I loved Scrubs. I think it was the first sit-com that I’d really liked in a long time. I remember feeling like it was really different from everything I’d ever seen before. Maybe News Radio was the closest, made up of an eclectic group of quirky people, thrown together by their place of employment. But it had been a few years and Scrubs was refreshing with its wackiness and unique style of humor.

Even so I’m really bad at any TV that I have to remember to watch at a particular time on a certain channel and at some point – I think it was somewhere in season 8 – I started to lose track of it, catching only an episode here or there. I remember really disliking the first series finale (because, if you recall, Scrubs had a love-hate relationship with ending and, in total, wound up with three different series finales. Only one of which was any good. But HOLY CRAP was it good and I may or may not have been sobbing at it while exercising on my stationary bike last week). But the final season, after the show was un-canceled one final time, was really different and most of the people I knew didn’t like it. I tend to root for things that no one else likes just on the basis that somebody has to like it dammit, so at the time I remember defending it. And I’ll say there is still a lot to like about it. But there are some things that definitely didn’t work. Here are my lists.

The Bad:
1. The lack of characters we loved, including the, you know, main character. I’m sure there were probably some real-world conflicts that got in the way, and I understand that, in terms of story, things have to evolve. But dammit I missed Carla and Jordan and the janitor and wanted more of JD and Elliot.
2. The bromace between JD and Turk just wasn’t the same. I’m not sure if there was simply a lack of time to fully develop it, but it was, I felt, far too shallow and codependent in this season, rather than being the usual mix of charm and just plain guy love without any need for “no homo”.
3. For that matter, JD’s character seemed far more childish. Without any of his usual actual maturity to balance that, it makes for a less pleasant character. I’m sure it was because this season the focus was on the newer students so that we didn’t get to see into his head, or to follow his life as much, but it weakened him as a character and made him flat.
4. LIKE WHERE THE HELL WAS THE JD/ELLIOT WEDDING WE ALL DESERVED? FUCK WHOEVER SKIPPED THAT SHIT. WE PUT UP WITH THEIR OFF-AND-ON BULLSHIT FOR ALL THOSE YEARS AND WE DON’T EVEN GET A WEDDING? NOPE.

The Good:
1. Drew and Denise. I SO SHIP THOSE TWO.
2. Drew.
3. Denise.
4. Drew and Denise.
5. Cole. Strangely enough. I know. I’m just as surprised as you are.
6. Drewnise. Is that their ship name? I don’t know. I’m gonna go start a tag on Tumblr.

What did you think about this season? What did you think about Drewnice? (Clearly you loved them. That is the only acceptable answer.) Do you even remember this show? It was about doctors and they wore scrubs and had antics. To refresh your memory. I know. Doing a review four years later is weird. You’re welcome.