My Occurrence

"My Occurrence"
Scrubs episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 22
Directed by	Lawrence Trilling
Written by	Bill Lawrence
Production code	S122
Original air date	May 7, 2002
Guest stars
Sam Lloyd as Ted Buckland Robert Maschio as Todd Quinlan Christa Miller as Jordan Sullivan Johnny Kastl as Doug Murphy Brendan Fraser as Ben Sullivan Nicole Sullivan as Jill Tracy Steven Hack as Dr. Fred Bobb Mary McDonald as Nurse Nancy Kimberley S. Newberry as Dr. Allan Masi Oka as Frank
Episode chronology
← Previous "My Sacrificial Clam" Next → "My Hero"
List of Scrubs episodes

"My Occurrence" is the 22nd episode of the American sitcom Scrubs. It originally aired as Episode 22 of Season 1 on May 7, 2002.

Plot

Jordan's brother Ben (Brendan Fraser) comes into the hospital after piercing his hand with a nail-gun, to which Ben and Dr. Cox have fun by causing J.D to faint not once but twice from seeing such a gory sight. Dr. Cox and J.D. later become worried when his hand will not stop bleeding. A blood test shows that Ben has leukemia.

A series of paperwork mistakes nearly has Turk operate on the wrong patient, and incorrectly leads Elliot to inform another patient that she's pregnant. J.D. therefore decides to wait before informing Ben of his positive blood test result, and asks the lab to check the result.

They do so, and over a montage accompanied by "Hold on Hope" by Guided by Voices, they discover that Ben is fine. In a stylistic sequence, the staff all gather to watch Ben leave, and pose to have a picture taken. J.D. asks Ben why he let everyone pose for the picture, because he said earlier that posed pictures never look real. However, Ben points out that "none of this is real". The style returns to realism; J.D. is still in the doorway, holding the original diagnosis, and is forced to tell Ben that he has leukemia.

Notes

The title of the episode is a reference to "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge," a short story in which a man about to be executed escapes in the nick of time, only to die at the end of the story when it is revealed that he imagined the whole thing.

Throughout the episode there are several hints that suggest J.D. is imagining events, chiefly that, through the episode Ben's right hand has been injured, until the point where J.D. goes into his fantasy. After this, Ben's hand is fine every time he is seen, for example, after J.D goes to see the hematopathologist, the scene cuts to Ben taking a picture of a security guard. When he goes to talk to J.D, his gauze is off and there is no sign of an accident with a nailgun. Also at the end when J.D is daydreaming about Ben being alright, Ben waves goodbye with his right hand, with no visible injury. The key hint, and the one directly before the revelation that it was a daydream, was when Ben, who hated "posed" photographs, arranged a group of characters for a photo to be taken.

Featured music

• "Daydreams and Lies" by Keren DeBerg
• "Hold On Hope" by Guided by Voices

See also

• "My Hero" - the conclusion to this episode.
• "My Screw Up" - a third season episode in which Ben returns to Sacred Heart Hospital.

External links

• "My Occurrence" at the Internet Movie Database
• "My Occurrence" at TV.com