As great as it’s been to reunite with familiar faces on the Scrubs revival, I’ve also enjoyed getting to know the new characters now populating Sacred Heart as the 2026 TV schedule continues. Charge nurses Francois Dubois and Pippa Raymond, respectively played by Michael James Scott and X Mayo, have been especially amusing with their sassy remarks and commentary on hospital drama. But I’ve also noticed how protective they are of Sarah Chalke’s Elliot, and CinemaBlend learned from Scott why this is.
After listening Scott talk about how the most recent Scrubs episode showed the importance of “choreography” in a hospital and how he expects Francois to react to J.D.’s freaky date with harpist Lily, I inquired with the actor about why Francois and Pippa are so protective of Elliot, particularly when it comes to her romantic life. Scott started off by saying:
They haven't experienced anything but working with Elliott. And so they love Elliott, and there's an allegiance to Elliott, and there's an allegiance to actually being real friends with her. So when they are introduced to J.D., obviously it's a very different thing because all we've heard is there is a specific side to the story. And so we are very protective over our own.
Francois and Pippa were both introduced in the Scrubs revival’s second episode, titled “My 2nd First Day,” when J.D., Sacred Heart’s newly-installed Chief of Medicine, introduced himself. They were immediately leery towards him because they knew he was Elliot’s ex-husband, and specifically heard a rumor that he cheated on “that beautiful queen.” That was very much not the case, although I cracked up at Turk taking that hospital gossip and bent it in J.D.’s favor by telling people his mistress was “a really sexy Brazilian woman named Valentina.” Then in “My Angel,” Francois and Pippa tried to motivate Elliot to start dating again after they saw J.D. flirting with Lily.
What Michael James Scott told me makes sense, because at that point, Francois and Pippa have known Elliot for presumably at least a few years and have grown to care for her. So when J.D. returns to Sacred Heart, they’ll want to make sure that things are ok with her and she’s living her best life. Scott continued:
I think that is why there's this protective quality that comes in, and we're like, ‘Well, wait a minute, you've been messing with our girl and now you're coming up into the hospital and you're the chief?! Wait a minute, wait a minute!’ So I think it's because we've only known it with Elliott. And so our first introduction [to J.D.] is knowing that this is her ex. That's some pipe-hot tea!
The good news for Francois and Pippa is that Elliot may resume dating sooner than they expected. As the end of “My Angel,” she went to get some coffee with the pilot who transported the liver for her patient. So maybe they’ll hit it off and Elliot can embark on a new journey to find love. At the same time though, I hope Francois and Pippa eventually take a liking to J.D., as I don’t want things to remain frigid between them.
New episodes of Scrubs air Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, and can then be streamed with a Hulu subscription. There are four episodes left in this first season, and the network hasn’t announced if a second season will happen. However, given how well the revival’s opening two episodes performed, hopefully that means the chances of a renewal are stronger than not.
