J.D. (Scrubs)

Dr. John "J.D." Dorian
File:Scrubs JD.jpg Zach Braff portraying Dr. John Dorian (J.D)
First appearance	"My First Day"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Zach Braff
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Title	Attending physician
Occupation	Doctor of internal medicine
Family	Sam Dorian (father, deceased) Barbara Turner Dorian (mother) Dan Dorian (brother) Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian (son, with Kim Briggs)

Jonathan Michael "John" Dorian, M.D., better known as J.D., is a fictional character on the American comedy-drama Scrubs, played by Zach Braff.

Role

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 between episode. He begins the show as an intern under Dr. Cox, whom he looks up to as a mentor. Cox rarely acknowledges him, and instead belittles him by insulting him and calling him by girls' names. After a year, he becomes a resident, and eventually an attending physician in internal medicine.

He often hangs around with Turk, his best friend since they were college roommates at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and the pair continued to be roommates even as they progressed to become interns and residents. J.D. is often shown to have a codependent fixation on 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."

He meets and connects with Elliot Reid on his first day 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 within two weeks when they realize that they do not work as a couple. J.D. puts his feelings for Elliot to one side until season 3 when Elliot is in a commited relationship with Sean, until Sean is about to move in with Elliot, when J.D. finally declares his love for her, claiming, "It should be me", 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 do reconcile and later they realize they have lost all romantic feelings. 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 as JD 'kisses air'. They both then say that the almost-kiss had nothing to do with their feelings for each other. He also meets Carla, a nurse who advises him and affectionately nicknaming him "Bambi". The Janitor decides to spend most of his time torturing J.D. with elaborate plans that sometimes backfire on himself. He has romantic liaisons with various women, besides Elliot, including Kim, the mother of his child, Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian. J.D.'s apparant mentor at Sacred Heart is Dr. Perry Cox, who generally refers to J.D. as "Newbie" or by a series of girls' names, a pastime he reserves especially for J.D. As much as he doesn't admit it, it has been revealed that Cox respects J.D. as a doctor, heeds his advice, respects his opinion, 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, and that seeing him being so affected by his job scares him. J.D tells Cox that he (Cox) is the kind of doctor he (J.D.) wants to be. The defining moment of their relationship occurs at the end of "My Fallen Idol" where Dr. Cox thanks J.D., for helping him escape from severe depression.

Quirks

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. 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 the episode "My Day Off", he is shown to act strangely around pennies (because The Janitor (Neil Flynn) berated him for breaking the hospital's main sliding door by inserting a penny into the door's mechanism and jamming it. JD asks what's wrong with the door, suggesting that perhaps a penny was jammed into the door's mechanism. When The Janitor finds a penny there, he focuses his anger on JD for the day and the rest of the series). His religious orientation is unclear, but he appears to believe in karma, as seen in "My Karma". He is generally a very clumsy person; he trips and falls in some way or another on a regular basis.

J.D. knows very little about politics, once referring to Dick Cheney as the "bald assistant president who has all the heart attacks" and does not know the difference between a Senator and a Congressman. He is also clueless about sports; for example, he thinks Arnold Palmer's only accomplishment is inventing the Arnold Palmer drink, and in response to Turk saying that he thinks Marbury will give New York a shot at the title, he thinks the sport involved is tennis. The subject that he knows the least about is geography, confusing New Zealand for New England, in "My Faith in Humanity", and confusing Iraq with China in "His Story IV". His favorite drink is the Appletini ("easy on the tini").

He has the unusual ability to name films in which famous actresses were partially or completely nude. He attended theater camp as a child where he developed both his ability to spit watermelon seeds like bullets and the John Dorian 3-Step Seduction Technique, and also participates in an improvisation comedy class that meets in the back of a local pie shop. His dream job (revealed in the episode "My Dream Job") is to be the "Chocolate King", in which his entire world would be made out of chocolate, including Turk (with "The Candy Man" playing in the background).

In "My Best Laid Plans" it is revealed that his penis is named "Mr Peeps" (It speaks to him in a British accent in this episode, saying it will explain later why, but it never does).

In "My Perspective", he is diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, a condition that results in him fainting or blacking out whenever he defecates.

J.D. has a special affection to quirky dancing, as seen when he and Turk try on suits for the wedding, the 'Naked Chicken Dance' when dating Danni and when they go clubbing with Carla. In addition, J.D. has a personal "victory dance coach", an orderly named Roland, who attempts to improve his dancing skills.

