My Way Home (Scrubs)
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"My Way Home" is the seventh episode of fifth season and the 100th episode of the American television
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Scrubs Scrub(s) may refer to: * Scrub, low shrub and grass characteristic of scrubland * Scrubs (clothing), worn by medical staff * ''Scrubs'' (TV series), an American television program * Scrubs (occupation), also called "scrub tech," "scrub nurse," ...
''. Written by
Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan are a television writing team who have worked on television comedies ''Family Guy'', ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'', and ''Community (TV series), Community''. Another project was the television pilot ''Nobody's Wa ...
, and directed by series main star
Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed J.D. (Scrubs), John Michael "J.D." Dorian on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2010), for ...
, it originally aired on January 24, 2006 on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
. The episode's references to ''
The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...
'' were called a "sly, circuitous homage" when ''Scrubs'' received a Peabody Award in 2006 for "fearlessly smashing traditional comic formulas, all the while respecting the deepest emotional and moral issues of its life-and-death setting."


Plot

On his day off, J.D. gets called into work by Keith. It turns out that Dr. Cox told Keith to call J.D. to let him see what it feels like to be pestered over little things, as J.D. had done to Cox as an intern. Laverne's
gospel choir Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compos ...
is also present, singing a song called "Payback is a Bitch". Elliot is basking in the warmth of being seen as an
endocrinology Endocrinology (from ''endocrine system, endocrine'' + ''wikt:-logy#Suffix, -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the ...
expert by her interns. In reality, however, around the hospital she is hiding pages of notes and books with the answers on them. Turk attempts to convince a family to take their
brain-dead Brain death is the permanent, irreversible, and complete loss of brain function, which may include cessation of involuntary activity (e.g., breathing) necessary to sustain life. It differs from persistent vegetative state, in which the person i ...
son off
life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...
so the hospital can perform its first on-site
heart transplant A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure when other medical or surgical treatments have failed. , the most common procedure is to take a functioning heart ...
, in which Turk will be allowed to assist if he is successful in persuading the family. Meanwhile,
Carla Carla is the feminized version of Carl, Carlos or Charles, from ''ceorl'' in Old English, which means "free man". People Notable people with the name include: * Carla Lazzari (born 2005), French singer and former member of the children's mus ...
jumps at the opportunity to look after Dr. Cox's young son Jack. However, the crew finds challenges awaiting them. J.D. just wants to head home and is constantly waylaid by requests for assistance. Elliot is forced to conduct a seminar with several endocrinology specialists. Turk's dishonesty with the
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
patient's family damages his credibility. Carla can't stand having Jack around and begins to doubt if she's cut out to be a parent. Eventually, all of J.D.'s friends discover they already had what they were looking for all along. Elliot finds that she has been unknowingly memorizing her notes and therefore already has the "brains" to go to the meeting. Turk, after being completely honest with the coma patient's parents, convinces them to pull the plug and learns the coma patient carried a donor card allowing the "heart" transplant. Carla learns from Dr. Cox that she'll feel different about her own child than she does other people's and will find the "courage" she needs. Later, as they put their skills to good use, J.D. is finally allowed to go home.


Homage

The episode is an homage to the 1939
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...
adaptation In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...
of
L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's fantasy books, particularly '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'', part of a series. In addition to the 14 ''Oz'' books, Baum penned 41 other novels ...
's ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a 1900 children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the ma ...
''. Some references are obvious, such as The Worthless Peons singing both "
We're Off to See the Wizard "We're Off to See the Wizard" is one of the classic songs from the Academy Award-winning 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz''. Composer Harold Arlen described it, along with "The Merry Old Land of Oz" and " Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", as one of the ...
" and "
Over the Rainbow "Over the Rainbow", also known as "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", is a ballad by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Yip Harburg. It was written for the 1939 film '' The Wizard of Oz'', in which it was sung by actress Judy Garland in her starring role ...
", the "
yellow brick road The yellow brick road is a central element in the 1900 children's novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by American author L. Frank Baum. The road also appears in the several sequel Oz books such as '' The Marvelous Land of Oz'' (1904) and '' T ...
" painted on the hospital floor, and J.D.'s red shoes. Several memorable lines from the film are echoed. Dr. Cox tells Elliot her endocrinology answers are "falling from the sky". Dr. Cox tells Carla to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" while cleaning his son. Dr. Cox calls Jordan the "Wicked Witch of the East Wing". Janitor mumbles "oil can". Todd talks about the zoo's "lions and tigers and bears — oh my!" Also, J.D. simply wants to go home (the yellow line leading to the exit), and when he does get to leave, there is a rainbow in the sky. From the point where the yellow line on the hospital floor is visualized as a yellow brick road, the rest of the episode is shot in bright, highly saturated colors, similar to the
Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...
in which ''The Wizard of Oz'' was filmed (with the Kansas scenes shot in black and white). The episode also makes some more subtle references, including various character names: *Mr. Fleming is the first patient mentioned; Victor Fleming directed the original movie. *One patient is Mr. Baum; the book "The Wizard of Oz" was written by L. Frank Baum. *Another patient is Mr. Langley. Noel Langley wrote the screenplay for the movie. *The potential heart donor's name is Ray Bolger, which is based on the actor with the same name who played the Scarecrow in ''The Wizard of Oz.'' *The psychologist who killed himself was Dr. Burke; Billie Burke played Glinda. References include: *Dr. Cox's nickname for J.D. is "Dorothy" *J.D. listening to the song ''
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
'' by the band ' Toto', on his iPod. *Dr. Cox refers to Elliot's straw-colored hair. *Janitor, while painting the hallway lines around the hospital, spray paints J.D.'s sneakers red (symbolizing the ruby slippers). *At the 12:54 mark, the four main characters follow a yellow line while Ted's band sings "We're Off to See the Wizard". At this moment, the color saturation changes from normal to extremely vivid - mimicking the movie's transition from black and white to color. *Dr. Cox tells the interns to "Flee - now!" The Wicked Witch of the West told the monkeys to "Fly - now!" *Turk and the nurses "pop up" like the munchkins do. *Jordan is stuck in a hot room and seems to be "melting" as the witch does when she gets doused with water. *Carla mentions, "I'm supposed to be the brave one," just as the "king of the forest" is supposed to be. *J.D., telling Turk he's on his own, just wants to take "Toto" and go home. *Jack is painted green, referencing the skin color of the Wicked Witch of the West. *Dr. Kelso mentions that the depressed staff psychologist had hanged himself. This is a reference to an urban legend about a depressed munchkin actor hanging himself on the set of the Wizard of Oz. *Carla finds Dr. Cox behind a curtain and he tells her, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain." *Todd tells Laverne that he saw lions, tigers, and bears at the zoo. Then he passes a cheerleader and says, "Oh My!" *Janitor asks Carla for the oil can when he has something in his mouth and his hands are full.


DVD version

The first cut of the episode, from before it was edited for broadcast, is featured on the DVD box set for Season 5. It contains scenes that weren't broadcast and different versions of scenes that were, alongside a commentary by
Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff (born April 6, 1975) is an American actor and filmmaker. He portrayed J.D. (Scrubs), John Michael "J.D." Dorian on the NBC/American Broadcasting Company, ABC television series ''Scrubs (TV series), Scrubs'' (2001–2010), for ...
, who directed the episode.


References


External links

* {{Scrubs Scrubs season 5 episodes 2006 American television episodes