Dan decides to stay with J.D. for a while after their mom's new fiancée kicks him out, but after spending some quality time with him at the hospital, Dan isn't sure if he likes the cynical person his little brother has become.
- Accidental Pervert: Eliot tries phone sex with Sean, but she's uncomfortable about doing it in her apartment because she mistakes her neighbor's dog for a heavy breather. This is quickly followed by Eliot out in the woods struggling with a weak signal and accidentally shouting "Your nipples, Sean! Your nipples!" in front of a boy scout troop.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: Dan recognizes he's a shitty brother, while also saying that everyone could see JD was special and he's been jealous. He hates that JD is getting cynical and asks Cox to steer his kid brother on a better path... and Cox does.
- Big Brother Mentor: Dan drives across the country to help JD. He doesn't do a very good job, not until the very end, but he follows through, talking to Cox and asking him to be a better mentor to his kid brother.
- The Bus Came Back: Mr. Boeber, previously seen as the elderly patient the interns went out of their way to help after his granddaughter showed up looking sad, comes back as a seriously demented patient who can only say "Pickles!". JD's brother, Dan, also shows up again.
- Dysfunctional Family: Turk lectures JD that just because you're a child of divorce doesn't mean you have the market cornered on family problems and gives him a run-down of the typical Turk family Thanksgiving, full of yelling and fighting and the bipolar aunt sticking her head in the oven... followed by genuine love and apologies because they're all going to be doing it again at Christmas.. So go and apologize to your brother, JD.
- Enemy to All Living Things: Cats hate Eliot. They attack her on sight.
- Everyone Has Standards: Dan is shocked when JD describes a gomer as "an old person who takes up room in the hospital and doesn't have the decency to die.".Dan: Now... that's just rude is what that is.
JD: Well, I'm sorry, dude, I just don't have time for Pickles right now. I've got three vegetables and a drug addict who's gonna tell me this time things'll be different then try and take my watch again. [watch is missing] Dammit! Can't we just put a pillow over his head and put him out of his misery?
Dan: [long look around the hospital] - Graceful Loser: Cox shakes Dan's hand and wishes him all the best after Dan tells him JD needs him to be a better mentor.
- Hidden Depths: Kelso recognizes that, yes, you can love someone enough to go the extra mile for them and allows Carla and Eliot to come back after catching them moonlighting. Then he has a heartfelt conversation on the phone with his darling, with whom occasionally he has sex and then the next morning a cold and silent breakfast, but he loves her... and it's his mistress, not Bunny.
- Jerkass Realization: Dan recognizes he's been a pretty shitty older brother to JD, and asks Cox to do better. Cox recognizes that Dan is right and makes a point of reminding JD that there are good things in their job and that they do get to help people.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Dan rips Cox a new one over JD's cynical attitude.Dan: I think you love the fact that these kids idolize you. Johnny does. Johnny was always the one in the family we knew was going someplace. Sweet kid. Smart kid. Becoming a doctor, this is all he ever wanted, yet somehow you've found a way to beat that out of him, haven't you, turn him into some kind of cynical guy who seems to despise what he does. [Beat] Doctor Cox, Johnny's never gonna look up to me. Ever. But he hangs on your every word, so I'm asking... I'm telling you. Take that responsibility seriously. Stop being such a hardass. Otherwise, you're gonna have to answer to me.
- Shout-Out: Like the film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, the title is a reference to the 1941 film, Sullivan's Travels, itself a reference to Gulliver's Travels, in which a director of fluff comedies wants to make a serious film based on the fictional novel O Brother Where Art Thou. The movie didn't immediately succeed, but
became a classic over time, earning it a couple of references. - Took a Level in Cynic: The episode opens with JD mocking a patient with dementia and Cox congratulating him for it.
- Truth in Television: Because they have no choice about where and how much they work, interns and residents are poorly paid and overworked, so moonlighting to make rent is common. Likewise with the disdain suffered by nurses.
- What the Hell, Hero?: JD's brother shows up and calls him out for mocking his patients, then tears Cox a new one for his negative influence on JD.
- What You Are in the Dark: Dan sticks around for a few hours so he can confront Cox without JD knowing.
