My Finale

Last updated
"My Finale"
Scrubs episodes
Episode nos.Season 8
Episodes 18/19
Directed by Bill Lawrence
Written by Bill Lawrence
Production code816/817
Original air dateMay 6, 2009 (2009-05-06)
Episode chronology
← Previous
"My Chief Concern"		Next →
"Our First Day of School"
Scrubs season 8
List of episodes

"My Finale" is the 40-minute-long season finale for season eight of the American sitcom Scrubs . [1] It was originally broadcast as episodes 18 and 19 of season eight on May 6, 2009 on ABC, and was intended to be the series finale during production. However, while the episode was billed as the "Scrubs finale" at the time of airing, it was unknown whether this would be the series finale or the season finale. The show ended up returning for a ninth season. Since the show underwent many changes for the ninth and final season, this is the last episode in which all of the main cast appear as series regulars and the last appearance of Judy Reyes as Carla Espinosa.

Contents

Plot

On the morning of his last day, J.D. lies in bed next to Elliot as he thinks back to his first day at Sacred Heart. Elliot reveals she has been "sneak moving in" by slowly replacing J.D.'s stuff with her own. At the hospital, Turk greets J.D. with a giant goodbye banner in front of the main entrance and a final "full-turbo spinning eagle" as his goodbye to his best friend. J.D. realizes Turk said goodbye too early and the moment will be ruined later so they decide to have intense hugs whenever they run into each other. Meanwhile, at the hospital's CoffeeBucks, Dr. Kelso tells Carla and Ted he wants to be a doctor again, albeit part-time, and he won't be hanging around Sacred Heart any more. Kelso grabs his last free muffin and plans to steal a table from the CoffeeBucks.

J.D. hunts for Dr. Cox in hopes to receive a heartfelt goodbye from his mentor. He finds Dr. Cox and gives him a home-made anthology of all his long winded rants, each with a rating on how much they hurt J.D., numbered 1 to 5, with 5 being the times Cox made him cry. Even though J.D. steals a laugh from him, Dr. Cox refuses to give him the sentimental moment or show any emotion. Afterwards, the Janitor confronts J.D. with the penny that had started their ongoing feud (now on a necklace that he wears) as he tries to finally get J.D. to admit he put it in the door. Later, after forgetting a patient's illness and name, J.D. feels like a terrible doctor. His day goes from bad to worse when he finds out another patient will eventually die from Huntington's disease and that he has to tell her son that he might have inherited the disease too. The son disregards J.D.'s advice and doesn't want to get tested.

J.D. storms outside with Elliot for some air, distraught that nobody else wants to give him a heartfelt goodbye. Elliot points out to the happy staffers yelling goodbye from the windows of the upper floors of the hospital. J.D. jumps at the chance to make a heartfelt yet clearly pre-rehearsed speech about his maturation at Sacred Heart, only to find that the goodbyes are meant for Dr. Kelso, who has taken his table and is finally leaving Sacred Heart a full year after his own retirement. Dr. Kelso reminds J.D. that no one ever really makes a big deal when someone leaves the hospital, but offers J.D. a handshake and proper farewell. This reenergizes J.D., determined to get his sentimental goodbye from Dr. Cox, who tells him this day is nothing special. J.D. tells him that if he is gonna put that in the book, he should put that on the 5 and walks away.

Watching his terminal patient, J.D. sits with Carla, who defends him against Dr. Cox one last time as he walks by. J.D. asks her why she has always been so nice and never harassed him the way she does Dr. Cox. Carla reminds him that he is "Bambi" and she wanted to teach him. They have a tender moment as J.D. thanks her for teaching him, and they say how much they are going to miss each other.

Later in the cafeteria, Jordan says goodbye to J.D., reminiscing about how they had slept together (S01Ep06), and then kisses him on the cheek before realizing with horror how nice she had just been. She then makes things right by insulting Ted, who allows her to because "[She] needs it". The Janitor attempts to demonstrate to J.D. how suddenly accusing someone will make them own up to what they did in a pre-rehearsed trick with the intern Denise, who walks off unfazed. Janitor tells J.D. one last time to admit putting the penny in the door, and J.D. finally cracks, saying that he did it, but it was eight years ago and an accident. The penny had fallen out of his pocket and rolled into the door, and J.D. hadn't owned up because it was his first day and didn't want Janitor to be mad at him so early on. When J.D. asks if Janitor believes him, he replies that he saw the incident happen, and only asked J.D. back then if he was responsible as a test of character. J.D. had failed the test, starting the feud and missing out on a great friendship with the Janitor.

