J.D. tries to persuade a smoker patient to quit smoking in order to impress Dr. Cox, who is just feeling lonely in his opinion. Elliot's attitude towards Carla annoys her, thus Turk is able to go on a date with Carla, when he convinces her to forgive Elliot.

J.D. has finally earned the spot as brightest student, but he's got competition: Nick Murdoch, who seems to be nicer, friendlier and has a better butt than him. But even J.D. can't hate the guy, for he is so nice. But he is surprised when he finds Nick sitting in a corner crying because he can't take the pressure of medical internship. Meanwhile, Turk is having problems at the operation table and doesn't tell Carla, who keeps bothering Dr. Cox about it. And Dr. Cox gives Turk a very unique suggestion on how to calm down before surgery.

A woman slips and falls on the wet floor of the hospital. Afraid that she might sue the hospital, Dr. Kelso asks J.D. to stand by her and be friendly, so she won't sue them. But J.D. is very busy with Dr. Cox's 24-hour marathon to keep his ICU patients alive.

Elliot is desperate for some attention from Dr. Cox. Meanwhile, Turk snaps at Carla when she steals fries from his plate.

J.D. is frustrated when his budding romance with an ex-patient wilts as their dates are constantly interrupted by emergency calls, while the beastly Dr. Kelso becomes less fearsome to the wide-eyed interns, when Dr. Cox informs them how to avoid the blowhard's bite. In addition, a perplexed Carla and Turk deal with their first sexual intimacy complication.

Turk's competitiveness is starting to annoy J.D., especially when it crosses the line of personal jokes and comes to patient's matters.

Meanwhile, Dr. Cox finally has a taste of good coffee, but thanks to his feud with Dr. Kelso, the only nurse who was able to make it gets fired. Elliot meets a very attractive patient, whom she instantly identifies, but has a really hard time getting him to ask her out.

Jordan's brother Ben is admitted at Sacred Heart for having an accident with a nail gun. J.D. learns that Ben has leukemia, but won't believe it, since there have been many mixups in the hospital lately, so he goes on a search for the real test results.

When Dr. Kelso challenges the residents by offering a trip to a medical conference in Reno as a reward to the individual, who presents the most interesting case study, J.D. refuses to play along, earning him the respect of Dr. Cox.

In the meantime, Turk misses his opportunity to ask for a new laser on the one day of the year, that Dr. Kelso grants favors, so he is forced to find another way to come up with the goods.