realizes Turk said goodbye too early and the moment will be ruined later so they decide to have intense hugs whenever they run into each other.
Meanwhile, at the hospital's CoffeeBucks, Dr. Kelso tells Carla and Ted he wants to be a doctor again, albeit part-time, and he won't be hanging around Sacred Heart any more.
Elliot points out to the happy staffers yelling goodbye from the windows of the upper floors of the hospital.
jumps at the chance to make a heartfelt yet clearly pre-rehearsed speech about his maturation at Sacred Heart, only to find that the goodbyes are meant for Dr. Kelso, who has taken his table and is finally leaving Sacred Heart a full year after his own retirement.
Later in the cafeteria, Jordan says goodbye to J.D., reminiscing about how they had slept together (S01Ep06), and then kisses him on the cheek before realizing with horror how nice she had just been.
how suddenly accusing someone will make them own up to what they did in a pre-rehearsed trick with the intern Denise, who walks off unfazed.
They wish each other luck and the Janitor reveals his name as Glenn Matthews; however, an orderly then calls him "Tommy", making it uncertain whether this is indeed his real name.
(In a Twitter post on April 5, 2011, Bill Lawrence confirmed that Janitor was telling the truth when he revealed his name as Glenn Matthews.
(who had planned this in advance with Sunny) is secretly behind him and hears the whole thing, finally hugging a mortified Dr. Cox.
Dr. Cox then erases the smile on Sunny's face by reminding her she will be at Sacred Heart for a long time.
then walks through the halls of Sacred Heart for the last time and, as he does, he sees visions of many of the people he has encountered over his eight years there.
He sees his family, ex-girlfriends, former patients (both dead and alive) and co-workers before walking out the door for the last time.
cloth, showing him marrying Elliot, having a child with her, sharing Christmas with Elliot, Turk, Carla, Dr. Cox, Jordan and all their children, his grown son Sam getting engaged to Turk's grown daughter, Isabella, and showing off to J.D.
This sequence is constructed in a musical montage style, and is accompanied by a Peter Gabriel cover of "The Book of Love", originally written by the Magnetic Fields.
The cloth is torn down by an unfamiliar janitor (played by series creator Bill Lawrence) who says goodnight to him.
and Elliot in bed at the beginning of the episode was lifted from the pilot of a previous show of his, Spin City.
as he leaves the ICU in the final attempt for Dr. Cox to give JD a goodbye hug is Dr. Jonathan Doris, upon whom the show is loosely based.
[4] It was reported a week after filming in September 2008 that the finale of season 8 would feature a large cast of characters who had appeared throughout the show's eight-season run.
Over fifty actors reprised their roles as patients, medical staff, and supporting players from prior episodes for the finale.
[5] Heather Graham was also invited to reprise her role as Dr. Molly Clock, but declined for personal reasons.