Fans of the show, or just about anyone who owned a TV in 2001, know that by the time Scrubs reached Season 9, people had already checked out. While the setting was eerily familiar, with some of our faves dropping in now and then, there was a glaring difference. The season probably got a lot of things wrong, but it didn’t completely fail on all fronts. For one, it introduced a budding young star who would go on to feature in some pretty big productions based on his talent. Loosely speaking, Scrubs had become a sort of breeding ground for emerging talent, featuring actors such as Elizabeth Banks, Michael B. Jordan, and Ryan Reynolds before they became household names.
Needless to say, Season 9 continued in that vein, introducing Dave Franco as Cole Aaronson, a character designed to irritate, frustrate, and challenge those around him. Perhaps the best part about this role for him was that he was not written in as a punchy one-liner; he was given room to breathe in all his imperfect glory. Looking back now, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear that Scrubs was pulling a two-fer: filling out a new ensemble while quietly giving a future star a springboard to much bigger roles.
In ‘Scrubs’ Season 9, Cole Aaronson Wasn’t Meant to Be Liked
When you vehemently dislike a character that wasn’t set up to be the protagonist, that’s clear proof that they nailed the part. That’s the case of Franco’s Cole Aaronson. When he arrives on Scrubs, he’s basically a problem with legs. He’s pompous, entitled, insulated from consequences by his family’s money, and even worse, he’s smart. At the start of it all, the show makes no effort to transform him into someone more palatable, because his abrasiveness is the point. He was a force of disruption and the polar opposite of fellow med student Lucy Bennett (Kerry Bishé), with whom he ends up bumping uglies.
All in all, Franco plays Cole as someone completely unaware of how bizarre his life sounds to normal people. In one episode, he boldly tells Eliza Coupe’s Denise that he can’t carry out his assigned duties because he has a “dinner rezzy with his mom” who can’t eat “za because she’s lactose intolly.” He also mentions something about her being his “wing mom” with the straightest face, which makes the entitlement hit harder. There’s also that insane delusion that everyone wants to get under the sheets with him; needless to say, he’s incredibly unlikable, and he sells it like a pro.
It’s not till later in the season that we see small cracks appear. All of a sudden, he listens when Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) mocks him, grudgingly helps in a procedure, and actually pays attention when Lucy calls him out. Ladies and gentlemen, in Scrubs season 9, we witness the early evidence of Franco’s timing, restraint, and ability to grow a role quietly within a comedy.
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‘Scrubs’ Season 9 Let Franco Actually Build a Character
Perhaps what really sells the Franco magic is the fact that Dave Franco’s Cole Aaronson was a constant presence across all 13 episodes of Scrubs: Med School. This gave him room to develop as a character rather than just play a “hilarious guest.” Right out the gate, Cole leans into entitlement and arrogance without skipping a beat. He clashes with authority and eventually becomes the hot potato of the group in “Our Thanks,” Season 9, Episode 13. Turk (Donald Faison) tries everything to shake him off as a mentee, overlooking his drive and intellect in the process.
However, a bit earlier in Season 9, Cole begins to show unexpected depth. For instance, in “Our True Lies” Season 9, Episode 6, a cheat sheet is found during an exam, and Cole is immediately assumed to be the culprit. He fits the brief, lazy, entitled, bulletproof… the works. He only takes the fall when he realises that it was Lucy who did the deed, an honorable act that episode one’s Cole would never have gone for. Franco goes on to communicate this moral choice with restraint, using reactions and brief dialogue.
It’s little out-of-place actions like this that distinguish him throughout the season, because we literally get to watch him transform from a performative peacock to a slightly more grounded human being. Now, he doesn’t do anything uncharacteristic; Dr. Wolverine is still who he is. However, his awareness of consequences grows, and Franco proves that comedic timing can be stretched into nuanced character work. For attentive viewers, Season 9 quietly introduced the actor who would go on to do considerably bigger things. Since Scrubs, Franco has gone on to appear in 21 Jump Street, 22 Jump Street, Neighbors and its sequel, the Now You See Me franchise, The Afterparty, and the critically acclaimed supernatural horror movie Together, opposite his wife Alison Brie. Talk about impressive
To watch Dave Franco dominate his old stomping grounds, stream Scrubs Season 9 on Hulu.
