"My Self-Examination" is the twenty-first episode of Scrubs' third season. J.D. publicly humiliates Elliot and himself upon discovering he doesn't love her. Turk has problems writing his wedding vows, and Marco Espinosa's return doesn't help things. Jordan refuses to fight with Dr. Cox, therefore he ends up pointing his anger toward Janitor.
Synopsis[]
J.D. wakes up with Elliot in his arms the morning after stealing her away from Sean Kelly and he realizes that being with Elliot wasn't what he wanted after all. After asking Danni and her new partner for advice J.D. resigns himself to the fact he might as well stay in a relationship with Elliot even if he doesn't love her.
Cox is carried about by Janitor's minions.
Jordan believes that fighting with Dr. Cox is negatively affecting their son Jack and decides to stop. This frustrates Dr. Cox who starts looking for someone else to fight with and ends up evoking the wrath of the Janitor, who has his fellow janitor underlings tape Dr. Cox's mouth and hands and lock him in a morgue drawer. After J.D. opens the drawer, Cox breaks out of his bindings with brute strength and takes his anger out on J.D.. Carla takes the task of ordering pens and asks Dr. Cox if she should order "clicky-tops" or "twisty bottoms." Although Dr. Cox doesn't care either way he tries to pick a fight with Dr. Kelso who demands his own personal set of "clicky-tops" due to frustration with the "twisty bottoms." Dr. Cox realizes that he is addicted to fighting.
Turk and Carla's wedding is fast approaching and they are supposed to be writing their own vows but Turk hasn't started. His life is also made difficult by the fact that Carla's brother Marco is in town. When the Catholic priest who will be performing the wedding says that they can't read their own vows, Turk nearly escapes having to write them, but Marco then suggests that they read them at the rehearsal dinner. It looks as though Turk is still in trouble, until Marco volunteers to write the vows out of respect for his sister.
J.D. and Elliot at the rehearsal dinner.
At the rehearsal dinner Turk learns the hard way that Marco stole his vows from When Harry Met Sally and Carla is irate. As Turk and J.D. discuss their relationship problems, Turk explains to J.D. what love really is, using himself and Carla as an example; this works in Turk's favor, as his speech on the subject gets him back into Carla's good graces, but it also proves to J.D. once and for all that he should tell Elliot the truth and he breaks up with her (by casually saying "I don't love you.") Elliot lashes out, knocking J.D. over the table in front of everyone but resumes eating dinner nonchalantly.
Dr. Cox and Jordan also get their love back on track when he explains to her how important fighting is to their relationship; they agree not to fight in front of Jack, but to continue in private.
Recurring Themes[]
More: Fantasies • Flashbacks • J.D.'s girl names • Janitor's pranks and lies
J.D.'s mother puts him to bed.
Flashbacks[]
- J.D. remembers his mom, who says that no woman would ever love him as much as she did.
Janitor story[]
Janitor is in a bad mood after losing the election for Union President to Randall. Elliot and J.D. witness "the arrival of the Janitors" in the morning when Janitor drives in his van and many janitors exit the back of it. Later, Dr. Cox picks a fight with Janitor, who has his fellow custodians carry Perry away and trap him inside a morgue drawer.
J.D.'s Girls Names[]
- Sheila, used by Perry Cox when he was angry about being tied up and locked in a morgue drawer by Janitor.
Guest Stars[]
- Martin Klebba as Randall Winston
- Tara Reid as Danni Sullivan
- Freddy Rodríguez as Marco Espinosa
- Larry Thomas as Larry
- Cody Estes as 11 Year Old J.D.
- Margaret Easley as Barbara Dorian
- Michael Coleman as Another Janitor
- Arron Kinser as Waiter
- Jennifer Anderson as Nanny
Music[]
♫ List of music featured in Scrubs
- "Follow Through" by Gavin DeGraw
Quotes[]
[Marco arrives in a the back of a truck with a sheep]
No soup for you!
- “No I don't, you jackass!”— Dr. Cox
- “No I don't, you jackass!”— Dr. Cox
- “Why, did you sleep with her again?”— Marco
- “Why, did you sleep with her again?”— Marco
- “How does everybody know about this?”
- “What's your mom like?”— Danni
[Flashback]- “I love you, honey. You're the smartest, handsomest, sweetest boy in the whole world. And no matter how hard you look, you will never find a woman who'll love you as much as I do.”— Barbara Dorian
- “I love you, honey. You're the smartest, handsomest, sweetest boy in the whole world. And no matter how hard you look, you will never find a woman who'll love you as much as I do.”— Barbara Dorian
- “What's your mom like?”— Danni
- “Define "work."”— Turk
- “Define "work."”— Turk
- “It's the difference between special birthday sex and no sex on our wedding night.”
- “Yeah, I do like the special birthday sex.”
- “Yeah, I do like the special birthday sex.”
[While standing over Dr. Cox who is tied up in a morgue drawer]
- “I can only assume you're saying "Let me out or I'm gonna kill ya"...not gonna happen. Listen, I'm in a rare position of power here, okay? So I'm only gonna let you out if you admit that you're my mentor. I know! I know that makes you angry, but-- Uh-oh! Okay! Okay! You know, I'm fine the other way! However you wanna do--”— J.D.
- “ If you don't wanna fight in front of Jack anymore, I understand that. But I don't think that means we gotta stop altogether. I mean, Jordan, you are an unpredictable, passionate person, and you challenge me each and every day. And, honestly, that's the reason I can imagine being with you when I'm seventy and you're sixty-five and your face is forty and your boobs are twenty-nine.”— Dr. Cox
- “My face'll never look forty.”— Jordan
- “My face'll never look forty.”— Jordan
- “You're right, my bad.”
- “When I look into your eyes, I see the future. I see kids, I see minivans...you name it, I see it. The weird thing is, though, as long as I see your smile, none of that stuff scares me.”— Turk, to Carla
Trivia[]
- Randall Winston says in the DVD commentary that Billy Crystal donated the clip from When Harry Met Sally because he was a huge Scrubs fan. (source)
- When J.D. and Elliot are in the morgue, the x-rays on the light-boxes are backwards. This may be a nod to the opening credits of Scrubs that features a backwards x-ray.
- Danni's new boyfriend is portrayed by Larry Thomas who is notable for his performances as the The Soup Nazi Yev Kassem in a 1995 episode of Seinfeld.
- This is the only episode where we see Margaret Easley's portrayal of J.D.'s mother Barbara Dorian, though her face is never seen.
- Fliers for Janitor to be union president can be seen in the background of many scenes.
Images[]
