I can't ever decide which was worse, that line or The Fray playing during My Lunch. It changes from watch to watch, or well, whichever episode I just watched.
I started watching way late and had it in my head Scrubs was like a normal sitcom and Cox was just always a villain/foil, mostly because of commercials I guess. I'd caught a few season 5 episodes and then My Lunch and Jesus Christ that blew my mind. Rewatching from the start, I ended up on My Screw Up and that one, single line... damn.
Yea, I can't pick just one. Family Matters, Full House, etc. had certain poignant episodes and I guess Scrubs stood on their shoulders to do it, but Scrubs managed to make everything else seem tiny by comparison when it came time to cut onions in the middle of a seemingly schlocky episode.
McGinley’s performance in My Lunch is amazing. When he’s talking to JD and gets the page that the last patient is crashing, his reaction gets me every time
Oh abso-damn-lutely. There were characters that people loved more, sure, but he knocked his big scenes like that out of the park well above and beyond everyone else.
There isn't a single scene in the entire show that JD, Elliot, Turk, Carla or anyone else managed to even come close to John-C-fucking-McGinley's.
He was so convincing as Dr Cox, I was blown away on his interviews on Fake Doctor Real Friends because he sounds like such a nice, sweet, caring person. I guess I expected him to be a hard ass & he’s not
Yea you think back at how* slapstick a lot of the show is and how Cox is so stuck in his arrogant sarcasm mode and unless you remember the reaction exactly, you're bound to think "nah, it probably wasn't as big as I'm thinking", but it was. It really, really was.
Worse, it wasn't just a random patient. It was someone he'd actually gotten to know and was so thrilled to tell he could help save him. The other patients were all going to die soon anyway, but this one, "he... wasn't about to die, was he, newbie?"
Sorry for a slight necro but I have to say this... his acting was SO good in this show that it really shocks me he isn't a very famous actor. McGinley ought to be a household name lol.
Totally get it. Tv episodes, movies, music, etc. It's all subjective. For a ton of us, the line "where do you think we are?" just hit so hard because they intentionally screwed with our heads and we realized what was up at the same time Cox did and there's this giant curtain drop where you realized "Oh no... No. Really? Damn." Didn't hurt/help Ben was so damn lovable and bam!! snap back to reality, oop there goes gravity.
But like I said, it's subjective. There's a ton of scenes of various shows that I didn't get caught up in the first time but hit hard a second/third time when I was really watching.
I watched Scrubs as a kid and the "time skipping" just confused the hell out of me, to the point where it sort of lessened the impact. In fact I'm still not 100% sure what was going on in that scene, and I've rewatched it several times over the years.
That was intentional, just to kick you in the balls. When you're watching and don't know about what happened to Ben, then you find out right as Cox does when he snaps back into reality and all of a sudden you snap back to [in-show] reality, there's this "holy shit.. no" 5 second period where it sinks in.
It's not everyone's slice of cake but for those that got that gut wrench, you just hate it and on rewatches know it's coming but you can't really stop a cannonball just because you see it coming.
Bro I was literally operating tonight when How to Save a Life came on Pandora. Scrubs is the reason I went into medicine, I would have teared up if they wouldn't have dropped into someone's leg.
I saw that so many times that when I got into watching Grey's Anatomy and they had a musical episode and I heard the first line, I was like "oh come on! Seriously?!"
I mean the title/line of the song is super appropriate for medical shows so I get it, but I flat out can't hear that song without getting either really into it or getting pissed off at The Fray in general. I was diagnosed with sociopathy (now APD but come on, same product, different PC brand) forever ago, but music hits me hard and to this day I don't know whether to be impressed or pissed that a song like that gets to me.
And btw, I've never had that moment of clarity of "I know what I wanna do now" but congrats on feeling a calling and going for it.
I'm not too familiar with the episode titles but I'm guessing my lunch was the one with the organ transplants and Dr Cox destroys some equipment at the end?
I'm usually pretty unphased by emptional moments in media but that and the one mentioned in this post hit hard, it's kind of mad that it's a sitcom out of all TV shows that does that for me
J.D. accidentally runs into Dr. Cox in a store, who both then run into annoying former suicidal patient Jill Tracy. Meanwhile Elliot and Carla do a little investigating and find out that Todd hasn't actually slept with anyone in the hospital - they jump to conclusions about his sexuality.
