CARLA ESPINOSA

'Carla Espinosa' is a fictional character in the American sitcom ''Scrubs'', portrayed by Judy Reyes.

Contents

Profile

Relationships with other characters

J.D.

Turk

Elliot

Dr. Cox

Ted

The Janitor

References

Profile

Carla is a nurse who works at Sacred Heart Hospital, in which the main action of the show takes place.
She was raised in Chicago. Her family is from the Dominican Republic. It is revealed in Season 5 that she is 36, which suggests that she was born in 1969 or 1970.
Carla starts dating Christopher Turk in the show's pilot episode, and marries him at the end of Season 3. Despite Elliot Reid's best efforts, Carla doesn't feel particularly close to her at first, although they have since become good friends. Conversely, she and series protagonist J.D. (whom she refers to affectionately as "Bambi") have a fairly close friendship. She is protective of J.D. and stands up for him when chief attending physician Dr. Cox shouts at him for no reason.
She is sometimes very overreactive and constantly feels the need to tell other supporting cast members how to go about their lives (most notably the series main character J.D.) and this advice is often unwanted, if not simply intrusive. She is also obsessed with spreading gossip, and when she swore not to spread a secret about Elliot Reid, she walks through the hospital reception awkwardly avoiding answering questions; when Janitor asks of Elliot's whereabouts, she replies: "cheese". She calls bossing people around "her crack" in the fifth season. Despite her personal foibles, no one dares make fun of her; when anyone does, she humiliates them in front of the entire hospital; this regime is briefly altered in one episode, where in a failed attempt to retain her dignity Carla says that she allows her friends to make fun of her, and after several jokes about her she loses her temper with Doug Murphy (a failed doctor who now works in the morgue and, along with lawyer Ted Buckland, is seen as the hospital loser).
Throughout the fifth season, she and Turk try to conceive a baby. Initially, they are unsuccessful, but finally get pregnant toward the end of the season after several episodes are spent on Turk and Carla worrying about their respective fertility. She gives birth to a baby girl, whom they name Isabella, in the episode "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby". JD becomes the godfather of the child.
It is revealed in the episode "My Day at the Races" that Carla is an ex-smoker who used hypnosis to quit. In the same episode, J.D. reveals that the apartment in which Carla and Turk reside is located at 56 Walnut Drive.
It is also revealed in the episode "His Story" that Carla's father ran out on the family when Carla was a child.
She has two sisters and a brother (who hates Turk because he confused him for a parking attendant at Carla's mother's funeral). One of the sisters is a model.^[1] Her mother, who also hates Turk, dies in the episode "My Drama Queen".

Relationships with other characters

J.D.

She claims that of all the interns she has worked with, J.D. is the only one whose approval she actually cares about, to the extent that she feigns an interest in black-and-white photography so he would think she is more intelligent.^[2]
While Carla sometimes complains that Turk and J.D. are a better couple than she and Turk, there has been no real rivalry between Carla and J.D. for Turk's attention, and both seek to encourage Turk to do the right thing as a husband and friend, respectively. Furthermore, it seems that at times J.D. is a closer friend to Carla than Turk, as he happily gossips with her "like one of the girls".^[3] In a later episode, Turk asks J.D. to help him and Carla out in their relationship trouble, but she and J.D. end up getting drunk and kiss each other.^[4]

Turk

Carla marries Turk in the season finale of season 3. They had dated for almost the entire run of the show, and constantly prove to have a solid relationship. However, Carla frequently says that she wishes Turk was as close to her as he is to J.D. From the start of season 5 Carla and Turk had attempted to conceive a child. Carla finally becomes pregnant in the episode "My Bright Idea".
Carla is initially hesitant to accept Turk's proposal in Season 2. Earlier, when Carla finds out that Turk had been hiding his knowledge of Dr. Cox's crush on her from her, Turk is relegated to J.D.'s room.^[5]
She and Turk go through a trial separation in season 4, after Carla discovers that Turk is still talking to his ex-girlfriend without telling her he is married. She moves in with Elliot for a while. Following some couples' therapy and some frank discussions with Turk and J.D., however, the couple reunite and immediately begin trying to conceive. She gives birth to a girl, Isabella (Izzy) , through a Caesarian section, in the Season 6 episode "My Best Friend's Baby's Baby and My Baby's Baby".

Elliot

At the beginning of season one, Elliot and Carla clash because Elliot maintains a 'holier-than-thou' attitude. The two gradually become best friends, however, after overtures from both sides. Series creator Bill Lawrence has said on DVD commentaries that this mirrored Reyes' and Sarah Chalke's real-life relationship.
While they are close friends, however, their relationship is not without friction; Carla sometimes resents Elliot's neurotic perfectionism and (unintended) condescension about her family background. In "My Lucky Charm", the two get into a vicious "catfight" (much to the delight of the male employees) over what had started as a disagreement over who an attractive male visitor likes better.
Although Elliot is not originally on the list of invited guests to Turk and Carla's wedding, she subsequently is revealed to be a bridesmaid. Later on, Carla says that she feels closer to Elliot than she does to her own sisters.^[6] During one episode, she fantasized (along with all the other main characters) about marrying Elliot, although her fantasy seemed unsettlingly sincere.^[7]

Dr. Cox

Dr. Cox has always had a soft spot for Carla, as she is not afraid to stand up to him. In "My Quarantine", it is revealed that they even went out on a date early in Carla's career at the hospital (presumably either before Dr. Cox and his ex-wife Jordan became involved, or more likely, after their divorce). When Carla confesses how fearful she is of being a parent after watching after his son, Cox happily tells Carla that he knows she'll be a terrific mother.^[8]

Ted

In many episodes, Carla is seen calling on Ted Buckland, Sacred Heart's milquetoast attorney, to assist with legal matters. Ted seems to be in love with her; he once admits it to her (she doesn't hear him), and even asks at one point how exclusive her relationship with Turk is. Ted's ''a cappella'' band also sings at Turk and Carla's wedding, and the "Chilies" theme at her baby shower. In the episode "My Interpretation," Carla has a sex dream in which Turk turns into Ted.

The Janitor

Carla is assumed to be the only person in the hospital whom the Janitor fears. The Janitor has put down almost every other person in the hospital, including his own boss, Bob Kelso, but doesn't dare go near Carla after she repeatedly stands up for other members of the hospital in front of him. Janitor's fear of Carla originates when she threatens to force-feed him a cup of urine. ^[9] The Janitor, however, is not above subjecting her to his special brand of torture on certain occasions, such as when he deliberately ruins her hospital picture because while she coerced many other hospital workers to be in the photo, she failed to ask the Janitor. However, it should be noted that in these cases she wronged the Janitor first.^[10] and when he makes her self-conscious by giving a younger nurse the nickname “Young Carla”.^[11] He has also blackmailed her in an attempt to sell her baby, but later settles for dance lessons.^[12]

References

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