My Doc Talk 02.03.08: Scrubs - My New Role and My Lawyer's in Love
Posted by James Craig on 02.04.2009
Growing pains for the Dr. Cox as the new Chief of Medicine and some Worthless Peons to go with Ted falling in love.
Welcome back to the 2nd installment of My Doc Talk. This week we were treated to a healthy dose of Cox. It was pretty much all Cox, all the time. No, no, I can't do the Coz jokes, I feel like I'm in a bad DX promo. I'm sorry, I don't know why I went there. Anyway, let's get on with the episode reviews shall we? But first, a quick recap of what has happened already.
Recap:
- JD and Elliot have decided to take yet another crack at a relationship. This time, as both have grown up and lived life a bit more, they seem to be taking a much more mature approach this time around and it seems to be working.
- We have been introduced to 3 new interns; Ed, who has all the talent in the world, yet can't bothered to put very much effort into being a doctor. Then there is Katie, who is very much a jerk and has shown signs of being manipulative and conniving. Finally there is Denise, who we have had the most exposure to. She is a very blunt person, to the point of being rude. JD has decided to take her under his wing, and there have been very small, minute signs of progress with her.
- After having one very bad replacement for Kelso as Chief of Medicine in Dr. Maddox (Courtney Cox), Kelso actually recommends Dr. Cox for the position. After some initial hesitance, Cox tales the job. surprisingly enough, a real friendship starts to form between the two former adversaries.
That's the gist of things so far, which leads us to...
Episode 7 - My New Role
This episode takes off pretty much from the point where we left off at in My Cookie Pants, with Dr. Cox taking over the reigns of the new Chief of Medicine at the hospital. We even get to see at the very beginning, Cox and Kelso sharing a drink in Kelso's backyard. To me, for whatever reason, it seemed very reminiscent of the closing scene from each episode of Boston Legal. As Dr. Cox settles into his new roles, he finds out very soon that there is much more involved and there is little time to do what makes him such a very good doctor. This is perhaps best displayed in the two situations with JD trying to help a patient stay longer as well as Carla coming to him for help in regard to the under staffed nursing team.
As the two situations play themselves out, it becomes very obvious that this episode pretty much embodies the season thus far as we are witness to the changing dynamics within the hospital (Kelso/Cox/JD) as well as finally addressing others (Carla/The Doctors). With Kelso/Cox/JD dynamic, the shift is as Perry slides into the role that Kelso had taken so much flake for, that being a no man, almost deaf to the needs around him as he tries to make it through the day. JD's shift, again hitting on his personal growth, isn't as organic as that of Perry. As always, JD needs some prompting to make his move. Kelso, oddly enough, is the one who is the prod JD to becoming the Cox to Cox's Kelso. I must admit, that over the course of the season, it is perhaps the evolution Kelso that is perhaps the most refreshing as we finally get to see the man as more than the evil incarnate that we seen him as for the large majority of the series. Kelso is very much the engine that is driving this season along as he has been the catalyst for every change so far, from the removal of Maddox to tonight's engagement of JD to "man up". Each of these moves has been in the best interest of the hospital and it seems that even though Kelso is retired, he can't tear himself away from the place he called home...as well as free muffins for life from Coffee Bucks. Getting back on track, it seems only natural the way in which things have evolved in terms of the pecking order and while JD will never be the same kind of foil to Cox as Cox was to Kelso it does seem to be the next logical step.
The background plot revolved around Carla's perceived relationship with the doctors, specifically Dr. Cox, and the resentment directed at her from the nursing staff as a result. While not a huge thread, it has been something I have always wondered about, as it was pointed out in the show, she is closer to many of the doctors than the nurses, married a doc as well as has Elliot as a best friend. This always seemed to me that this may be something of a one of contention that should have been addressed. It only make sense that their would be some underlying feelings of resentment and that was finally brought to light. The whole issue is actually put to rest by an unusually direct Elliot, offering that instead of letting Carla's relationships become a detriment to the overall dynamic with the doctors, perhaps it is best to use it to make in roads. This coupled with a show of good will on Elliot's part towards the nurses helped to shape a new dynamic, maybe.
This is a hard episode to recap or even sum up. If anything, this episode was a fine transitional episode, moving from My Cookie Pants to the new episode My Lawyer's in Love. It falls perfectly into the theme this season is etching out of change and growth, in all characters. I enjoyed this episode as I do with every episode the centers around Dr. Cox. I especially felt for him as I was able to relate, and I'm sure many of you can as well, to taking on a new job and feeling overwhelmed. It is going to be interesting to see how he will evolve from being the rogue-ish hero of Sacred Heart to the Bob Kelso, if that is indeed the direction he is going in.