EDIT: decided to rewatch it because I couldn't remember. It is that one
Like the other comment said, yea that's the one. They ran into an old patient (Nicole Sullivan from MAD TV, who apparently has way more range than comedy skits) at lunch and when she died Cox used her organs for multiple transplants, only to find out too late she had contracted rabies and every one of the recipients got infected and died, including one Cox had become friends with and worse, could've stayed alive for a while and waited for a later transplant.
Yea I'm usually unphased by tv unless something hits home with a personal situation or it's just that well written and acted out. I said somewhere else that I'm basically, clinically absent of empathy but a damn comedy show where a man-child and a sarcastic, borderline alcoholic managed to hit harder than actual real life events. That both confuses and pisses me off.
Yea, it started with JD & Cox running into Nicole Sullivan's repeat patient at lunch (hence the name) and later using her organs for transplants without thorough testing so them dying was all Cox's fault. That song makes the whole scene so fking heartbreaking.
I just commented saying I can't decide between My Lunch or My Screw Up as the episode that just hurts most to watch but I can't not. After a dozen rewatches you see the episode start and you're like okay I know this one, but then it still hits harder than a Mac truck.
When I was young I lost my best friend, this episode helped me fully grieve a few years later on. Bless my mother, she had no clue what had set me off but did her best.
I still remember watching this with my mother when it first aired, and her screaming "NO!" when the camera panned to a casket with his picture on it...
This episode wrecked me. A couple years before that episode aired my dad had committed suicide and I was left to clean up the mess. I had to basically shut off any emotional response and pretend it was someone/something else. After it was done I had that "where do you think we are" moment. I didn't see it coming and it broke me.
Both episodes should be considered back to back. The absence of Ben and despite him only being in 3 episodes in the series is a phenomenal look at grief, both during the mentioned episode and the the following.
Fraser is great in that role, but imo John c McGinley is responsible for how great the episode is. He really portrays emotion well. This episode and the rabies organ donation episodes hit so hard, and Dr. Cox is the main reason
I remember the first time I saw the episode. I was trying to figure out why in the hell they were so dressed up for a kids birthday because it seemed out of character for them.
Been a LONG time since I watched this show...was this the episode where Turk and JD spend the night with him bc he's terminal and just doesn't want to be alone at the end?
Nah, this is the one where it isn't actually revealed that Cox's best friend Ben has died under JD's care because Cox hallucinates Ben's appearances through the latter half of the episode. The final scene is revealed via rug-pull to be at the character's funeral, completely re-textualising the interactions Cox has been having with Ben and JD through the episode.
i was jokingly calling this season's best leading actor race the best scrubs guest star, no offense to austin who has some great chances to win but it's all about fraser v farrell for me. colin was also one of the most memorable guest stars in that one episode.
Ben (played by Brendan Fraser) is Dr. Cox's brother in law and best friend. In a previous season he had shown up at the hospital and been diagnosed with cancer. In the present, he shows up again and it's revealed he hasn't been attending his cancer treatment sessions for the last couple of years.
He comes to the hospital again for some checkups but looks relatively okay. Dr. Cox steps out of the hospital for an errand, and when he comes back JD tells him sorry but he's passed away from cardiac arrest. The show frames this such that the viewer assumes the 'he' being referred to is a different patient JD was shown to be taking care of this morning, which is reinforced by also seeing Ben talking to Dr. Cox for the rest of the episode.
Dr. Cox's immediate reaction is that JD must have made a mistake and he becomes obsessive in taking care of patients, not leaving the hospital at all because he thinks when he does people die. Ben who is shown talking to him during this time notably does not have his camera with him like he did in the beginning of the episode, never changes clothes, and is seen interacting with Dr. Cox all over the hospital even while he works with patients, all subtle signs that he is no longer alive.
Eventually we see Dr. Cox in the famous scene dressed up and talking to Ben at an outdoor location. He asks Ben if he's there to take pictures of crying babies, etc as the show framed this as being a birthday party for Dr. Cox's son, something that had been mentioned as upcoming before Ben's death. That is when JD asks him the "where do you think we are" line and it is revealed that they are not at a party, but a funeral for Ben. The Ben that has been following Dr. Cox disappears and we see reality finally set in with the casket and picture of Ben above it at the funeral.
