"My Big Brother" is the sixth episode of Scrubs' second season. J.D. discovers he is ashamed of his big brother, Dan Dorian (Tom Cavanagh), who comes to visit. Dan finds he is attracted to Elliot, which annoys J.D. Turk feels guilty for betting on a patient's life.
Synopsis
Doug dressed up for Halloween.
J.D.'s older brother, Dan Dorian, has come to town. Within the first few minutes of his visit, he manages to anger Dr. Cox and pretend he's a doctor by giving a patient a diagnosis. Dan starts to hint that he's attracted to Elliot. This doesn't sit well with J.D., who tells Dan that he and Elliot previously slept together, so she is off limits. Elliot later joins J.D. and Dan for lunch. Dan tries to pump Elliot for information about how J.D. is in bed. Elliot insinuates that he is good, but not great; J.D. is shocked. Dan tells Elliot that he tends bar and lives with his mother, things that J.D. tries to make seem better than they actually are. Contrary to the enthusiasm J.D. shows for his brother, he's actually ashamed of how little Dan has accomplished, something he had not realized until now.
Carla and Laverne dressed up for Halloween.
Noticing the tension between the brothers, Elliot urges J.D. to have a talk with Dan and gets the two of them together. Dan confronts J.D. about the fact that he is embarrassed by how Dan lives his life. Later that day, the two of them finally get things out in the open. J.D. tells Dan that the reason he is stuck in a dead-end job and still lives at home is that he's afraid to fail. Dan responds by walking away.
Meanwhile, Turk and Dr. Cox argue over the best course of treatment for Mr. Carney, a patient. Turk wins, so Mr. Carney ends up having surgery. He and Dr. Cox bet $20 on whether he will survive the procedure. Previously, another of Turk's patients died, and Turk tries to prove he cares by going to the funeral, bringing Carla with him. But at the funeral, he forgets the patient's name, and he leaves feeling worse. Dr. Cox later tells him that doctors keep their distance when patients die because it's the only way to keep going in medicine.
J.D. and Turk end up at the bar wearing pig heads, one of their better Halloween costumes.
Recurring Themes
More: Fantasies • Flashbacks • J.D.'s girl names • Janitor's pranks and lies
Dan and Elliot make out.
Fantasies
- Dan and Elliot make out in front of J.D.
- As Dan drives away, J.D. remembers him as the cool guy whom he idolized as a kid.
Janitor story
- Janitor tells J.D. he will "trick" him during the day, and J.D. suspects him when a man in a gorilla suit knocks folders out of his hands. However, it is revealed at the end of the episode that it was Dr. Kelso, who everyone believed hated Halloween costumes.
J.D.'s Girl Names
- Vivian
- “What the hell are you doing here?”— J.D.
- “You know, it's funny, Vivian, I was just going to ask you the exact same question, seeing as how I paged you 4 minutes and 38 seconds ago.”— Dr. Cox
- “You know, it's funny, Vivian, I was just going to ask you the exact same question, seeing as how I paged you 4 minutes and 38 seconds ago.”— Dr. Cox
Guest Stars
J.D. and Turk celebrate Halloween.
- Tom Cavanagh as Dan Dorian
- Charles Chun as Dr. Wen
- Natalie Farrey as Employee
- Susan Grace as Woman
- Lyla Graham as Old Mother
- Kelly McCracken as Patient Rikkles
Music
♫ List of music featured in Scrubs
- "Something's Always Wrong" by Toad the Wet Sprocket
Quotes
- “Hey, numb nuts!”— Dr. Kelso
- “Hey, numb nuts!”— Dr. Kelso
- “Aaaactually, I'm not so keen on nicknames from guys that barely know me!”
- “Aaaaactually, why don't you tell me what you are keen on?”— Dan
- “Aaaaactually, why don't you tell me what you are keen on?”— Dan
- “Yeah, I thought I was gonna be cool in high school for like five minutes, but then my dad made me play the tuba in the marching band and I developed massive forearms. Halfway through the prom, my silk gloves exploded off me like I was the Incredible Hulk.”— Elliot
Trivia
- First appearance of Dan Dorian.
- This is the first episode where Dr. Cox calls Turk "Gandhi".
- Dr. Cox says, "Will people please stop calling me 'chief'?", but when he becomes the Chief of Medicine, he insists on it.
- The correct answer to Dr. Kelso's question—"What is the underlying dermatological condition in rhinophyma?"—is rosacea.
- Rhinophyma is a large, bulbous, ruddy appearance of the nose. Dr. Kelso asks Doug the question because of the clown nose Doug is wearing for Halloween.
- Dr. Kelso is considerably shorter than J.D., so J.D. would surely have been looking down on the "gorilla". How could he therefore believe it was the Janitor, who is taller than J.D.?
- Dr. Cox refers to one of his patients in the ER as a "gomer". This is a real medical acronym for "Get Outta My Emergency Room".
- The producers picked out Tom Cavanagh to play Dan Dorian because they thought that he and Zach Braff looked alike.
- The girl at the store who asks J.D., "Can I help you, sir?" is the same actress who would later play the intern Daisy in My Ocardial Infarction
- Title explanation: J.D.'s big brother, Dan, is in town.