My Way Home 3862705 223469213 2008-07-04T05:40:30Z 68.219.69.251 /* Cultural references */ {{otheruses}} {{Infobox Television episode | Title = My Way Home | Series = Scrubs | Season = 5 | Episode = 7 | Guests= [[Travis Schuldt]] (Keith) | Airdate = [[January 24]], [[2006]] | Production = 507 | Writer = [[Neil Goldman and Garrett Donovan|Neil Goldman <br /> Garrett Donovan]] | Director = [[Zach Braff]] | Image = <!-- Commented out because image was deleted: [[Image:My Way Home.JPG|250px]] --> | Caption = Elliot, Turk, JD, and Carla search for brains, a heart, a way home, and courage. | Episode list =[[List of Scrubs episodes]] | Prev = [[My Missed Perception]] | Next = [[My Big Bird (Scrubs episode)|My Big Bird]] }} "'''My Way Home'''" is the 100th episode of the [[United States|American]] [[situation comedy]] ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]''. It originally aired as Episode 7 of Season 5 on [[January 24]], [[2006]]. It is notable for integrating many references to ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''. ==Plot== On his day off, [[J.D. (Scrubs)|J.D.]] gets called into work by [[Keith Dudemeister|Keith]]. It turns out that [[Perry Cox|Dr. Cox]] told Keith to call J. D. to let him see what it's like to be pestered over little things. [[Laverne Roberts|Laverne's]] Gospel choir is also present, singing a song called "Payback is a Bitch". [[Elliot Reid|Elliot]] is basking in the warmth of being seen as an [[endocrinology]] expert to her interns. In reality, however, she is hiding notes, books, and pages around the hospital with the answers on them. [[Turk (Scrubs)|Turk]] attempts to convince a family to take their [[brain death|brain dead]] son off [[life support]] so the hospital can perform its first on-site [[heart transplant]], which Turk will be allowed to assist in if he is successful. Meanwhile, [[Carla Espinosa|Carla]] jumps at the opportunity to look after Dr. Cox's young son Jack. However, the crew finds challenges awaiting them. J.D. just wants to head home and is constantly waylaid by requests for assistance; Elliot is forced to conduct a seminar with several Endocrinology specialists, Turk's dishonesty with the [[coma]] patient's family damages his credibility, and Carla can't stand having Jack around. Eventually, Elliot gains her "brains" to go to the meeting, Turk convinces the coma patient's parents to pull the plug after being completely honest with them and gets his "heart", Carla discovers her "courage" to be a good parent, and J.D. gets to go home. ==Cultural references== The entire episode is an [[homage]] to the [[MGM]] [[musical film]] ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]''. The following are some of the featured references to ''The Wizard of Oz'': {{clr}} {| class="wikitable" style="width:80%" |- ! width="50%"|'''''Scrubs''''' ! width="50%"|'''''The Wizard of Oz''''' |- | Dr. Cox calls J.D. "Dorothy". | The main character is named [[Dorothy Gale]]. |- | J.D. falls through a hole in the ground right before arriving at Sacred Heart | Dorothy fall through the ground and arrives in Oz |- | While underwater, J.D. claims to see a manatee, also known as sea cow. | Dorothy sees a flying cow when she is flying up in the tornado. |- | J.D. is listening to the band [[Toto (band)|Toto]] on his [[iPod]] while in the bath, takes his iPod to the hospital, and later declares "Toto and I are going home". | Dorothy's dog is named [[Toto (dog)|Toto]]. |- | The Janitor paints J.D.'s shoes red. | Dorothy is given a pair of [[ruby slippers]] in the film version. |- | [[The Blanks (band)|Ted's band]] sings "[[We're Off to See the Wizard]]" and "[[Over the Rainbow]]." | These are the two most famous songs from the movie. |- | In the second half of the episode, the colors are noticeably brighter and oversaturated. | The movie shifts from a [[sepia tone]]d color scheme in [[Kansas]] to the much brighter [[Technicolor]] in Oz. |- | Dr. Cox refers to Elliot as having straw-colored, scarecrow hair, and Elliot is worried she doesn't have the brains to lead a Q&A session on [[endocrinology]]. | The [[Scarecrow (Oz)|Scarecrow]] has hair literally made out of straw, and he doesn't have a brain. |- | Dr. Cox claims that Elliot's answers are "falling from the sky" | Dorothy enters Oz when her house falls from the sky. |- | Turk needs a heart from a [[Brain death|brain-dead]] patient. He must also learn to better empathize with the family, and thus needs a "heart" in a metaphorical sense. | The [[Tin Woodsman]] needs a heart. |- | Dr. Cox refers to [[Jordan Sullivan|Jordan]] as the wicked witch of the east wing. | This is a reference to the [[Wicked Witch of the East]]. |- | In a cut to Jordan's sweltering office, she exclaims that she's melting. | The [[Wicked Witch of the