Scrubs Boss Unpacks Season 2 Premiere And Teases More Dr. Cox, More Janitor, And TV's Scott Foley

"Scrubs" may have given Dr. Cox some good news in Wednesday's two-part Season 2 premiere, but his health crisis is far from over.

Episode 1 finds Cox at his most vulnerable. He's poked and prodded as J.D., Turk, Elliot, and Carla attempt to figure out why his initial round of treatments aren't working. He also has to rely on others for help with even the most basic tasks, including trips to the bathroom. All of this leads to a classic Cox-and-Carla heart-to-heart about what it means for the former chief to be back at Sacred Heart as a patient, and how scary it is to be in a position where he's the one who needs help. Carla — whom he's known since before J.D., Turk, and Elliot wandered in as wide-eyed interns 25 years ago — takes his hand and assures the good doctor that she knows how to get a patient through this.

Things begin looking up in Episode 2. After J.D. adjusts his treatment plan, Cox finally gets some good news: The treatments are working! But he soon finds himself facing a different kind of obstacle: His insurance company won't cover the costly infusions unless he's admitted to the hospital. That gives J.D. an opportunity to teach new mentee Grant (John Higgins) a lesson in working around the system — though the straight-laced chief resident isn't exactly eager to learn from him, and even goes so far as to report J.D. to Sibby.

J.D. may not be winning over Grant, but he's having considerably better luck with Rachel Bilson's Charlie. After consummating their relationship, J.D. makes a beeline to Sacred Heart to high-five Turk — and gets there in record time thanks to his beloved scooter Sasha, making her first revival appearance in a cold open that feels straight out of the original run. Ex-wife Elliot, meanwhile, gets a burst of confidence when she puts Cox's equally intimidating better half Jordan in her place. It ultimately proves short-lived, but the return of TV's Scott Foley is right around the corner, so it shouldn't be long before Sean puts a bit of pep in her step. Plus, with Tosh's encouragement, Elliot begins reassessing what she wants from the next phase of her career.

TVLine caught up with showrunner Aseem Batra to discuss Cox's future, J.D.'s contentious new mentor-mentee relationship, and what's ahead for J.D. and Elliot's love lives. Plus, Batra previews Turk's continued mental health journey and reveals when fans can expect Sean and the Janitor (Neil Flynn) back in the fold.

TVLINE | We thought we'd seen Cox at his most vulnerable with J.D. last season, but his conversation with Carla takes him somewhere even more vulnerable. What is it about Carla that allows her to reach a part of Cox that even J.D. and Jordan can't?

I mean, that's a great thing about being able to go off of the first iteration of "Scrubs." They always had such an amazing relationship, and she was sort of the only one that he truly was a little scared of and respected on a level of, you wouldn't mess with her. And so I think she could probably reach him in a more grounded, real way than anyone else can.

And also, the role of nurses is to see patients at their most vulnerable. Even doctors don't stick around long enough to see that. So, you know, she's seen a lot, and he knows that.

TVLINE | By the end of Episode 2, Cox is admitted again so insurance will cover his treatments. Have you already shot, or is John C. McGinley confirmed for, additional episodes beyond these first two?

Yes, we have him for a couple more. And we're getting creative with how to bring him back. So we have a little surprise in how he comes back that, you know, we get to see him in a different capacity than we've seen him [so far]. So that'll be really fun.

We love Johnny C. and love having him as much as possible, but he's a busy man. We're sharing him [with "Rooster"] and just eking out time, being like, "Whatever days you could give us to shoot, we'll write you in!"

TVLINE | Grant isn't the mentee J.D. was hoping for. Is their dynamic this season more about J.D. adjusting his teaching methods for someone who plays more by the book, or wearing Grant down and showing him that sometimes you do need to work around the system?
I think what's fun about those two is the ongoing frustration that we saw with Dr. Cox and J.D. in the first iteration. J.D. kept having to beg for Dr. Cox's respect and never quite got it, and this is another way to play that dynamic. He's like, "Don't you see I've got the answers and I'm a good guy?" So we don't feel the need to rush to solve anything between the two of them.

But J.D. is going to do what he always does, which is being a good teacher and a good physician. And I'm sure that Grant will see that eventually. But it's the journey and the fun of him never quite being on board with J.D.

TVLINE | Episode 2 cements the mentor-mentee dynamics — J.D. and Grant, Elliot and Tosh, Turk and Dashana — but these first two episodes foreground the legacy cast. Will that continue, or will the newbies get the occasional A-story this season?
We mostly are keeping it on our legacy [cast], but we do have some of the new cast with slightly bigger storylines than we were even able to give them last season. And their own storylines may not be the A-story, but they're significant arcs in the episode. So we are excited to flesh out their dynamics more.

We love Amara and Dashana together, and love their friendship.... Those are the years where you meet people who you're going to be [friends] with for the rest of your life. So we like to see that starting for some of our new cast.

TVLINE | As J.D. and Elliot each pursue their first major post-divorce relationships, how much focus will there be on their friendship, and their interactions with each other?

I think we really ramp it up because being separated from one another and now dating other people creates new topics [of discussion]. They're on a parallel path. They're working together in the same hospital, so they can't avoid their personal lives. It's fun for us to be able to [write] what it's like if you're sitting there watching your ex-wife date someone or your ex-husband date someone... and we do it both in comedic ways and more grounded ways.

TVLINE | TV's Scott Foley returns in Episode 3 (airing October 7). J.D. and Sean did not like each other the first time around. How does J.D. take to Sean being back — and conversely, how does Sean feel about Elliot's ex-husband remaining such a constant in her life as coparent and boss?

I think the fun part about Sean is he always seemed to let things roll off his back. And it's funny to see them at this age because they're going to still have beef with one another, but they're also trying to be mature. So I think it'll be interesting to see if Sean can trust this [dynamic] anymore, and if that's what's going to happen.

TVLINE | Zach Braff told me you'd be revisiting Turk's mental health journey this season, and promos show him in therapy with J.D. How much are those two storylines connected, and what brings them there?
We play that very much as a joke. And it's so funny because these sort of previews give away the things that we're trying to hide. So we're like, "OK, fine. They gave away that." But those two... it was just a fun thing. We'll see the actual way that therapy plays into Turk's life. But for the two of them, it was just a bit of fun that we came up with. They would have the funniest therapy sessions together.

TVLINE | Tosh convinces Elliot that it's not too late to make changes and try new things professionally. Is the medical podcast idea something Elliot actually pursues, or does she explore another avenue?

I think that was just Tosh as a Gen Z-er throwing it out into the world. But what's cool about that moment is I just love that about the younger generation: They don't have the same boundaries we put on ourselves as Gen X. They are so much more open to making their own rules. They don't take no [for an answer] as much as we did.

And I think that's a cool dynamic for her to be, like, "Why are you looking at it through the lens that your generation looked at it? Look at it through my generation's lens. Go for it. Do these things." We just love [Elliot] getting something out of that relationship with Tosh that she didn't expect.

TVLINE | And is Elliot pursuing something new?

Yeah. Well, it's not going to be new. It's going to be in addition to what she's doing. But I think she's watching J.D. as chief of medicine and Turk in surgery, and I think she's looking for what she want to do with the next part of her career.

And we get that a lot from physicians, where they're like, there's either burnout in what they're doing, or they want to feel a little more inspiration and satisfaction in what they're doing. And so there is often something else that they want to pursue in the second half of their career. So we think that's really cool for Elliot.

TVLINE | Is Neil Flynn back for one or multiple episodes this season? And when's his first appearance?
We're going to have him drop in for a couple. And he makes his first appearance in Episode 4 — if the air order stays the same.

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