My Monster

"My Monster"
Season	Two
Episode	Ten
Writer	Angela Nissel
Director	Gail Mancuso
Air date	December 12, 2002

“Nah, it's just Todd. He's already called, like, four times to ask if I want to move into his pants.”— Elliot

"My Monster" is the tenth episode of Scrubs' second season. J.D. asks out the gift shop girl for a date. Jordan is back living with Dr. Cox, but she is constantly calling him to collect massive amounts of food. Carla feels her relationship with Turk is lacking romance.

Synopsis

Lisa in Slow Motion

J.D., Lisa & Elliot

Living the life of a busy resident has left J.D. with no time to pursue his romantic life. Working at the hospital, the monster, as he calls it, has a way of influencing every part of your life. To end his drought, he asks Lisa the gift shop cashier out for a date. Their date goes very well until the end-of-the-date kiss. Flashbacks of J.D.'s three recent patients, all having some kind of visible, visibly disgusting health problem, cause him to pull back from Lisa just as he is about to kiss her. The kiss was mediocre, but more importantly, his "little J.D." had no response at all. He tries to hide that fact from Turk and Dr. Cox, but it slips out.

Elliot is homeless after being cut off financially from her father, and she tries sleeping in the on-call room and in her moving truck. J.D. finally insists she stay at his place. As she is brushing her hair, he realizes that his "peep" was on the fritz because he really wanted Elliot, not Lisa. They make out and have sex under the Christmas tree.

That's what J.D. wanted for Christmas.

Jordan & Dr. Cox

Meanwhile, Jordan's pregnancy bump is getting bigger each day. She has been staying at Dr. Cox's almost every night, but she still has to go to her place to change clothes the next day. He offers to let her temporarily stay at his place until the baby comes. She accepts. A short time later, Cox can't believe he made such a huge decision on the spur-of-the-moment. Now that she's living with him, she calls him constantly on the cell phone wanting him to bring super-sized versions of whatever food cravings she's having. After pondering if he can ever been in a fully functional relationship, he realizes that he has to try to make it work as well, and brings Jordan home fast food with extra curly fries.

Rowdy as reindeer.

Turk & Carla

Turk and Carla's relationship is still going hot and heavy. When the two of them have the same afternoon off, they spend it at home, hoping to have some quiet time together. They are about to have sex while the TV is turned on to one of Turk's favorite programs, The Jeffersons, but Turk falls asleep before the theme song is even finished. Miffed, Carla later asks Turk what happened to all of the attention that she used to get from him. He tells her that he was tired from work and that now that their relationship is solid, they don't need to perform for each other anymore. The mundane things, like falling asleep on the couch, are just as romantic as the things they did before. After a tip from Elliot, Carla realizes that if she wants surprise and romance in her relationship, she will have to bring it occasionally too.

Recurring Themes

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

J.D. and Lisa bathe Rowdy

Fantasies

• The hospital turns green as the sky darkens and it breathes fire.
• J.D. bathed Rowdy and then again bathed him with Lisa
• J.D. imagines that Lisa is his somewhat ugly patient.

Janitor story

J.D. caught the Janitor with his hand in the candy machine, and then lent him a dollar to buy what he wanted. Then Janitor pays him back in pennies.

J.D.'s Girls Names

• Denise

“Good morning Dr. Cox!”— J.D.

“Hahaha Denise, I know it's morning. If it was last night I'd still be with my extremely pregnant ex-wife trying to get her to calm down with a chair and a whip because, believe it or not, I somehow managed to forget to bring home the curly fries. Do you see where I'm going here? Yes, no, maybe so?”— Dr. Cox

Guest Stars

• Brogan Roche as Choir Leader
• Sarah Lancaster as Lisa
• Marcy Goldman as Mrs. Watson
• Damara Reilly as Mrs. Koppleman

Music

     ♫ List of music featured in Scrubs

• "Dreaming of You" by The Coral
  • Replaced by "Dirty Minds" by Here Come The Mummies on streaming
• "Daydreams and Lies" by Keren DeBerg
• "Jeffersons Theme Song"

Quotes

“It has gotten to the point where I'm starting to go back in my head over all my old relationships. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm going to sit here and count up all the women I've ever slept with...”— Dr. Cox

“Mmmmmm Hmmmmm. What? You don't own that.”— J.D. (to Laverne)

“You know, Perry,”— J.D.

“Perry?”— Dr. Cox

“Yeah, I'm trying it out.”

“Is that a roll of quarters in your pocket, or are you just having a good time?”— Lisa

“Actually, it's a roll of quarters. Laundry day!”— J.D.

“Okay. I am going to engage you two in a conversation and we speak of it to no one. Agreed?”— Dr. Cox

“Kudos”— J.D. about Laverne's breasts

“Merry Christmas”— Elliot to J.D. while lying under the Christmas Tree.

“This is exactly what I wanted.”— J.D.

Trivia

J.D. bathes Rowdy.

Sacred Heart can be a monster.

Medical notes

• Bacterial etiology of toxic shock is usually Staph Aureus.

Production

• According to the DVD commentary, the sex scene between Elliot and J.D. took a whole day to shoot.
• In this episode, we learn that one of Carla's sisters is a model. We meet Carla's sisters Gabriella Espinosa and Maria Espinosa in Season Three's "My Best Friend's Wedding".
• We learn that Dr. Cox has slept with 18 women, Turk has slept with 12 and J.D. 9 women. Since then, J.D. has slept with 6 more, pushing his count up to 15.
• The choir leader in the beginning of the episode is played by the same actor who would later play Turk's surgical attending Dr. Lemmon (the question talker) in the episode "My New Game".

Continuity

• When J.D offers Janitor a dollar, the shot from behind the Janitor shows the side of the dollar with the national seal. However, when the shot goes to facing the Janitor, the same side of the dollar is seen.
• In the beginning of the episode you can see Christmas decorations in the apartment which indicates that it's winter, as do the fact that Elliot, Turk, Carla and J.D are wearing winter-clothing. However, in the next shot of them walking outside the hospital, the trees behind them have fully grown leaves on them. The show is set in temperate California, so maybe they wore jackets as it was a bit chilly.
• In the cafeteria scene towards the end when Dr. Cox, Turk and J.D. talk about their problems, Dr. Cox can be seen wearing a coat reading "Bob Kelso" for a few shots.