Second Look: Scrubs Season 1, Episode 12 – “My Blind Date”

Scrubs Season 1, Episode 12 “My Blind Date”
Written by Mark Stegemann
Directed by Marc Buckland
Aired January 8, 2002 on NBC

At the end of “My Blind Date”, J.D. talks about taking chances, and what it requires to be able to look forward and take a leap of faith. While I don’t necessarily agree with his point about everyone looking back at big risks they’ve taken in life and not regretting them, I can get on board with how those ideas flow through a narratively uneven, thematically strong episode of Scrubs – and in particular, how the episode reveals itself to really be about the nonsensical urge we all have as humans to exert control over our surroundings, and how hard it can be to get out of one’s own way to have faith in something, or someone, else.

Framed around Dr. Cox trying to achieve the hospital’s equivalent of a perfect game – a 24 hour shift with nobody dying in intensive care – “My Blind Date” uses his pursuit as a foundation for other stories in the episode. At their core, all of the various character interactions come down to this theme of control; like a pitcher on the mound, everyone from J.D. to Kelso is trying to manipulate the odds in their favor in order to solve the conflicts they’re facing. Some of these are simple, visual cues, like Turk struggling to get Mr. Davis’s (Michael McDonald, in his first appearance since “My Day Off”) arm back in the socket – and others are more overt, like Elliot’s attempts to get the world to “laugh with her tonight” by trying to preserve Dr. Cox’s perfect game when a patient dies with five minutes left on the clock. But they’re all about the same thing; they’re about our attempts, as humans, to try and control the things we inherently can’t; how others perceive us, who we fall in love with – or when someone’s time has come to shift off this mortal coil. These are some of life’s truest contradictions; we try to exert dominance over our own affairs, even though they’re all byproducts of random moments in life – be they inspiration, intuition, or simple human connection.

That idea is the beating heart of “My Blind Date”; the more characters try to take the reins of their life and control their situations, the more they find themselves at the whims of the world around them. Turk and his feelings for Carla, Dr. Cox and his perfect game, Elliot and her self-worth as a doctor; these are things characters try to explicitly guide in this episode with their own perception of how things should be, or would be in a perfect world. All three stories are ultimately reminders that we don’t have control (as Cox barks out to Barbie in the episode’s darkest moment); sometimes, that even extends to who we’re attracted to, a story “My Blind Date” explores in less than desirable ways.

J.D.’s undercooked story pursuing a girl in an MRI machine is really the one blemish on the episode, which is unfortunate, given it is the primary framing of “My Blind Date”. This would be the first nor the last time Scrubs wasn’t afraid to show us J.D.’s petulant, self-serving side, and his indecisiveness in “My Blind Date” is definitely one of those. Do we really have to spend ten minutes watching J.D. contemplate dating a girl that might be ugly? It’s a bit of a preposterous storyline, and doesn’t bode well for “My Blind Date” and its personification of J.D.’s attempt to control his own feelings – or how it plays into the episode, and rewarding characters who can truly let go (which Cox is clearly still learning to do, throwing things around the room after the patient passes). The foundation for a better story is there, but “My Blind Date” takes the easier route to its conclusion, which makes for a disappointing meet-cute story between him and Alex (whose exit from the show would be even uglier, but we’ll get to that one).

Thankfully, “My Blind Date” has two great side stories to pick up the slack; heck, Elliot’s night alone with Cox at the hospital is worth the other two stories alone, a great tale that continues to flesh out one of the show’s best secondary relationships, the ever-annoyed Cox pushing Elliot to face her worst self to become a better doctor. It’s a much rougher version of what he offers J.D. in terms of mentorship, and Elliot’s desperation to be accepted is not Cox-centric, but we are already seeing the benefits of him challenging her as a doctor, and how that’s helped integrate Elliot into the mix as a character beyond an object of J.D.’s affections. Through Cox, her journey is being given some shape – and that is a really encouraging sign, after a long string of early episodes where the show is clearly figuring itself out.

Though “My Blind Date” is a bit clumsy in its delivery, I still appreciate the thematic harmony it finds between its three stories, and how that drives the episode’s more effective emotional moments. Unfortunately, it is also the genesis of one of the season’s weirdest, most unsatisfying plots – but at least in the moment, “My Blind Date” does a solid job marrying its three stories together into one unified, engaging narrative.

Grade: B

Other thoughts/observations:

• Dougie makes his second appearance, as the “nervous guy” who doesn’t want to give Cox the bad toxicology results. That poor kid is just getting started in his hellish journey through Sacred Heart.
  
• Elliot doesn’t know the concept of a perfect game? That seems crazy for someone who wanted to impress their father so much.
  
• Ted, to Alex: “We could run away together.”
  
• Death selling Girl Scout cookies with his little cloaked child is a great cutaway.
  
• Nurse Roberts apparently makes terrible coffee.
  
• “Help me to help you, Barbie. Help me to help you, help me to help you, help me to help you, help me to help you.” Cox is in classic form through the entire episode.
  
• Elliot reading the chart might be the most over-the-top slow motion shot I’ve ever seen on Scrubs. Never has so little felt like it meant so much.
  
• “Better get ready; new game starts in four minutes.”
  
• Jimmie Walker makes his second appearance: “You got a problem, man.”
  
• the “literal” sparks between Alex and J.D.? Quite lame.
  
• Two consecutive high-five free episodes leaves our Todd Count at 9, and the season count at 11.
  
• Up next: Elliot learns to love herself in “My Balancing Act”.