The 25 Days of Christmas Episodes – Day 7 – Scrubs “My Own Personal Jesus”
JD makes fun of Turk’s religious beliefs (“Did you just compare my Lord and Savior to a Monopoly piece?”), and Carla admits to never having read the Bible. (Inconsistent with her character as the show develops, but even Ned Flanders wasn’t a Christian ten episodes into The Simpsons.) Turk puts Carla on a “Full Love Embargo”. Meanwhile, Elliot’s patient claims “it’s not possible”, when told that she’s pregnant.
Turk tries to whip everybody into the Christmas Spirit. The man’s actually wearing antlers and a Rudolph nose, for Pete’s sake. That’ll Christmas up anybody! He promises to take everybody to Mass for Christmas. (I assume this is more for Carla’s benefit, since she was raised Catholic. Traditionally, Turk is a Baptist. Yes, I know the denominational affiliation of the Scrubs characters. Don’t look at me. I’m hideous.)
On the way to see Dr. Cox’s JD accidentally topples a Christmas tree, further enraging the janitor. Elliot loses her pregnant patient (“loses” in the traditional sense, not in the euphemistic way), and needs to find her so they can induce labor immediately. JD didn’t put a fresh tape in Dr. Cox’s camera, so he failed to capture the birth of the baby.
Turk loses his Christmas Spirit and faith in humanity while on call Christmas Eve, which does sound fairly awful. JD and Dr. Cox present a videotape of a different baby’s birth to cover the mistake, including an explanation of “pre-natal lice”. On the roof, a depressed Turk is drawn to the star – actually the light on the Miller Park Christmas Tree. And it’s there that he finds Elliot’s patient. They’re able to induce labor there and save both mother and baby.
Best Line – Janitor to JD: “You will not ruin my Christmas. Not again. Not this year.” At this point, JD has only known the Janitor for three months.
Christmas Tropes:
Santa Claus – The Janitor wears a Santa hat in all of his scenes. Dr. Cox appears as the Grinch in a fantasy scene.
Nativity Scene – The shot at the end of mother and child under a Christmas tree is set up like a traditional Nativity, later made explicit by a fantasy sequence.
Christmas Miracle – The recovery of the coma patient and Turk’s sudden insight into where the pregnant girl might be. Also, the implication that she “can’t be” pregnant. Sure, that’s really just a simple astonished denial, but it plants the seed of virgin birth.
Learning a lesson – Sometimes faith is all you have, and sometimes, it’s exactly what you need.
Cheer-o-meter Score: Rarely do TV comedies actually deal with faith, especially in a way that manages to not be snide or preachy. It’s hard not to tear up at least a little, and I’m giving it a 10.
