After a quarter of a century, J.D. is still climbing onto the back of Turk for the pair’s infamous “Eagle.” That’s right—after a sixteen year hiatus, the medical dramedy “Scrubs” is back with Zach Braff and Donald Faison. And in a world full of reboots, it may seem difficult to care. 

But when J.D. walks into Sacred Heart Hospital and we see Carla and Turk and Elliot and Dr. Cox, well, it’s like we’ve never left. Our characters are older, yet everything picks up right where season eight ended (because let’s be honest, no one watched season nine). Turk is still Chief of Surgery and married to Carla; Dr. Cox holds his post as Chief of Medicine and continues to chastise interns and J.D.

We quickly learn about the divorce of J.D. and Elliot, which almost feels like a betrayal. Because after eight seasons of will-they-won’t-they, they finally did. A divorce is a slap in the face. All that buildup, and for what—half an explanation in the first episode for their demise? It’s a lot to process, but J.D. and Elliot can be forgiven. Following a few painfully drawn out arguments, the characters fall back into the playful banter that has carried through past seasons. 

Sacred Heart has changed, and Dr. Cox has not. He recognizes this in his inability to connect with the new interns—the world moved on without him; Dr. Cox is not meant to teach anymore. Only after a few insults and nicknames have been thrown around does Dr. Cox offer J.D. the Chief of Medicine role—which J.D. accepts, of course. 

Now, Dr. Cox is known for his abrasive yet committed personality, and J.D. stepping into Dr. Cox’s position is that validation that J.D. had searched for throughout the first eight seasons. The qualities—compassion and sensitivity, to name a few—that drew J.D. endless insulting nicknames from Dr. Cox—Bambi and Newbie, most notably—are also the same qualities that put J.D. in the Chief of Medicine position.

And then there’s the new interns, composed of the phone-obsessed, self-confidence lacking, arrogant, and British. This influx of new characters is actually manageable, only because the interns complement both each other and the returning cast. They are part of the new modern world of medicine, and tension builds from our older doctors on how medicine used to be taught versus how it is taught now. This carries through the season so far, from Instagram gym influencers with eating disorders to brand deals with the interns. 

Season ten is set to finish April 15 after just nine episodes, and it has not yet been renewed for season eleven—despite over ten million viewers tuning in weekly. Scrubs has long been a comfort sitcom, finding balance between comedy and connection; Sacred Heart and its doctors present the highest highs and lowest lows. And most of all, the Scrubs reboot can bring laughs and tears and maybe even some Appletinis to a younger audience.