10 Serious Moments From Sitcoms
10. Scrubs Ben Sullivan Dies
And you thought the Sixth Sense had ruined the whole hes dead the whole time schtick? Nope and of all the shows to pull it off, its the one based in a hospital. Brendan Fraser, perhaps best remembered as that guy from the Mummy films (sadly, rather than his role in Crash) appears for a few episodes as Ben Sullivan, brother of Jordan and best friend of Doctor Cox. He joshes around for a while until they do a serious angle where he gets treatment for leukemia. Then he isnt seen for two series before the series three episode My Screwup, where JD informs Doctor Cox that a patient has died and JDs skills are doubted more than usual for the entire episode. Constantly berated by Doctor Cox, Ben is the only one who manages to talk him into forgiving JD before we find out that Ben was the patient all along, and the two of them attend Bens funeral at the episodes end.
http://youtu.be/k1dV1lhmouA?t=3m15s
It might be easy to say you can see this kind of thing coming, but the episodes does a great job showing Ben while covering up that hes dead the whole time. Its only when you re-watch the episode when you realise nobody except Doctor Cox talks to Ben. It manages a sneaky piece of misdirection when Elliot turns her back to stop Bens antics (joking around behind her) but she actually doesnt see anything at all. We even get Doctor Cox to the graveyard without the audience catching on. The whole main cast are going to throw a birthday party in a park for Doctor Coxs son, Jack and the dialogue is filled with lines like were making sure everythings ready and are you going to show up later?