First airing on NBC on October 2, 2001, Scrubs is a beloved sitcom following the lives of a handful of doctors, nurses and other hospital staff at the fictional Sacred Heart. The show ran for nine seasons, and with the exception of its final, pseudo-spin-off season, was one of the rare shows that managed to maintain a high level of quality throughout.
With that said, there’s a whole lot of fantastic Scrubs episodes, with almost every episode that aired having a positive reception from critics and fans – making it very hard to choose just 10 episodes for this list. Nevertheless, here are 10 of the very best of them.
While TV pilots can tend to be a little shaky, Scrubs’ premiere episode “My First Day” knocked it out of the park. Introducing all the show’s key characters and effectively depicting the stressful, non-stop environment of Sacred Heart, the episode instantly hooked viewers when it aired back in 2001.
Balancing its comedy and drama well, setting up important character arcs, and introducing JD’s recurrent ‘fantasies,’ “My First Day” contained all the separate pieces of what makes Scrubs such a great show. It should come as no surprise then that the episode was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Award.
After JD’s father Sam dies unexpectedly, his brother Dan drops by with the intention of comforting him. Unfortunately, the death hits Dan harder than expected, and JD is left with nobody to turn to. What works so well about “My Cake” is how it uses Sam’s death to develop JD’s already complicated relationships.
With Dr. Cox being unwilling to connect with JD emotionally and Elliot behaving awkwardly due to their break-up, it’s all the more satisfying when Cox finally comes through for JD, sharing a beer with him at the episode’s climax. It’s one of the rare occasions we see Cox’s mask slip and realize he does care about JD after all.
While “My Long Goodbye” isn’t exactly the cleverest, most ground-breaking episode of Scrubs, it’s certainly one of the most emotional. While the show deals with death on a near-constant basis, it’s often kept at arm’s length – so when the show does dare to kill off one of its beloved characters, it’s all the more impactful.
The episode centers on recurring character Laverne Roberts, a nurse at Sacred Heart who falls into a coma following a car accident in the previous episode. As everybody says their goodbyes to her individually, Carla simply can’t bring herself to accept Laverne’s fate. Judy Reyes delivers a knockout performance throughout the episode that sells the weight of the situation.
Playing out as one big homage to The Wizard of Oz, “My Way Home” is a shining example of the smart writing on display throughout Scrubs. Following multiple characters whose journeys echo the characters of Oz – Turk needs a heart from a braindead patient, Elliot needs a brain to impress her interns, and Carla needs the courage to embrace motherhood – JD simply wants to get home after being called into the hospital on his day off.
Littered with subtle – and some not-so-subtle – references to the classic movie, the episode is smart, funny and touching. Overall, “My Way Home” serves as a fitting 100th episode.
Although the three episodes that preceded it were undoubtedly great in their own right, season one’s “My Old Lady” is the episode that solidified Scrubs as something truly special.
The episode opens with the stat that one in three patients admitted to Sacred Heart will die. Immediately, we’re introduced to JD, Turk, and Elliot’s respective patients – suggesting that one of them won’t make it through the episode. JD’s patient Mrs. Tanner – who he’s grown rather close with – refuses dialysis, claiming that she’s had a good life and is ready to die. This shakes JD to his core, and Mrs. Tanner gradually helps him come to terms with the inevitability of death. “My Old Lady” reinforces this theme in its closing moments, as all three of JD, Turk and Elliot’s patients die, rather than just one.
With Scrubs being a show focused on doctors and nurses, it goes without saying that the subject of death is touched on a lot. That’s what makes it so surprising that the show was still able to deliver touching episodes like “My Last Words” in its eighth season.
In the episode, JD and Turk cancel their much-anticipated Steak Night to keep George – a terminally ill patient – company on what’s likely to be his final night. What separates “My Last Words” from other similar episodes however is its intimacy – with much of the episode taking place in George’s room as the three discuss their feelings and anxieties about death. George is ultimately comforted before his passing, and the episode ends with JD and Turk celebrating his life.
Following the events of “My Lunch,” “My Fallen Idol” sees Dr. Cox show up to work drunk after his actions result in the death of three patients. Sent home, Cox is inconsolable, refusing to talk to anyone while binge-drinking on his couch.
While everybody else fails to get through to him, it’s JD who snaps Cox out of his stupor, telling him how proud he is that Cox still takes his patients’ deaths so hard after all these years. It’s a nice call-back to the previous episode (in which Cox is forced to console JD) and it’s one of the best moments the two share together on the show.
One of the quintessential episodes of the series, “My Lunch” opens normally enough. Dr. Cox and JD run into Jill Tracy (a particularly annoying former patient) while getting lunch. Soon after, Jill turns up dead unexpectedly at the hospital.
This sinks JD into a deep depression, but Dr. Cox is able to use Jill’s organs to save three emergency transplant patients – until it’s revealed that Jill died from rabies. As The Fray’s “How to Save a Life” plays in the background, the episode ends with Dr. Cox failing to save each infected patient one by one. It’s a devastating ending to the episode thanks in no small part to John C. McGinley’s powerful performance and is widely regarded as one of the best episodes the show ever produced.
The key to a good twist ending is ensuring that the events that preceded it still make sense, despite their new context. “My Screw Up” nails this to heart-breaking effect. Featuring recurring character Ben – played by Brendan Fraser – the episode sees him attempting to convince Dr. Cox, with whom he’s close friends, that the recent death of a patient isn’t JD’s fault.
Dr. Cox refuses to listen initially but eventually forgives JD. Upon arriving at what he thinks is his son’s first birthday party, Cox realizes that the event is actually Ben’s funeral – with him having been dead for almost the entire episode as a figment of his imagination. This smartly written tearjerker was even nominated for an Emmy for its writing, and honestly that’s not a surprise.
As any writer worth their salt is sure to tell you, it’s hard to come up with a satisfying ending. That’s especially the case when you’re wrapping up a beloved show of eight seasons. Yet Scrubs’ two-part finale managed to pull off an incredibly fitting send-off to one of the best sitcoms of the decade.
The episode follows JD as he prepares to leave Sacred Heart, hoping to spend one special moment with each of his friends and co-workers before he leaves. While his final day doesn’t exactly go as planned, he does eventually get the closure he desires, and leaves the hospital imagining how his future might turn out – which the audience also sees via projector.
