My Way Home (''Scrubs'')

"My Way Home" is the 7th episode of season five and the 100th episode of the American comedy-drama Scrubs. It originally aired on January 24, 2006 on NBC.

The episode's references to The Wizard of Oz were called a "sly, circuitous homage" when Scrubs received a Peabody Award in 2006 for "fearlessly smashing traditional comic formulas, all the while respecting the deepest emotional and moral issues of its life-and-death setting."^[1]

Plot

On his day off, J.D. gets called into work by Keith. It turns out that Dr. Cox told Keith to call J.D. to let him see what it's like to be pestered over little things, as J.D had done to Cox as an intern. Laverne's gospel choir is also present, singing a song called "Payback is a Bitch". Elliot is basking in the warmth of being seen as an endocrinology expert to her interns. In reality, however, she is hiding notes, books, and pages around the hospital with the answers on them. Turk attempts to convince a family to take their brain-dead son off life support so the hospital can perform its first on-site heart transplant, in which Turk will be allowed to assist if he is successful in persuading the family. Meanwhile, Carla jumps at the opportunity to look after Dr. Cox's young son Jack.

However, the crew finds challenges awaiting them. J.D. just wants to head home and is constantly waylaid by requests for assistance; Elliot is forced to conduct a seminar with several endocrinology specialists; Turk's dishonesty with the coma patient's family damages his credibility; and Carla can't stand having Jack around. Eventually, Elliot (Scarecrow) gains her "brains" to go to the meeting; Turk (Tinman) convinces the coma patient's parents to pull the plug after being completely honest with them, thus gaining the heart his ailing patient needs; Carla (Lion) discovers courage to be a good parent; and J.D. (Dorothy) gets to go home.

Homage

The episode is a homage to the 1939 MGM musical film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Some references are obvious, such as: The Worthless Peons singing both "We're Off to See the Wizard" and "Over the Rainbow"^[2]; the "yellow brick road" painted on the hospital floor; J.D.'s red shoes.

Several memorable lines from the film are echoed, such as: Dr. Cox saying to Elliot that her endocrinology answers are "falling from the sky"; Dr. Cox telling Carla to "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" while cleaning his son; Dr. Cox calling Jordan the "Wicked Witch of the East Wing"; the Janitor mumbling "oil can"; Todd talking about the zoo's "lions and tigers and bears — oh my!" Also, J.D. simply wants to go home (the yellow line leading to the exit), and when he does get to leave, there is a rainbow in the sky. From the point where the yellow line on the hospital floor is visualized as a yellow brick road, the rest of the episode is shot in bright, highly saturated colors, similar to the Technicolor in which The Wizard of Oz was filmed (with the Kansas scenes shot in black and white).

The episode also makes some more subtle references, including various character names:

• Mr. Fleming is the first patient mentioned; Victor Fleming directed the original movie.
• One patient is Mr. Baum; the book "The Wizard of Oz" was written by L. Frank Baum.
• Another patient is Mr. Langley. Noel Langley wrote the screenplay for the movie.
• The potential heart donor's name is Ray Bolger, which is based on the actor with the same name who played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
• The psychologist who killed himself was Dr. Burke; Billie Burke played Glinda.

References include:

• Dr. Cox's nickname for J.D. is "Dorothy"^[2]
• J.D. listening to the song Africa by the band 'Toto', on his iPod.^[2]
• Dr. Cox refers to Elliot's straw-colored hair.
• The Janitor, while painting the hallway lines around the hospital, spray paints J.D.'s sneakers red (symbolizing the ruby slippers).
• At the 9:45 mark, the four main characters follow a yellow line while "we're off to see the wizard" is sung by Ted's band. At this moment, the color saturation changes from normal to extremely vivid - mimicking the transition of black and white to color that happens in the movie.
• Dr. Cox tells the interns to "flee - now!" The wicked witch of the west told the monkeys to "fly - now!"
• Turk and the nurses "pop up" like the munchkins do.
• Jordan is stuck in a hot room and seems to be "melting" like the witch does when she gets doused with water.
• Carla mentions, "I'm supposed to be the brave one," just like the "king of the forest" is supposed to be.
• J.D. tells Turk he's on his own and just wants to take "Toto" and go home.
• Jack is painted green, referencing the skin colour of the Wicked Witch of the West.
• Dr. Kelso mentions that the depressed staff psychologist had hanged himself. This is a reference to an urban legend about a depressed munchkin actor hanging himself on the set of the Wizard of Oz.
• Carla finds Dr. Cox behind a curtain and he tells her "Please ignore the man behind the curtain."
• Todd tells Laverne that he saw lions, tigers and bears at the zoo. Then he says "Oh My!" when he passes a cheerleader.
• Janitor asks Carla for the oil can when he has something in his mouth and his hands are full.

DVD version

• An extended version of the episode is featured on the DVD box set for Season 5. It contains new scenes as well as different takes of existing scenes, and a commentary by director Zach Braff.

References

External links

• "My Way Home" on IMDb
• "My Way Home" at TV.com