Family history

J.D. is the younger son of Sam and Barbara Dorian. In "My Office", it was revealed that J.D. had grown up in Trotwood, Ohio. John Ritter played his father, who died in "My Cake" as a tribute to Ritter's death, both Ritter and Sam Dorian died of heart conditions. Sam was an office supplies salesman, J.D. describing him as "a bad one." He did provide for the family, giving J.D. one bike part per year as a birthday present. Sam left home when he and Barbara divorced when J.D. was seven. Barbara then remarried six times. (His brother claims that she'd marry anyone who was at the door.) She lives with her new fiancée. They are frequently seen engaging in childishly entertaining antics, including wearing watchie-talkies, playing hide and seek with a locating device, engaging in stupid competitions (Steak, Ankles, Putting the Hat on Rowdy, etc.), which all invariably end with J.D. losing or playing random games such as "Toe or Finger" and "Find the Saltine." J.D. and Turk also share similar interests in sitcoms, and admit on many occasions that Sanford and Son is their favorite show, along with other programs such as The Brady Bunch and Cheers.

The two also form a joint entity they call "Multi-Ethnic Siamese Doctor" a transformation which takes them all of two seconds to complete. On occasion, they have been known to steal the seven-foot-long labcoat of a doctor named Chet, which they use to play "World's Most Giant Doctor." The pair "would make a good couple," as Colin Farrell's character notes in "My Lucky Charm." They are so close they once had a "sex gong" that they sounded after having sex which the other could somehow hear from any distance. However, they were separated on Carla's insistence when she married Turk, and J.D. has since lived in a hotel, in the old apartment (secretly, without Carla's knowledge), in a new apartment (with the also recently-dispossessed Elliot), in a tent on the deck he build on his half-acre and in a newly rented apartment with the mother of his child, Kim Briggs. J.D. has tended to overcompensate for this by intruding on "Turk Time"; i.e., going out with Turk whenever possible and even switching work duties to do so. They have a stuffed dog named Rowdy, which Carla threatened to throw out once she and Turk got married, but never did; instead, she supposedly lost him while getting him cleaned and then replaced him with a replica. The original Rowdy, recovered by Janitor, is returned to Turk, while J.D. keeps the replica, Steven.

J.D. is often shown to have a codependent fixation on Turk, regularly going through steep depression whenever he can't be with him, and feeling completely lost whenever Turk seems to be spending more time with anyone else. 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." Later in the first season, Turk begins to spend more time with Carla, much to J.D.'s chagrin. In "My Best Friend's Mistake", J.D. tells Turk, "I miss you so much, it hurts sometimes."

J.D. and Turk are once referred to as "an adorable interracial gay couple" after Denise the Paramedic observes them running down the street. Carla has complained that J.D. and Turk "are more of a couple than [she and Turk] are," and once lamented, "Maybe someday [Turk]'ll love me like that." J.D. often refers to Turk by any one of three different pet names: Brown Bear, Chocolate Bear, and Super Chocolate Bear (S.C.B) or numerous variations. Continuing in this theme he often refers to Turk and Carla's daughter, Izzy, as "Mocha Cub". In "My Cake", J.D. fantasizes about almost kissing Turk (prompting him to yell out "I don't have gay jungle fever!"), right after the fantasy in which he almost kisses resident psychiatrist Molly Clock. It is implied in the episode "My Cabbage" that J.D. and Turk had drunkenly kissed each other as college students over 12 years ago. J.D. does kiss Turk once in "My Big Move", only to show him what the "friend kiss" he shared with Carla was like.

It is also revealed in the episode "My Fishbowl" that while in college Turk had sex with J.D.'s then girlfriend Stacy. Turk had previously claimed that they had a water balloon fight and wrapped up in the covers to keep warm. In a later episode Turk did admit after a lot of pestering from J.D. ("I looked everywhere. There were no water balloons!") that he did sleep with Stacy. J.D. and Turk have many strange habits and agreements e.g. in "His Story IV" Turk agrees to let Carla be called "pickle" so J.D. can call Izzy "little gherkin". In the same episode they make a reference to their pact of not reading the newspaper during an argument about the Iraq War. He also allegedly showed up drunk at Carla's bridal shower screaming that she "would never be as emotionally close to Turk as he was."

Elliot

J.D. and Elliot have been friends since the beginning of the show, though periodically having romantic feelings for each other. 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. In season 3, when it is found that they have had sex once more, Carla remarks, "Is it that time of year again?"

