"My Dirty Secret" is the ninth episode of Scrubs' third season. Elliot gets in trouble because of her inability to refer to patients' private areas using medical terms. Dr. Cox temporarily stays with J.D. and Turk because he can't handle Jordan. Carla allows everyone to make fun of her to prove that she can take a joke, but finds it hard to take.
Synopsis[]
Dr. Cox crashes with J.D. and Turk.
After Elliot gives a patient an orgasm during a pelvic exam and refers to patients' "private areas" using non-medical euphemistic terms, Dr. Kelso begins to taunt her. Carla tries to help but Elliot gets upset and yells at her. Elliot decides that she needs to take baby steps so she tests her new confidence on Sean, recently back in town, saying, "You have a penis and I have a vagina." This turns him on.
J.D. and Elliot mock Carla.
Carla tells Turk that she doesn't think they should have sex again until their wedding night and Janitor uses this information to torment Turk. Turk does not like masturbation and is used to having frequent sex, so he takes Carla's suggestion as bad news rather than as a romantic gesture. Later, Elliot complains that it's an unwritten rule that no one is ever allowed to make fun of Carla. Carla responds that her friends are allowed to, and Elliot, J.D., and Nurse Roberts immediately take advantage. Back at the apartment, Turk tells Carla that he is prepared to wait until marriage but she is upset that everyone has been listing her faults and she wants to have sex to regain control.
J.D. and Dr. Cox have a patient, Mr. Randolph, who struggles to communicate with his wife. For example, he tries to protect her from "gutter talk", apologizing for saying "rats" and making her leave the room when J.D. says the word "penis". When he is diagnosed with prostate cancer J.D. schedules him for surgery to have his prostate removed. At the last minute however, Mr. Randolph changes his mind and refuses to have the surgery. J.D. brings in Turk to help Mr. Randolph get over his fear, but Mr. Randolph says he isn't scared. The reason he doesn't want surgery is that he doesn't want to risk complications that would affect his sex life, which he says is the only area in which he and his wife can truly connect.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cox takes J.D.'s advice to tell Jordan about his frustrations with their relationship since the birth of their son Jack and as a result he moves in with J.D. and Turk temporarily. J.D. offers to babysit to make it up to the new parents, and Dr. Cox and Jordan spend the night in bed together, which proves to be therapeutic for their relationship.
Recurring Themes[]
More: Fantasies • Flashbacks • J.D.'s girl names • Janitor's pranks and lies
Elliot kisses a patient.
Fantasies[]
- Elliot kisses a sexy female patient who is 52 but looks 25.
- Carla rappels down the side of Sacred Heart and crashes through a window so she can give advice.
- J.D. uses a penis pump like a bicycle pump to fix Mr. Randolph's sexual dysfunction. He makes a giraffe out of the inflated penis like a balloon animal.
Flashbacks[]
- Elliot's mom tells a young Elliot that she should never let a man put his "dirty how-do-you-do into your bajingo", and then takes her pool-boy into the potting shed to "yell at him".
Janitor story[]
Elliot and her mother.
After J.D. tells Janitor that he (Janitor) has run out of ways to annoy him, Janitor tries to torment Turk. Turk responds that Janitor doesn't scare him and that he's "untouchable". While Carla explains to Turk her idea of not having sex again until their wedding night, Janitor eavesdrops on their conversation from within the air ducts. Later, he aggravates Turk's sex deprivation by playing the song "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" by Jermaine Stewart on his radio. After Turk gets annoyed and walks away, Janitor says under his breath, "New friend!"
J.D.'s girl names[]
- Dixie
- “Come, Dixie.”— Dr. Cox
- Newbie-doobie-doo is not a girl's name, but a dog's name based on "Scooby-doobie-doo".
- Naomi
- “Say, that whole 'telling Jordan how I feel' thing just went terrific. Thank you for that. Now I need a place to crash. Where's Naomi's bedroom?”— Dr. Cox
Guest Stars[]
- Scott Foley as Sean Kelly
- Mike Schwartz as Lloyd Slawski
- Barry Bostwick as Mr. Randolph
- Markie Post as Lily Reid
- Alexandra Lee as Young Elliot Reid
- David Platt as Guy
- Julie Sanford as Catherine Randolph
- Carrie Stroup as Hot Mrs. Cantwell
Music[]
♫ List of music featured in Scrubs
- "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman" by Bryan Adams
- "We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off" by Jermaine Stewart
- "Do It Again" by Stroke 9
- "Timing's Off" by Tart
Quotes[]
Carla rappels...
