Second Look: Scrubs Season 1, Episode 6 – “My Bad”

Scrubs Season 1, Episode 6 “My Bad”
Written by Gabrielle Allan
Directed by Marc Buckland
Aired October 30, 2001 on NBC

Inevitability is something humans, and doctors, deal with every day; as Cox stated in Scrubs‘s first hour, all doctors are doing is trying to keep the game going with patients, fighting off a truth none of us can deny is coming. “My Bad” takes this idea, and filters it through the personal lives of the doctors and nurses of Sacred Heart, in three distinct plotlines: Carla and her mother, J.D. with his new “secret,” and Elliot, who spends most of the episode breaking down in front of her psychiatrist patient (with a conveniently-wired jaw). There are certain moments in life we cannot halt; as “My Bad” quietly, but poignantly, points out, the only thing we can do is prepare for the inevitable fallout.

“My Bad” is really a study of two halves, split between the rise and the fall of our protagonists during a long shift at Sacred Heart. And at first, the conflicts of the episode seem pretty perfunctory; Turk’s dealing with Carla’s overprotective, religious mother, and J.D. is trying to win back the favor of Dr. Cox, who is fighting the suspension Kelso laid on him after the climatic moments of “My Two Dads”. As Scrubs is prone to do, the deeper philosophic ideals explored in “My Bad” are tucked underneath a veneer of cutaway gags (like Cox breathing fire on J.D.) and wonderfully written dialogue in Gabrielle Allan’s script; at its heart, this episode is about coping mechanisms, and how we protect ourselves from the deeper, more damaging feelings we’re unwilling to access.

J.D.’s constant need to be accepted or affirmed is an easy one to pick out, having been the focal point of these early season one episodes; this insecurity spreads to other characters in “My Bad”, to equally effective results. There are many examples, but the best is when Turk and Elliot have a rare heart to heart, Turk admitting to Elliot that he needed therapy to get through high school and college, struggling under the pressure of trying to make something out of his life. To cope, Turk makes jokes and pretends to act cool; it makes a nice connection to the behavior we’ve seen Elliot exhibit, and gives Turk some unexplored depth we hadn’t seen in previous episodes (as well as his romantic side, singing “Me and Miss Jones” to Carla upon request). It also is one of the first meaningful scenes between Turk and Elliot, which makes it one of the first scenes where a male and female character share a scene without any romantic or sexual undertones (we’re already starting to see the infancy of Cox’s short-lived infatuation with Carla, though thankfully we have a little bit of time before we get there) – no matter how you look at it, Turk and Elliot’s scene finds connection between these two characters, and is an important building block towards the episode’s resolutions.

The story itself is pretty simple: Jordan sleeps with J.D., setting the clock for J.D. and Dr. Cox to have their first real conflict, adding to that aura of inevitability that defines the dramatic thrust of the episode. Cox is going to find out what happens (though he doesn’t in this episode), and there isn’t anything J.D. can do to prevent that; in its own weird way, it ties in nicely with Turk’s frustrations with Carla’s mother always being around, and Elliot’s growing inability to cope with her stressful intern life. Every main character in this episode comes face to face with a major conflict they are going to have to deal with; and that knowledge is what turns their smiles in the cafeteria line into anxious wrinkles by the end of the episode. Be it Carla’s mother, Jordan’s mouth, or Elliot’s emotions, “My Bad” sets a number of traps set to spring later this season – and how effectively Scrubs is able to make these machinations feel natural in the process is a pretty impressive feat.

