(S08E04) This was the better of the two episodes tonight, for a couple of reasons. One, we figured out why Kelso continues to hang out at Sacred Heart, and it's not for the free muffins at Coffee Bucks. But mostly, it's because we had a J.D. / Elliot relationship episode that was actually treated with subtlety and maturity.

This is a relationship that's been as maddening as any that's been on TV, mainly because of all the artificial blockades Bill Lawrence and his writers kept throwing in their way. Lawrence himself told me and others that he never wanted the relationship to become a focal point of the show. But by constantly trying to get away from it they did the exact opposite, giving the 'shippers as much to talk about as those that just liked the comedy and the stories about the hospital.

What I'm saying is: if J.D. and Elliot had the conversation they had tonight sometime during season three, all of that crap would have been avoided.