In the pilot episode it is revealed that J.D. is extremely attracted to Elliot. However, her excessively competitive attitude prevents them from forming a relationship at this point. In "My Best Friend's Mistake", after they are interrupted during a developing romantic moment, J.D. fails to "get the kiss" from Elliot within the designated 48 hours before she overthinks the moment, and thus J.D. is caught "in the friend zone." However, in "My Drug Buddy", after J.D. breaks up with new girlfriend, Alex (Elizabeth Bogush), upon learning that she is a drug addict, Elliot attributes her coldness towards them to jealousy, as J.D. had suggested previously, and the two begin a romantic relationship.

"My Bed Banter & Beyond" shows the new couple waking up together awkwardly and, after eventually rejecting their initial proposals of returning to friendship, spending a sex-filled day in bed together. However, during the course of the episode, they begin to argue, becoming increasingly violent. They gradually realize that they do not work as a couple - J.D. remarks that "things that didn't bother you a week ago in a friendship become so incredibly important when sex is involved." The two break up, but become friends again in "My Heavy Meddle" with Turk's involvement. However, Dr. Cox's ex-wife Jordan Sullivan (Christa Miller) reveals in the first season finale that Elliot still harbors feelings for J.D. In "My Overkill" J.D. rather tactlessly acknowledges this, resulting in further discomfort between the two, by trying to talk to her about the (nonexistent) sexual tension, when the real problem was that Elliot never got any closure due to their close working relationship.

In "My Monster", when Elliot is evicted from her home, she reluctantly accepts J.D.'s help and agrees to move in with him and Turk. J.D. previously had trouble in intimate situations with his date Lisa, the gift shop girl, due to disturbing memories of the hospital. He realizes suddenly that he has feelings for Elliot, and they have sex. In order to avoid the disaster of their previous relationship, they decide to become "sex buddies". They both soon realize that they are unable to keep this up. J.D. wishes to start a real relationship, but Elliot wants to break it off. J.D. accepts this without telling her of his feelings, presumably wanting to preserve their friendship. After an initial period of some awkwardness and even hostility, J.D. decides that since he really cares about Elliot, he'll continue to be her friend, and therefore he comforts her when all her possessions are stolen.

J.D. puts his feelings for Elliot to one side until season 3. In "My Own American Girl", he rediscovers them when Elliot has a makeover. However, Elliot sees her old flame Sean, and during most of season 3 J.D. keeps his feelings secret while Elliot's relationship with Sean blossoms. However, in "His Story II" Elliot's patient gives her some advice which makes her realize how good J.D. has been to her, and how much he means to her. In an emotionally charged moment in J.D.'s apartment, the two have sex. Moments afterward, Sean returns, and Elliot gets back together with him instantly. J.D. is initially heartbroken and angry, but agrees eventually not to tell Sean about it for Elliot's sake, to preserve their relationship.

Nevertheless, in "My Fault," when Sean is about to move in with Elliot, J.D. finally declares his love for her, claiming, "It should be me", and she leaves Sean for him. In a dramatic twist, J.D. realizes that after chasing her for three years, he no longer wants to be with her. He puzzles about this in "My Self-Examination", coming to the conclusion that though Elliot is perfect for him on paper, he simply does not see in her what Turk sees in Carla. After resolving to stay with her for the rest of his life out of obligation, he then changes his mind, and admits his feelings to her. A heartbroken Elliot is initially furious with J.D., and takes a long time to get over the rejection.

In "My Common Enemy", after their third failed relationship, they realize they have lost all romantic feelings for each other and decide to remain friends, although their friendship is still very close. In the episode "My Day at the Races", J.D. moves into Elliot's apartment, where they live together until Elliot buys a house in "My Musical" and decides not to have J.D. move in with her. Their knowledge of each other's relationship patterns and shared experiences make each of them a very valuable friend to the other, and J.D. and Elliot can occasionally seem to be closer to each other than to Turk and Carla.

In season 5, J.D. becomes jealous of Elliot's relationship with Keith Dudemeister (Travis Schuldt), Sacred Heart's new star intern. He and Keith are at odds until midseason, when J.D. finally promises to get along with him for Elliot's sake.

