Also on display better than ever is the Turk/J.D. relationship, especially as expressed in a little ditty called "Guy Love" in the much anticipated musical episode.
There was a lot of talk surrounding "My Musical" before it hit TV and, while the episode is not the crowning moment for the show(or even the season) it was hyped as, it was a fun trip. The gimmick put in place to explain the singing was clever enough and the songs were amazing in that they fit the show as a whole while still moving the narrative of that particular episode along.
What the musical episode also highlights is this seasons relative lack of hotshot guest stars, as it features the relatively unknown Stephanie D'Abruzzo(Avenue Q). Keri Russell does step in for a fantastically done guest spot as Elliot's sorority sister Melody for a couple of episodes, but gone are high powered appearances from folks like Heather Locklear, Michael J. Fox, and Dick Van Dyke(to name a few). This season belongs to the core cast, and there's nothing at all wrong with that.
There are some uncomfortable hints that J.D. and Elliot are going to be romantically involved once again, that would basically undo the marvelous way this show took them away from that to begin with. Right now, though, they're only hints so I can let them go. In that vein though, I should voice my major complaint against the season, the last moment.
I didn't want to even start this review until I had a chance to see how the current season began after the cliffhanger that this one leaves. That's because the big finish for the season had the potential to undo a whole lot of the great work they did in their strongest seasons. Having seen where it went, I'm prepared to say that it wasn't too offensive. Also, having re-watched the last few episodes of this season and combined that with the first episode of this season, I thought it was actually set up pretty well. I'm still worried about where it may end up, but that won't keep me from enjoying the best season since Scrubs' peaked.
Extras:
My Making of "My Musical - A talk with the cast and crew about how they felt about doing this episode, composer Jeff Marx(Avenue Q) and songwriter Paul Perry about putting the songs together, and veteran musical theater director Will MacKenzie. The voice coach was shown to share my crush on Sarah Chalke, and Neil Flynn was revealed to be the best singer. Overall not any different from any other "making of" extra, this one will only be as interesting as your level of interest in the musical episode.
Judy Reyes Keeps Talking - Reyes on getting all things Carla. These little bits for each of the characters on the DVD's are always a fun and interesting watch. The love she has for this show and the folks involved totally shines through.
Deleted Scenes - There's some funny stuff in here, the highlight being a fantastic punch line in "Guess she can't be the Fonz for Halloween." So it's worth checking out, but remember that most of the time there's a reason something got cut for the final edit, and it's not always time. Once you find your favorites, though, you can skip right to the good stuff. The best feature of the deleted scenes is that they first show you how it originally aired so you can check out the changes and either love them or hate them without having to memorize your favorite episodes.
Alternate Lines - Deleted Scenes' little sister. Some good, some bad. Mostly, they picked the right stuff for the show, but I like watching the process by which they come up with the right take.
The "Third Tier" - A look at the characters that were created for one joke that ended up becoming recurring characters, like Snoop Dogg Resident, Dr. Beardface, and Colonel Doctor. Really good stuff, and my favorite bonus feature on the disk.
The Debra and Stephanie Show - Debra Fordham, writer of "My Musical" and Stephanie D'Abruzzo do more talking about the episode. Nothing in here that isn't in the first featurette or in the commentary track for the episode itself, which at least features the lovely and talented subject of my celebricrush, Sarah Chalke.
Commentaries - There are episodes with commentary, some better than others. If you like commentaries in general, you'll like these. If not, then you won't. Pretty much my standard commentary review, right there.
Easter Egg - Highlight the cherry next to "more" and Bill Lawrence gives a list of things that "will happen" in the final season, but then assures you that only four of them are true without telling you which.
The 411: It's the best Scrubs has been since the perfect third season. There's not a single episode that doesn't have at least three good belly laughs and the character development is second to none. The only thing keeping it from being perfect is the hints at a revisiting of the J.D./Elliot relationship that we've already explored and exploded, and that's even very minor when put in context of the whole show and held up against the rest of a tremendous season.
