Dr. Kelso's oldest friend, Dr. Townshend, comes to work at Sacred Heart for a few days. Everyone likes him, the Janitor and J.D. included, and he spends a lot of time trying to broker peace or make Kelso laugh. J.D. finds that this old doctor may not be as perfect, however, as he seems.
Jordan comes in for an ultrasound on her baby, and she's not interested in learning the gender. Elliot finds out, however, and Cox posters her for the answer.
Meanwhile, Turk hosts his brother Kevin and his nephews while proposing to Carla. She keeps putting off her acceptance, much to his annoyance. Then Kevin reveals he's getting a divorce, so Turk puts his engagement on hold in favor of comforting his brother.
Tropes for this episode include:
- Being Good Sucks:
- J.D. knows that he and Kelso will suffer if he reports Dr. Townshend about the outdated procedure. He's also feeling guilty that the patient nearly died on him and knows that it's not acceptable.
- Kelso quietly confronts "Townsie" about the fact that all of his patients are on procedures that are outdated. When Townshend is forced to admit that he doesn't go to new conferences because he can't keep up, Kelso looks regretful when saying they have a problem.
- Hidden Depths: Kelso's a jerk who focuses on the business side of the hospital, but he also spends a lot of time keeping up with the latest in medical research so that he can keep his hospital at the forefront of medicine.Kelso: This isn't an age thing. Hell, these days, if you've been out of med school five years half of what you learned is obsolete. Why do you think I spend every other weekend at a medical conference in a two star hotel ballroom that still stinks of last night's prom vomit? I do it because I have to keep up.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: To his credit, Kelso investigates Townshend's patients before confronting him. He knows that J.D. doesn't normally speak contrary or challenge an authority figure and gives his oldest friend a chance to explain himself about why the patients are on procedures that are outdated. It's only when Townshend admits that he's too old and can't keep up with the changes in medicine that Kelso quietly retires him, sounding apologetic.
- Sadistic Choice: J.D. faces one: either he can report Townshend to Dr. Kelso and earn the ire of everyone, as well as lose a doctor he likes, or keep quiet and let the man continue to perform dangerous, outdated procedures on patients. He chooses the former.
- Special Guest: Dick Van Dyke guests as Dr. Townshend.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Townshend asks the Janitor and his friends to be nice to J.D., as a favor to him. The Janitor introduces J.D. to his crew and say they'll have his back. When J.D. reports Townshend, the crew ends up trashing his car. J.D. is not surprised.