...down the hospital...
...and crashes through a window.
- “Oh, really. That's great. I hope they don't maul you.”— J.D.
- “Oh, really. That's great. I hope they don't maul you.”— J.D.
- “Mr. Murdock was admitted with a COPD exacerbation. He responded well to antibiotics and bronchial dilators, but he did develop a rash on his, um... private area.”— Elliot
- “Sorry, on his what?”— Dr. Kelso
- “Sorry, on his what?”— Dr. Kelso
- “His peepers.”
- “Excuse me?”
- “Excuse me?”
- “His schwing-schwong.”
- “Dr. Reid, your patient Mrs. Burke has developed a urinary infection. Apparently it hurts when she makes whizzie-winkles through her sea-biscuit.”— Dr. Kelso
- “People can make fun of me.”— Carla
- “Come on! What about that delivery guy yesterday? I mean, you practically tore him a new binglebore.”— Elliot
- “Come on! What about that delivery guy yesterday? I mean, you practically tore him a new binglebore.”— Elliot
- “But he's not my friend. My friends can make fun of me whenever they want.”
- “Really? Well, then, in that case, you're a know-it-all smartypants, and if you're not telling someone what to do, you're probably not talking.”
- “Really? Well, then, in that case, you're a know-it-all smartypants, and if you're not telling someone what to do, you're probably not talking.”
- “Okay, I guess I can be a little bossy.”
- “A little? Girl, please! If you met Jesus himself, you'd be trying to tell him where to park his donkey.”— Laverne
- “Oh, are we allowed to do this now? What about that whole, like, hands on the hips, 'Carla from the block' thing she does when she's mad — when she's like, 'Oh, Bambi, you do not want to mess me with right now.'”
- “You do sound like that.”— Doug Murphy
- “You do sound like that.”— Doug Murphy
- “Oh, are we allowed to do this now? What about that whole, like, hands on the hips, 'Carla from the block' thing she does when she's mad — when she's like, 'Oh, Bambi, you do not want to mess me with right now.'”
- “A little? Girl, please! If you met Jesus himself, you'd be trying to tell him where to park his donkey.”— Laverne
- “Careful, Doug, we are not that close yet.”
J.D. helps a patient with a penis pump.
- “Maybe the dirty little secret about sex is that it isn't so dirty after all.”— J.D.
- “You have a penis, and I have a vagina.”— Elliot
- “That is so hot!”— Sean
- “That is so hot!”— Sean
Trivia[]
J.D. uses Rowdy as a pillow.
Production
- Near the beginning of the episode, we can see that Carla is left-handed.
- J.D. echoes Dr. Cox's "help me to help you" rant to Elliot from Season One's "My Blind Date".
- The delivery man's name tag says "Frank" but it is later revealed in the show that his name is Lloyd.
- At the end of the episode, when J.D. offers to babysit Jack, Dr. Cox is wearing a shirt that says "I'm not as think as you drunk I am". J.D. says this line before he drunkenly kisses Carla in Season Four's "My Lips Are Sealed". A deleted scene on the DVD reveals that this shirt is actually J.D.'s, which may explain why he quotes the line.
- The original line came from the M*A*S*H episode "Hot Lips and Empty Arms".
- This episode aired out of order from the original writing and production. It has production code 303 but aired as the ninth episode.
- Chronologically, Sean should be away in New Zealand but appears in town for no explained reason.
- In his closing narration J.D. states that he is the only one in the group not having sex. This episode was written before he met Danni, thus her absence from the episode, but chronologically they are dating.
- Season Three marks a pivot in Elliot's relationship with sexuality.
- Elliot is shown to have trouble saying words like "penis" and "vagina", but she managed it in Season One's "My Bed Banter & Beyond", when she said, "I may need a vagina transplant." She was also comfortable using words like "penis" and "intercourse" in Season One.
- Elliot describes how she was made fun of for her "orgasm face" in high school, but in Season One's "My Balancing Act", she confesses that she has never had an orgasm before.
- In this episode Barry Bostwick's character, Mr. Randolph, has a prostate problem. Bostwick actually underwent prostate surgery in 1997.
- Bostwick was the fourth Spin City cast member to appear on Scrubs.