It is not until near the conclusion of season 6 that their relationship appears to rekindle. In "My Turf War", J.D. attempts to disrupt Elliot's relationship with her friend Melody (Keri Russell) in a jealous attack, realizing that he and Elliot had grown apart, and are no longer as close as they used to be. He explains his fear to her with the exclamation: "I just don't want to lose you". She is touched, and they resolve to make more of an effort for each other. This is abruptly interrupted, however, by Keith's proposal.

In the next episode, "My Cold Shower", Keith has proposed to Elliot. As she accepts, J.D. ignores the sympathies of his fellow hospital workers, claiming that he does not have a problem with their engagement. J.D. spends the rest of the episode unsuccessfully attempting to seduce Melody. At Keith and Elliot's proposal redo, Melody expresses surprise at his persistence, thinking it to be out of character for J.D. to be so relentless in pursuit of a woman. J.D. claims untruthfully that he doesn't know why he is acting in this way, but his narrative expresses otherwise - it is hinted that it is because of his feelings for Elliot. The episode features at various points the main characters of the show imagining what it would be like to be married to Elliot, with various humorous results. However, J.D.'s fantasy, by contrast, is that of he and Elliot being genuinely happy together. The episode ends with J.D. taking a cold shower, thinking, (in a throwback to "My Fault") "It should have been me".

In the episode "My Conventional Wisdom", J.D. is seen struggling with his renewed feelings for Elliot, considering whether breaking up with her was the worst mistake of his life. He is temporarily distracted by the appearance of a still pregnant Kim. However, on returning to the hospital, he is confronted by Elliot. She is having doubts about her relationship with Keith, trying to figure out if she really loves him, or just wants to get married. She asks for J.D.'s opinion on whether or not she is making a mistake. At this moment, Kim enters, demanding to know why he left her waiting after promising to talk to her about their unborn child. At the episode's conclusion, J.D. is seen to be in a considerable state of crisis.

At the end of the episode "My Point of No Return" Elliot and J.D. discuss their respective relationships, both panicking and having serious doubts about them. J.D. suggests that they are a perfect couple, though they have the same "fatal flaw" - their inability to commit. They realize that they can't turn back unless they "do something nuclear". The episode ends with J.D. and Elliot lying on a bed in the On-Call room, holding hands and leaning in for a kiss. The action remains unresolved until the seventh season opener, where Elliot backs out as JD 'kisses air'. They both then say that the almost-kiss had nothing to do with their feelings for each other, though it brings Elliot to the realisation that she does not want to marry Keith and she subsequently breaks up with him.

In the episode "My Bad Too", it is explicitly stated by Turk and Carla (through non-subtitled Spanish) that J.D. and Elliot will be back together within five weeks. In "My Waste of Time", at the end of the episode it's stated that someone mistook J.D's son Sam for being Elliot's son as well. However, in My Princess, it appears as though J.D. and Elliot have settled for friendship, as they have decided that the almost kiss in My Point of No Return was nothing at all - something which Dr Cox (narrating) says makes them "both idiots". Adding to the confusion over their relationship, My Princess was in fact meant to be the ninth episode in the seventh season, meaning that the relationship between J.D. and Elliot wanes slightly at the end of the episode, only for it to be re-kindled in the last two episodes of the season.

Perry Cox

J.D. sees Dr. Cox as his mentor , and craves his praise and acknowledgment, which are rarely offered. As mentioned above, Dr. Cox generally refers to J.D. as "Newbie" or by a series of girls' names, a pastime he reserves especially for J.D. and which he takes very seriously. However, Cox made a promise to J.D.'s brother Dan, to be a man to look up to since Dan isn't admired by his little brother. J.D. also slept with Jordan Sullivan, Dr. Cox's ex-wife, before he knew about their history together. J.D. also subsequently slept with Jordan's sister Danni. J.D. also underestimates Cox's understanding of him, since Cox is able to see right away any impending problem J.D. might have both professionally and personally. J.D. fears that Dr. Cox will die from liver disease due to his excessive drinking.

As much as he doesn't admit it, it has been revealed that Cox respects J.D. as a doctor, heeds his advice, respects his opinion, 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, and that seeing him being so affected by his job scares him. J.D tells Cox that he (Cox) is the kind of doctor he (J.D.) wants to be. The defining moment of their relationship occurs at the end of "My Fallen Idol" where Dr. Cox thanks J.D., calling him by his real name, and gives him a genuine pat on the back for helping him escape from severe depression. This also mirrors an earlier occurrence in "My Cake" where Dr. Cox helps J.D. deal with his father's death, even stating that he (Cox) is proud of him (J.D.). In "My Rabbit," Cox gives tough love advice to J.D. over his situation with becoming a father and later enforces this to J.D. with Turk over how a child can change your life.

