Scrubs: My Way Home

Episode score 9.7 Superb

My Way Home

  • 100.
  • Season: 5
  • Episode: 7
  • First Aired: 1/24/2006
  • Prod Code: 505
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EPISODE OVERVIEW

43 Reviews | 532 Votes

In a "Wizard of Oz" homage, J.D. is trying to go home, Turk searches for a heart donor and Carla worries that she doesn't have the courage to become a parent.
Meanwhile, Elliot doesn't believe that she has the brains to lead a question and answer session.
The Janitor is painting color coded lines throughout the hospital for easier navigation. Read full recap »

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CAST AND CREW

Writers:
Neil GoldmanGarrett Donovan
Director:
Zach Braff
Stars:
John C. McGinley (Dr. Percival "Perry" Cox)
Judy Reyes (Nurse Carla Espinosa)
Ken Jenkins (Dr. Robert "Bob" Kelso)
Neil Flynn (The Janitor)
Sarah Chalke (Dr. Elliot Reid)
Zach Braff (Dr. John Michael "J.D." Dorian)
Donald Faison (Dr. Christopher "Chris" Duncan Turk)
Recurring Role:
Johnny Kastl (Dr. Doug Murphy)
Sam Lloyd (Ted Buckland)
Robert Maschio (Dr. Todd Quinlan)
Philip McNiven (Ray)
Travis Schuldt (Keith)
George Miserlis (Crispin)
Christa Miller-Lawrence (Jordan Sullivan)
Aloma Wright (Nurse Laverne Roberts)
Guest Star:
Paul F. Perry (Randall)
Scott Rabideau (Another Intern)
David Downs (Mr. Bolger)
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TRIVIA

  • It is revealed that Dr. Kelso is from Altoona, Pennsylvania, and that he was a minor league shortstop before going into the medical field. edit »
  • Dr. Cox refers to Jordan as "The Wicked Witch of the East Wing", but in The Wizard of Oz, it was the Wicked Witch of the West who melted. The Wicked Witch of the East died when Dorothy's house fell on her. edit »
  • In this episode, Dr. Kelso says that he was one of the greatest shortstops ever to come out of Altoona, Pennsylvania. In previous episodes, he has claimed that he came from Monroeville. edit »
  • When Turk and Carla are talking about kids in the start, J.D. is sitting by a computer in the back. If you look closely, you can see that he doesn't actually hit the buttons on the keyboard. edit »
  • Featured Music:
    "Africa" by Toto
    "Maniac" by Hall & Oates (performed by The Worthless Peons)
    "We're Off to See the Wizard" by Harold Arlen (performed by The Worthless Peons)
    "Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (performed by The Worthless Peons) edit »
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NOTES

  • This episode was nominated for the 2007 Humanitas Prize for 30 Minute Category. edit »
  • The Scrubs Season Five DVD set features a special extended version of this episode. The extended bits/differences include:

    -In the bathtub scene, J.D. adds "curling utensils" to the list of girly stuff in Elliot's apartment. His immediate response to getting paged is, "Dammit! Always when I'm eating!"

    -J.D. initially avoids getting his sneakers painted. The Janitor then warns him not to follow the purple line. J.D. follows it into a strange, green glowing room. Upon exiting the room, the Janitor successfully paints his sneakers.

    -First additional high-five joke: J.D. unknowingly high-fives the Todd's belief that it's okay to have sex with your first cousin.

    -During Dr. Cox's rant about J.D. calling him in "time after time" etc., he lists examples: "...because your patient's stitch popped out, or you couldn't remember where the cottonballs were, or, and this was the kicker, you went to go pants shopping, and you needed someone to be totally honest." When Laverne's church choir is singing, J.D. and Keith are both shown dancing.

    -After we come back from the opening credits, J.D.'s walk toward the door is longer, followed by a longer diatribe about coming in on his day off.

    -After J.D. fantasizes about Turk knocking over all the cradles, he says "Dominoes are crazy." Carla's hair gets all frizzy when she fantasizes about Rudy Giuliani. Turk's immediate response is, "Carla, we're Democrats!"

