Scrubs is one of those shows whose quality varies a lot by season. The first four or five seasons are consistently great. You could watch any random episode from these seasons. Season six is truly awful. Avoid it, even if you are a fan. Seasons seven and eight are tired and clearly post-shark-jump but watchable, and nine is really a different show, with a mostly different cast and mostly different setting. We don't consider this canon. For these purposes, I'll focus on the good seasons, which are among my favorite TV. I've seen them all a lot of times.
Key Episodes
1.1 "My First Day": J.D. (Zach Braff) is overwhelmed on his first few days working as a medical intern. One of the coolest things about this episode is how totally consistently in-character both Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) and Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) behave, but J.D. still manages, understandably, to get the complete wrong impression. Favorite quotable moments: I still say "Why not? Whynot!" in J.D. voice in my head at least once a day.
1.22 "My Occurrence" & 1.23 "My Hero": In part 1, J.D. likes Dr. Cox's best friend Ben (Brendan Fraser) and attempts to prove that his leukemia diagnosis is a mistake. In part 2, Dr. Cox disappears when Ben begins chemotherapy, and J.D. loses respect for his mentor. Meanwhile, Turk (Donald Faison) is distraught to discover idiotic The Todd (Robert Maschio) is the best surgical intern. "Dum-da-da-dum-da-da-dum-dum shiny scalpel..."
2.22 "My Dream Job": An old college friend of J.D. and Turk's visits and can't believe how jaded and dark their jobs have made them. Dr. Cox discovers he is going to be a father and stands up for Elliot (Sarah Chalke) with Dr. Kelso. "I've come a long way. For instance, I used to be afraid of you, and now I can talk to you about anything - like how your hair has been looking particularly springy lately. And not like the season, but more like the inside of a mattress."
Bonus Episodes
Oh, they're all good.
1.4 "My Old Lady": Starting from a serious premise--the statistic that one in three patients die in the hospital, over a split-screen of J.D., Turk, and Elliot introducing themselves to patients--Scrubs proves itself to have real heart underneath its frenetic patter of jokes. Favorite non-quotable moments: the Janitor (Neil Flynn) and J.D. have a silent conversation in mime.
1.5 "My Two Dads": Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso battle for J.D.'s soul. Elliot thinks she has magic breasts. "How many has she had?" "Almost one."
1.12 "My Blind Date": Dr. Cox mentors Elliot as she helps him try for a "perfect game." Turk and Carla (Judy Reyes) reach a decision point in their relationship. J.D. has to decide whether to ask out a girl he can't see. "Help me help you help me help you help me help you!"
1.15 "My Bed Banter and Beyond": J.D. and Elliot finally get together in a heartbreaking episode which intercuts scenes of their happy first day in bed together with the grinding deterioration of their relationship over the next few weeks. "White boys." "You too!"
1.19 "My Old Man": The parents are in town: J.D.'s flaky dad (John Ritter), Turk's eerily Carla-like mom, and Elliot's overly critical parents. "You definitely need something. Maybe a backbone, or perhaps some testicles. At the very least, a pillow that you could carry around the hospital and just cry your sad eyes out into whenever drama occurs."
1.21 "My Sacrificial Clam": When J.D. is stabbed with an infected needle and may contract hepatitis, Turk can't find time to exercise, and Elliot has to choose between studying for rounds and hanging out with her adorable new boyfriend (Scott Foley, aka Noel from Felicity), each of the young doctors has to decide how much they are willing to sacrifice for their all-consuming job. "You know, Freud said that ninety percent of all human behavior is motivated by sexual impulses, but come on, give me some credit. I'd say at least thirty percent of my behavior is motivated by advertising, and the rest by violence in film!"
1.24 "My Last Day" & 2.1 "My Overkill": As they finish their first year, J.D., Elliot and Turk feel guilty about how jaded they've become and team up to go the extra mile for a patient. Then Jordan (Christa Miller) shakes things up by bringing every one of the season's secrets out into the open. After the season jump, everyone is mad at each other; Turk is sleeping with J.D. when Carla kicks him out, Elliot is freaking out, and worst of all, Dr. Cox is being nice to J.D., having given up on him. J.D. tries to force fix apologies, but when he accidentally treats a patient by doing nothing, he realizes that sometimes emotional problems just blow over with time. "We were head-to-foot, there was no way to lock in!"
2.8 "My Fruit Cups": Dr. Cox's new relationship is complicated when Jordan shows up pregnant. The rest of the gang has money problems due to their student loans and low resident salaries. "Bidet to you, sir."
2.13 "My Philosophy": J.D.'s theory about the "circle of life" in a hospital leaves the viewer to guess which of his likable patients will survive the episode, while Turk's attempts to wow Carla with a fancy proposal end up with a hasty question in the parking lot. Ends with a big Broadway-style production number. "I feel I would be more productive if my phone dialed out."
2.15 "His Story": Dr. Cox's interior monologue, rather than J.D.'s, narrates this episode, and we get to see his side of the J.D. relationship. Turk catalogs his own faults to figure out why Carla can't say "yes." Elliot dates a male nurse (Silver Spoons alum Ricky Schroder). "Elliot, what I do for a living doesn't make me feel like any less of a man. Neither does my love of baking, or gardening, or the fact that I occasionally menstruate."
2.17 "My Own Private Practice Guy": J.D. meets a former mentee of Dr. Cox (Jay Mohr), and we learn what happened between Dr. Cox and Jordan. Elliot realizes the Janitor is a nice person. "Oh, Ms. Pac-Man, I would sex that bow right off your head."
3.4 "My Lucky Night": Dr. Cox makes an uncharacteristically genuine attempt to get a promotion, and J.D. considers telling Elliot about his rekindled feelings for her. "I am a sex camel!"
3.12 "My Catalyst" and 3.13 "My Porcelain God": J.D. shifts his mentorly attention from Dr. Cox to the new visiting superstar doctor/surgeon Dr. Kevin Casey (Michael J. Fox), but learns that Casey's skills come at a price. "Form of...an ICE MENORAH!!"
3.14 "My Screw Up": Dr. Cox's best friend is back in the hospital and Dr. Cox renounces J.D. after a minor error in his care. "You have slept with both of my sisters, and that means you and I have something in common."
4.1 "My Old Friend's New Friend": J.D. and Elliot, enemies since J.D. tried to date Elliot again and then told her he didn't love her (a contrived season 3 finale plotline), compete for the position of Chief Resident, and we meet the surprisingly hilarious season-4 recurring guest star, psychologist Dr. Molly Clock (Heather Graham). J.D.: "Why do you hate me when I show you nothing but love?"
4.13 "My Ocardial Infarction": Several important plotlines dealt with here--J.D.'s insufferable condescension when Elliot begins surpassing him as a doctor (I swear he becomes more immature in every season); Turk fails to take his recent diabetes diagnosis seriously; and a good example of one of the always entertaining "The Janitor Loves Elliot" runners.
4.17 "My Life in Four Cameras": A well-known experimental episode in which J.D. imagines what his life (i.e. the show) would look like in a traditional four-camera sitcom format. This is necessarily a slower-paced, slightly less funny episode than normal, but it's evident that everyone involved was having a ton of fun.
5.11 "My Lunch": J.D. feels guilty about missing warning signs that a patient is a drug addict, and in a twist the creators had previous assured us would not happen until the series finale, The Todd realizes he is bisexual... and is exactly as much of an overly sexual jackass hitting on men.
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