J.D. has fantasies of Dr. Cox as his surrogate father. J.D. also frequently tries to have "special" moments with Dr. Cox, such as expecting a hug when he officially becomes a doctor. Dr. Molly Clock advises J.D. that "Dr. Cox is a text-book closed-off alpha male. I mean, you can try forever, but you're never gonna get that hug that you really want." All J.D. ever gets is an awkward pat on the shoulder.

J.D. persists in his admiration and expressions of affection - however often he is rebuffed by Cox - because, as he once put it, "kites fly highest against the wind." Having already been told that Cox would keep him at arm's length, J.D. generally accepts this as a natural condition of their relationship. J.D. is nevertheless occasionally stung by Cox's slights, once asking him, "Why do you hate me when I show you nothing but love?!" In the episode "My New God," Cox asks J.D. to be Godfather to his son Jack. J.D. is clearly moved by the request, saying (while trying to hold back tears), "I... am honored." Dr. Cox replies, "I... am lying." While Cox walks away laughing, J.D. dabs the tears from his eyes and says that he doesn't "see how that's funny." Additionally, J.D. imitates some of Dr. Cox's quirks while working with his intern in "My Student".

Ironically, although Cox attempts to keep J.D. out of his life wherever possible, J.D. still attends most of the major events in Cox's life, such as his best friend's funeral, his divorce party, and the birth, then baptism of his son, Jack. In "My Long Goodbye", J.D. almost becomes godfather of Cox's daughter, Jennifer Dylan, (a name suggested by J.D. due to sharing his initials) as J.D. is the only person who congratulates Jordan for the baby personally. However, Jordan makes a deal with Cox and J.D. is rejected as godfather in favor of Jack, Cox's other child. However, the name "Jennifer Dylan" remains, much to Cox's limitless irritation, especially if anyone calls her J.D.

Janitor

Janitor's initial "war" on J.D. seems to have begun in the pilot episode, when J.D. suggests that somebody jammed a penny into a door that Janitor is trying to fix. Another possible reason is revealed in "My Common Enemy" where Janitor reveals to Dr. Cox and Dr. Kelso that he victimizes one person in a group for seemingly no reason, almost spotting J.D. behind him to prove his point.

Janitor has made it his mission to terrorize J.D. on a daily basis, frequently stalking him from a distance. Janitor once outright told J.D. "I don't jump out and scare you. I follow you around all day. I only got about an hour and a half of work around here, and the rest of the time I track you, like an animal." The degree of malice with which Janitor interacts with J.D. varies in episodes. Sometimes he merely engages J.D. in banter intended to prove that Janitor is actually smarter or simply "better" than he is. Other times, Janitor outright bullies J.D., wrecking his bike in one episode and in another episode, attacking him with a "knifewrench" (one of his inventions) for no apparent reason.

In the first episode of Season 6, Janitor is confronted by a patient (also played by Neil Flynn) who points out that although he once dreamed of becoming a lawyer, his constant obsession with chasing his Juris Doctor (JD) has caused him to waste his life. Janitor initially considers how his life might have been different if he didn't spend every waking moment trying to get his own J.D., but eventually returns to his old ways by the end of the episode. He not only fails to learn his lesson, but actually turns J.D. into a makeshift American flag with paint.

It should be noted that on rare occasions, Janitor is capable of showing some kindness to J.D., but these instances are few and far between. In "My Way or the Highway", Janitor agrees with J.D. on the course of action of a patient, having spent the entire episode persuading his patients to opt for surgery. He also let him pass unharassed while sweeping a floor in "My Cake", out of sympathy for his father's recent death. On another occasion, he gives JD an apology, before saying sarcastically 'What, you were expecting two tickets to a ball game and a tub of popcorn?'. J.D. walks off soundlessly, while the Janitor reveals his tickets, muttering 'Last time I reach out to someone'. In "My Road to Nowhere", Janitor falls out of Kelso's running RV thinking that it still is parked at the hospital, which caused him temporary memory loss. J.D. wants to keep going and explains that he can't miss his unborn child's ultrasound. Janitor goes up to J.D. and says: "Can I say something? I don't know this young man. I wish I did. I admire his spirit. And if he says we must continue onward, Then I say: I am in!". It should be noted, however, that Janitor appeared to have suffered a concussion at this moment and therefore didn't remember who J.D. was.

