When it comes to Scrubs, J.D. and Elliot have always had a rollercoaster relationship. So, what’s up with these two beloved characters being divorced in the ABC revival? It’s strategic, according to the executive producer.
**Spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of Scrubs, now streaming on Hulu**
Chatting with DECIDER about the return of the medical comedy, showrunner Aseem Batra — who served as a writer and producer on the original series — spoke to the decision by the producers to have Zach Braff and Sarah Chalke‘s characters at odds.
“I think we chose to split up JD and Elliot, not because we don’t love them together, but because we feel it’s real, like in life,” Batra told DECIDER at the Scrubs premiere in Los Angeles on Monday.
When we last canonically saw these two characters in Season 8, they were happy and in love with J.D.’s flash-forward fantasy set to “The Book of Love” revealing a lifetime of happiness for them. In the since-defunct Season 9, it was revealed that J.D. and Elliot had gotten married and were expecting a daughter together, which does appear to still ring true, based on J.D. saying that his concierge job allows him to spend more time with his kids, plural.
While many fans have believed that the fantasy projected outside of Sacred Heart at the end of Season 8 was J.D. seeing what his future would actually look like, it sounds now like it was only his own imagination of how things would turn out. I.E., it was not much different than any of J.D.’s other fantasies from the rest of the eight-season run.
“Bill put it best, he said JD would probably say ‘some of my fantasies came true and some of them didn’t,'” Batra shared. “They always had a really contentious relationship. When you go back and look at the early seasons, we thought there was something real about them not quite being able to make it as a couple, but still having a lot of love for one another.”
Now, with the Scrubs revival bringing J.D. back to Sacred Heart and reuniting him with his ex-wife, the two are going to have to navigate a new, awkward, and undoubtedly hilarious stage in their relationship. Clearly, Elliot doesn’t want him around, but as the newly appointed chief of medicine, these two are going to have to learn how to work together.
It’s exactly the type of situation Batra is looking forward to exploring between the characters, as conflict and tension, especially the kind that exists between J.D. and Elliot, can only yield more interesting scenes and scenarios for them to navigate.
As for those wondering if it’s possible that they ultimately bring them back together, it sounds like the jury is still out. But if Batra has anything to say about it (she does), they are certainly going to explore all possible avenues with this fan-favorite couple.
“We’re saying it’s still open. They were always a will-they-won’t-they? Right now, in Season 1, they’re more focused on getting back together as a family, as people who love one another,” she said.
Batra added, “We’re not putting an end on that at all. We’re just saying we don’t know what’s going to happen. And that’s exciting as a writer to figure it out in the moment.“
The first two episodes of Scrubs are now streaming on Hulu. New episodes premiere on ABC at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays and stream the next day on Hulu.
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