The Todd (Scrubs)

Todd "The Todd" Quinlan
First appearance	"My First Day"
Created by	Bill Lawrence
Portrayed by	Robert Maschio
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	surgeon

Dr. Todd "The Todd" Quinlan, is a fictional character in the sitcom Scrubs played by Robert Maschio.

Profile

The Todd is a surgeon at Sacred Heart Hospital, where the show takes place. He often delves into rampant sexual innuendo with his colleagues, even during surgery. He once boasted, "They call me 'The Pig' because I say sexist and derogatory things to women." He is referred to by Chief Attending Physician Perry Cox as a "sexual deviant" and is known for turning many sentences into a double entendre or innuendo, once even turning the word "innuendo" into an innuendo ("in-your-endo") and proclaiming he would like to double HER entendre. These are usually of a sexual nature (a skill he apparently works very hard at, claiming he doesn't "just walk into these situations" and that it takes "a lot of hard work"). He claims that sometimes he hides under desks and behind walls for hours until a situation or conversation pops up that he can comment on. The Todd will often use the phrase, "How's your penis?" as a greeting for men. In the episode "My Office", it is revealed that he behaves as he does because he made out with his mother when he was young.^[1] Despite his frat boy personality, lack of common sense (he had to be reminded of his last name), and inability to spell (he needed to be reminded that there are two ds in Todd), The Todd is a very skilled surgeon. During his first year, Chief Surgeon Dr. Wen ranks him the best surgical intern at the hospital, and he is ranked second place among the surgical residents in terms of surgical skills. His disrespect for internal medicine doctors can be seen in the episode My Therapeutic Month when he says, "Let the medical weenies deal with [the patient's hypertension]. Weenie roast five." Out of all the surgeons in the hospital, Todd is actually closest to Christopher Turk and has stood by him as both friend and defender, though he once betrayed him with a "betrayal five" (slapping him in the chest) to get in their boss's good graces. In "My Best Friend's Wedding", he challenged Carla Espinosa's brother to a fight at Turk's wedding, when he makes another insult in Turk's direction. The Todd also believes that he is Turk's "number one best friend" and that series protagonist J.D. is Turk's "second best friend". He also has his own website which he has advertised on the show wearing a t-shirt with the URL and talking about it. The Todd has a unibrow that he waxes regularly. In "My Tormented Mentor", young Todd was played by Carter Jenkins. As of "Their Story" The Todd is a plastic surgeon, a job he enjoys as it involves working with both male and female genitalia. As of the end of season six, The Todd has appeared in 98 episodes.^[2] His last name wasn't made official until season 6. In the Season 1 DVD Commentaries (recorded during Season 4) Bill Lawrence talks about how Todd doesn't have a last name, they never gave him one on purpose. "Quinlan" was picked up by sharp-eyed fan from a prop tag on Todd's shirt once in the first season. It was merely a prop and not intended to be an actual name; however, the name eventually stuck. In Season 6, episode 17, "Their Story", is the first time that Todd's surname of Quinlan is used in the show. (Sources: Season 1 DVD, the commentary between Bill Lawrence and Rob Maschio. Also the commentary on Season 2 DVD. Also IMDB's trivia note for "Scrubs" Their Story".)

High-Fives

The Todd loves very powerful, often painful high fives, for instance in Season 1 when Todd asks JD to "show Todd some love," J.D.'s inner monologue says "I hate showing The Todd love" and then winces in pain after being high fived. Todd has invented many high five variants. These Fives are often done with a whip sound effect, and even the Mental Five makes a sound (although the sound effects decline in use after season one and some of two). They are almost always followed by a finger snap. The variants include the Face Five (where The Todd just gets slapped in the face), self five, Sterile Five (where Todd and Dr. Wen perform a five during an operation without actually touching each other's gloves), Air Five (similar to the Sterile Five),Internal Uh-Oh Five(Turk is getting burned by dept. heads over a boob job), Mental Five, "'Twas better to have loved and to lost than to never have loved at all Five" that the Todd gives JD when he learns that Keith has proposed to Elliot, Betrayal Five, which Todd once used to hit Turk in the chest so as to carry a suitcase to Dr. Wen when all surgeons were seeking his approval for a promotion, the Cyber Five (when Turk asks him about his t-shirt with "thetoddtime.com" written on it), and even the Miracle Five which The Todd uses to bring a patient in anaphylactic shock back to life, along with many more.

Appearance

The Todd wears very distinctive scrubs. Unlike the other characters in the show, The Todd's scrubs are cut off at the shoulders leaving his arms in full view, which shows off the tattoo on his right bicep that reads "DOC" . The Todd is mostly muscular, due to the large amount of time he spends at the gym, although, as J.D. pointed out in "My Overkill", The Todd also has some fat around his stomach. The Todd's surgical scrub hats usually have colorful patterns (such as scantily-clad women or streaks of fire) printed on them. He is also commonly seen sporting speedos (or "banana hammocks") and insists that anyone sleeping over at his apartment has to "hammock up." The Todd exemplifies a common stereotype in medicine: The Scalpel Jockey - a surgeon with great surgical skills, and no intelligence. In one episode he wore a "I ♥ Vagina" shirt. In another episode he wore a shirt that said, "GILF" with a stereotypical picture of a granny next to it.

Sexuality

There have been numerous hints that The Todd's excessive boorishness towards women is over-compensation for homosexuality. In "My Lunch", he even comes out to Carla and Elliot Reid^[3]. However, it turns out he is lying, believing that "chicks dig gay dudes." His sexual relations with many women in the hospital is questionable as they all deny sleeping with him yet at least one was pressured into admitting that she did (because she was sad that her dad died), and later in the same episode, he offers his thoughts on the attractiveness of men. In the same episode, Janitor is frustrated at trying to figure out The Todd's sexual orientation and asks "What the hell are you?" The Todd simply replies, smiling, "I'm The Todd!" - while his internal monologue comments on how attractive every person he passes is^[3]. In "My Last Chance", he apparently had sex with a piñata that resembled hospital psychiatrist Dr. Clock.^[4] In "My Scrubs", when someone says in reference to drugs, "It's hard staying straight", The Todd replies, "Been there brother!" and looks at his buttocks.^[5]

He makes the clearest verbal reference to his sexual orientation in "My Lucky Charm", when he says "The Todd appreciates hot, regardless of gender", suggesting he is simply bisexual. This is backed up by his internal monologue in "My Lunch". In fact, The Todd seems to have no boundaries at all when it comes to sex. He states, by way of euphemism, that he would even sleep with a 68-year-old syphilis patient, stating that, "The Todd accepts all applicants, regardless of age or disability." In the episode "My New Game", J.D. imagines the Todd ripping his heart out to save a patient and declaring, "I'm gay!" just before he dies, to which the nurse next to him replies, "I knew it." In "My Cold Shower", Janitor asks The Todd "God is watching, how many times have you had sex this year?" Which The Todd replies to with "bagel" (zero). He has photos of male swimmers in his house. When J.D. asks which one he is, The Todd says "Oh, I don't swim." In "My Big Move", he appears to have a "sixth sense" for lesbianism, stating "Something wonderful has happened" when Elliot and Carla kiss, and then soon afterwards "Something horrible has happened" when Turk tells them not to do it again.^[6] He also instinctively knew both times that Dr. Clock and Elliot suggested they make out to manipulate the attendees at a board meeting despite his being in transplant surgery the first time and in a shower the second. He has a knack for instantaneously showing up when two women are arguing, urging them on by declaring, "Cat fight!"

References

External links

• Official website
• Interview: High Fives from The Todd