Before any Scrubs fans out there lose their marbles over J.D. and Elliot being divorced in the revival, Sarah Chalke has some words of wisdom for you.
**Spoiler alert for the first two episodes of the Scrubs revival on ABC, episodes now streaming on Hulu**
While it would be only natural for fans of the original Scrubs to be upset over her own character no longer being married to Zach Braff‘s character, Chalke is asking viewers to give them some time to lay out why this made sense for the story.
“I would say, stay with us. I promise you, it was the right way to do this,” the actress told DECIDER at the Los Angeles premiere on Monday. “When I read it, I was so pumped, because I feel like there’s not a lot of comedy and drama in fine, like everything’s just fine.”
Those who sat down to watch the new episodes as they debuted on Wednesday quickly learned that while J.D. and Elliot ended Season 8 of the ABC comedy married and on good terms, the revival sees the two doctors divorced and keeping each other at arm’s length. In fact, when the two come face to face in the hallways of Sacred Heart in Episode 1, “My Return,” they have to hide in a closet — the same closet they hid in during the original pilot — to avoid bickering in front of other hospital workers.
As it’s explained quickly to the viewers, in the 15 years since the show went off the air, much has changed in both the medical field and the lives of the main characters that fans fell in love with some two decades ago. While Elliot and Turk (Donald Faison) are still working at Sacred Heart Hospital, now as established doctors, J.D. has been scrubbing in as a concierge doc, making house calls for well-to-do patients.
It’s actually one of his concierge patients who brings him back to Sacred Heart and entices him into working at his old stomping grounds, as Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) offers him a job that he can’t quite pass up: chief of medicine.
So, where does that leave J.D. and Elliot, who can barely stand to be in the same room together after undergoing some serious couple’s counseling and making their separation legal? Jury’s still out. But it does sound like the remainder of the nine-episode Season 1 will involve diving deeper into the troubles that led to their divorce and figuring out how they adjust to once again working alongside each other at Sacred Heart.
For Chalke, this is exactly wherethe story needed to take J.D. and Elliot in order to make the revival the most true and authentic version of a follow-up to the original. Plus, it only gives them more opportunities to antagonize each other again, a.k.a the best dynamic between these two.
“I feel like this choice gives us so much room,” Chalke explained, adding that it only makes her excited to explore, “figuring out how to navigate that new normal and kind of figuring out who they’re going to be to each other for the next chunk of time.”
In short: No one freak out yet. We’re early in the game and these two are going to figure their stuff out. Just give them the time to get there.
The first two episodes of Scrubs are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes premiere Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on ABC and stream the next day on Hulu.
If you’re new to Hulu, you can get started with a 30-day free trial on the streamer’s basic (with ads) plan. After the trial period, you’ll pay $10.99/month. If you want to upgrade to Hulu ad-free, it costs $18.99/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the Disney+ Bundles, all of which include Hulu. These bundles start at $12.99/month for ad-supported Disney+ and Hulu and goes up to $32.99/month for Disney+, Hulu, and Max, all ad-free.