West]] melts with the same exclamation. |- | Dr Kelso says 'Pepe" to another doctor. | This refers to the Wicked Witch saying "poppies". |- | Dr. Cox's son Jack is painted bright green. | The Wicked Witch of the West has green skin. |- |- | The brain dead potential heart donor is named Ray Bolger. | The actor [[Ray Bolger]] played The Scarecrow. |- | While holding a screwdriver in his mouth, [[Janitor (Scrubs)|the Janitor]] makes the muffled request, "Oil can! Oil can!" | The [[Tin Woodsman]] makes the same request, which is muffled because his mouth has rusted shut. |- | Carla needs the courage to face the upcoming prospect of parenthood. | The [[Cowardly Lion]] needs courage. |- | [[Bob Kelso|Dr. Kelso]] refers to the psychiatrist supposed to give the lecture having hanged himself. | There are persistent rumours/urban legends about one of the actors playing munchkins having hanged himself on the set of the Wizard of Oz. |- | The Janitor paints yellow lines down the hospital corridors to show the exits, and blue, green and red lines point to other important areas of the hospital. There is also briefly shown a purple line, about 2/3 of the way through the episode. | The [[Yellow brick road]], which the characters walk down, leads Dorothy out of Oz. The red, blue, green, and purple lines are a reference to the Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum. The four colors represent the four quadrants of Oz, as illustrated in the map located in The Tik Tok of Oz (1914). Blue represents Munchkin country; purple, Gillikin; yellow, Winkie; and red, Quadling. Green is representative of the Emerald City, located at the center of OZ. |- | [[The Todd]] says that, at the zoo, he saw "lions, and tigers and bears," and then says, "Oh my," as he notices an attractive cheerleader. | Tin Woodsman, Scarecrow and Dorothy chant "Lions, and tigers, and bears; oh my," as they march through the forest. |- | J.D. just wants to go home. | Dorothy wants to return home to [[Kansas]]. |- | Near the end Dr. Cox says, "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" in a booming voice in the hopes that Carla doesn't talk to him. | The [[Wizard (Oz)|Wizard]] says the same thing in a futile attempt to protect his true identity. |- | In the end, Carla, Elliot and Turk found out they had what they wanted all along. J.D. says, "Every so often a wizard comes along, and tells you exactly what you need to hear." | The Wizard helps the Cowardly Lion, the Tin Woodsman and the Scarecrow realize that what they thought that they wanted they had all along and the Good Witch of the North tells Dorothy she had always had the power to go back to Kansas. |- | Dr. Cox, Elliot and J.D. work on patients named Langley, Baum and Fleming, and the doctor for whom Elliot fills in is named Burke. | [[Noel Langley]] worked on the [[screenplay]] for ''The Wizard of Oz''; L. Frank Baum wrote the book "The Wizard of Oz"; [[Victor Fleming]] [[film director|directed]] the film; and [[Billie Burke]] played [[Glinda]]. |- | The Todd wears a scrub cap with pictures of flying monkeys on it. | The Wicked Witch's minions are flying monkeys. |- | At the end while a cover of "Over the Rainbow" plays, Dr. Cox asks J.D. (still sporting red shoes), "Dorothy, you going home?" to which he replies, "Yep." Then he walked along a path of golden trees and a rainbow is seen. | An obvious reference to the red shoes, desire to be home, the [[yellow brick road]] which leads Dorothy home, and the song "Over the Rainbow". |} *In addition to the above references, in the commentary, writer Garrett Donovan mentions that they considered changing the Janitor's description of Jack Cox as a 'little nipper' to 'little munchkin' in post-production, but felt that it was too awkward a sync with the movement of [[Neil Flynn]]'s mouth. ==DVD version== *An extended version of the episode is featured on the DVD boxset for Season 5. It contains new scenes as well as different takes of existing scenes, and a commentary by director [[Zach Braff]]. ==Awards== *This episode would go on to win a [[Peabody Award|George Foster Peabody Award]] in [[April 2007]]. ==Featured music== * "[[Africa (song)|Africa]]" by [[Toto (band)|Toto]] * "Payback is a Bitch" performed by Laverne's church choir * "[[Maniac (song)|Maniac]]" by [[Michael Sembello]] (performed by [[The Blanks|The Worthless Peons]]) * "[[We're Off to See the Wizard]]" by [[Harold Arlen]] (performed by The Worthless Peons) * "[[Over the Rainbow]]" by Harold Arlen and [[Yip Harburg]], arrangement by [[Israel Kamakawiwo'ole]] (performed by The Worthless Peons) ==External links== * {{imdb episode|id=0756592|episode=My Way Home}} * {{Tv.com episode|id=586923|title=My Way Home}} {{Scrubs}} [[Category:100th episodes]] [[Category:Scrubs episodes|Way Home, My]]