JD (Zach Braff) and Turk (Donald Faison) arrive for their first day at Sacred Heart hospital. JD is quickly overwhelmed the moment he steps through the doors, but Turk is infuriatingly confident and laid back about the day ahead. Joining them for their first day is Elliot (Sarah Chalke), a neurotic medical intern who isn't afraid to show her competitive streak only moments after meeting them. JD finds himself working with the warm-hearted Carla (Judy Reyes), a nurse who reassures and advises JD, and Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley), a no-nonsense man with an awful bedside manner.
However it's Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) who JD assumes is the 'good guy' of Sacred Heart, with his pleasant manner and kind words, but it quickly turns out that he's not nearly as nice as he seems and only sees JD as 'nothing but a pair of scrubs'. As JD wonders who the good guy is, he's paged to help Dr. Cox with a coding patient. Dr. Cox guides a nervous JD how to do the procedure that he chastised him for not being able to do before and congratulates him when it's successful, telling him that the patient is now his.
JD is able to finally leave the hospital, reassured that there are good guys like Dr. Cox but also aware that the hospital will be still there waiting for him tomorrow.
- Bookends: The episode begins and ends with JD saying “I'm the man.” Both in completely different tones.
- Brick Joke: When JD asks the Janitor if a door is stuck because there's a penny in there, the Janitor immediately accuses him of doing it. JD protests his innocence but the Janitor doesn't believe him and goes out of his way to torment him from there on in. Seven seasons later and JD finally confesses he did actually put the penny in the door.
- Cynical Mentor: The episode plays with this, introducing Kelso as a kindly father figure, but then revealing he's a lot more of a jerkass who yells at JD. Meanwhile Cox is introduced as a jaded washout who doesn't give a shit, but ends up being the one who gives JD the confidence to finally perform a procedure himself. Over the course of the show, they'll both play different versions of this role.
- Deer in the Headlights: One Imagine Spot has JD as one when he can't think of the answer to Dr. Kelso's question and Elliot claims not to know either.
- Early-Bird Cameo: The patient in the MRI machine would later reappear as the intern Lonnie in a later season.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- The hospital is a lot busier than it would be in later episodes, and it's lacking the bright colors that Scrubs is known for.
- JD's inner monologue is a lot more subdued, contrasting with the more confident tone he would use later in the series.
- 'I'm No Superman' plays over the credits, rather than the instrumental music that would be used from the second episode onwards.
- The Janitor doesn't interact with anyone other than JD in this episode. This will continue for the rest of the season, with the writers considering him a manifestation of JD's insecurity. Flynn eventually begged them to let him be part of the show for real and interact with the rest of the cast and they complied.
- Everyone Meets Everyone: JD meets the majority of the main cast in this episode.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: The episode introduces one of the greatest bromances of all time: Turk and JD. Roommates in college, then in med school, now as doctors.
- Love at First Sight: JD is smitten with Elliot the moment he sees her, and is delighted when it turns out she's in internal medicine with him instead of being a surgical intern with Turk.
- Male Gaze: A POV shot of Elliot's butt while she's walking up the stairs ahead of JD. His inner monologue says that it looks like 'two pringles hugging'.
- Nerd Glasses: Elliot briefly wears a pair during rounds but they're never seen again during the series.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: When JD forgets an answer during rounds, he looks to Elliot for help, only for her to mouth that she has no idea. Then when Dr. Kelso asks her the exact same question she's able to answer it immediately, revealing how extreme her competitive nature can be. When their situation was reversed earlier in the episode, JD didn't hesitate to whisper the answer to Elliot.
- Shout-Out: Turk attempts this with Elliot by holding a finger out to her and going “Ellioooooot~” but she angrily brushes him off.
- Slut-Shaming: Elliot attempts to do this to Carla for hooking up so quickly with Turk in the on-call room. Carla informs Elliot that she's under a lot of stress and that it's no business of Elliot's what she does, and finishes it up with a reminder that people are starting to catch on to the fact that Elliot only ever looks out for herself.
- Title Drop: Dr. Kelso tells JD that "You're nothing but a pair of scrubs to me".
- Watch Out for That Tree!: JD is so focused on listening to Carla while walking backwards with a gurney that he ends up crashing into a piece of medical equipment.
- Wham Shot: The reveal that Mr. Burski, the patient JD had quickly bonded with during his first day, has passed away.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Cox ends up being the one to give JD the confidence he needs to to what needs to be done.