J.D. has had at least one success in retaliation against Janitor in "My Own Personal Hell". J.D. tricks Janitor, via a pair of "watchie-talkies", into waiting for J.D. in a walk-in freezer. In "My Lucky Night" and "My Déjà vu, My Déjà vu", J.D. asks Janitor the riddle "Two coins add up to 30 cents, and one of them is not a nickel." Janitor tries to find the answer throughout the episode but is stumped when J.D. says, "One of them isn't a nickel--the other one is." However, Janitor and his friend Troy retaliate by smashing up J.D.'s bike, then Janitor says, "It's a riddle! Two guys destroyed your bike with a crowbar and a bat. One of them wasn't me!". The second time they destroyed his bike, J.D. remembered that was what had happened the last time he used the riddle, and doesn't really seem bothered about it, instead peacefully parting way with the Janitor, who then stops Troy from attacking J.D. from behind with a crowbar.

Carla

J.D. and Carla are good friends throughout the series, with Carla advising him and affectionately nicknaming him "Bambi". In "My Nickname," J.D. and Carla become even closer when Carla suspects Turk of liking another surgeon, Bonnie. Carla opens up to J.D. emotionally, but he betrays her by telling Turk she is a "big can of crazy," thus losing her trust (though ultimately he is forgiven). Later, in "My Nickname", however, J.D. offends Carla as they go through a dynamic shift in their nurse-doctor relationship. J.D. and Carla share a kiss in season 4 - described as a "drunken accident" while J.D. tries to cheer Carla up during a rough patch with Turk.

Carla continues to act as a close confidant to J.D. and is often his most reliable source of advice. However, since Carla and Turk were married, and have a daughter, the two have often become rivals for Turk's time and attention.

Kim Briggs

In "My Urologist", J.D. discovers that Kim had actually already worked at Sacred Heart for five years, but had not seen her because she has worn a wedding ring, making her invisible to him. He quickly becomes interested in her, but is disappointed when she passes on a risky surgery to save her career. J.D. regains faith in her when she performs the surgery, and J.D. soon asks her out. After a disastrous first date and a better second date on J.D.'s deck, J.D. goes to her two and half weeks later for a third date. Kim reveals that she is pregnant and that the baby is his. It is also later revealed that Kim got pregnant without sex actually taking place ("there was an air strike on the outlying... regions"). They at first struggle to choose between keeping the baby or having an abortion, but decide to keep it after the birth of Turk and Carla's daughter. While J.D. and Kim find themselves a very compatible couple, she gets a temporary job offer from a hospital in Tacoma, Washington. She leaves for Tacoma despite J.D.'s initial objections and they attempt to maintain a long distance relationship. When J.D. visits Tacoma for her first ultrasound, she tells J.D. that she had a miscarriage and that she had decided to stay in Tacoma permanently. After re-evaluating their relationship, they break up. At the end of "My Road to Nowhere", Kim is shown having an ultrasound, revealing that she lied to J.D. about the miscarriage as a way out of the relationship.

Kim returns in the episode "My Conventional Wisdom", when J.D. sees her at a surgeon's convention and finds out that she lied to him about the miscarriage and is very much pregnant. Despite Kim's pleas for him to stay and talk it over, J.D. leaves her at the convention and heads home. Kim, however, follows him and shows up at the hospital, desperate to talk. In the episode "My Rabbit" J.D. and Kim discuss their baby issues despite J.D.'s apparent reluctance. He eventually forgives her, and they end up becoming a couple again. They also decide to name their baby Sam Perry Gilligan Dorian, after J.D.'s dad, Dr. Cox, and Gilligan respectively (the last of which due to a bet he'd lost with Turk). In the next episode, "My Point of No Return" J.D. convinces her to leave behind her old job and apartment, and for her to move in with him and get a job at Sacred Heart. At the end of the episode, however, J.D. begins to doubt his dedication to Kim, realizing their relationship has progressed far too quickly and he may have made a huge mistake. Talking with Elliot, and possibly looking for a way out, the two begin to rekindle their feelings and lean in to kiss.

In the season 7 opener, "My Own Worst Enemy", J.D. realises that he doesn't have any strong romantic feelings for Kim, and probably never will. He accepts that he is only staying with her because there is a child involved, and that because of this, he will stay with her forever, whether he loves her or not. At the end of "My Hard Labor", however, J.D. can't bring himself to tell Kim that he loves her, so they then break up; however, they maintain a friendly relationship for the sake of their child.

