Full disclosure first, I watched the first few seasons of Scrubs, but I haven’t seen an episode since maybe season 4 or 5, so I’m pretty much jumping blind into season 9. Luckily for me, the more things change, the more they stay the same.
For those who are new to the program, which if season 9 is your first season that would be a little weird, Scrubs follows the lives of a group of young doctors, JD, Elliot, and Turk, as they learn and grow at Sacred Heart Hospital. At least, that’s the first few seasons. As we get to season 9, they have pretty much become the senior mentors at the hospital and now it is their turn to teach the next generation. They already did pretty much the same storyline in an earlier episode, but now they’re stretching it to a full season!
The new generation comes in just like the old generation did and learns the same lessons the old generation did. Really. The SAME lessons. Really, this season is basically the first couple seasons of the show except now the people learning the lessons the first time around are teaching the lesson’s this time around.
What’s separated this show from most of the other medical shows drowning the TV schedule over the years is the humor. It’s not smart humor, in fact they usually go for the lowest joke they can pull off and keep their TV-PG rating. The jokes in this season are still coming from the same places. JD’s weird fantasies, Dr. Cox being a jerk, Elliot being completely random. However, they add in a mirror image of each of them in the new class. Lucy takes on JD and Elliot as a completely random person who has really strange visions. Drew is a lot like Dr. Cox and Cole is a more offensive version of Todd.
From the latest season my least favorite episode was probably “Our Drunk Friend” because it’s the first completely re-hashed storyline from a previous season. Lucy is convinced she can help a man give up drinking and goes out of her way to help him, only to have him back in the hospital a few days later after drinking. The exact same as when Elliot had the druggie who tried to convince her to give him drugs.
My favorite episode was “Our White Coats” because it actually felt a little different and had a nice message about leaving the past behind us. It is also the point in the season where all the relationships mature and the characters actually start to develop to a point.
Scrubs: The Complete and Final Ninth Season is presented in 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound.
It looks like a TV show from the late 2000s, it looks and sounds fine. There are a couple weird looking jumps switching between vision and current time, but nothing that takes anything away from the show.
Scrubbing In – This is a pretty bland look at the changes the series has gone through with the new cast.
Deleted Scenes – Most scenes are deleted for a reason.
Bloopers – A ho-hum group of bloopers overall. Not terrible, but the bloopers bar is pretty high.
Live From The Golf Cart – A mock talk show with the campus police from their golf cart. It’s an unmitigated disaster.
The same as the first couple seasons with new faces. The main stars are back, but they play a much smaller role. So much so, that this season is often called Scrubs: Med School in an attempt to separate this season from the rest of the show as much as possible. Only the die-hard Scrubs fan needs this, and even some of those would be better off forgetting this season. If you’ve never seen the show before, it’s not terrible, it’s all new and will be pretty funny, but for the people who have been following the series, its old news.
ABC Home Entertainment presents Scrubs: The Complete and Final Ninth Season. Created by: Bill Lawrence. Starring: Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, and Donald Faison. Running time: 390 Minutes. Rating: TV-PG. Released on DVD: September 28, 2010.
