Writing about the first season of OG Scrubs recently was a great reminder of how strong and foundational J.D. and Carla’s dynamic was, and how integral it was for the show’s initial hours, when it was still finding its voice and the rhythms of what would become its episodic template. Over time, as she married Turk and had a family, pushing her away from stories where her emotions were the primary driver – and also pushed her further from J.D. and Cox, and closer to characters like Elliot, as the series continued and grew. And with Judy Reyes only scheduled to appear in four episodes of the revival’s first season, it seemed Scrubs may have finally lost one of its core dynamics for good – until “My Best Friend’s Barbecue”, the best episode of the revival so far (by a longshot) – and one of the most driven, focused, and emotionally rewarding episodes of the series in years, finally integrating its existing cast with its new generation in meaningful, propulsive ways, with a driven, focused, and emotionally rewarding episode.
The answer to solving Nü Scrubs is really that simple; by anchoring its stories to J.D. and Carla’s still-evolving, now decades-long friendship, Scrubs gives itself a thoroughline on which it works towards two important goals; finding new, interesting nuance in its existing, iconic characters, and fleshing out some of the revival’s new personalities, like Dashana and Amara. Even more surprisingly, is how it does so through a storyline that would typically reduce Carla to the most shrill, unlikeable version of herself. Part of my frustration with the later seasons of Scrubs is how Carla became unmoored from her original presence as both a romantic interest and a sage, pushing her away from interesting, complex conflicts with characters like J.D., Cox, and Kelso, for more superficial, one-note stories about motherhood or being a wife – until, of course, she exited the show for the ninth and final season of its original run (which again – not as bad as you might think!), which was more a relief than anything else.
Knowing that, the concept of Carla going through menopause in say, season six or seven, would’ve been an absolute disaster – and after the season’s opening episodes suggested some amount of marital strife stemming from Turk’s existential crises (which… seem to have either dissolved, or been forgotten?), it would be low-hanging fruit for Carla’s presence to be nothing but a bunch of crass punchlines. And while her presence in “My Best Friend’s Barbecue” is certainly an exaggerated, comedic one (she’s constantly sweating, going through mood swings, and taking everything incredibly personally), it also allows Scrubs to explore how the two closest men in her life, her husband and his best friend, are trying to deal with her, each in their own expected ways (Turk masters the art of disappearing, while J.D. tries to overcompensate).
But when J.D. and Carla sit down to have ice cream in the morgue, there’s an undeniable spark that lights at the center of the series, as the show begins to reflect on their relationship over the decades – and in a way, examines why so many of the storylines in this revival season have felt a bit off, and haven’t quite worked. For the most part, the opening five episodes of this season have seemed to shy away from new, interesting narrative challenges; much of it has felt like cheap adaptations of the original series, only with shorter running times, less dynamic characters, and underlying medical cases that are neither dramatic or intriguing enough to bring poignancy to the thin internal conflicts laid on top of them. As the title alludes to, though, is that Scrubs shouldn’t be afraid to push forward and embrace its new era – both for its characters old and new, the effects of which we begin to see in the second and third acts of the episode.
There are still a few elements that don’t quite work – Asher’s softness is being treated as a feature, though it present more as a bug, and I still have no clue what the point of the Elliot/Pilot Wes story is going – but when “My Best Friend’s Barbecue” really embraces this idea of pushing itself out of its comfort zone, it springs to life. Suddenly, not only is Dashana a more dynamic character – coming further under Turk’s wing, as she learns to deal with telling patients the worst kind of news – but Amara’s search for identity, which pushes her to quickly break off her fling with the overzealous Asher, also becomes an interesting focal point, the thematic unity allowing for these new characters to have some space to explore the proverbial studio space, and grow into their own presences in Sacred Heart.
This effect ripples through the episode; with more dynamic versions of Dashana and Amara, their compelling contrast of their personalities finally gives purpose to their scenes together, just as letting Turk guide patients, and Carla consider the arc of her career as a nurse, becomes an infectious, symbiotic mix “My Best Friend’s Barbecue” smartly leans into. And all of a sudden, Scrubs – a series that at its best, was always challenging characters with the contrast of purpose and nihilism that working in hospitals provides – immediately started to feel a bit like itself again.
Again, there are still some rough edges; there are still jokes being cut off at the knees, and an entire plot line about a delusional patient (she thinks she’s Mariah Carey) that clearly suffers from the shorter running times of the revival series. But although Elliot and Blake’s story of connecting with an unstable, demanding patient never quite get off the ground, “My Best Friend’s Barbecue” still smartly tethers itself to the thematic foundation of the script, pushing Blake into a place where he’s dancing in a fake “concert”, while Elliot realizes that maybe she might be more of a mentor than she thinks she is – and more importantly, has finally gotten to a place in her life where she doesn’t give a frick about what anyone else thinks of her (though again, the subplot of Carla being dismissive of Elliot is marginalized more than it probably should’ve been, a victim of too many plots and not enough time).
But these series of small flaws and shortcomings don’t undercut the powerful arc at the center of this episode, when Carla finally tells J.D. why she’s not inviting them to the barbecue they’ve hosted together for nearly two decades straight (it even has a theme song!). Settled into his new divorced life and position as chief of medicine, J.D. has pushed himself back into the safest places possible – hell, we even spent an entire episode of him pursuing someone who worked inside the gift shop, a pretty explicit sign J.D. was afraid to truly branch out in his life – and as Carla put it, find the life that’s waiting for him outside Sacred Heart, outside of his friendships with her and Turk, outside of the life he’s known and clung onto all season long. Change waits for nobody, and although Carla reinforces the promise she made in the pilot episode about being there for him, she’s also not going to sugarcoat the obstacles ahead, or allow him to to continue the self-effacing facade she sees in him.
What a redemptive moment for Carla, a character who Scrubs has struggled with since her marriage to Turk; it’s an episode that does so much to revitalize her character, which immediately pays huge dividends for the rest of the series – and the timing couldn’t be better, with only two episodes left in the first season. “My Best Friend’s Barbecue” feels like a creative reset of sorts for the season – and though the absence of of Sibby and Dr. Park, and reduced presence of Sam in the narrative, still portend some wrinkles for Scrubs to iron out in the final two episodes of the revival’s opening run, this episode is far and away the most encouraging sign that the series might be getting back on track – and is still capable of capturing some of its old magic, perhaps the most surprising, endearing element of Nü Scrubs yet.
Other thoughts/observations:
- Carla as Teen Wolf? Don’t get distracted!
- Ok, it’s a stretch that any doctor would go that far out of their way for a psychotic patient with cellulitis. But hey, we’ll take it.
- J.D. sees a patient with a ranch addiction; it’s kind of just there, a thin way to try and tie J.D.’s arc to a patient story. Doesn’t really work, but I’m willing to forgive it, given how good the other scenes are.
- Really hoping season two has more scenes with Carla and Turk together, because they’re great.
- Carla: “Three of our daughters are because they kept bringing back the McRib!”