10 Things About The Scrubs Ending That Still Make No Sense

When Scrubs came to a tear-filled ending after the season 8 finale premiered, fans were ready for it to be over. It ended with J.D. deciding to take a new job so he could be closer to his son Sam. He walked out of Sacred Heart and had goodbyes with every major character even if they had died earlier on the show like Nurse Laverne Roberts and other patients that J.D. had become close with.

J.D. watched clips of what the audience assumed would be his future as he and Elliot were married, pregnant, and had holidays with Turk and Carla and Dr. Cox and Jordan while a heartwarming song played. Then, the series tried to come back for the 9th season and focused on a new group of med students with the main characters teaching, which had some of the lowest-rated episodes of the entire show. The 9th season finale muddled a lot of the ending that the former finale had covered.

10 Drew And Denise’s Relationship

Drew and Denise became close in the last season and their relationship is open to interpretation by the finale of season 9. The two were similar characters so it made sense that their personalities matched and they were the main couple of the last season.

In the finale, Denise breaks down the wall separating them, literally, and suggests that they move in together next year. It’s safe to assume that the two stayed together and probably moved in together, but it’s another loose end that the season 9 finale left.

9 J.D.’s Relationship With Sam And Kim

A lot of the 8th season focused on J.D. becoming a father and building his relationship with Kim after they decided they weren’t going to try to romantically be together for their son Sam. J.D. focused a lot on his son and creating a good relationship with Kim and the last season of the series dropped this storyline.

There were a few moments with Kim and his son in the final season, but a lot of the 9th season focused on Elliot being pregnant, without ever showing her giving birth, instead of J.D.’s son Sam.

8 The Med Students’ Specialities

The finale of the 9th season focused on Cole choosing surgery as the specialty that he wants to pursue during and after medical school. He shadows Turk as Turk and Dr. Cox try to sic Cole on each other because neither of them wants to mentor him.

It turns out that Cole is passionate about surgery and would make a good surgeon with practice and a good mentor like Turk. But, the other med students that the season followed don’t get the same focus leaving their specialties open for interpretation.

7 Kim And Sean’s Relationship

In the last season of the series, Kim tells J.D. that she’s dating someone new and both J.D. and Elliot are shocked to see that she’s dating Sean. Sean and Elliot had dated earlier in the series so it makes sense that everything is awkward when the four try to communicate.

Sean only returned for one episode and it was never clear if he and Kim stayed together and how it actually affected the four and J.D. and Kim’s baby Sam. Although it seemed like Kim and Elliot and J.D. and Sean were all more understanding by the end of the episode, it’s not clear if this peace stayed or if Sean and Kim stayed in a relationship that seemed to come out of nowhere.

6 Elliot’s Pregnancy

Elliot and J.D. are pregnant in the final season, but the two don’t welcome their child before the series ends. Maybe this was set to happen in the next season, but it was odd that it didn’t happen before the final episodes of Scrubs.

While it was nice to see the couple pregnant, there was not that much payoff for fans who had waited to see the two get together, only to never see their child.

5 Carla Not Appearing

Most of the main cast returned for season 9 of Scrubs including J.D., Elliot, Turk, and Dr. Cox, but Carla was the most noticeable missing main cast character. She didn’t appear once in the last season and was hardly mentioned even though Carla’s husband Turk appeared throughout the entire season.

Carla was such a big part of the series that it wouldn’t make any sense to not have her return or have a good explanation about why she wouldn’t appear in the 9th season.

4 J.D. Returning To Sacred Heart

In season 8, J.D. decides to leave Sacred Heart for a job at St. Vincent’s so he can be closer to his son Sam. Elliot stays at Sacred Heart, but the two move in together despite her long commute. In season 9, J.D. returns to teach at Sacred Heart without any explanation about why it’s a good time to go back.

It might be because it was a temporary position and he was still living close to his son and Kim, but it was such a big plotline in the 8th season that it didn’t make sense for him to be back without an explanation.

3 The Janitor Disappearing

Although this was in character for The Janitor, it still doesn’t make much sense. The first episode of the last season of the series has a flashback scene between Turk and The Janitor. The Janitor asks Turk when J.D. is coming back and Turk explains that J.D. won’t be returning to Sacred Heart.

The Janitor nonchalantly quits and Turk says no one ever saw him again after that day. The Janitor was a hilarious part of the main cast and his absence was felt in the last season.

2 Dr. Cox’s Role As A Mentor To Drew

J.D. and Dr. Cox always had an odd mentor/mentee relationship as J.D. wanted more compassion out of his idol and Dr. Cox just wanted to be left alone most of the time. But the two did bond throughout the series as a lot of the show focused on their relationship.

The last season tried to introduce a new mentee of Dr. Cox’s, Drew, and the first half of the season really focused on Dr. Cox trying to build Drew as a doctor, much to J.D.’s frustration. The final few episodes dropped this storyline though as it chose to focus more on Drew and Denise’s relationship making the mentor/mentee storyline not make much sense.

1 Drew’s Past

The last season attempted to bring comedic confusion to med student Drew’s past with random lines about how he went to prison or lived alone in Alaska or the odd way he got his tattoo. Although this technique has worked throughout Scrubs with characters like Bob Kelso and The Janitor, it didn’t work as well with a new character that only appeared for one season.

Unfortunately, the comedy fell a bit short and didn’t make sense for a new main character, who was only on the show for a short time, to not have a bit of a more grounded past and only known for the random quotes about his past.

About The Author