Best Laugh:
Ted absolutely losing it as he sees Kelso, in Lab coat, sitting at his former desk and passing out.
Rating: 7.5
Episode 8 - My Lawyer's in Love
We pick up with the 2nd episode of the evening, My Lawyer's in Love, and as you might suspect from the title, this is a Ted episode. Not only is this a Ted episode, but it is also one that features The Worthless Peons. That right there should be enough to get any fan of the show excited, as Ted is maybe the most criminally underrated character on the show. This is, however, not just a Ted episode, as we again are given a heavy dose of Cox.
As I look over at my episode notes, it is easy to see that this episode wasn't so much one major story with something in the background, but really the two stories here were given equal time and it just worked. Ted's is where the funny is to be sure, so that is where I am going to start.
Ted and his posse, his a capella band are trying to get Cox to let them sing for the pediatrics kids and demonstrate what they have up their sleeves to JD by performing their rendition of Blue Oyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper. once it actually sunk in of the lyrics it was all just too good watching Ted pop on his cheek to be the cow bell while singing about not fearing death...with the mind of performing this to children. As Ted finds out, however, not only did Dr. Cox turn down his request, but also there is already someone doing the job. Stephanie Gooch, a ukulele playing cutie (?) , that upon first sight, Ted falls for. Unfortunately, Ted has problems, largely stemming from being Ted which leads to JD and Janitor to forge a truce in order to help Ted win over the apple of his eye. It is a lot of fun to watch as two hated rivals try to help the hospital's resident "sad sack" try to muster up the courage to make a move. As it turns out, Ted is a very confident man when he has the other peons around and he is able to ask Gooch to "jam" with them as a way to spend time with here. This has a very sweet, if weird duet by the two,singing a very Juno-esque song. Gooch lets it slip in song that she wants to screw Ted. Take a moment to let that sink in, and if need be, try as hard as you can to hold down your lunch.
Ted does eventually get the nerve to try a solo thing (by actually making a move) and much to anyone's surprise it works out. I'm happy for the guy and I like that there is a spine in there after all.
As I said, the Dr. Cox story took up equal time, however it really is an extention of the last two episodes. There is a little bit more progress sin the Kelso/Cox friendship, which Carla calls them out on, but the body of the story revolves around Cox still trying to piece together some sort of order to his new job and all that that involves. What it really boiled down to was that Dr. Cox simply had too much on his plate. Tending to patients, teaching interns, the bureaucratic work as well as keeping up with his family life was all becoming too much and things weren't being attended to properly. For example, forgetting to pick his son, Jack, up from school. This also saw the return of Ed. As we seen in My ABC's, Ed is the intern that Cox chose to take under his wing, only to find that he hated Ed due to his laziness. That picks up here as Ed basically says he has better things on the go than trying to learn and become a competent doctor. Cox sits Ed down, literally, and tells him to study or else. As you might expect, Ed doesn't and the result is Cox firing. It's not that surprising, and I love it as I hated Ed. Dr. Cox does come to the eventual conclusion that while he won't drop anything from his plate, he will ask for help in order to help things along in the hospital's operation.
This was a great episode, in my opinion, as we were treated to one of the funnier episodes of the season, if not the funniest, as the Ted story completely made my night. The episode also felt like a second half of a "to be continued..." from the last episode with the Dr. Cox element, however I like that this was/is something the writers and producers of the show want to take their time with. Like everything else this season, it has been given the time needed to grow, rather than just happen and be forgotten about a week later.
Best Laugh(s):
- Dr. Cox calling JD "Dr. Puberty Beard"
- Ted curled up in the fetal position after being thrown into an elevator with Gooch in a sink or swim move. He sunk.
-Dr. Kelso rubbing it in that he and Dr. Cox are great friends and went to see a Romantic Comedy together. JD in turn freaks out.
Rating: 8.5
The 411: These two episodes continued the season long commitment to the theme of growth and development as well as the nice staggering of the more serious episodes to the more humour driven ones. The show is really hitting its' stride right now. All involved with with this show seem committed to making this the best season yet and they are well on their way. This was by far the best 1-2 punch of episodes this season.
The overall ratings is the average of the two episode's ratings.
