J.D.

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Jonathan Michael Dorian
Scrubs character
Promotional photo of Zach Braff as J.D.
First appearance	"My First Day"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Zach Braff
Information
Nickname(s)	Q-Tip, Newbie, Vanilla Bear, Bambi, White Lightning, Scooter and a variety of girl's names
Age	34
Date of birth	1975
Occupation	Doctor of internal medicine
Title	Residency Director
Family	Sam Dorian (father-deceased) Barbara Hobbs Dorian (mother) Dan Dorian (brother)
Significant other(s)	Elliot Reid
Children	Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian    (with Kim Briggs)

Jonathan Michael "J.D." Dorian, M.D., is a fictional character on the American comedy-drama Scrubs, played by Zach Braff. For his portrayal of the doctor, Braff was nominated for a 2005 Emmy Award and received three consecutive Golden Globe nominations in 2005, 2006 and 2007. J.D. is the narrator and main character of the series. He provides voice-over to the series which fills the roles of his internal thoughts and an overall narration in the show, often linking the story arcs in each episode thematically.

J.D. has appeared in every episode except two season 8 episodes, "My Absence," in which he is only heard through a cellphone, and "My Full Moon".

Zach Braff was a regular cast member for the first eight seasons, and will appear in the first six episodes of season nine to transition the series into its new format.

Character background

J.D.'s name is based on that of Dr. Jonathan Doris, a college friend of creator Bill Lawrence. Doris serves as medical advisor on the show. According to Zach Braff, he feels that after seven years, there is not much of J.D.'s personality left to be explored, except for his relationship with Turk, while Lawrence has stated that the seventh season was to show J.D. finally growing up, in order to satisfy many fans who did not want to see him stay the same.^[1] However, Braff also says that J.D. has gradually evolved over the series, but cannot evolve too much at the same time as they need to "[give] the fans what they want, which is to see the characters be themselves."^[2] In J.D.'s final episode, "My Finale," he leaves Sacred Heart hospital with memories of those that had left him, and his hope for the future. The flashforward type montage has J.D. and Elliot getting married and having a child, celebrating Christmas with Turk & Carla and Perry & Jordan with their children, his son Sam getting engaged to Turk's daughter Izzy, and Perry finally letting him give him a hug. He is last seen driving away in his car.

Fictional character biography

Personality

J.D.'s most prominently featured quirk is his habit of daydreaming. When this happens, he tilts his head back and to the left, blankly looking upwards. The sequences played out in his daydreams are of surreal scenarios and situations that have just been mentioned or wondered about, often in an exaggerated manner. Many of these are followed by a comment from him that, although it may fit with his daydream, sounds strange and often highly unrelated to the initial topic, a lot of which will earn him several odd looks from nearby characters in the scene. He is also known for his love of appletinis and carefully styled hair. His behavior is often childlike, nerdy, and somewhat effeminate.

Despite his numerous flaws, quirks and personal insecurities, J.D. is shown throughout the series to be a very competent doctor. While he doesn't possess as much technical knowledge about medicine as Elliot, he is described by Carla and Dr. Cox as having "very good instincts" and a lot of determination and enthusiasm for his job. In My Finale, Dr. Cox states that he considers J.D. to be the best doctor to ever work at Sacred Heart, though he didn't intentionally reveal this to J.D. himself (J.D. tricked Dr.Cox into admitting this through an intern).

Work

He begins the show as an intern; after a year, he becomes a resident, and eventually an attending physician in internal medicine. He grew up in Trotwood, Ohio^[3] as the son of Sam and Barbara Turner Dorian. He has an older brother, Dan (Tom Cavanaugh), with whom he has a love/hate relationship. He is left-handed.

J.D. begins work at Sacred Heart under Chief Attending Physician Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), who generally refers to J.D. as "Newbie" or by a series of girls' names. J.D. thinks of Cox as his mentor and friend, which Cox adamantly denies. As much as he hates to admit it, however, Cox respects J.D. as a doctor and even cares about him as a person. In the episode "My Fallen Idol," J.D. initially refuses to visit Cox at his apartment when the latter has a breakdown following the death of three patients in the previous episode. He claims that he doesn't approve of Cox showing up to work drunk, but later confesses to Cox that he still looks upon him as a hero, that he admires him for still being so affected by his job, and that Cox is the kind of doctor he wants to be. In response to this at the end of "My Fallen Idol" Dr. Cox thanks J.D. — and, atypically, calls him by his given name (J.D.) — for helping him escape from severe depression. After Cox's promotion to Chief of Medicine, he and J.D. are often at odds over hospital matters, mirroring Cox's relationship with the former chief, Dr. Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), in earlier seasons. Kelso advises J.D. that he is the one who will have to press for hospital matters if they're important enough, even if it means fighting Cox to do it. In My Finale Cox admits that he considers J.D. as a friend.

