JD and Elliot have been growing closer while working together and end up almost kissing only for Dr Cox to interrupt them. As Elliot seems unsure about entering a relationship with JD, he realises he only has 48 hours to kiss her before he ends up in the dreaded 'friendship zone' as Elliot will overthink things and only ever see him as a friend. In contrast, Turk and Carla have started dating.
In the meantime, a patient of Turk's ends up having complications after surgery. JD is worried that Turk left something inside him, but it turns out that it was JD who messed up during the aftercare. It's Turk who is the one who realises what went wrong, but instead of telling someone who could get JD into trouble, he tells Carla, who is able to help the patient recover. JD then runs to kiss Elliot before the 48 hours are up, only for her to tearfully admit she just wants to talk.
- Almost Kiss: JD and Elliot almost kiss at the start of the episode, only to be interrupted by Dr Cox.
- Blatant Lies: Elliot admits to JD that she's struggling to cope emotionally at work, and likens it to being at math camp again... only to hastily add that she's never been to Math Camp and it's just an expression.JD: I use it all the time.
- Bait-and-Switch: Dr Wen and Turk are arguing while in surgery and it appears they're talking about what to do with their patient... when it's revealed they're actually deciding what music is going to play during the surgery.
- Beggar with a Signboard: JD imagines what will happen if he tries to kiss Elliot when he's read her intentions incorrectly. He's kicked out of Sacred Heart by a furious Dr Kelso and ends up as a beggar holding up a cardboard sign stating 'Will Give Physical for Food'.
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The Cast Showoff: A few members of the cast get to show off how well they can sing with the Ear Worm that's going around the hospital, but special mention goes to Turk, Carla and the Janitor. - Characterisation Marches On:
- Elliot is perfectly comfortable saying “penis” but later episodes would have her genuinely struggling to say the correct names for both male and female genitalia, to the extent that she uses euphemisms instead.
- JD belly bumps with Turk after declaring that they should 'par-tay' like they used to and seems just as embarrassed as Turk is on realising that they're being watched. JD in later episodes is the one who initiates physical contact with Turk in front of people, even suggest they bump 'downstairs' despite Turk being incredibly uncomfortable about it.
- Don't Sneak Up on Me Like That!: JD attempts to sneak up on Elliot from behind and say 'Guess who?' while covering her eyes but ends up stumbling and crashing into her, knocking her to the floor and then landing on her.
- Ear Worm: “A Little Respect” by Erasure ends up spreading through the hospital after it's played by Dr Wen during surgery. Word of God stated that it was purposefully shown to spread like a virus.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Nurse Roberts' ID badge says "Patti Roberts", before her first name was revealed to be "Laverne".
- A Friend in Need:
- JD worries that Turk has accidentally left something inside of his surgery patient and is torn about whether to tell someone, especially as the patient is deteriorating. Turk seemingly having no time for JD lately doesn't help, but ultimately he decides not to get Turk into trouble.
- Turk is the one who notices that the surgery patient is in trouble because JD accidentally gave him insulin during his post-op when he shouldn't have. It seems he immediately went to Carla, who was able to easily solve the situation without getting JD in trouble.
- Hidden Depths: Ted, who at this point has been portrayed as shy, nervous and worrisome, is revealed to be a talented singer.
- Just Friends: JD is worried that he and Elliot will end up like this if they don't kiss 48 hours after their first attempt at a kiss. He even imagines a 'friend zone' filled with various men who have tried and failed to date Elliot in the past. And one woman, who states that Elliot will 'come around'.
- Naked People Are Funny: As punishment for confronting him about his sexist ways, Dr Kelso assigns Elliot to a patient that takes off his clothes for no reason.
- Race Against the Clock: Whenever the subplot about JD kissing Elliot before the 48 hours are up, a timer appears in the corner of the screen to show how much time JD has left.
- Sarcasm Mode: When Elliot is fretting about Dr Kelso calling her 'sweetheart', Dr Cox sarcastically suggests that she goes and confronts him about it even though he is the Chief of Medicine. Elliot goes and does just that with predictable results.
- Shout-Out: Dr Kelso does an imitation of the presenter of The Weakest Link when trying to weed out the "weakest link" during rounds. He gets a few pity laughs.
- Straw Misogynist: Dr Kelso is accused of this when he calls Elliot 'sweetheart' during rounds. On one hand, Elliot has a point that Dr Kelso is out of touch when it comes to addressing his interns, but on the other, Dr Kelso is the product of a different era and he calls all of the interns sports or sweethearts depending on their gender. Dr Cox points this out to Elliot, along with the fact that she needs to learn how to pick her battles.
- A Threesome Is Hot: When deciding whether Elliot wants him to kiss her or not, JD also imagines a more positive outcome where he ends up having a threesome with her and another woman.
