Scrubs: The Complete Fifth Season

"I'm gonna have a good year, aren't I?" J.D. (Zach Braff), now an attendant at Sacred Heart Hospital, asks in the fifth season's opening episode of Scrubs. All vital signs are good (the series did receive an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Comedy), but longtime viewers may be forgiven a sense of déjà vu (the series itself acknowledges the palpable sense of been there, seen that with the clever episode "Déjà Vu, Déjà Vu"). But don't pronounce Scrubs dead just yet. Directed by Braff, "My Way Home," the series' 100th episode, is a brilliantly conceived homage to The Wizard of Oz, with J.D. and company finding their hearts, brains, and courage. Another winner that displays a welcome maturity is "My Lunch," in which J.D. at last has lunch with his reluctant mentor, Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), in the wake of a patient's death. Scrubs may often try one's patience with its attempts to get "more ridiculous" (in one episode, Neil Flynn's janitor secretly keeps a crow in the hospital), but the scalpel-sharp writing affords Braff some fine moments: in the episode, "My Half Acre," for instance, he mixes his sports analogies to tell Elliot (Sarah Chalke), "What's waiting for me in my room is what's known, in football terms, as a slam dunk," as he mimes hitting a tennis ball. Mandy Moore, showing a surprising knack for physical comedy, follows Tara Reid and Heather Graham as a fleeting love interest for J.D. Other character milestones include pregnancies for Carla (Judy Reyes) and two others (best left a surprise). DVD extras include a series retrospective featurette with cast and creator interviews, audio commentaries, and deleted scenes. Recommended. (D. Liebenson)