It’s almost too subtle in places, particularly for a show this young; but anyone familiar with the entirety of the first season can see how this episode pays off later, be it little things like Kelso vs. Jordan, or larger issues like Carla and Turk’s growing relationship, or J.D.’s position as Cox’s reluctant protege. But for the moment, Cox’s victory in the board meeting is enough – that alone sends Kelso off percolating over his loss, which gives the end of the episode a satisfying bang (Jordan’s little wave to J.D. also adds to this), as his victory is further undercut (or enhanced, depending on how you want to read it) by Jordan holding the deciding vote. Kelso’s “See you in hell” to them both is less of a period sentence of some of the show’s central conflicts, rather than a very brief comma, and it’s that unsatisfying ending that ultimately sells the conceit of destiny here: none of these conflicts blew up in character’s faces… this time. Their moments are all coming; “My Bad” revels in that, and is all the better an episode for it, a fine example of the subtle ideology that made Scrubs so heartwarming and heartbreaking – often at the same time.

If there’s one character who gets lost in the mix a bit in “My Bad”, one could argue its Turk, given his proximity to the Carla and Elliot stories he ends up a supporting player in. But it is honestly some of my favorite material in the episode, establishing Turk as the true backbone of the the group, the pillar to which the other characters of the series can find refuge (in a way, making him an unexpected parallel to Cox… though this is not really something the series would stick with, as Turk’s maturity waxes and wanes throughout the series). I particularly enjoy his scenes with Elliot in the episode’s second half, encouraging her to go to therapy when he recognizes her going through some of the same anxious mannerisms he went through after going away to college for the first time.

Thankfully, her screen time is fairly limited and used mostly for comedic effect; the heart of the episode really belongs with Cox, who gets his job back from the woman he love/hates more than anything else in the world. But as Cox points out, he knew who his wife was when they got married, and eventually, he came to resent her for it – it was inevitable, but it didn’t make his heart break any less, and it allows Scrubs to access Cox as a human being in a way medical cases would rarely offer him opportunity to do. His divorce is a failure, like any death he experiences is in the hospital; Cox posits himself as a man of medical magic, someone who can defeat the devil at his own game, if he’s lucky; but those skills did nothing for him while he let the woman of his dreams slip through his fingers, and how McGinley finds that truth underneath Cox’s constant bravado is what drives home this episode’s themes, of characters trying to find someone to use as an anchor, as they fight against the inevitable feelings of disappointment, fear, and failure that shape anyone’s life.

Though each individual story of “My Bad” isn’t particularly memorable – or the sake of JD banging a board member, particularly in-character when considering the long-term arc of their character – the sum is more than the total of its parts, an episode grounding itself with a strong central theme, expressed in interesting ways through its eclectic cast of main characters. Scrubs is clearly starting to find its groove a half-dozen episodes in, an exciting proposition for the young sitcom as it heads into the heart of its freshman season.

Grade: B+

Other thoughts/observations:

• “Did he call for a nurse? It looks like his eyes are screaming.”
  
• Hey, it’s a Jimmy Walker cameo!
  
• There’s a bit in the middle about how one person’s shitty day can cascade through others, that ends with Cox “burning” JD’s face until it becomes a bare skull.
  
• Cox, to Kelso: “When you really get to know that person – oh dear god, you’ll scream so loud Satan will rip up the contract he signed at birth.”
  
• The whip pan returns with a vengeance – but its life is slowly coming to an end. They already feel out of place with the rest of the show.
  
• Ted is back in a big way! His increasing presence throughout the first season is still a delight to watch.
  
• What does Jordan mean by telling J.D. that he “reminds her” of a younger Cox?
  
• J.D.: “The answer is Jordan.” Cox: “What are things that ruined my life? What are things that took half my money? What are things that have sharp edges?”
  
• Cox can’t help but admit Jordan’s affect on him at the episode’s close: “She was never boring.” Watching him openly regret their failed relationship is one of Cox’s most empathetic moments, and John C. McGinley smartly never, ever plays up the moment, even though it’s served to him on a silver platter. Masterful acting.
  
• All Neil Flynn has to do is say “You putz” and I’m laughing hysterically.
  
• Todd High Five Count: Sadly, there were no high fives in this episode, leaving us at 6.5 for the season total so far.
  
• Up next: J.D. meets his intern match (and Scrubs has its first major guest star) in “My Super Ego”.