This Scrubs Character Had The Worst Storyline

The colorful cast at Scrubs' Sacred Heart Hospital has no shortage of shady characters. Their chief of medicine, Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins), is a heartless fiend who won't hesitate to trade lives for money when it comes to the hospital's budget. Meanwhile, attending physician Doctor Mickhead (Frank Encarnacao), whose name's implied rhyme should not be lost on viewers, is heavily implied to have murdered his wife with a hammer.

However, few characters' flaws are as incessant as the repetitive, misogynistic behaviors of a surgeon simply known as The Todd (real name Todd Quinlan). The Todd is characterized as a stereotypical meathead. He's actually a talented surgeon, but beyond transplants and tracheostomies, Todd is nothing more than an ultra-jock who thinks more with his sex drive than with his brain cells. He's an intentional mockery of misogyny and toxic masculinity. However, even The Todd undergoes his own small character arc throughout the series.

The only problem is that Todd's character development doesn't solve his misogyny problem. Technically, the serial harasser does become more egalitarian, but all that really resulted in was him becoming an open pansexual and directing his inappropriate behavior toward both men and women. Somehow, someway, teaching Todd to treat the genders equally only sunk him deeper into the depths of scum-hood.

One episode features The Todd being brought under the wing of female Sacred Heart employees Carla (Judy Reyes) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke). Believing that Todd's misogyny is caused by his underlying homosexuality, the two begin a very personal friendship with Todd. The end of the episode reveals that Todd was merely pretending to be gay in order to get closer to the two women. However, he also reveals that they succeeded in opening him up to his own sexuality. He trots off, no longer insecure about his equal attraction to both men and women. He soon begins directing his rude comments toward both genders.

Nobody's bad behavior is entirely their fault. We find that The Todd is no exception to this rule when he encounters psychiatrist Dr. Molly Clock (Heather Graham). In a single afternoon, Molly manages to unpack a great deal of Todd's psychological baggage. It turns out that Todd's childhood was mired by a negative relationship with his mother, one that occasionally breached into incredibly inappropriate territory.

By the end of their encounter, Todd seems to have become an almost completely reformed man. He apologizes to many of the women he has harassed in the hospital. Unfortunately, Molly admits that without continual therapy, The Todd will soon resume his old ways. This turns out to be the case: By the next episode, Todd is as he always was. It's sad knowing that Todd could be a more polite and sensitive person if he ever sought some professional help.