- “Part of me hates how familiar this seems. I hope I can find a way to make this all feel new.”— J.D.
"Our First Day of School" is the first episode of Scrubs' ninth season. J.D. begins working as a professor at Winston University. Lucy, Cole, and Drew start medical school.
Synopsis
Sacred Heart had become so outdated that it has been torn down. New Sacred Heart Hospital has been built on the campus of the medical school Winston University. J.D.'s new hospital St. Vincent's wants him to have more teaching accreditation so he has returned to teach for one semester. Dr. Cox and Turk have moved with the hospital and are now also teaching the medical students. Dr. Kelso's wife Enid has passed away, so he has returned to teach as to not get lonely.
J.D.
J.D. begins his first day as a professor, and kisses his new wife Elliot in his morning ritual. He says hello to Turk, and they run to each other in the quad to celebrate the fact that they are colleagues again. While running towards each other, the song Guy Love from My Musical is playing. In his first class he struggles to find his teacher groove, as he tries to be too friendly and hip. He gives out mix-CDs and invites his students back that evening for free beer, but no one shows up. Turk takes him out instead, and J.D. sees his students hanging with Dr. Kelso. After failing to get help from Cox, J.D. realizes he just needs one student to take an interest in.
Lucy stood up to Cox
Lucy
Lucy's first day at medical school started out very hopeful. However, after getting off on an odd foot with Denise and getting berated by Dr. Cox, Lucy lost a lot of motivation. Lucy slept with Cole, whom she met in class, to boost her self-esteem, and she firmly believed that he was going to be a good boyfriend. A friendly patient, Ben Coleman, gave her a little more confidence, but it was again shattered by Dr. Cox. As Cole walked through the quad, he dropped a naked picture of Lucy he took. J.D. chased it to Lucy, and the two began talking. She asked him for help with Dr. Cox, and he provided her advice and courage to stand up to Dr. Cox. In the main entry of the New Sacred Heart Hospital, Lucy stood her ground and made Dr. Cox storm out of the room.
Denise
Meanwhile, Denise was adjusting to her new role as student adviser. She tried to convince Drew to take her responsibilities because she thought the other students looked up to him, but he told her that he wanted to fly under the radar. She still told students to confide in him, and he angrily stormed into her room and the two took a shower together. The next day, Drew made the mistake of asking Dr. Cox to be nicer to Lucy. Cox told him that he would now focus all of his anger and rage at Drew. Cox decided to make Drew wear a #1 sign around all the time, and that he would demand high results from Drew.
Cole
In his first class, Cole instantly hits on Lucy. She was a little taken aback, but still interested. She ended up sleeping with him and he snapped a photo of her naked. He later dropped it in the quad. Cole also annoyed Turk by telling him that he could never get in trouble because his parents donated all the money to build the new hospital. Turk later wrapped him with a blanket and had the Todd sit on him in the quad.
Recurring Themes
More: Fantasies • Flashbacks • J.D.'s girl names • Janitor's pranks and lies
Lucy is being hunted.
Fantasies
- Lucy: Lucy immediately begins making out with Cole after he hits on her.
- Lucy: Lucy is on the run from Dr. Cox, who is dressed as a sheriff with two dogs.
Flashbacks
J.D. and Turk ride a bike together
- The Janitor walks out of Sacred Heart. (see Janitor Story)
- J.D. and Turk ride a tandem bike on their first day of med school, while denouncing the cooler kids as "losers" and "nerds."
Janitor story
In the last Janitor story ever, Janitor confronts Turk the day after J.D. left Sacred Heart. When Turk convinced Janitor that J.D. was never returning, Janitor dropped his mop and walked away from the hospital. He never returned and nobody knows what happened to him.
Episode Running Gags
- Dr. Cox names the med students by a number, and Lucy's number constantly goes down from 19 to 42 to 91.
Guest Stars
- Sarah Chalke as Dr. Elliot Reid
- Ken Jenkins as Dr. Robert Kelso
- Neil Flynn as Janitor
- Nicky Whelan as Maya
- Walter Addison as Ben Coleman
- Robert Maschio as Dr. Todd "The Todd" Quinlan
- Judy Kain as Irene Kelly
- Holly Kaplan as Patient
- David Kobzantsev as Michael / Ilievic
- Credited but did not appear
Music
♫ List of music featured in Scrubs
Quotes
If you're going to kill yourself - I'm looking at you, sad eyes - do it off campus because it is a buttload of paperwork.
- “I feel like you skipped a few steps.”— Lucy
- “I feel like you skipped a few steps.”— Lucy
- “Unfortunately you're all screwed, because to call this particular school a craphouse would be an honest to god compliment. Plus, I'm the only teacher worth a damn around here and I already hate all of you. Would you like to know why? Well it turns out you're not actually medical students at all. You are all murderers and assassins that have been sent here to try and kill my patients.”— Dr. Cox
- “If you're going to kill yourself - I'm looking at you, sad eyes - do it off campus because it is a buttload of paperwork.”— Denise
- “Why was Michael in my room?”— Drew
- “His name's not Michael.”— Denise
- “His name's not Michael.”— Denise
- “Well, he has a weird Serbian name that I can't say so I'm calling him Michael. He loves it.”
- “I don't. My name is Ilijevic.”— Ilijevic
- “I don't. My name is Ilijevic.”— Ilijevic
- “Mike, just go.”
- “In my class, you will each be graded by the color of your skin. If you're white raise your hand. F's.”— Turk
- “You are a giant douche.”— Denise
- “I know. Wanna take a shower together?”— Drew
- “I know. Wanna take a shower together?”— Drew
- “Fine.”
- “Dr. Cox?”— Lucy
- “Professor”— Dr. Cox
- “Professor”— Dr. Cox
- “Professor Cox?”
- “Actually, it's both.”
- “Actually, it's both.”
- “Dr. Professor Cox?”
- “Yes?”
- “Yes?”
- “Has anyone seen the crash cart?”— Dr. Cox
- “It's over by bed four.”— Maya
- “It's over by bed four.”— Maya
- “Can you make that out?”
- “I think I heard the words "bear fight" but that makes no sense.”— J.D.
- “I think I heard the words "bear fight" but that makes no sense.”— J.D.
- “Hey, what's your name?”— Dr. Cox, busting in on Drew and Denise having sex
- “Drew”
- “Drew”
- “I'm taking an interest in you." (pause) "Carry on.”
- “And if you do make me cry, it won't be a big deal, because I lied. I cry all the time.”— Lucy
- “Whore.”— Drew
Trivia
- The title of the episode is reminiscent of pilot: "My First Day".
- This is the last episode of Scrubs to feature Neil Flynn.
- Sarah Chalke was actually pregnant during this season.
- This is the second episode with "First Day" in the title.