"I don't necessarily buy into all of that new age-y crap. One time I saw my mom knock my father unconscious with a frying pan. You know what I did? I kept right on going with my birthday party." - Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley) on his child-rearing theories
Scrubs: The Complete Third Season DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
As the third season of Scrubs begins, our favorite interns at Sacred Heart Hospital are starting year three of their residency. They are each one step closer to becoming full-fledged doctors, but in some ways they aren't any smarter. J.D. (Zach Braff) spends the season pining over Elliot (Roseanne's Sarah Chalke). Elliot, on the other hand, is perfectly content with her boyfriend Sean (Felicity's Scott Foley), a trainer at Sea World who talks to porpoises. J.D.'s best friend and roommate, Turk (Clueless' Donald Faison), is busy making plans for his wedding to Carla (Judy Reyes). Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) has become a surprisingly tender father, mostly protecting his son from his usual bitter, sarcastic remarks. The hospital's chief of medicine, Dr. Kelso (Homefront's Ken Jenkins), is as cheap and mean as ever, and the hospital's nameless janitor (Neil Flynn) continues to dream up new ways to torment J.D.
The character undergoing the greatest changes in season three is undoubtedly Elliot. In previous seasons, she proved herself to be a competent doctor, but her lack of confidence and self-esteem often foiled her progress. She also tended to forget to comb her hair. When both doors to her new car get ripped off and she is once again mistreated by her male superiors, she decides that it is time for a change ("My American Girl"). She rips her kitty cat poster off of her bedroom wall and gets a beauty makeover straight out of a Pat Benatar video. Soon she's strutting around the hospital looking as if she's about to break into "Love is a Battlefield." She learns, however, that female doctors often have to work against their looks in order to gain respect from their colleagues and patients ("My Clean Break"). Elliot provides many of the season's funniest moments, especially through her relationship with Sean. The scenes featuring Sean at work at Sea World are especially wacky. Foley is a terrific actor, and he and Chalke make a fine comic team. He's so damn likeable that when Elliot has to decide between her two pursuers, even viewers might have trouble picking between the two.
J.D. might be smitten with Elliot, but he still can't resist the charms of Danni (American Pie's Tara Reid), a beautiful blonde he meets in the hospital elevator. They date throughout the season, but J.D. quickly realizes that Danni has a few quirks. She insists on smoking in bed after sex...and during.
With so many guest stars like Foley and Reid appearing this season, the series threatens to become The Love Boat. Heck, even Bernie Kopell - The Love Boat's Doc - shows up as a patient. The series mostly avoids Will & Grace-style stunt casting simply for the sake of stunt casting. Almost all of the guests feel organic to the series.
Brendan Fraser returns as Ben Sullivan, Cox's best friend and former brother-in-law ("My Screw Up"). We last saw Ben in season one when a nail gun accident led to the discovery that he had leukemia. Since then, the amateur photographer has been traveling the world. What he has not been doing, however, is getting treatment for his disease. This episode walks a fine line between effective and gimmicky. In the end, a fine performance by McGinley saves it.
Michael J. Fox (Spin City) appears in two episodes as Dr. Kevin Casey, an obsessive compulsive doctor of whom Dr. Cox is extremely jealous (they were interns together). When he's not washing and rewashing his hands or perfecting his entrance into the hospital, Casey dispenses advice to the interns, earning their trust and respect ("My Catalyst," "My Porcelain God"). These episodes veer into the land of stunt casting, but sharp writing and acting pull them back from the brink.
Other actors making guest and cameo appearances in season three include Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: SVU) as a slightly nutty pediatrician, Markie Post (Night Court) as Elliot's mother in a brief flashback, Thomas Cavanagh (Ed) as J.D.'s brother, Erik Estrada (CHiPS) as himself, Barry Bostwick (Spin City) as an uptight Episcopalian who may have prostate cancer, Embeth Davidtz (Junebug) and Julie Warner (Nip/Tuck) as friends of Cox's wife, Nestor Carbonell (The Tick) as a doctor Carla has a crush on, Freddy Rodriguez (Six Feet Under) as Carla's brother, Larry Thomas (Seinfeld's Soup Nazi) as himself, Hattie Winston (Homefront) as Turk's mom, George Takei (Star Trek) as a priest who looks like George Takei, and Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch) as herself. How effective is this series at integrating guest stars into episodes? Oddball pop group Polyphonic Spree has a cameo performing its hippy-dippy hit "Light & Day/Reach For The Sun" in a patient's room and it seems perfectly natural.
The series continues its mastery of outrageous humor, often having more jokes and visual gags per minute than animated shows like The Simpsons. In one episode, each one of J.D.'s tangential musings ends with a midget walloping him in the crotch. Elliot complains about the "sick bastard" who lives next door and breathes heavily while listening to her conversations. The camera then cuts away to a nasally challenged bulldog who apparently likes to sit near the wall. Sexist, moronic, surgical intern "The Todd" (Robert Maschio) wears an "I Love Vagina Clothing Company" t-shirt to a sexual harassment class.
Season three perfects the delicate balance between comedy and drama that was somewhat missing from season one. The series also benefits from its various continuing storylines which help to keep viewers watching.
The twenty-two episodes that make up season three are divided onto three discs. Each of the three golden-hued discs are decorated with portraits of the characters - J.D. and Elliot on disc one, Carla and Turk on disc two, and Cox and the janitor on disc three. The discs are housed in a green foldout case. The three discs attach to two panels - one of the panels holds two discs, one on top of the other in a figure eight pattern. One panel of the foldout case lists the episode titles found on each disc. Unfortunately, no plot synopses are included, making it a little more difficult for viewers to choose individual episodes. The case slides into a partially transparent plastic sleeve which gives the impression that the cast is bursting through the doors from surgery. The design of both the outer sleeve and the foldout case aren't as imaginative as those for season one, but they remain eye-catching when compared to most DVDs.
The DVD menus are a bit underwhelming. A computer animated opening introductory sequence takes viewers on a first person stroll through a hospital before veering into a supply closet. From here, viewers can play all of a disc's episodes or choose an individual one. The episodes are divided into chapters, but there are no scene selection menus.