As he is preparing to leave, he sees Dr. Cox ranting at the intern Sunny. He finally relents, admitting to himself that Cox is gruff and insensitive, yet still a great teacher. He thanks Dr. Cox for everything, before moving on. Turk and Elliot both rush up to J.D. and apologize for saying their goodbyes too early, but he understands. He's glad that Elliot is moving in with him, she crazily blurts out that she has sub-let her house and they now officially live together.

At the end of J.D.'s shift, the Janitor actually offers his goodbye to him. They wish each other luck and the Janitor reveals his name as Glenn Matthews; however, an orderly then calls him "Tommy", making it uncertain whether this is indeed his real name. (In a Twitter post on April 5, 2011, Bill Lawrence confirmed that Janitor was telling the truth when he revealed his name as Glenn Matthews.) [2]

As he walks through the ICU for the final time, J.D. thinks of how he is lucky to have gotten what he has from the day, he says his goodbye to Dr. Cox before leaving. Sunny tells Dr. Cox how glad she is that J.D. is finally leaving. Dr. Cox replies that he considers J.D. a talented doctor, a good person, and a friend. J.D. (who had planned this in advance with Sunny) is secretly behind him and hears the whole thing, finally hugging a mortified Dr. Cox. Dr. Cox then erases the smile on Sunny's face by reminding her she will be at Sacred Heart for a long time.

J.D. then walks through the halls of Sacred Heart for the last time and, as he does, he sees visions of many of the people he has encountered over his eight years there. He sees his family, ex-girlfriends, former patients (both dead and alive) and co-workers before walking out the door for the last time. Upon leaving, he makes his final inner monologue about being able to shape his own unknown future. He visualizes a film of his future playing on the still hanging "Goodbye J.D." cloth, showing him marrying Elliot, having a child with her, sharing Christmas with Elliot, Turk, Carla, Dr. Cox, Jordan and all their children, his grown son Sam getting engaged to Turk's grown daughter, Isabella, and showing off to J.D. and Turk (and faints two times), him hugging everybody in those visions, and finally him getting an honest hug from Dr. Cox. This sequence is constructed in a musical montage style, and is accompanied by a Peter Gabriel cover of "The Book of Love", originally written by the Magnetic Fields. The cloth is torn down by an unfamiliar janitor (played by series creator Bill Lawrence) who says goodnight to him. With that, J.D. gets into his car and drives off.

Production

On his blog, writer Bill Lawrence admitted that the dialogue between J.D. and Elliot in bed at the beginning of the episode was lifted from the pilot of a previous show of his, Spin City . [3] Also of note, the doctor who says "adios" to J.D. as he leaves the ICU in the final attempt for Dr. Cox to give JD a goodbye hug is Dr. Jonathan Doris, upon whom the show is loosely based. [4]

Cast

It was reported a week after filming in September 2008 that the finale of season 8 would feature a large cast of characters who had appeared throughout the show's eight-season run. Over fifty actors reprised their roles as patients, medical staff, and supporting players from prior episodes for the finale. [5] Heather Graham was also invited to reprise her role as Dr. Molly Clock, but declined for personal reasons. [6] Masi Oka, who played Franklyn the lab technician, was then appearing on Heroes , while Sarah Lancaster, who played Lisa the Gift-Shop Girl, was then appearing on Chuck ; both were asked to appear but were denied permission by NBC. [7]

Music

Related Research Articles

<i>Scrubs</i> (TV series) American medical comedy-drama television series

Scrubs is an American medical sitcom created by Bill Lawrence that aired from October 2, 2001, to March 17, 2010, on NBC and later ABC. The series follows the lives of employees at the fictional Sacred Heart Hospital, which is a teaching hospital. The title is a play on surgical scrubs and a term for a low-ranking person because at the beginning of the series, most of the main characters are medical interns.

"My Way Home" is the seventh episode of season five and the 100th episode of the American comedy drama Scrubs. It originally aired on January 24, 2006 on NBC.

