Peculiarities
When first introduced, Elliot is portrayed as socially awkward and hyper-competitive, but her personality was modified slightly by the second episode, and according to Chalke, her character was shown totally lacking "social skills". She became a chatterbox who puts her foot in her mouth at every conceivable opportunity (in "My Mentor", she asks an overweight woman "When's the baby due?", and accidentally insults Turk's Jehovah's Witness mother by describing people of that faith as "crazed, annoying busybodies"). According to J.D. and various patients, her bedside manner is cold and mechanical, although in more recent seasons she's been shown to bond with several patients. Her bedside manner (or lack thereof) is part of the reason that Dr. Cox decides to split the role of Chief Resident between her and the more sensitive J.D. (saying the two of them together would make "one barely passable doctor/Labradoodle").
Elliot has frequently been shown telling "inspirational stories" to both fellow staff and patients that invariably end with someone killing themselves, to the extent that by "My Happy Place" it has become the expected result of any story she begins. In the episode "My Fishbowl", she admits she attempted suicide as a teenager.
In Season 3, Elliot undergoes a noticeable transformation; she begins dressing and grooming herself in a more sexually provocative manner, and adopts a somewhat more assertive and self-assured personality. This was the result of a directive from NBC's marketing department, which wanted the show to have a sexier female star to offer the network's coveted young male demographic. A short feature on the Season 3 DVD set entitled "The New Elliot" explains the reasons for the makeover, and the response it engendered from Chalke and the show's writers.
Chalke, speaking about her character, has stated how much Elliot has changed throughout the run of Scrubs. She has stated that at the start of the series, Elliot is a competitive and independent person until she realizes that she needs the help and support of her co-workers. Talking about Elliot's transformation in the episode "My Own American Girl", Chalke stated that the transformation didn't really help Elliot's life and that Elliot is still "on a never ending journey to find respect and now she's a lot more confident and together."
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