Review: Scrubs, "My Celebration" | Season 10, Episode 9
Is this the best we can expect NuScrubs to be under the circumstances?
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Every sign points to Scrubs returning to ABC’s schedule next year. Will it still film in Vancouver over the objections of everyone who isn’t Sarah Chalke? Will it still only produce a cable-sized order of episodes? Will scheduling make more consistent appearances for Judy Reyes possible? Those questions are all unanswered.
I suppose you could technically view “My Celebration” as a tribute to unanswered questions, insofar as there’s no resolution to speak of. It wouldn’t have made sense for Cox’s illness to be magically resolved, nor for it to escalate dramatically, but the holding pattern we end with is still less than climactic. The same is true for the interns, who get a collective story about finding joy amidst burnout before tumbling into rushed romantic drama with no runway to speak of. And while Reyes does get to make a final appearance, it doesn’t create a meaningful story for Turk, with J.D. the only main character whose seasonal arc feels serviced here.
If it sounds like I’m down on this finale, it’s because it’s impossible for a sitcom finale to a nine-episode season to do much more than this. It’s telling that the episode uses a lot of space for a new character entirely: Rachel Bilson’s Charlie, a potential love interest for J.D. Am I mad at the appearance of Bilson, an actress who is consistently charming and a good fit for the tone of Scrubs? Not at all. But it reinforces the problem the show had across this short season when it came to balancing its stories. Yes, it creates a three-act structure of sorts for J.D. between the initial exposition of the Elliot divorce and the run-in with the harpist, but it only serves J.D. There’s no successful thematic link to the romance stories among the interns. There’s not really a strong tie to J.D.’s managing of the Perry situation, although there’s an effort to make his choice to approach her tied to his admiration for him and Jordan’s connection. There just isn’t enough oxygen here for this story and a finale that pulls all the threads together.
