Scrubs - Season 8, Episode 9: "My Absence"

"My Absence" refers to this being the first Scrubs episode "without" JD. Even that's not entirely accurate, as we get frequent voice-overs from him by way of phone conversations with Elliot. Still, it gives the chance for the focus to be on some other people for awhile.

The episode opens with the gals sitting at a cafeteria table, discussing men. There, Denise recycles some of her really funny introductory jokes, explaining her preference for larger men. It's not as funny the second time around, and it, instead, is starting to look like an uninteresting character trait. Denise, you're better than this. Dr. Kelso, meeting Denise for the first time, loves her direct, uninhibited honesty, or, as he calls it: "girl balls."

There's also another new intern, Sonja, whose nickname, Sunny, matches her irrepressibly cheery disposition. Kind of annoying at first, the humour gets going when things begin to fall apart, and she struggles to maintain her outward appearance of unflappable contentment.

Stephanie Gooch also returns, as Ted's now girlfriend. We are privy to another, still adorable, but kind of terrifying side of her, when she meets Turk. He is disappointed that no one is making a big deal about his and Carla's new baby (oh, by the way, she's pregnant again), and takes advantage of The Gooch's newness to the group, leading her to believe it's their first baby, so that she will make a big deal. Once the deception is revealed (after she writes a song for him), we learn very quickly that The Gooch does not like to be lied to.

For the second episode in a row, Dr. Kelso takes the opportunity to simply read off the moral lesson of the episode. It makes sense, considering his relevant experience in nearly everyone's matters, and it's kind of a nice break from JD always being the one who gets to (as Elliot puts it) "pontificate" about what we've learned.

The one thing that caught me off guard about this episode was that for a brief moment, I became a Carla fan. When Sunny is battling to keep a comatose patient alive long enough to have his family say goodbye, Carla and Dr. Cox are both surprised when Carla doesn't offer to stay and help. Carla, especially, is troubled that after so many years, she has apparently lost the ability to empathize with lost cases. By the end, she makes the choice to stay with the patient, for the reason that she is simply not ready to be cynical yet. It's something of a powerful moment, where she takes control of her life, and decides who she wants to be, even if it is the harder choice.

Even with minimal JD, "My Absence" shows that the show has the strength to move forward without him.

Rating: 3.5 stars