"Listen, if you're having trouble finding a vein for an IV, please don't page me. If you're desperate, we're lucky. This is a city hospital, there are plenty of heroin addicts who are quite adept at this." - J.D. (Zach Braff) offering advice to his new interns
Scrubs: The Complete Fifth Season DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
Are the doctors and staff at Sacred Heart Hospital finally growing up? Umm...not really. But in Scrubs: The Complete Fifth Season, the gang has to make a variety of decidedly adult choices. They just make them in their usually immature way.
As the season begins, J.D. (Zach Braff) is enjoying his role as an attending physician. He relishes the fact that with a few jokes and caring pats to the back, he can become the most beloved attending ever. Of course he doesn't quite accept that most of his underlings laugh at his jokes simply to suck up to him and to get good assignments. Elliot (Roseanne's Sarah Chalke) has taken a fellowship at another hospital. She should be thrilled, but her old insecurities have come to the fore. She is too afraid to talk to her new co-workers, drives across town to Sacred Heart to get medical supplies because she can't find her new hospital's supply room, and even has lunch at Sacred Heart so that she can avoid having to befriend new people. Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and his ex-wife Jordan (Christa Miller) continue to bicker and fight, but now their son Jack (Andrew Miller) is a toddler who can actually speak basic sentences (like "I pooped in the bed, so I put it on the TV"). Despite some misgivings, Turk (Clueless' Donald Faison) and Carla (Judy Reyes) actively set out to have a baby of their own. Well, sort of. At first, Turk, terrified by the prospect of becoming a father, secretly continues to feed Carla birth control pills.
Both J.D. and Elliot embark on serious relationships in season five. J.D. starts dating Julie (Mandy Moore, A Walk to Remember), a perky, beautiful klutz. They are so enamored of each other that they buy a vacant lot and build...a front porch. Their relationship doesn't last long because they realize that they want different things out of life. Well, that and because rather than laugh, Julie has a tendency to say "That's really funny." J.D. eventually finds a love connection with urologist Dr. Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks, The 40 Year-Old Virgin), a love connection that leads to a surprise end-of-season plot twist. Elliot starts a "booty call" relationship with superstar resident Keith (Travis Schuldt, Passions). She soon decides that she wants something deeper, so they branch out from booty calls to sexual role-playing.
The hospital's chief of medicine, Dr. Kelso (Homefront's Ken Jenkins), is still a mean skinflint, but season five also manages to humanize him. He becomes distraught when his dog dies, forcing Carla to turn people away from his office so that they won't see the tears streaming down his face. Even some of his more mercenary acts are shown in a new light. He agrees to let Dr. Cox's patient have the last spot in a study involving a new experimental treatment. He rescinds the offer when it turns out that a wealthier patient could also benefit from the treatment. After all, the wealthy patient might show his gratitude in a sizable donation to the hospital. This seems like a callous, money-grubbing decision, but Kelso wants to use the donation to continue funding a prenatal program for uninsured mothers.
The hospital's nameless janitor (Neil Flynn) continues to torment J.D. but also befriends Dr. Cox and a kleptomaniac bird that has taken up residence in Sacred Heart.
Season five includes several memorable episodes that showcase Scrubs' effortless mix of humor and drama. The Wizard of Oz-themed "My Way Home" shows how much the characters have grown over the past five seasons. Michael Learned (The Waltons) appears in a terrific multi-episode arc as a long term patient who becomes a staff favorite. J.D. learns that his pet resident won't necessarily make a good doctor, but his least favorite probably will ("My Cabbage").
While season five is much more consistent than season four, it doesn't really break any new ground. Many of the themes and situations feel a little familiar. Even so, the quality of the series remains high. When the series name-checks other hospital shows like Grey's Anatomy and House, these inside jokes only serve as a reminder that no one does it better than Scrubs.
Actors making guest and cameo appearances in season five include Thomas Cavanagh (Ed), Josh Randall (Ed), Cheryl Hines (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Gary Busey (I'm With Busey), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Billy Dee Williams (Brian's Song), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Airplane!), Dave Foley (NewsRadio), and Paul Adelstein (Prison Break).
The twenty-four episodes that make up season five are divided onto three discs. Each of the three discs feature a latex-gloved hand indicating the disc's number. The discs are housed in a 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. No plot synopses are included, making it a little more difficult for viewers to choose individual episodes. The case slides into a cardboard outer sleeve. The design of the outer sleeve and the foldout case - both of which feature photos of the cast - is dynamic and perfectly meshes with the tone of the show.
The computer animated DVD menus that infected the past few seasons have been replaced with more attractive live action menus. 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.
