(S06E14)

Then we get a plot line where Cox keeps trying to convince Jesus-loving Nurse Roberts that some things happen for no good reason. All of a sudden we see Aloma Wright, who plays Nurse Roberts, recite a meaty speech at the end of the episode, something she's never done in six years. Right then and there, we all knew who the killee was going to be.

Yep, Laverne's a goner.

Well, technically we don't know that yet. She just ended the episode in a coma. I'm guessing we'll find out her fate in part 2 of the episode in a couple of weeks. But it's not looking good for Laverne.

That whole storyline was kind of awkward, wasn't it? I mean, why was Cox so hellbent (pun intended) on dissuading Laverne of her belief that everything happens for a reason? Out of all the docs at Sacred Heart, Cox is the most aware that everyone has a coping mechanism to deal with all the sickness and death around them. And, although he's been critical of Laverne's devotion in the past, it still seemed ultra-cruel of him to try to break the poor woman. It just seemed like a long way to go to set up the auto accident that put her in the coma. I was kind of surprised they resorted to a car accident, though; I figured they'd give her cancer or some fast-acting disease. Heck, even having Nurse Roberts contract something from a patient would have been a better idea.

Of course, whenever Cox is around, funny things happen. He asks Laverne how to explain New Orleans, sugar-free ice cream and Hugh Jackman (boy, what did Hugh do for Cox to hate him so much?). Then he asks her what reason there was for him to dump coffee behind his back, which J.D. answered by slipping, falling, and refusing to get up unless Cox helped him. He was down there for so long, another nurse stepped right on him...

The funnier moments in this episode, though, happened away from the Cox/Laverne storyline. The best was about Heather, the lovely nanny that the Turks hired to take care of little Izzie. Both of the funniest parts were J.D. fantasies: The Todd's call of "Boooobiiiiieeesss!" to get all the men in to watch the nanny cam tape (don't care if the "Ricola" joke is overdone; it worked here), and the fantasy where J.D. not only makes out with the nanny, but the football players who beat him up show up and announce they're gay and his high school crush wanted a threesome. The reason Turk knew it was a fantasy? "How did Kristin know Heather's name?" Also, the visual demonstration of how ugly Turk finds all of J.D.'s girlfriends was equally disturbing and funny. Whoever played "ugly Elliot" earned his SAG card with the dress and wig.

The last storyline, about Kelso finally speaking to Elliot after she thanks him for making her the doctor she is now, was OK, mainly because of Ken Jenkins' performance. I like the face he told the Janitor to make when he relayed the news that Dr. Reed was suspended for bringing a patient's dog into the hospital. I also liked the line "I'm going to say the same thing I told my new gardener when he asked for Easter off: No way, Jose. His name is actually Jose. That's why I hired him." Janitor didn't have much to do, but I liked how he made like J.D. and looked into the distance, only to find out that's where he drunkenly threw all his cleaning supplies.

See? There's always something funny in a Scrubs episode (I forgot about J.D. wanting to give Heather a goodbye hug, and Turk going "yeah, she's a smoking hot racist thief."), and this episode had more funny moments than we've seen through most of this season. But, the laugh-out-loud moments have turned into chuckle-softly moments, which is not a good sign. Either way, the show is still entertaining to watch, and they still have the power to hook a viewer with the serious side of the story, as the show's fans are going to be curious to see how they treat Laverne's decline. As the fans know, even at 75%, Scrubs is still better than most comedies on TV.