    -Dr. Cox's "You're going to high-five THAT?" rant is slightly longer. Also, J.D.'s narration says he schmeared the mango body butter on focaccia (in the aired version, it was a bagel).

    -When Dr. Kelso is explaining the Bolger situation, he specifically mentions that they need the family's consent because they can't find a donor card. After Dr. Kelso shoos all the surgeons out of his office, he makes eye contact with the blowup doll, and decides to name it Ming Lee.

    -After Ted informs J.D. of his band's new direction, he also informs him that they're changing their name: "Also, we're no longer called the 'Worthless Peons', we were sued by a Dutch metal band with the same name. We now go by 'Foghat'."

    -The "Maniac" montage is longer, including more dancing from Ted and additional cheat sheets in the elevator, underneath electronic equipment, and taped to the electric paddles.

    -After Elliot takes a mental picture of Dr. Cox's total humiliation, she takes a second picture with red-eye reduction. The tube-top portion of Dr. Cox's subsequent rant is missing the "Get back in there!" line. As Dr. Cox storms out of the room, a cheat sheet falls down, and Elliot grabs it.

    -When Carla leaves Jack with the Janitor, he protests "C'mon, I'm doing lines here!", which prompts several heads to pop out of a door labelled "Drug rehabilitation." The Janitor responds with "Attention drug addicts, once again: lines of paint." After the druggies sulk away disappointed, Jack says "I wanna do the paint," and the Janitor complies.

    -When Dr. Kelso goes to the cafeteria to talk to Elliot, he first asks where all the surgeons are. We then cut to a scene showing that all the surgeons are at the zoo. The Todd asks a young boy if he's seen the Bolgers. He replies, "No, but I saw a monkey playing with himself." The Todd calls for a change in plans. The monkey is referenced by Carla later in the episode, which was in the aired version.

    -Turk's conversation with Mr. Bolger eventually turns into a long, convoluted story where Turk claims to have donated three kidneys (he donated two, had two donated to him, and then donated one of those).

    -Second additional high five joke: J.D. fails to high-five an African-American intern's statement that abolishing slavery was a good thing. J.D. tries to explain that he's being careful about what he high-fives, but the intern doesn't buy it.

    -After Elliot reveals that she was hiding a page on J.D.'s chest, he says, "I knew I felt some Scotch Tape on my Treasure Trail." After Elliot gets the question right, J.D. gives her a high five, and the African-American intern pops up and says "I thought you weren't high-fiving." J.D. replies with "We'll talk later."

    -In Jordan's office, we see her kick the heating unit, thus creating the smoke as she's "melting". edit »
  • The guy playing the father of the heart donor is actually Zach Braff's former acting professor from Northwestern University, David A. Downs. edit »
  • Turk tells J.D. about his two moves when dealing with the families of patients (surgery goes well: fake modest nod & wink, and if surgery goes bad and the guy dies: the head-shake/sad walk-away). J.D. says he's leaving, which prompts Turk to demonstrate his head-shake/sad walk-away. As he walks off, the Scrubs "sad music" plays, which Bill Lawrence said he retired on one of the episode commentaries on the Season One DVD set. It hasn't been used for several seasons, and this scene references their old standard and pokes fun at it, as the scene isn't acually emotional, and the music cuts out (with a halted-record sound) right before J.D. agrees to stay. edit »
  • The water trench J.D. drives into cost $70,000 for just a 21-seconds shot. In the commentary, Zach Braff goes on to say how this was the most expensive stunt to date on Scrubs, in that they had to build two swimming pools in the carpark and wreck a scooter. edit »
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QUOTES