Interns and residents

His interns laugh at his jokes only because they are sucking up to him; he used to think that he was very funny, but eventually realized that they were only laughing for his benefit. He asked them to only laugh when a joke was actually funny, but changed his mind about this to make himself feel better.

In Season 5, Keith has experienced particular character development since his first "appearance" behind the camera in the episode "My Intern's Eyes". From a position where he could not find the courage to talk to J.D., he quickly rises to prominence with his good looks, physique, and medical ability, making J.D. dislike him intensely first as an intern, then as a competitor when Elliot picked him as her intern booty call . J.D. finally accepts Keith on the principle that Elliot really likes him, and as Elliot's close friend he should also accept him without prejudice.

J.D. also had an intern that he nicknamed Cabbage. Cabbage was J.D.'s favorite intern and he especially loved Cabbage's ape impression. However, through the process of trying to get Keith fired he realized that Cabbage was actually a very bad doctor, and despite J.D.'s feelings for him he fired Cabbage, who ended up passing a deadly infection by accident to a soon-to-be released long-time patient (this was revealed only to the audience, not to Cabbage or any other character). It seems that Cabbage landed on his feet, however, and was last seen working in a coffee shop named Coffeebucks, which was put into the hospital in "My Coffee".

During the premiere of Season 7, J.D. admits (In his head) that he "never really cared for Keith or his farm-boy looks" after Elliot calls off her and Keith's wedding.

Romantic involvements

Despite his quirks, J.D. has been able to have a number of romantic and/or sexual relationships with attractive women. However, a running theme in the show seems to be his inability to commit to any one relationship, usually due to his own self-destructive tendencies. He also has a tendency to find obscure or often meaningless reasons to break up with women. Most of the women he dates or has sex with he meets at Sacred Heart. Aside from Elliot and Kim, some notable relationships are:

• Jordan Sullivan - "My Bad" : J.D. sleeps with Jordan before finding out about her history with Cox. Although nothing more happens between them, it has affected plotlines later in the series ("My Overkill" and "My Fifteen Seconds", for example.) Jordan claims that J.D. (or D.J. as she calls him) had nothing to do with why they had sex. Also in another episode where J.D. goes to Dr. Cox's apartment, one of Jordan's friends says something to J.D., he quickly replies, and she notes to Jordan "He's quick, how is he in bed?" Jordan replies only with "quicker."

• Alex Hanson - "My Blind Date", "My Balancing Act", "My Drug Buddy": A social worker at the hospital, who J.D. meets while she is stuck in an MRI machine. J.D. dates her for two episodes, but breaks up with her when he discovers that she is a drug addict who had been stealing from the hospital. Alex was played by actress Elizabeth Bogush.

• Lisa "the Gift Shop Girl" - "My Monster", "My New Old Friend": J.D. goes on one unsuccessful date with her, then another that goes even worse. Finally, he fails to show up for their third date, choosing to support Elliot instead. Lisa was played by actress Sarah Lancaster. She makes a brief appearance in "My Urologist," during a scene in which it is revealed that J.D. cannot see (or at least pays no attention to) married women who wear wedding rings, a gag on The Lord of the Rings. By now, Lisa is married, leaving her invisible to J.D.

• Jamie Moyer ("Tasty Coma Wife"/"T.C.W.") - "My T.C.W.", "My Interpretation", "My Drama Queen": J.D. initially thinks his attraction to her is wrong because her husband is in a coma. After his death, they begin seeing each other. They work past a problem with drama (Jamie always needing it) in their relationship, but then Jamie disappears from the show for an unknown reason. In "Her Story II", Turk explains that J.D. broke up with her for a "trivial reason." Jamie was played by actress Amy Smart.

• Danni Sullivan - "My Advice to You" to "My Clean Break", and again in "My Choosiest Choice of All", "My Screw Up" and "My Fault": J.D. and Danni, Jordan's sister, bond over their similarities and J.D. asks her out after they had spent multiple occasions running into each other in elevators. J.D. begins to panic about the relationship becoming too serious and considers dumping her, but is dumped by Danni because J.D. is not over Elliot. J.D. later gets back together with Danni to get back at Elliot, but Danni had changed. Before she was pretending to be something J.D. wanted her to be, and J.D. and the "new" Danni do not get on well, so they break up. Despite her apparent flakiness, Danni has enough insight to muse that "the one thing everybody knows about John Dorian is that he wants what he can't have," later proven true when, after winning Elliot from Sean, J.D. promptly breaks up with her. Danni was played by actress Tara Reid.

