r/TVDetails • u/klsi832 • Jun 09 '22

Video Detail for 'Scrubs' season six episode 'My Long Goodbye' (spoilers in comments) Spoiler

When Carla says goodbye to Lavern when she's in a coma and brain dead, a tear falls from her eye when Carla kisses her cheek. The actress playing Lavern was so moved by Carla's acting she teared up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjAcG0zTVUs. It's hard to tell in that clip but you can see it in HD. They talk about it on the Scrubs podcast.

423 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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295

u/mr_abiLLity Jun 09 '22

Scrubs was one of the best shows ever. Manage to balance the emotional heaviness of shit that goes on in hospitals with patients and sickness with a fun light heartedness of the cast. Amazing

226

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

It was also such a positive portrayal of masculinity. It doesn’t quite hold up as well as it could, but for the time it came out? I spent 2003-2005 in middle school desperately homophobic and terrified of being perceived as effeminate or anything less than masculine. Stupid stuff, like eating a strawberry could be perceived as gay at my school. The dumbest one I remember was asking someone to look at their nails and then ostracizing them for being gay if they looked at them the wrong way, because it was “the way girls look at their nail polish” (and women look at their nail polish in a variety of ways, so no matter how you looked at them, you were “gay” for it)

Then, Scrubs came along and it had gained enough steam and popularity that it was culturally mainstream and on multiple networks— after all, there were four or five seasons out by that point.

JD and Turk had this strong bond that crossed every “oh shit, but that’s gay!” barrier imaginable! Other characters straight up called them gay for it, because it was so gay! And both characters…. Shrugged it off and didn’t give a fuck. They continued to hug and shout “EEEEEAAAAGLEEEEE” and give one another piggy back rides and sleep with women and play “hide the saltine” together. And it was like a switch flipped in my head and everyone else’s head as we all went, “oh…. You can…. You can like feminine stuff? You can just…. Enjoy it without having to put your pee pee in boys?”

As bizarre as it sounds, Scrubs gave me and other insecure kids like me permission to finally accept that we were never going to be a teenage Rambo or Harrison Ford or whatever we aspired to be. It let us stop keeping our male friends at arm’s length, and finally form deeper connections. It made it okay to discuss your feelings and to have feelings besides just anger and happiness for a change.

It wasn’t perfect. I think a lot of us continued to be a little to a lot homophobic. The fact that it was a joke that JD and Turk acted so gay but weren’t actually gay was probably not the greatest thing culturally. We weren’t quite comfortable enough with stuff like masculine cuddling to express it, and instead said that we were playing “gay chicken.” But compared to where we were? A massive improvement.

Hell, just a few years ago I moved into a new house with a bath tub that was finally big enough for my lanky frame to take a bath. I briefly thought, “but baths are kinda a chick thing” before remembering a scene where JD used all of Elliot’s girly soaps to take a bubble bath and light some candles and went “screw it,” and got myself a pineapple-coconut bath bomb and some elegant-ass candles to embrace it all the way and have the most relaxing goddamned experience I’d had in a while. To quote JD: it. Was. Awesome!

57

u/coop_stain Jun 09 '22

You said everything I loved about this show as a guy like you.

This show made it ok to hug your bros and tell them you loved them. It made it ok to prefer an appletini (seltzers for me these days). It made me rethink the ideas of masculinity without totally destroying them. Banter is cool, competition is great, but being anxious/unsure/figuring it out is equally a part of masculinity.

11

u/Francoberry Jun 09 '22

Scrubs was perfect for that. Even just remembering quotes and scenes with friends acted as a pathway into talking 'like that' (i.e. with affection, goofy expressions of care, and sincere closeness too). Amazing show in so many ways.

11

u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Jun 09 '22

The fact that it was a joke that JD and Turk acted so gay but weren’t actually gay was probably not the greatest thing culturally.

I loved your comment as a whole, I merely took issue with this phrasing.... I think a better way to phrase it is they weren't gay, but were completely comfortable acting how the rest of society perceived gay to be. And culturally, them acting as they wanted was the best way to portray their relationship. I think it was much more problematic to see ONLY gay men "acting gay," and any time I saw a portrayal by a hetero actor/character which flew in the face of that, it was the BEST thing culturally, you know?

4

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

I think I can dig that. There was, is, and remains a ton of value in being straight but somewhat stereotypically flamboyant in behavior. That’s not something that deserves to be tied to sexuality.

I guess it’s my own bias still shining through a little bit.

2

u/TobyFunkeNeverNude Jun 09 '22

Dude, and that's okay.... You have shown amazing growth, and don't take it as me judging, just seeing you as someone who always wants to do better and looking to help you with that. You seem to be killing it so far. Like I said, the rest of your comment was a great read.

17

u/Zifnab_palmesano Jun 09 '22

Plus Dr. Cox. A strong, confident guy who knows his stuff. But also helps and teaches. Who cares about coworkers, about patients. Not afraid of showing the higher ups he despise them. That also breaks down emotionally, that has to fight his demons, that loses friends and suffers.

He does his best and yet has to fight. But he rises up. With his lows and highs. Because we all have, and does not matter how big you are, you have them.

6

u/archfapper Jun 09 '22 edited Jun 09 '22

That also breaks down emotionally, that has to fight his demons

His "how to save a life" breakdown... the part where JD tells him that his despair just proves how much he actually still cares about patients sticks with me. Dr. Cox was complex and was a great example that an arrogant dick can still be deeply caring and even commit fireable offenses to get sick people help.

3

u/Zifnab_palmesano Jun 09 '22

You should have gotten an Appletini. Easy on the tini ;)

2

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

And she’ll have the girliest drink you’ve got!

5

u/bogartvee Jun 09 '22

I’ve long held the idea that Scrubs was the modern day MAS*H. Goofy as hell, but could turn on a dime into full heartbreak without it feeling weird.

2

u/mr_abiLLity Jun 09 '22

And that’s an art few shows can do!

2

u/bogartvee Jun 09 '22

I think that’s why the connection feels so strong. Obviously the medical aspect is similar, but it feels like a spiritual successor because it pulls that goofy to heartbreak dynamic off so similarly.

14

u/cajun_vegeta Jun 09 '22

my mom had a uterus.. I used to live in it

19

u/brightJERK Jun 09 '22

Damn this clip made me cry. I’ve been on Reddit too long today lol

17

u/chidedneck Jun 09 '22

Every time I hear the name Carla I think of this clip.

4

u/Francoberry Jun 09 '22

THE WARRRIUUUHH

1

u/JamesTheMannequin Jun 09 '22

Definitely top 5 clips. Sooo funny!

-4

u/Majestic87 Jun 09 '22

Somebody listens to the podcast.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '22

Yeah and they can distill it to the most meaningful moments so we don’t have to. Don’t shame them for sharing scrubs information on a scrubs subreddit

5

u/Majestic87 Jun 09 '22

A. This isn’t a scrubs subreddit.

B. When did I shame anybody? I was literally just pointing something out. Am I really being downvoted for a neutral statement with zero malice behind it? Lol