© 2009 ABC A scene from SCRUBS "My Soul on Fire"

Television:

TV Review: SCRUBS - SEASON EIGHT - 'My Soul is On Fire' Part One

It's vacation time as the cast heads down to the Bahamas

Grade: B
Stars: Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke, Donald Faison, John C. McGinley, Judy Reyes
Writer(s): Bill Callahan
Director: Bill Lawrence
Rating: NR

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By CARLOS DELGADO, Contributing Writer
Published 4/9/2009

It’s one of the rarer events in SCRUBS history. “My Soul On Fire, Part 1” is, as it’s title denotes, a two part episode. There aren’t too many of those in the SCRUBS catalog (actually, I’m not sure if there are any twp part episodes, but I’ll leave the research to you, dear readers). It’s also shot in on location in the Bahamas, another first. So once again it’s new ground for SCRUBS, but luckily this doesn’t have the we’re-out-of-ideas-so-we’re-doing-a-novelty-episode feel to it.

The Janitor (Neil Flynn) and Lady (Kit Pongetti) announce their wedding to the staff of Sacred Heart and distribute invites to their upcoming ceremony. There is a catch, however: the wedding is in three days an in the Bahamas. The Janitor purposely gave everyone short notice in hopes that no one would actually attend. Had his plan worked, he would receive all the gifts without actually having to endure a formal ceremony.

But the plan backfires when J.D. (Zach Braff) is able to rally everyone and convince them to travel to the Bahamas, despite the ridiculously short notice. The whole crew, from Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins) to Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) to even the Todd (Robert Maschio) hop on plane and travel down to the Caribbean, much to the Janitor’s dismay. It’s like a mini vacation for everyone, they figure, so why not.

While all the travel commotion is going on, J.D. and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) reach their own milestone. Elliot tells J.D. that she loves him. J.D. responds with a simple “I love you” in return, but Elliot being the lunatic that she is, declares that a simple “I love you” will not suffice. She wants an eloquent speech similar to the one she gave J.D. She wants nothing short of a well thought out, moving oration that also sounds completely spontaneous.

It’s a typical absurd Elliot demand, but J.D. dutifully tries to meet her expectations. Sometimes I love how crazy Elliot is, and sometimes she’s an annoying parody of herself. Usually her forced episodes of neurosis are funny. Elliot is a mess. That’s her character. That’s part of her charm. But sometimes, like in this episode, her antics fall a little flat. You get the sense the writers are trying a little too hard to but still end up with too little comedy. We all know Elliot is insane, but give it rest sometimes. No matter. Her slight drop off isn’t nearly enough to ruin this episode.

No, it’s SCRUBS as usual, even in the Bahamas. The quirky jokes. J.D.’s day dreams. The Todd’s high fives. J.D. and Turk’s (Donald Faison) continuing bro-mance. They’re all there. Check out the scene where J.D. and Turk go “up high” and chest bump each other, followed by a “down low” where they bump unmentionables. It’s absolutely brilliant. And that’s what SCRUBS is, really. Big over arching story lines peppered with weird little one liners followed by a moment of seriousness. Roll them all together and you get one of the best television series of the past ten years. Not the best episode of the season, but well within the SCRUBS standard of comedy.

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