J.D. is also engaged in a constant battle with the Janitor (Neil Flynn) from the very first episode. The Janitor is trying to open a jammed door when J.D. suggests there may be a penny stuck in it. When it turns out that there is a penny stuck in the door, the Janitor vows to get him. Throughout the series, the Janitor is constantly playing tricks and pranks on J.D. In the series finale it is revealed that J.D. did accidentally put the penny in the door. The Janitor saw him drop the penny, but because he never admitted it, J.D. had failed a personality test The Janitor was secretly judging him by, thus making The Janitor torment J.D. for so long.

Friends

He often spends time with Chris Turk (Donald Faison), his best friend, whom he first met when they were roommates at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. The pair continued to be roommates even as they progressed to become interns and residents.^[4] J.D. is often shown to have a codependent relationship with Turk, regularly going through steep depression whenever he can't be with him. In the first episode, when Turk suggests the two of them seek separate apartments to "branch out", J.D.'s inner monologue tells himself to "Tell him you think that's stupid. Tell him you need him.", but they end up roommates again by the episode's end. Their friendship is often depicted as being closer and more loving than a marriage; in fact, J.D. crashed Carla's bridal shower, sobbing that [Carla] would "never be as emotionally connected" to [Turk] as J.D. himself was, and at the end of Season 8, when asked by Carla to tell her that Turk loved her more than him, he had to admit that "it's about even".

On his first day, he also meets Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes), a nurse who advises him and affectionately nicknaming him "Bambi", it is revealed in the season 8 finale she calls him this because he needed to learn how to walk (become a doctor).

Romantic history

He meets and forms a connection with Elliot Reid (Sarah Chalke) in the pilot episode and finds himself attracted to her. In seasons 1 to 3, a running joke in the series was that J.D. would sleep with Elliot at least once in each season, although the show's producers have indicated that this ended to prevent the characters' development being constrained by clichés. The two form a romantic relationship in "My Drug Buddy," which falls apart in following episode when they realize that they do not work as a couple.

In season 2, "My Monster" (Christmas episode) J.D. and Elliot sleep together after J.D. had invited her to stay with him until she found a place to live. The episode following this results in J.D. and Elliot becoming “sex buddies”. Later J.D. realizes that he wants a relationship, yet before he can tell Elliot, she tells him that she wants to end the “sex buddies” arrangement and she thinks neither of them want a relationship.

For the rest of season 2 J.D. continues to harbor unexpressed feelings for Elliot, until season 3 when she is in a committed relationship with Sean. When Sean is about to move in with Elliot, J.D. finally declares his love for her, and she leaves Sean for him. However, J.D. realizes that after chasing her for three years, he no longer wants to be with her. A heartbroken Elliot is initially furious with J.D., but they eventually reconcile and later they realize they have lost all romantic feelings for each other.

It is not until near the conclusion of season 6 that their relationship appears to rekindle, the episode "My Point of No Return" ends with J.D. and Elliot lying on a bed in the On-Call room, leaning in for a kiss. The action remains unresolved until season 7, where Elliot backs out. They both then say that the almost-kiss had nothing to do with their feelings for each other. In season 8, it appears that their relationship has been rekindled: in the episode "My Happy Place", J.D and Elliot speak about their past relations, and after Dr. Kelso tells them to do whatever it is that makes them happy, they leave the hospital holding hands, with Elliot remarking that it seemed a good idea. In the next episode, "My ABC's," they acknowledge having rekindled their relationship. In the season 8 finale, it is suggested through a flash forward in the style of a home movie, that J.D and Elliot will marry and have a child.

He has had romantic and sexual liaisons with various women besides Elliot, including Kim Briggs (Elizabeth Banks), the mother of his child, Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian, as well as Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller), Dr. Cox's ex-wife, and Jordan's younger sister, Danni Sullivan (Tara Reid).

References