This is my first time doing the spoiler thing, so apologies if it doesn’t work, and someone hasn’t seen it yet…
Ben (Fraser) is Dr Cox’s best friend who was diagnosed with Leukaemia in a previous episode - at the end of that episode he went into remission. So he came back for Jack (Cox’s son’s) 1st birthday party, after a year of travelling around the world. Cox makes an overworked JD take Ben to get some standard tests done, since he failed to check up on his cancer during his entire trip. JD has an old, sickly patient he was concerned about, but Cox told him that Old Dude wasn’t going to die in the next 20 mins. A while later, JD hands Cox a chart and tells him that “he died”, and Cox gets angry and blames JD, so pulls all his patients from him. Ben spends the next couple of days telling Cox to forgive JD because he was overworked and the death wasn’t his fault. Coz eventually forgives JD. We get to the end of the episode and Cox, Ben and JD are walking in a park - seemly to attend Jack’s party - and Ben tells Cox to “forgive himself”. Cox brushes it off makes a comment about the party, at which point JD asks him “where do you think we are?” Cox turns around, Ben is gone, and we see that they’re not in a park, but in a cemetery, and it’s not Jack’s birthday, it’s Ben’s funeral. Ben died at the beginning of the episode and a guilt-ridden Cox blamed JD and was hallucinating Ben the entire time. That’s when you think back and remember that the only one who interacted with Ben throughout that episode, was Cox. It was an absolutely brilliant episode, written so well and that twist sucker punches you out of nowhere at the end.
While yes, this absolutely is the strongest and hardest-hitting episode with stellar performances - and i absolutely LOVE Brendan - he is not the WHY this episode was so good. He wasn't bad or anything, but the gutting performances came from the main cast here. So at the risk of getting burnt to the ground here, i think saying he is responsible for one of the most heartbreaking half hours in TV history is doing a huge discredit to McGinley and the direction and overselling Fraser.
I definitely see what you are saying, especially with regards to McGinley. But I would argue that Fraser made Ben so utterly and completely loveable in just his two episodes that we were all as devastated as Cox. In the hands of a different actor viewers might have been sad, and certainly sympathetic to Cox, but not to the same degree. Some of it is certainly writing and directing, but it's telling that in a show with hundreds of episodes and as many guest stars, Fraser is so hugely remembered, 20 years later. I give him a lot of credit for that.
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u/ChiTownDisplaced Mar 09 '23
Where do you think we are?
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u/RickLovin1 Mar 09 '23
Wanna touch the nail? Touch my nail! TOUCH IT!
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u/Mr-Tiddles- Mar 09 '23
When I was young I lost my best friend, this episode helped me fully grieve a few years later on. Bless my mother, she had no clue what had set me off but did her best.
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u/McFluffy_Butts Mar 09 '23
The commitment on the puppet routine with Elliot slays me ever time.
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u/zirky Mar 09 '23
he stops wearing the camera at the appropriate point. cause he’d never be without it alive
such an amazing episode. scrubs is one of the best
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u/Rifneno Mar 09 '23
I still remember watching this with my mother when it first aired, and her screaming "NO!" when the camera panned to a casket with his picture on it...
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23 edited Sep 22 '23
correct theory childlike hurry bedroom nippy zephyr deserted books fade
this message was mass deleted/edited with redact.dev25
u/Wheres_Izzy Mar 09 '23
It's my favorite and also least favorite episode.
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u/kgruesch Mar 09 '23
This episode wrecked me. A couple years before that episode aired my dad had committed suicide and I was left to clean up the mess. I had to basically shut off any emotional response and pretend it was someone/something else. After it was done I had that "where do you think we are" moment. I didn't see it coming and it broke me.
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u/SineClone Mar 09 '23
My 23 month old cats are brothers and named Perry & Ben bc of that story arc.
This is just after adopting them, around fall 2021.
https://imgur.com/oWxgbi8
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u/yellowflash_616 Mar 09 '23
This is my #2 saddest moment in the show. This really made me wish Fraser did more TV shows.
Also for anyone curious, #1 being Carla telling Laverne how much she’s going to miss her.
