Scrubs has been really funny this season, even more so, when JD is not present. I just wanted to put that statement out there, before I get any further along, since this is where I am headed with this entry.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti JD and when I initially read that Scrubs was renewed for a ninth season, with a mostly new cast, I was less than thrilled. Sure Scrubs has had some great seasons and some less than great seasons, but overall I thought “My Finale Part I & II” (8.18 & 8.19) were a perfectly respectable way to go out. I wasn’t interested in a spin-off or a reboot with the same name and I wasn’t interested in seeing a new class of med students. After eight seasons I’ve gotten kind of attached to JD, Turk, Carla, Elliot, The Janitor, and Dr. Cox and I’ve also grown fond of the many colorful background characters that keep Sacred Heart Hospital so much fun to visit on a weekly basis.
Scrubs Reboot is Refreshing
So even though I had reservations, I wasn’t about to give up on Scrubs. Maybe it’s a personal weakness, but generally when I start a show—I finish it. To put that statement into perspective I watched all eight seasons of Charmed and I’m still watching Smallville on a weekly basis. Initially I was lukewarm to the new season even though the first few episodes heavily featured JD, Dr. Cox, and Turk. The changes made to the show just felt like too much too soon. I had difficultly wrapping my head around the fact that in 
a few short months a new hospital / med school was built and most everyone was suddenly a professor or gone. (Yes, I understand that it’s a television show…just stay with me, I’m getting to the point.)
Surprisingly, I found myself liking the new characters and their quirks. And while there were certainly some laugh out loud moments in the first few episodes, it wasn’t until JD left that I started to really enjoy the new season.
Here is the main reason why: The character of JD walks a fine line between character and caricature. While I understand that this show is a comedy, unlike the other main characters he has been the most inconsistent in terms of growth. No, I don’t want, or expect him to stop the daydreams or tone down the bromance with Turk, but his constant need for approval and outlandish ‘real-life’ ideas just grow old after a while. What I find even more frustrating about the way his character has been written lately, is that it seems to be a regression from the level of maturity he reached last season, settling down with Elliot and choosing to leave Sacred Heard Hospital to be closer to his son.
Perhaps that is why I don’t mind the ridiculousness of the new characters. Lucy’s horse obsession has been a constant and Cole has always unnecessarily abbreviated words, but I don’t really expect anything else from them. The show is just now starting to develop the new crop of “murderers, butchers, slaughterers, and slayers” into three-dimensional characters. On the other hand, the same character that worried about being man enough for his son (7.8) and willingly postponed steak night to stay with a dying patient (8.2) also wore a hairnet rather than a helmet so as to not mess up his hairdo (3.4) and taught class from a tree (9.2).
