Letter #65: Fix You

Good morning, Erin.

Hey, remember how it’s never a good idea for me to be let off on my own to make my own decisions about things? And remember how you didn’t have anything in particular you wanted me to watch after all the BTS stuff? And remember how that was totally legitimate because you’ve got tons of school stuff to deal with and why the heck do you need to worry about me and my decisions? 

Well…guess what happened?

If you guessed that I blithely followed my K-drama girlfriend into a disaster of a TV show, then…you guessed correctly! Congratulations! 

Yeah, in spectacular (I’d almost say cliché, at this point) fashion, I started Fix You because I am madly in love with Jung So-min, and…gosh, that didn’t go at all how I’d hoped. 

And now you get to hear about it! Or maybe skim through it to find the very personal secret I may or may not include in the letters for the shows I know you haven’t seen! 

Anyway. No spoilers, of course. Because I’m sure you’re dying to watch this mess.

1. Real talk right up front: this show isn’t good, but it’s also not bottom-of-my-list terrible. I’d say it’s about as good as Two Cops—and for almost the same reasons. But the one thing it undeniably has going for it is Jung So-min.

1A. Now, I know—you’re giving me a little look, right now, but I’m being much more serious than you’d initially think, Erin. Because I don’t mean that the only reason to watch the show is that it allows you another excuse to stare starry-eyed at Jung So-min. No, I mean that Jung So-min f***ing BRINGS IT, here, delivering one hell of a performance as our borderline personality disorder-afflicted female lead. She is fantastic in this role. I mean, I love her, but I’ve never thought she was a particularly great actress—and now I know that’s because I’ve never seen her in anything where she would have the chance to show off what she can do. And holy mackerel does she ever. 

1B. I mean, look, I don’t know if her character is written as a perfect representation of someone with borderline personality disorder, but I also don’t think she does anything that veers too far away from what little I know or would expect of someone with it. Regardless, the character is written with wonderful consistency and a lot of room for nuance…and, again, Jung So-min kills it. She swings from mood to mood, frequently cycling between shades of feelings from moment to moment as she rages or sobs or stares into the distance, utterly lost…and you see all of it. You can actually see the inner conflict underlying her emotions play out across her face, in her eyes. I don’t think I’d be exaggerating to say it’s on par with a performance you’d get from Jeon Yeo-been or Kim Go-eun (except perhaps that sometimes the script gets too fluffy and she isn’t allowed to go deeper)—she’s that good.

1C. Plus she gets to sing and dance! Did you know she could sing and dance? WELL SHE CAN.

2. Everything else about the show—almost literally!—is a waste of time. And, in some instances, talent. Or story. It’s all such a mess, particularly when you have something as rich as the writing for Jung So-min’s character plus her stellar performance. 

3. A lot of the show (particularly dealing with our male lead, the doctor) is just fluffy “TV” pablum, papering over some of the harsher realities of mental illness with hippy-dippy “Oh, if only all doctors were like our system-bucking hero!” nonsense so that the show can feel…I dunno, morally superior? I mean, look, I’m absolutely of the mind that institutional solutions do not yield the best results for every person they are applied to, and I’m certainly not a fan of how readily we turn to pharmaceuticals as the default first/only step in healing all of our ailments. But our main guy’s way of doing things is at least half-absurd, and even when it is shown to be a total mistake, the show just gives it a “ya win some, ya lose some” pass so that we can all bask in how brilliant and wonderful he is, because the show hinges on him being brilliant and wonderful. Y’know, instead of being a well-realized character. Like the female lead. 

4. Oh, I forgot to mention: this show has another titling issue—by which I mean the English title isn’t as cool as the translated title. The original title translates (approximately) to Soul Mechanic, which is a much catchier title IN ENGLISH, so I don’t know why they went with Fix You. Maybe they just like Coldplay. 

4A. Also, the term “soul mechanic” comes from the name of/persona of the male lead’s podcast that he does, where he tries to help people heal their own stresses and anxieties—which is pretty much his whole shtick as a doctor: he believes that patients can heal themselves (sort of…sometimes…the show’s not very good so just go along with it). So, it’s also much more relevant to the theme of the story. Which is just another reason why Fix You is not a great title.

4B. THAT SAID…calling it Soul Mechanic does sort of put the focus on the dude and not a co-focus on the two leads, which Fix You actually manages to do. So…given how significant Jung So-min’s character (and especially her performance, as I’ve already said) is, it’s certainly better in that sense. 

5. I mentioned that not enough time is spent on the romantic subplots of the support cast—and there absolutely is not (one in particular was far too much in the background)—but there’s one romantic subplot that is inexplicably introduced and then even more inexplicably dropped. And I spent the whole rest of the show going, “When are we going back to her crush on him? She has a crush on him, right? You did that thing in the one episode and then the other in the next one. That’s…that’s a romance subplot, show. You can’t lie to me about a romance subplot. Where did it go, show, where?!” And I was very pouty. You know I like my romance subplots. 

6. Y’know, I sing and dance, too. Well, I did. Not at all well. But I did. In high school. Because I was a pretty okay actor, back in the day, but that meant I had to do the singing and dancing, too, because most of the other kids could sing and/or dance but not so much act, which meant we just did musicals. Which…I can’t remember if I’ve told you that already or not. But it’s fine either way, because Jung So-min sings and dances and acts, in this, so it’s totally relevant.

