Scrubs – The new Chief of Medicine and Sesame Street?

(Season 8, Episodes 5 & 6 – “My ABC’s” & “My Cookie Pants”)

Fun Fact: Janitor’s grandpa apparently called him Janitor, too.

In the first of our two-part Scrubs hour, we got to see J.D., Elliot and Perry all choose one of the new interns to mentor. J.D. hooked up with Denise/Jo, who’s the go-to “strong woman (cold-hearted psycho).” Perry went with Ed, who’s too manic and cool for his own good and Elliot went with Katie because … well, because they have the same hair. As we learned in earlier episodes, Katie is actually a manipulative, selfish and incredibly driven person.

Ed — I guess — is brilliant, but so brilliant that he’s lazy and absolutely doesn’t apply himself. Not enough yet to make these three worthy of holding a show of their own, but it was nice to get a little bit more face-time with these new … um … faces (*ahem*). Even if they did have to share it with various Muppets from Sesame Street. Was it just me or was it a little odd to see Elmo rubbing up against Denise’s chest like that?

It looks like the writers are the most interested in exploring Denise in these earlier episodes, as the second installment focused on her working with J.D. While he’s determined to make her empathize with the patients it looks like it’s going to be a struggle. I was glad to see her show some humanity in acknowledging that this is her problem. Now we can watch her grow. After tonight, I’m starting to like at least one of the new interns.

The other major development was the promotion of Dr. Cox to the new Chief of Medicine. After watching Bob’s new role as the retired guy hanging out at the coffee shop throughout these first few episodes, I’m actually kind of growing to like it. I also love the fact that despite their best efforts to continue hating each other, he and Perry are actually starting to develop a sort of friendship.

I think this is the right character move for Cox, putting him in the position that Kelso held for so long. With his intense care for his patients, it will be interesting to see how he balances that with the financial demands that his new position requires. Hey, I just realized that one Cox (Perry Cox) is replacing another as Chief of Medicine (Courtney Cox). I know it’s a stretch, but I’m still claiming it, dammit!

Clacked by Jason Hughes
on Jan 28, 2009 @ 17:08 EST5EDT