  • Dr. Kelso: Now, on your feet. They need you in the O.R. to assist on the heart transplant.
    Turk: The Bolgers said yes?
    Dr. Kelso: Mr. Bolger wanted you to have this.
    He hands Turk a card.
    Turk: His son's driver's license?
    Dr. Kelso: Turn it over.
    J.D.'s Narration: Every so often, a wizard comes along and tells you exactly what you need to hear.
    Turk turns the license over to reveal a small heart-shaped icon on the back which reads "DONOR".
    Dr. Kelso: Seems like you had a heart all along! edit »
  • Turk: Sir, I was watching that.
    Dr. Kelso: Well, why don't I just tell you what happened: Uncle Phillip gets Webster the dog despite George and Ma'am's objections. It was a good one. edit »
  • Dr. Cox: But, trust me, when you do have your own kid, you won't feel that way.
    Carla: Yeah? Why? What'll be different?
    Dr. Cox: He'll be yours. edit »
  • Carla: You don't understand. I didn't dump him on the Janitor because I was busy. I dumped him on him because he was working my last nerve and I wanted to smoosh his face. edit »
  • Mr. Bolger: Okay, next question-
    Turk: With all those topical treatments, let's just say I wasn't completely functional.
    Mr. Bolger: Why are all surgical residents being so relentless about my son's heart?
    Turk: Because whichever one of us convinces you to pull the plug and donate his heart gets to assist in the transplant. edit »
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ALLUSIONS

  • Barry Bonds:
    When Elliot is chatting to J.D. about the seminar she has to give at the end of the day she says she is a 'bigger fraud than Barry Bonds.' Barry Bonds is a famous US baseball player whose career has been dogged by rumours of drug abuse. edit »
  • Alice in Wonderland:
    Keeping in line with the fairytale theme of the episode, this line alludes to another classic story; Alice in Wonderland, where a key is on a table, but she's too small to reach it. edit »
  • The Wizard of Oz:
    The episode is loaded with references to the book and film The Wizard of Oz:
    - J.D.'s red sneakers (like Dorothy's ruby slippers)
    - The yellow line becoming the Yellow Brick Road and Ted's band's a capella version of "We're Off To See The Wizard"
    - Dr. Cox as the Wizard
    - Jordan as the Wicked Witch of the East
    - the heart donor's name is Ray Bolger (Scarecrow in the movie)
    - Dr. Cox's son is a munchkin and becomes "Emerald Green"
    - The rainbow and a performance of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Ted and his band
    - J.D. is called Dorothy by Dr. Cox several times & he's listening to Toto on his iPod. J.D. even tells Turk that "Toto and I are going home!" which is the name of Dorothy's dog
    - Dr. Cox tells Dr. Reid that there is no way she knew an obscure bit of endocrinology information "off that straw-covered, scarecrow head of yours." He says it's as if her answers are "falling from the sky." Perhaps like a certain Kansas home into Oz?
    - Dr. Cox, Elliot and J.D. work on patients named Baum, Langley and Fleming, referencing L. Frank Baum (who wrote the book), Noel Langley (who wrote the screenplay for The Wizard of Oz) and Victor Fleming (who directed the movie)
    - Todd says Dorothy's famous line "Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!" after returning from the zoo
    - The Janitor asks Carla for an "Oilcan! Oilcan!" while holding a screwdriver in his mouth so his mouth sounds closed (like when Dorothy and the Scarecrow first find the rusted Tinman)
    - Dr. Cox says the Wizard's "pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" line when trying to hide from Carla
    - Dr. Cox specifically refers to his wife as "The Wicked Witch of the East Wing."
    - Jordan is wilting in the heat trapped in her office and imitates the witch's death saying "I'm melting!" Additionally, her skirt looks like a puddle forming on the floor.
    - Dr. Kelso talks about a person who hung himself. This may be a reference to the persistant but false rumour that you can see a hanged man in the background in one of the scenes in the movie. It is said to be the director's son, but since the director has only daughters, this is not true. It's actually a bird flapping its wings.
    - Just as in the film, each of the three characters find out they had what they were looking for all along
    - The first two parts of the episode are in dark colors while the third part is in brighter colors, just like how the movie starts in a sepia tone and then changes to color.
    - The puddle J.D. drives into, disappearing into the puddle and coming out the other side is like Dorthy getting sucked into the tornado and ending up in OZ.

    Also, for those who may not have read the book / seen the movie(s), in The Wizard of Oz, the Tin Woodsman wants to get a heart (Turk), the Cowardly Lion courage (Carla) and the Scarecrow a brain (Elliot). Dorothy is just trying to get home (J.D.). edit »

REVIEWS

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Show Score 9.2 superb
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  • 804 Reviews
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