As with all of this week’s NBC programs, Scrubs worked the green, eco-friendly idea into its scripts – both on and off the set. Off the set, they’ve started using both sides of the paper so it wouldn’t be so wasteful. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but with reprints and rewrites, using both sides really can save a lot of paper.
And on the set? The writers wrote in several references to conserving the environment and ways to do so. Surprisingly, they actually did a very good job of it? How?
At the very beginning of the episode, Dr. Christopher Turk and Dr. John (JD) Dorian are peering through the hospital window, looking at the babies. JD’s going on about all the different babies, talking about how they all remind him of his newborn son, Sam. Turk keeps reminding him that Sam’s gone – he’s with his mom in a hospital 40 minutes away. They pass by a group of women – who are all obsessing over their weight thanks to the addition of a scale in the hospital.
Jokingly, Turk tells his wife, Nurse Carla Espinosa, that she should hop on. JD sees Carla’s eyes flash, and it sends him into one of his random daydreams, in which he imagines Carla dumping first Turk and then himself on the scale, labeling them “Tubbo” and “Muscles Wanted,” respectively.
Meanwhile, Lawyer Ted Buckland shows up on his bike, and The Janitor shows up in his big, scary van. Ted scolds Janitor for showing up without having car pooled, and asks him if he knows what he’s doing to the environment, then forces him to watch Al Gore’s film, “An Inconvenient Truth.”
JD is confiding to Turk that he’s not thrilled his brother (Dan) is coming the next day. JD is constantly talking about how his brother needs to grow up, but at the same time, he takes comfort in his brother being more of a loser than he is. As he’s going on, his brother grabs him. From that point, it doesn’t take long for JD to realize that Dan has grown up. He has a new job and has bought himself a house. And he’s bought JD a new, cool, hybrid car. JD freaks and tell’s Dan, “You’re supposed to be the loser. Not me.” Dan did what someone should have done a long time ago, and said, “You know what, JD? You need to grow up.”
Dr. Elliot Reid is seeing the hypocrisy in the hospital – doctors or nurses telling their patients not doing something while doing it themselves – and hates it. Then, as she diagnoses a patient, telling her she’s malnourished and needs to gain weight, Dr. Perry Cox forces her to realize, by dumping her on the scale, that she is the same weight and height as the patient. Elliot makes a valiant effort – telling the patient she’ll gain weight with her, but ultimately, falls short.
At the very end of the film, JD asks Dan to go with him and see his son. Dan agrees, and together, the two of them go in JD’s new hybrid car – that is now missing a windshield. And JD realizes that maybe, he’s starting to grow up.
I hope that this trend – the JD growing up trend – continues as Scrubs winds to a close.