J.D. (<i>Scrubs</i>) Fictional character from Scrubs

John Michael "J.D." Dorian, M.D., is a fictional character and protagonist of the American comedy-drama television series, Scrubs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliot Reid</span> American TV fictional character

Elliot Reid-Dorian, M.D. is a fictional character played by Sarah Chalke in the American comedy-drama Scrubs. She appeared in every episode during the first eight seasons, except for two Season 8 episodes, "My Last Words" and "My Lawyer's in Love".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Turk</span> Fictional character

Christopher Duncan Turk, M.D., commonly referred to by his last name "Turk," is a fictional character in the American comedy-drama Scrubs, played by Donald Faison. Turk appeared in every episode of the series except three season 8 episodes, "My Saving Grace", "My New Role" and "My Lawyer's in Love". Faison is the only original cast member, besides John C. McGinley, that returned for season 9 as a regular cast member.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carla Espinosa</span> Fictional character

Carla Espinosa, RN is a fictional character in the American comedy-drama Scrubs, portrayed by Judy Reyes, who appeared on the series from October 2001 to May 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perry Cox</span> Fictional character

Percival Ulysses "Perry" Cox, M.D., is a fictional character played by John C. McGinley on the American television comedy drama Scrubs. Cox appears in every episode except for "My Last Words", "My Comedy Show", and "My Full Moon", all from Season 8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">My First Day</span> 1st episode of the 1st season of Scrubs

"My First Day" is the pilot episode of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It originally aired on October 2, 2001 on NBC. The episode was written by series creator Bill Lawrence and directed by Adam Bernstein.

"My Screw Up" is the 14th episode of Season 3 and the 60th episode overall of the American sitcom Scrubs. It originally aired on February 24, 2004 on NBC.

"My Musical" is a musical episode of the American comedy-drama television series Scrubs. It is the 123rd episode of the show, and was originally aired as the sixth episode of the sixth season on January 18, 2007 on NBC.

"My Long Goodbye" is the 15th episode of season six of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It aired on April 5, 2007 on NBC. It was written by Dave Tennant and directed by Victor Nelli, Jr. It is noteworthy for being the last regular episode featuring Aloma Wright as Laverne Roberts, a regular recurring character since the pilot episode.

"My Point of No Return" is the 22nd and final episode of season six and the 139th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It aired on May 17, 2007 on NBC. It is part two of the two-part season finale, preceded by "My Rabbit".

"My Own Worst Enemy" is the first episode of the seventh season of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It originally aired on October 25, 2007 on NBC, and was watched by 6.95 million viewers.

"My Growing Pains" is the fifth episode of season seven and the 144th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It aired on November 29, 2007, on NBC.

"My Bad Too" is the seventh episode of season seven and the 146th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It aired on April 10, 2008 on NBC, as the first episode to air after the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

"My Princess" is the season seven finale and the 150th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It was broadcast on May 8, 2008, on NBC, and was the last episode to air on the network before the series moved to ABC. Although produced as episode 9, the episode was rearranged to be the season finale due to the season being cut short because of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike.

"My Jerks" is the 151st episode and television season premiere of the eighth season of the television series Scrubs. The episode first aired on January 6, 2009, on ABC, following the show's departure from NBC. It was immediately followed by the second episode of the season. The episode was written by Angela Nissel and directed by Michael Spiller who also has a small cameo appearance. This was the first Scrubs episode of the show to show moving footage over the credits, instead of its usual screenshots of scenes throughout the episode.

"My Nah Nah Nah" is the 11th episode of the eighth season of the television series Scrubs, and 161st overall. It was broadcast on March 18, 2009 on ABC.

<i>Scrubs</i> season 1 Season of television series

The first season of the American comedy television series Scrubs premiered on NBC on October 2, 2001 and concluded on May 21, 2002 and consists of 24 episodes. Scrubs was created by Bill Lawrence who wrote the pilot as well as 3 other episodes in the season. Adam Bernstein directed the pilot as well as 4 other episodes. Neil Flynn was only a guest star in the first season, although he appeared in every episode of the season. Bill Lawrence said if the show had been cancelled at the end of the first season, he would have made the Janitor a figment of J.D.'s imagination.

References

  1. ↑ "ABC preps for a "Scrubs" return", Reuters, May 15, 2009
  2. ↑ Lawrence, Bill (2011-08-05). "JANITOR'S NAME WAS GLENN MATTHEWS. He told truth to J.D. for once". Twitter. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  3. ↑ "The finale" Archived 2009-12-12 at the Wayback Machine by Bill Lawrence, on ABC's Scrubs message forum, May 7, 2009
  4. ↑ "My Finale". Scrubs. Season 8. Episode 18. May 6, 2009. Event occurs at 29:43. ABC.
  5. ↑ "Past guest stars from 'Scrubs' to be on finale" by Chuck Barney, on Ohio.com, May 3, 2009
  6. ↑ "Heather Graham Dumps 'Scrubs' For New Beau", Parade magazine, June 1, 2009
  7. ↑ "Scrubs: NBC Stars Not Allowed to Return for Series Finale", TVseriesFinale.com, September 8, 2008
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.