What I’m Watching: Scrubs

Scrubs: Season 9, Episode 12 “Our Driving Issues” (C-)

A break from this show until now was not a good idea. If we were ever going to come around to these new characters, taking a whole month off really doesn’t help matters much. Truth be told, this is a better timeslot for the show, grouping it with three successful comedies, two of which actually have old “Scrubs” cast members in their ensembles – Neil Flynn on “The Middle” and Christa Miller on “Cougar Town.” But none of this matters when the season has only two episodes left to air, and this disappointing installment is one of them. The fabrication of intensely dramatic plotlines does not work well, especially when something like Dr. Kelso’s inability to drive is played off too much for comedy, unlike his forced retirement after Elliot uncovered his age in an effort to throw him a party. Cole’s cancer scare was way too casual, and the relationship that is supposed to have been formed between all of the med students just doesn’t exist. Turk, who is allegedly one of the primary stars of the show, doesn’t even have anything to do in this episode at all except tell students that they shouldn’t be worried that they themselves have the diseases they’re studying. I did enjoy one scene, and that was when the warring Dr. Cox and Denise were trying to find Drew and describing him to people during the search. Denise’s description of a “serial killer vibe” was fun, but I prefer Dr. Cox’s searing potshot: “have you seen a med student, like 900 years old?”