After dropping two episodes last week, the third episode of the Scrubs revival premieres on March 4 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The episode will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
Titled “My Rom-Com,” the third episode is described by ABC like this:
“Elliot faces a dilemma with a stubborn patient, while J.D. discovers online doctor reviews. Meanwhile, Turk teaches his interns about new surgical technology and unexpected life lessons.”
The series is a sequel to the original Scrubs series, specifically the first eight seasons with the ninth Med School season basically relegated to elseworlds status. Additionally, great pains have been taken to tell the audience that J.D.’s dream of the future as seen in the finale was just that, a dream of the future. It is not canon, and what J.D. saw on that sheet is merely what his imagination thought his future could be — Scrubs will not be beholden to that vision of the characters’ futures in this revival.
I liked what I saw for the most part in the first two episodes, especially when it came to avoiding just offering up nostalgic fan service. It felt like there is an interesting story to be told and a reason for this series to be back in 2026. Check out my thoughts below.
Scrubs Episodes 1 & 2 Recap
(Warning: Spoilers ahead.)
- J.D. returned to Sacred Heart after years writing scripts in suburbia and things aren’t quite the same as when he left. His best friend, Dr. Christopher Turk, is burnt out and has become known as “Dr. Bummer” by his interns. Meanwhile, J.D. casually reveals in a voiceover that his marriage to Elliot didn’t make it. And Dr. Cox is hounded by an ever-present HR rep played by Vanessa Bayer. This leads to the biggest revelation — Cox doesn’t know how to be a mentor to this new generation of doctors and says time has passed him by now that he can’t utilize his old teaching methods. He is stepping down as Chief of Medicine … and he wants J.D. to take over and do for these interns what Cox did for him.
- I feel like Scrubs did a good job of keeping the characters true to themselves while moving them forward. No one felt out of character here, and it feels like you couldn’t just have Cox, for instance, behave the same in 2026 as he did in 2001. It was actually pretty touching to see Cox actively choose J.D. to take his place, reminding him of how good J.D. was before he decamped to being a concierge doctor. It was also nice to see J.D. not faint at such praise from his mentor and act more like a peer than a fawning student eager for any scrap of praise. Unlike the now-decanonized Scrubs: Med School, J.D. here feels like he’s learned and grown from his earlier time at Sacred Heart as well as all the other life experiences since.
- One of those experiences is his divorce from Elliot. Admittedly, I’m something of a shipper, in general, so it’s a bit disappointing that the show chose to break them up again. I understand it creates more drama and friction with J.D. now being her boss, but it felt like Season 8 brought them together for good. That said, I think at this point it’s done and you really shouldn’t bring them back together, but it remains to be seen if they end up back on the road to reconciliation (even if J.D. hates couples counseling).
- It will be interesting to see J.D. navigate his need to be liked with the requirements of his new job. We’ve already seen Dr. Park gleefully watch as J.D. was forced to choose between priorities for his best friend Turk and his ex-wife/friend Elliot. J.D. ultimately made the only decision he could as someone beholden to the best interests of the hospital, which was Turk’s robot because it would bring in money and that sent him on something of a mini-spiral, focusing on the bottom line. Ultimately, he found some semblance of balance in the end, personally helping Asher get his patient the drugs he needed while fighting the insurance company but also delivering the sound advice that as doctors they do all they can for their patients during the course of their shift but at the end of the day they have to be able to go home and put it behind them before coming back the next day.
- J.D. as a teacher came through quite nicely here. Whether it’s helping give Sam the confidence to place the central line or teaching Blake that despite being a little older and more experienced he can’t do this all on his own. J.D.’s confident teaching here showed why Cox wanted him to take his place.
- All the talk about growth being said, it’s nice to see J.D. and Turk still capable of having their bromance. The idea of the two of them running the hospital as chief of medicine and surgery, respectively, has lots of potential — for comedy and drama — and I can’t wait to see what the show has in store for them this season.
- Speaking of Turk, there’s lots of ground to cover with our favorite surgeon. Dealing with burnout — both at work and at home as a father of four — could lead into several interesting directions. So too will the difficulty he’ll have working with both his best friend and his best friend’s ex-wife, who also is his own friend. We already saw Elliot lament that Turk disappeared, more or less, from her life after he split from J.D. and I’m sure navigating those waters won’t be easy with J.D. back working at Sacred Heart as Elliot’s boss.
- I know both Judy Reyes (Carla) and John C. McGinley (Cox) are booked on other shows, so they won’t be around all the time, but I do hope we see a good amount of them over the course of the season. Zach Braff and Donald Faison said in a recent episode of their Fake Doctors, Real Friends podcast that despite Cox stepping down as chief of medicine we haven’t seen the last of him. And Faison said he made sure that his TV wife Reyes would be involved in the revival, so I look forward to seeing what’s next for the Turks. I also can’t wait for the return of the Janitor (Neil Flynn) and Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller).
- Braff and Faison said in the aforementioned podcast that they didn’t want the revival to just be “nostalgia porn” and I think the show mostly succeeded there. I don’t have a ton of thoughts on the new cast additions yet, although there is potential in the story of Sam, a doctor who has embraced social media in order to help pay off her student loans. Bayer’s Sibby Wilson is also a highlight of the season’s first two episodes. Time will tell how well these new kids gel with their legacy counterparts.
Scrubs FAQ
When do new episodes of Scrubs premiere?
New episodes of Scrubs will air on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
How can I watch new episodes of Scrubs?
New episodes air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, with streaming available the next day on Hulu. Prior seasons are available on Hulu and Disney+.
How many new episodes of Scrubs will air?
The 2026 revival is expected to run for nine episodes in its first season. A second season has not yet been ordered.
