My Growing Pains

"My Growing Pains"
Scrubs episode
Episode no. Season 7
Episode 5
Directed by Zach Braff
Written by Mike Schwartz
Featured music "The Man" by Pete Yorn
"Whoomp! (There It Is)" by Tag Team
Production code 705
Original air date November 29, 2007
Guest actors

"My Growing Pains" is the fifth episode of season seven and the 144th episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It aired on November 29, 2007 on NBC.

Plot

When J.D. and Turk take a trip down memory lane to their first prank together while planning another, Dr. Cox tells J.D. that he has to "grow up" due to his new responsibilities of fatherhood. J.D. tells Turk that they need to act their age, and Turk tries to convince J.D. that he doesn't need to completely lose his inner child. At the same time, Dr. Cox tries to make Jack grow up by refusing to talk to him in a "funny voice" that entertains him. Meanwhile, Dr. Cox has an 11-year-old patient, Josh, who is diagnosed with leukemia. He has to deal with the child's parents, who want to keep the condition a secret from Josh. Dr. Cox tells Josh without his parents' consent. Carla, who was against the decision, warns that the parents might take legal action against him. But when Josh explains that he already knew something was wrong even before Dr. Cox told him so, Dr. Cox announces his deed triumphantly to Carla, she insists that he "just doesn't get it". At the same time, Turk tortures J.D. by trying to get him to play some of their childish games, like Hide the Saltine.

Dr. Kelso, whose birthday arrives, insists that he is turning 58; however, when Carla reveals that he's been saying the same thing for years, Elliot enlists the Janitor and Ted's help to find out Kelso's real age. They find out that he is in fact 65, and throw him a surprise birthday party. However, the reason that Kelso never mentioned his real age was because he knew that when he turned 65, he would have to step down as chief of medicine. Sure enough, a board member later approaches Kelso in his office and informs Kelso that during the upcoming months they would be searching for his replacement. Kelso reluctantly agrees, asking only that the fact that he was retiring be kept a secret.

At the end of the episode, J.D. and Dr. Cox confront Turk and Carla in a "tag team" battle. Carla says that Dr. Cox has no right to deny Josh his childhood by forcing him to deal with such a terrible disease, saying that Dr. Cox's own unhappy childhood is not a justifiable excuse. Turk also makes J.D. realize that his new responsibilities do not necessarily preclude his individual expression; according to Turk, there is no reason for J.D. to "change who he is." The episode ends with J.D. and Turk playing at "World's Most Giant Black Doctor", asking people to sign a petition to make the hospital more giant-accessible, while Dr. Cox talks to Jack using the "funny voice" over a webcam.

Reception

Joel Keller of TV Squad said that this episode is "yet another example of how the writers have made the show funnier by making things less wacky. In fact, the lack of wackiness parallels how both Turk and J.D. are becoming more like real adults than either of them want to be."[1]

Continuity

References

  1. Keller, Joel (2007-11-30). "Scrubs: My Growing Pains". TV Squad. Retrieved 2007-12-02.

External links