Scrubs Series 5 (Scrubs - The Complete Season 5 (DVD))

Member Name: butters

Product:	Scrubs - The Complete Season 5 (DVD)
Date:	01/03/09 (107 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Episodes such as "His Story III" and "My Fallen Idol"

Disadvantages: Fantasy sequences lasting longer and getting weirder.

When Scrubs originally aired on TV is was a breath of fresh air. Instead of going for a laugh track and obvious humour, the laughs just came naturally, no joke seemed forced. Although insanely funny, it really was like a fictional documentary, as the staff of Sacred Heart Hospital had to deal with the emotional issues of being a doctor. The story followed JD, a new intern who was under the guidance of Dr Cox, an emotionally damaged, narcissistic man who seemed to fear getting close to people. J.D narrates each episode and tells you what he is thinking.
Whilst the other series remained very good, it is noticeable that every season gets a little lighter hearted and wacky. This is series 5 though, and it's been taken to a new extreme. Though the show still has the same cast, it's just not the same, and anything unique about the first series has just gone, and instead replaced with generic comedy material. Straight away I will say series 5 isn't necessarily a bad season, though it's no longer anything special.

By series 5 JD is now an Attending, his Surgeon friend Turk is living with Nurse Carla, and Elliot Reid, a female doctor (and one of the main characters) is on a fellowship in a new hospital. The entire story of series 5 has so much hope, because with so much having changed, you would expect some real character development to take place as relationships change. For example, J.D not being under Cr Cox's control. It altogether has a lot of potential to develop their relationship, as in previous seasons Dr Cox has always been the stern leader who, instead of showing his love, relentlessly rants at the interns, apparently fearing getting close to them.
In reality though only two characters develop, and that is Carla and Turk. Their relationship grows as they try for a baby. It is just a shame that this doesn't happen with all of the characters as it now appears that all of the characters just have their own clichés and humour, and any character growth has just been replaced by this. This is the series you'll get tired of Dr Cox's trademark rants, as now they just happen a little too often. And it's sad to say but it's also a series that you'll start to hate J.D. You would once have believed him as a doctor, as he was smart, loving and a little eccentric. Now however, it seems the only way for his character to be interesting is in an imagination scene. Similar to the Family guy scenes, there are imagination scenes in this where J.D will think of something wacky. Originally used sparsely, and effectively they are now just thrown in whenever the writer feels the show needs some humour, and it seems to replace any smart humour that was there previously. Because of this, you really may start to hate J.D as scenes where he imagines "Floating Head Doctor", where his head and body are both attached, though can both still move. It just gets ridiculous and they're quite frankly embarrassing to watch. They also seem to get longer and longer, instead of the 5 second pieces they once were.
The worst episode no doubt is "My Big Bird" where most of the main characters are investigated for the death of a patient. J.D is being investigated because, instead of treating a patient, he travels to someone's house to wonder why he didn't get a 'thank you' for treating him. Carla on the other hand is too busy trying to get everyone to do a group lottery. Everyone in the episode just seems wildly out of character, and the J.D in this episode is not the caring J.D you saw in the first few series. It gets worse still though, as at the house J.D and Turk travelled to, there was an Ostrich farm. This is undoubtedly the low point of the series, and watching J.D and Turk run away from a group of Ostriches is just uncomfortable.
The problem here is that the show has moved away from what it once was, and the episodes are no longer centred on the hospital any more, but the wacky antics that people can get up to. This continues further with the episode "My New God" where the Janitor tricks J.D into committing a burglary. Again, this just shows further that the show is no longer centred on the hospital, and also shows that the humour is no longer realistic, as the writers try to push the boundaries of realism for a quick laugh. The Janitor's character in this episode just feels ruined. Once a harmless and mysterious prankster, it is just one trick that goes too far and feels totally out of character. Considering it is series 5 you would expect some development to happen between the Janitor and J.D but it never happens.
One episode also has a large focus on Turk joining a Hospital air-band. Although there is a slight amusement to this, it just shows how much Scrubs has lost its track since the first season, and how instead of focussing on the hospital and the character growth, no such thing happens and instead we get cheap laughs.

It is not all bad of course and there are still laughs to be had. "My Bright Idea" is an episode where JD gets the Janitor to swallow a GPS tracker so he always knows where he is. It's actually quite a humorous episode, no matter how realistic it is. Although it shows once again that the hospital no longer seems central to the story, it at least shows that the humour is still there.
There is also a brilliant, and touching episode where instead of J.D, it is the Janitor who narrates. It is a nice change from J.D and although not really the most emotional episode, it definitely has its moments. It's a high point of season 5.

Two connected episodes, "My Lunch" and "My Fallen Idol" are a return to form for the entire series, and the episode would not look out of place in series 1 or 2. The story is actually focused around the hospital for once, where Dr Cox accidentally kills 3 patients due to rabies infected organs. The story is extremely emotional the episodes are not only a high point of season 5, but are actually some of the best episodes in all series of Scrubs. It really plays on your emotions the way some of the old episodes did, and shows some true development of the character Dr Cox, and his relationship with J.D. It is a shame that this couldn't continue, so their relationship develops throughout the rest of the series, but at least this development did occur, and it shows that wacky humour is not actually needed in Scrubs. The use of music in the episode "My Lunch" is brilliant, and really adds to the episode in general. Music is used constantly throughout Scrubs, and this episode will show you why.

As with all of the series of Scrubs there are extra's on the DVD. Actors Neil Flynn (Janitor), John C. McGinley (Dr Cox) and Zach Braff (J.D) offer audio commentary for a couple of episodes and the creator Bill Lawrence gives an overview of all 5 seasons, telling us how it has progressed. Of course there are also deleted scenes. In general they are all decent and worth a watch. Personally I'm not a fan of audio commentaries but I'm sure, for those who are, these will be enjoyed.

Coming to the end of the review I can't really say the season is particularly bad. It just doesn't feel like Scrubs now and there is very little to differentiate it from most other comedies out there. There are just too many cheap laughs and the characters just seem to have too much make-up on, something that did not happen in the first series when everything was more realistic. If it was judged on its own and not compared to any other season I would call it average and generic. There are some brilliant ideas that shine through still, such as the 100th Episode doing a half decent Wizard of Oz-hospital version. It's the type of imaginative humour you won't find in many series. However, it just doesn't shine though overall and the series is generally unmemorable. It is definitely worth a look at because of the episodes like "My Fallen Idol" and "His Story III", and there are other laughs to be had. Just don't expect it to live up to the first few series. And don't expect things to get batter for series 6 either, because that's a whole different story.

~Extra Information~
Year: 2006
Running Time: 503 minutes
Age: 12
Price: £18 (New) On Amazon.co.uk

Summary: A decent comedy but not comparable to the original Scrubs series.