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Show:		7.0
Picture:		9.0
Sound:		9.0
Extras:		7.0
Score:		8.0

Director(s):	Michael Spiller • Bill Lawrence • Adam Bernstein
Writer(s):	Bill Lawrence, Janae Bakken, Deb Fordham
Starring:	Donald Faison • John C. McGinley • Neil Flynn • Sarah Chalke • Zach Braff • Christa Miller • Judy Reyes • Ken Jenkins
Genre:	Comedy • Drama
Website:	http://abc.go.com/shows/scrubs
Release Date:	November 17, 2009

List Price:	Blu-ray - $36.49
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Scrubs started off as one of the funniest and most promising shows of its time. The innermost fantasies of J.D. (Zach Braff) conflicting with the harsh sarcasm of Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) provided lots of laughs over the years, as did the bromance of J.D. and his long-time friend Turk (Donald Faison) in the midst of their struggles to make a name for themselves at Sacred Heart, the hospital where they interned, had their residencies and eventually worked as doctors. In the show’s eighth year, all the curveballs of past seasons begin to wind down as the cast takes what seems like their final bow.

In the past seasons, J.D. has dated all sorts of women (typically recognizable guest stars) and has found two things. The first is that sex eventually leads to pregnancy and he is now the father of a baby boy with fellow doctor Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks) – a relationship which came to an end in the previous season. Second, J.D. knows that Elliot (Sarah Chalke) is the woman he loves. Their relationship has hit countless bumps in the road but is finally tying up to be the knot Scrubs devotees have been hoping for since the series’ very first episode. Attention shifts away from Turk and Carla (Judy Reyes) considerably, but can you really blame them? The past few seasons since their marriage the story lines were pretty much the same: learning about compromise, finding new joy in a relationship, balancing the romance with a child in the equation, etc. The stories were important, but ran out of steam long ago, and their mini-arc in the Bahamas speaks to this.

Of the auxiliary relationships, that of Dr. Cox and his cougar wife Jordan (Christa Miller) provides the most entertainment and depth. Upon the retirement of Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) as the head of Sacred Heart, Cox takes over and finds the job prevents him from pursuing his altruistic renegade style, a topic which constantly saw him butting heads with Kelso. The long hours and slavery to hospital budgeting force Perry to make decisions he once would have ridiculed for their hypocrisy; dealing with the new role creates more stress for the doctor with a reputation for having an already short temper – consequently the season has a lot of really funny Cox rants.

The season as a whole just doesn’t stack up to the earliest ones, but if you’re still a fan after its less than stellar efforts of the last few years then you probably won’t be so quick to spot its flaws. The new group of med students (among them the obnoxious Aziz Ansari) don’t measure up to the original cast or even some of the more memorable side characters of past seasons like the ill-fated Doug. The established side characters which have withstood the test of time find their sparks fading; the Janitor (Neil Flynn) used to be hilarious, but they’ve stretched his character in so many directions that his antics this season don’t come close to the sinister machinations he used before. And Ted? The writers took the route with Ted that Family Guy’s writers did with Stewie (who started evil and gradually just became incredibly effeminate). They started him as one thing and gradually just blurred the lines as they realized they were running out of ways to make him a chauvinistic pig.

It’s not a great season, but it has (what should have been) the series’ finale moment that sort of warms the heart.

Blu-ray Bonus Features

Everything that was on the DVD version finds its way to Blu-ray: Bloopers (pretty funny), deleted scenes, alternate lines, a brief featurette of “My Bahamas Vacation” chronicling their on-location shoot at Disney’s Atlantis resort, and webisodes featuring the poorly written interns from the show. The Blu-ray exclusive features (besides the useful SeasonPlay – which keeps track of which episode you’re on for you) have one gem that any long-time fan of the show will delight in: a montage of every humiliating name Dr. Cox has given J.D. over the last 8 years. It’s amazing how long this thing stretches on for and just how funny it is.