Carla Espinosa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Carla Espinosa Turk | |
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| First appearance | "My First Day" |
| Created by | Bill Lawrence |
| Portrayed by | Judy Reyes |
| Information | |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 38 (36 as of "Her Story II") |
| Occupation | Nurse |
| Title | Charge Nurse |
| Family | Marco Espinosa (brother), two unnamed sisters, Aunt Marie, Mrs. Espinosa (Aunt Marie and Carla's mother, deceased) |
| Spouse(s) | Christopher Turk (husband) |
| Children | Isabella Turk (daughter) |
Carla Espinosa is a fictional character in the American sitcom Scrubs, portrayed by Judy Reyes.
Contents |
[edit] Profile
Carla is the head nurse at Sacred Heart Hospital,[1] in which the main action of the show takes place.
Though Carla lived in Chicago throughout her childhood, her family originates from the Dominican Republic and she is fluent in Spanish.
She is prone to overreaction and constantly feels the need to tell friends and co-workers 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. After several jokes about her, she loses her temper with Doug Murphy.
[edit] Family life
Carla was raised in Chicago. Her family is from the Dominican Republic, despite Turk's frequent and incorrect assertions that she is Mexican or Puerto Rican. It is revealed in Season 5 that she is 36, which suggests that she was born in 1969 or 1970. It is also revealed in the episode "His Story" that Carla's father ran out on the family when Carla was a child.
Carla starts dating Christopher Turk in the show's second episode, "My Mentor". They have been together for almost the entire run of the show, and constantly prove to have a solid relationship. Carla marries Turk in the season finale of season 3, "My Best Friend's Wedding". However, Carla frequently says that she wishes Turk was as close to her as he is to J.D., and admits to having nightmares where the two run away together. Carla is initially hesitant to accept Turk's proposal in Season 2. Earlier, after an intense argument, Turk is relegated to J.D.'s room.[2] 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. 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. They hit another bump when Turk does not find a pregnant Carla attractive; this changes after she receives maternity lingerie from Elliot. Carla 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". J.D. becomes the godfather of the child.
She has two sisters (one of whom gets her eye brow waxed off by Elliot during the preparations for Carla's wedding) and a brother named Marco (Freddy Rodriguez) who hates Turk, and who for years pretended he was unable to speak English in front of Carla. One of the sisters is a model.[3] Her mother, who also hates Turk, dies in the episode "My Drama Queen".
[edit] Relationships with other characters
[edit] J.D.
Carla's pet name for J.D. is "Bambi". 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.[4]
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".[5] 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.[6]
[edit] Elliot
Despite Elliot's best efforts, Carla doesn't feel particularly close to her at first, although they have since become best friends. Series creator Bill Lawrence has said on DVD commentaries that this mirrored Reyes' and Sarah Chalke's real-life relationship.
While they are close, 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.[7] During one episode, she fantasized (along with all the other main characters) about marrying Elliot and commented that she thought life would be simpler if she were.[8]
[edit] Dr. Cox
Chief Attending Physician Dr. Perry 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). Also, during the first season, it is revealed that Dr. Cox is in love with Carla (unbeknownst to her), but since she is with Turk, he does nothing about it. When Carla confesses how fearful she is of being a parent in "My Way Home", Cox happily tells Carla that he knows she'll be a terrific mother.[9]
[edit] 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 "Chili's" theme at her baby shower. In the episode "My Interpretation," Carla has a sex dream in which Turk turns into Ted.
[edit] 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. [10] 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[11] and when he makes her self-conscious by giving a younger nurse the nickname “Young Carla”.[12] He has also blackmailed her in an attempt to sell her baby, but later settles for dance lessons after she frames him as having stolen Rowdy.[13]
[edit] Nurse Roberts
Laverne Roberts was a fellow nurse, and Carla's friend. They enjoyed making fun of the doctors together. There are few occasions when these two fell out, but when Carla started sharing a lift to work with Dr. Kelso, Laverne loses her respect for Carla. This problem is quickly resolved when Kelso returns to the enemy and is mean to Carla about some inadequate paperwork she has completed. When Laverne died in "My Long Goodbye", Carla spent a long time trying to wish her friend farewell, and accept that she has passed away. She spends a day being followed by the memory of her friend, and this memory only disappears when Carla finally says goodbye. When she says goodbye, she breaks down into tears, reminiscing over the many years that they spent together. Only after this, does Laverne die. In "My Words of Wisdom", Carla is upset that everyone has moved on so quickly after her funeral, but realizes that even if people appeared to have forgotten her, she was still a part of their lives.
[edit] References
- ^ "His Story IV". Scrubs. NBC. 2007-02-01. No. 7, season 6.
- ^ "My Overkill". Scrubs. NBC. 2002-09-26. No. 01, season 2.
- ^ "My Sex Buddy". Scrubs. NBC. 2003-01-02. No. 11, season 2.
- ^ "My Nickname". Scrubs. NBC. 2001-10-27. No. 10, season 1.
- ^ "My Roommates". Scrubs. NBC. 2005-02-22. No. 18, season 4.
- ^ "My Lips Are Sealed". Scrubs. NBC. 2005-04-05. No. 21, season 4.
- ^ "My Best Friend's Wedding". Scrubs. NBC. 2004-05-04. No. 22, season 3.
- ^ "My Cold Shower". Scrubs. NBC. 2007-05-03. No. 19, season 6.
- ^ "My Way Home". Scrubs. NBC. 2006-01-24. No. 07, season 5.
- ^ "My Journey". Scrubs. NBC. 2003-10-09. No. 02, season 3.
- ^ "My Missed Perception". Scrubs. NBC. 2006-01-17. No. 06, season 5.
- ^ "Her Story II". Scrubs. NBC. 2006-02-07. No. 10, season 5.
- ^ "My Scrubs". Scrubs. NBC. 2007-03-15. No. 13, season 6.
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