My Brother, My Keeper

"My Brother, My Keeper"
Season	Two
Episode	Fourteen
Writer	Eric Weinberg
Director	Michael Spiller
Air date	January 23, 2003

“Nah, come on. Lets do it old school.”— Dr. Townshend

"My Brother, My Keeper" is the fourteenth episode of Scrubs' second season. Turk's brother Kevin visits him at the hospital and Turk tries to use him as a good reason for Carla to accept his proposal. J.D. is partnered with a well loved doctor, Dr. Townshend and his 'old school' methodology. Dr. Cox, against Jordan's wishes, tries to find the sex of her baby, which results in Elliot gaining leverage.

Synopsis

The Worthless Peons welcome Dr. Townshend

Carla & Turk

Turk's brother Kevin comes to visit a few days after Turk proposed marriage to Carla but she asked him for time to think about it. Turk shows Carla Kevin's kids, hoping to convince her to say yes. Then Kevin admits that he divorced his wife, not helping Turk's idea. Later, Kevin admits to Turk that his wife divorced him. Turk goes to the bar to have a drink with his brother to comfort him. However, they come back with Turk completely drunk and a beautiful woman who is carrying Rowdy, causing Carla to storm out of the apartment.

J.D. is covered with blood when he nicks a patient's artery.

J.D. meets Dr. Townshend

Dr. Townshend, the friendly former colleague of Dr. Kelso, comes to the hospital and J.D. is paired with him to work on a patient. He advises J.D. to do an "old school" procedure on a patient, even though it is dangerous. During this procedure, J.D. accidentally nicks the patient's carotid artery but Dr. Townshend says he will take the blame. J.D. walks into Dr. Kelso's office and tells him that he nicked the artery, but only because Dr. Townshend told him to do an outdated and dangerous procedure. Dr. Townshend admits that he does not attend the seminars about new medical procedures and Dr. Kelso is forced to fire him, even though he is his best friend.

The Baby's Sex

Meanwhile, Dr. Gerson performs an ultrasound on Jordan and asks her and Perry if they want to know the sex of the baby. Jordan speaks for both of them that they don't, but Elliot walks in and sees. Dr. Cox then tries to get her to reveal it, but she uses it as leverage. In the end Elliot gave it to Jordan in a sealed envelope. Jordan told Dr. Cox that she doesn't want to know it, but if he must know that he can look, but she would be disappointed. He crumples it up and throws it away and remains unknowing.

Recurring Themes

     More: Fantasies • Flashbacks • J.D.'s girl names • Janitor's pranks and lies

J.D. stabs Dr. Townshend in the back

Fantasies

• J.D. removes a knife from Dr. Townshend's back.
• J.D. slaps a patient, Mrs. Francis for not getting up when he asks her to and they have a slapping contest, before Dr. Townshend grabs Mrs. Francis and convinces J.D. to "give her one in the gut". (Deleted scene on the DVD)

Janitor story

Dr. Townshend tells Janitor to be nice to J.D.. He gets a group of people (an early version of the Brain Trust) who are workers in the hospital (Brent from parking, Crazy-Eyes Margo, and Troy), and tells J.D. they will help him. After J.D. tells Dr. Kelso that Dr. Townshend forced him to perform an outdated procedure, Janitor blames J.D. for Dr. Townshend getting fired. In the end, the group flips over J.D.'s car.

Episode Running Gags

• J.D. bets that if Carla doesn't say yes to Turk's proposal, he'll power-walk naked through the hospital singing "Me and Bobby McGee."  After losing the bet, he pays Todd to do it for him.
• Dr. Kelso keeps subtly calling J.D. ugly.

Guest Stars

Todd walked around the hospital naked for J.D. when he lost the bet that Carla would say yes to Turk.

• Dick Van Dyke as Doug Townshend
• D.L. Hughley as Kevin Turk
• Robert Beckwith as Roy
• Julie Hudson as Ginny Gerson
• Paul Perry as Randall
• Joe Rose as Troy
• George Miserlis as Crispin
• Charles Chun as Phillip Wen
• Geoff Stevenson as Patient

Music

     ♫ List of music featured in Scrubs

• "Hello My Baby" written by Ida Emerson & Joseph E. Howard (Performed by The Blanks)
• "Gone" by Tart
• "Me & Bobby McGee" by Janis Joplin (Performed by Robert Maschio)
• "My Fault" by Keren DeBerg
• "Bulletproof Glow" by Avion
• "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" originally by the Hollies (Performed by D.L. Hughley)

Quotes

Kevin Turk surprises Turk with Rowdy in surgery.

“Oh well, back in '68, I don't like you, the end.”— Dr. Kelso

“Actually, I'm not the father. It's a bellboy in Greece.”— Dr. Cox

“We think.”— Jordan

“At the least I feel I'm interesting looking.”— J.D.

Trivia

Production

• The patient that J.D. performs the outdated procedure on appears to be Geoff Stevenson, the actor who portrays Dr. Beardfacé.
• Dr. Cox didn't know Elliot's last name until this episode.
• The fantasy in which J.D. pulls the knife from Dr. Townshend's back had originally been written to take place between him and Turk in season one's "My Day Off."
• In this episode, the Janitor tells J.D. that "Crazy Eyes Margot" is going to make sure that J.D. gets freshly-pressed scrubs in his locker every morning. However, in Season One's "My Sacrificial Clam" we see that the medical staff typically get their scrubs from the "scrubs vending machine".
• This is first episode Dr. Kelso shows any kind of commiseration to another person.

  

  J.D.'s car is flipped by Janitor and Troy.

References

• Kevin calls J.D. "Alfalfa", who is a character from Little Rascals.
• Turk describes his couch as "fit for a king". Turk's brother, Kevin, is played by D.L. Hughley who starred in The Original Kings Of Comedy.
• Kevin saying "He ain't heavy... he's my brother!" is a reference to the 1969 song He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, by The Hollies.
• When Elliot says "Well, girls can play baseball, too", Dr. Cox replies "Oh, yak-yak-yak-yak, I know what girls can do! You've come a long way, baby." "You've come a long way, baby" was the slogan for a women's-only cigarette produced by Virginia Slims. The slogan stated that women have come a long way in life, just like, in Dr. Cox's rant, women have come a long way in sports.
• The title refers to a saying from the Bible's story of Cain and Abel. After Cain murdered his brother, Abel, God asked him where his brother was. Cain answered "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?". The saying means that people have the responsibility to watch out and care for one another, similar to the way Kevin has Turk's back at times, and doesn't at other times.