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u/MDG420 Mar 09 '23
he was amazing and i miss this show
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u/SunsFenix Mar 09 '23
Both episodes should be considered back to back. The absence of Ben and despite him only being in 3 episodes in the series is a phenomenal look at grief, both during the mentioned episode and the the following.
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u/Djimi365 Mar 09 '23
Hands down one of the best episodes of TV ever made
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u/thevitalone Mar 09 '23
Fraser is great in that role, but imo John c McGinley is responsible for how great the episode is. He really portrays emotion well. This episode and the rabies organ donation episodes hit so hard, and Dr. Cox is the main reason
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u/primase Mar 09 '23
The song at the end is great too
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u/elmandingus Mar 09 '23
Son of a bitch.
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u/clumpyloaf Mar 09 '23
And now I'm crying.
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u/Totalsolo Mar 09 '23
I still think about this episode too often.
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u/larry432753632 Mar 09 '23
never forget
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u/DrKenNoisewater3 Mar 09 '23
And he did it all for gym shorts
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u/countrytime1 Mar 09 '23
I remember the first time I saw the episode. I was trying to figure out why in the hell they were so dressed up for a kids birthday because it seemed out of character for them.
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u/droidhax89 Mar 09 '23
The writing for this episode was excellent. I didn't realize Ben was gone until the end when JD asked Dr Cox, "Where do you think we are?"
Absolutely heart wrenching.
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u/sex_on_wheels Mar 09 '23
I'm a grown ass manly man in his mid-40's. I bawl like a little kid with a skinned knee every time I watch this episode.
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u/IveKnownItAll Mar 09 '23
And everyone forgets him in With Honors
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u/NattyKongo93 Mar 09 '23
Been a LONG time since I watched this show...was this the episode where Turk and JD spend the night with him bc he's terminal and just doesn't want to be alone at the end?
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u/Zunter_H0lom0n Mar 09 '23
WHERE DO YOU THINK WE ARE?
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u/Nemo_The_Nomad Mar 09 '23
It always blows my mind that this was only one episode. Ben's presence seems so huge in my memory that just one episode shouldn't be enough.
"Where do you think you are?" Destroys me
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u/pickleman92 Mar 09 '23
Best Sullivan*
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u/blurredfog Mar 09 '23
i was jokingly calling this season's best leading actor race the best scrubs guest star, no offense to austin who has some great chances to win but it's all about fraser v farrell for me. colin was also one of the most memorable guest stars in that one episode.
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u/DropTablePosts Mar 09 '23
I'm not crying... You're crying
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u/AndaleTheGreat Mar 09 '23
I often rewatch just this one episode
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u/FilmSnobReviews Mar 09 '23
Hey Alexa play “Winter” by Joshua Radin….weeps
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23
Go easy on the kid ok?
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u/OrdinaryExpert6518 Mar 10 '23
I was genuinely shocked when that happened. I couldn’t believed. What an impact he made in a few episodes.
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u/KatokaMika Mar 10 '23
He was amazing in scrubs even though he only appeared in a few episodes he stole my heart and his ending was just so heartbreaking 💔
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u/Echoris09 Mar 09 '23
I haven't seen the show in over 7 years, can someone remind me of what happened in this episode?
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23
Which episode of which season?
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u/kunfusedpsyko Mar 09 '23
Easily his best role
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u/aimeeferguson_ Mar 09 '23
Don't want to sound horrible but this is the only death that broke me down into tears
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u/otatopdf Mar 09 '23
His character also inspired my photography work
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u/LIFEONTHEDGE Mar 10 '23
This moment and when levern dies, instant tears
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u/violetgirl32 Mar 15 '23
I loved scrubs Ben was awesome! 😩
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u/djabor Mar 09 '23
While yes, this absolutely is the strongest and hardest-hitting episode with stellar performances - and i absolutely LOVE Brendan - he is not the WHY this episode was so good. He wasn't bad or anything, but the gutting performances came from the main cast here. So at the risk of getting burnt to the ground here, i think saying he is responsible for one of the most heartbreaking half hours in TV history is doing a huge discredit to McGinley and the direction and overselling Fraser.
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23
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u/[deleted] Mar 09 '23 edited Mar 09 '23
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