‘Scrubs’ Season 2 continues to be just what the doctor ordered

Scrubs Season 2 is in full swing at Sacred Heart Hospital, reviving the best things about the original Scrubs without feeling like an unnecessary retread of the beloved sitcom.

Picking up from where Season 1 left off, J.D. (Zach Braff) is happily dating Charlie (Rachel Bilson). Getting older and getting divorced hasn’t jaded J.D. about love, though. If anything, he’s the same as ever. In the Season 2 premiere, J.D. has over-the-top enthusiasm for showing a new girlfriend how much he cares for her. (Donald Faison‘s Turk has to talk him out of gifting Charlie a Cameo video from Joey Fatone, for one.) Meanwhile, Turk clashes with surgical intern Dashana (Amanda Morrow) over generational differences in the operating room. And Elliot, now in the role of a mentor after idolizing mentors her whole career, tries to be a good steward of intern Tosh’s (Ava Bunn) career.

Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) continues to be monitored for an autoimmune disease. He’s still as curmudgeonly as before, but his time as a patient, not a doctor. It’s a somber reminder that time marches on. J.D., Turk, and Elliot are no longer the wide-eyed interns of the Scrubs of 2001. Now, with J.D. Chief of Medicine and Turk Chief of Surgery, they are the authority figures whose approval they once sought out.

Scrubs shows that nostalgia reboots can work.

Where other reboots fail to recapture the magic of their glory days, Scrubs Season 2 is a natural continuation. Its only real sense of feeling contemporary is the occasional TikTok reference. (Tosh is still desperate to shed her “TikTok Doc” nickname). Scrubs occupies an interesting place in the era of IP-driven reboots and sequels. Where Matlock just borrows its name from, well, Matlock, and Arrested Development proved not to be nearly as funny when the kids have grown up, Scrubs revives its predecessor’s charm without flatlining. It’s Scrubs Season 2 if you want to get technical about it, but it might as well be considered Scrubs Season 11 (or Season 10, as the canon of the much-maligned Season 9 is essentially ignored).

Scrubs was always a show about J.D. learning to navigate life. Now that he’s in his early fifties, he’s proof that learning is a lifelong endeavor, even after you’ve evolved from intern to Chief of Medicine. It doesn’t feel overwrought or immature, as it easily could. In Scrubs‘ two-episode season premiere, J.D.’s excitement at romancing Charlie shows he still has a lust for life even after twenty-five years of long days and making critical diagnoses at Sacred Heart.

Characters feel consistent with who they used to be. Instead of Elliot aggressively pursuing the approval of her superiors, she’s determined to become a great mentor. But her perfectionism comes to a head in Scrubs Season 2’s second episode, “My Mentee,” when Tosh starts to consider a different specialty than Elliot has in mind. Her earnest relentlessness is endearing without being childish. It’s nice to see Elliot and J.D. settle into their own storylines after Season 1 opened with the shocker that they’re divorced.

A Scrubs revival by and for Scrubs fans.

Showrunner Aseem Batra is a worthy successor to creator Bill Lawrence, the busiest man in television (Lawrence is also involved with Shrinking, Ted Lasso, and Rooster). It’s clear Batra knows what has made Scrubs so beloved. Where Season 9 made the critical mistake of centering on new interns, the new Scrubs still puts the core trio, plus returning favorites Dr. Cox and Carla (Judy Reyes) at the heart of the show. Tosh and fellow intern Asher (Jacob Dudman) are fun additions to the cast without overshadowing the main draws.

Scrubs Season 2’s two-episode premiere captures Scrubs as it was always meant to be: funny, poignant, and timely. Dr. Cox’s brush with exorbitant medical bills is a painful reminder that American healthcare is fundamentally broken. Placing him as J.D.’s patient, after years of grumpily supervising J.D., changes the stakes as J.D. grapples with having to care for someone he looks up to.

Scrubs Season 2 is Scrubs for and by Scrubs fans. There is no sense of unnecessary reinvention, no sense that the show needs to change for a new generation. It has grown with its characters without forgetting who they are. One might even call it the healthiest reboot on television. If it keeps this up, Scrubs Season 2 gets a clean bill of health.

Scrubs Season 2 airs Wednesdays on ABC, streaming next day on Hulu.

Images courtesy of ABC.

Claire Di Maio

Claire was once asked in elementary school why her go-to question was always, “Watch anything good lately?” It’s still her go-to question, because she loves hearing what other people are passionate about. She often sacrifices sleep in the hopes that she will one day clear her to-watch and to-read lists (a futile effort so far).