7. Every time a character sends another character a text message, it appears on their phones like it is the very first text either of them has ever sent the other. I know I’m still relatively new to these here smartphones, but that is absolutely not how texting works with people I have seen you text a dozen times already. 

8. I thought there was going to maybe be a girl-girl romance subplot of some kind, but there was not. And I was very pouty. You know I like my girl-girl maybe-romance subplots. 

9. Jung So-min’s character has a giant framed glamor shot of herself hanging on her wall…and it’s from the same shoot as the photo I have of her as my phone wallpaper. 

9A. She also has this really nice oil painting(?) of herself in her bedroom, which I found to be a far less…self-aggrandizing decoration that the giant glamor shot. 

9B. Then again, if I was good looking as she is, maybe I’d have nothing but glamor shots up all over the place, too. Still. I always think that’s a weird design choice. 

10. People in this show have the same ringtone as I do, and I kept thinking I was getting calls when their phones would ring. 

11. I both have a lot to say and don’t really want to get into this one voyeurism-focused story arc, in the show, because I’m 75% sure the mechanics of what’s driving the story don’t make sense. Like, the concept is fine, but the reactions to it are far too intense, in my opinion, given what we are shown. So…just know I think there was an issue with the writing. And/or maybe the production decisions. 

12. A character wears a Jesse Jackson 1988 presidential campaign shirt, at one point, and I cannot for the life of me figure out why anyone in Korea would have, let alone wear, that shirt. I mean, as far as cultural touchstones go, that’s not one that stands out, even if it might have to people who were old enough to be concerned with his candidacy at the time. It’s just a strange pull. 

13. Okay, so, one of the very personal secrets I wrote in my notes to share with you in this letter is such an unexpected bit of synchronicity, and I think you’re going to like it: the other day, I was looking for one of my favorite(-ish) books on my bookshelves because I felt like I wanted to reread it, and I saw a different book that I knew I wanted to tell you about—though not exactly about the contents of the book but the physical book itself. Because it’s a book that I loved the first half of and hated the second half of…so, when I finished it, I cut the book in half and only kept the first part. The book is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami—y’know, the Japanese author who makes multiple appearances on RM’s book list, which you told me to check out the day after I made a note to tell you I cut this book in half. 

13A. Also: I’ve read a couple of Murakami’s books. I don’t like him as an author. He always does just a liiiiittle too much with his stories, adds just an element or two too many that takes away from the otherwise very grounded and/or compelling story he’s telling. 

13B. That said, everyone else says he’s a genius, so…I think you know who you should listen to. 

14. For the record, the friend who owns the restaurant is #bestgirl. 

15. Dear heavens, does this show love to have its forced, heavy-handed soapbox episodes. It’s so lazy, self-righteous, and obvious, when it pops up, that it turns me off to even the stances they take which I already fully agree with. Ugh.

16. And don’t get me started on how they cover up all the Hyundai logos. 

17. Before I forget, let’s see who I recognized in this series, hm?

• the ever-wonderful Jung So-min as our mentally ill female lead

• the funeral director from May I Help You? as the straight-laced doctor

• the father from May I Help You? as the deputy director of the hospital 

• the father from 100 Days My Prince as the…deputy-deputy director(?) of the hospital

• the librarian lady from Summertime Strike as a nurse (note: I want her in more things)

• the fencing coach from Twenty-Five, Twenty-One as a patient terrified of car crashes

• Young Jang Uk from Alchemy of Souls as a patient with hallucinations

• Mr. Wharton College Man from Little Women as a soccer player

17A. Fun fact: the first person we see on the show is Mr. Wharton College Man, but he’s silhouetted down a dark hallway—and yet I immediately knew it was him. I struggled to tell who the BTS boys were from video to video (because they so often change their hair) when I could see their faces, but give me the vague outline of this dude in an unlit hallway, and I’m all over it. Apparently. 

18. I never realized I needed every hospital waiting room to have a life-sized statue of Jesus to sit next to. 

19. April is the cruelest month.

19A. …is a line from The Wasteland by T.S. Eliot, and it’s also historically true for me, as I usually have a rough go of things roundabout April. This year, though, like last year, that has not been the case. Is it a coincidence that these were also the two Aprils after you and I started talking? Or have you granted me some kind of protection against the annual machinations of my horological archnemesis? 

19B. I mean, granted, last year’s typical April shenanigans ended up happening in May, but I think the point still stands that April hasn’t been mean to me since we became K-drama buddies. 

And, yeah, we’ll end it there. Because I don’t know that I can muster much else to say on the subject. 

It’s not awful, but it’s not good. I don’t hate the male lead, but I don’t like him—and I really don’t like how they handle his side of the overall story. But, again, Jung So-min is soooooo good that it’s worth the time just to see her be incredible. 

At least, I think so.

…or you could maybe watch Alchemy of Souls maybe I dunno I hear it’s good.

—Daryl

P.S. - I told you my British friend’s favorite member of BTS is Suga, right? Well, I told her that you like him best, as well, and her response was—and I quote—“That’s bc suga is the best I agree xoxoxox”