• Dr. Molly Clock - "My Last Chance", "My Best Laid Plans": After Molly, a psychiatrist and close friend of Elliot, had been working at the hospital for sometime, she and J.D. (whom she calls "Johnny", a nickname he's always hated) make out after a party. However, the relationship never goes further because Molly wants Elliot's approval to sleep with J.D., which Elliot refuses to give. Molly later returns and J.D. goes on a date with her, but leaves her to be with his girlfriend Kylie (ironically ending that relationship as well). Molly was played by actress Heather Graham.

• Neena Broderick - "My Malpractical Decision", "My Female Trouble": Neena is a notorious malpractice lawyer who manipulates J.D. into treating her father, at risk of a lawsuit, by flirting with him. When she sues Turk, their relationship harms J.D. and Turk's friendship. Neena is so controlling that J.D. has to enlist Jordan to help him break up with her. Neena was played by actress Julianna Margulies.

• Kylie - "My Hypocritical Oath" to "My Best Laid Plans": J.D. meets Kylie at the nightclub where she works, but is disappointed to find that she has a boyfriend, whom she later dumps when she learns he had contracted an STD while cheating on her (the two had not slept together). J.D. and Kylie's first date (portrayed in "My Quarantine") is complicated when they get stuck in a SARS quarantine at the hospital. Trying to show off to her, J.D. pays a homeless man to fake a heart attack so he could save him. Not wanting to lie to Kylie like her ex-boyfriend used to do, he tells her the truth, but she manages to forgive him. As a result of their busy schedules, they have to maintain their relationship with "appointment kisses." Kylie's refusal to sleep with J.D. drives him crazy, to the point that he almost cheats on her with Molly (see above). When J.D. tells her, Kylie breaks up with him. Kylie was played by actress Chrystee Pharris.

• Julie Quinn - "My Half-Acre", "Her Story II": J.D. meets Julie on a blind date, and they quickly realizes how suited they are for each other. They even work past J.D.'s tendencies to ruin romantic moments and break up with girls for trivial reasons (in this case, saying "that's so funny" instead of simply laughing at a joke). They quickly move forward in their relationship, buying a half-acre plot together and building a deck. However, they break up when J.D. finally makes himself able to commit, but then finds out that she isn't ready. Ironically, J.D. and Julie never kiss on screen as they are always interrupted by someone or something. Julie was played by actress Mandy Moore, Zach Braff's then real-life girlfriend.

• Melody O'Harra - "My Turf War": Elliot's sorority sister who shows up for a brief time to hang out with Elliot. During her stay she has brief romantic encounters with J.D. which do not go much further than making out (no touching or talking).

Production Details

J.D.'s name is based on Dr. Jonathan Doris, college friend of creator Bill Lawrence. Doris serves as medical advisor on the show. There is a minor controversy over his actual first name. The series website lists his name as "John." The name plate of his Co-Chief Resident office reads "John Dorian M.D." However, he has introduced himself and been addressed as "Jonathan" on several occasions, one of them being when his new neighbor crashed through the ceiling of his new apartment to which he replied "Howdy, neighbor, I'm Jonathan." He is almost always called "J.D." On the occasions that his first name is used, "John," "Jonathan," or "Johnny," which Dr. Molly Clock calls him at first. All of them are used interchangeably.

According to Zach Braff, he feels that after seven years, there is not much left of J.D.'s personality left to be explored, except for his relationship with Turk, while Bill Lawrence has stated that the seventh season will show J.D. finally growing up, and becoming more mature, so as to satisfy fans who don't want to see him stay the same. However, Braff also says that J.D. has gradually evolved over the series, but cannot evolve too much as at the same time as they need to "[give] the fans what they want, which is to see the characters be themselves"

Character

Creation

J.D.'s name is based on Dr. Jonathan Doris, 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 left of J.D.'s personality left to be explored, except for his relationship with Turk, while Bill Lawrence has stated that the seventh season will show J.D. finally growing up, and becoming more mature, so as to satisfy fans who don't want to see him stay the same. However, Braff also says that J.D. has gradually evolved over the series, but cannot evolve too much as at the same time as they need to "[give] the fans what they want, which is to see the characters be themselves"