Dear Doctor and Something in My Room: Supernatural Romances, Their Successes & Their Problems

In Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul and Something in My Room, the main character is "haunted" by the dead--in the first case, a soul reaper; in the second, a ghost. 

The two series have decent acting and production values. They have positives and negatives in terms of writing. In the end, Dear Doctor succeeds. Something in My Room does not. 

*Spoilers*

The Premise

The premise of Dear Doctor makes somewhat more sense than Something in My Room. 

In Dear Doctor, Sanya died as a young man nearly twenty years earlier. Young Prakan became the recipient of his donated heart. Sanya agreed to act as a soul reaper, in part to experience life vicariously through the boy who now carries his heart. 

Grown up Dr. Prakan can see Sanya, whom he names Tua (or Ticket--all episode titles refer to "Ticket," the way in which the potential dead's names are delivered). They form an immediate connection. However, Tua is constrained by the rules of the Underworld, rules that Prakan at least initially tries to override. The rules are presented early on as well as continually hinted at.

In Something in My Room, Phob retreats to his family home when he dies in a suicide/car accident. He needs help remembering his past, so he can move on. A living young man, Phat, helps him. However, several people, including the admittedly very cool house's guardian, refuse to give Phob answers because it isn't "time." 

There is some sense to Phob retreating to his home turf. In addition, Phat's ability to see him is allowed by romance and youth standards (plus Phat has to make an effort to get in contact with Phob, using the Buffy-like abilities of his good friend, Dream). 

But there really is no good reason for people to just not tell Phob things. And their refusal to do so is never really explained except by Galaxy Quest standards (the clock always stops at the last second!).

The Primary Plot

In Dear Doctor, Tua must eventually pay for the information he passes on to the doctor (and others). The show is replete with clues, right from the beginning, regarding Tua's options and choices. In fact, the writing relies to an impressive degree on un-explained hints, such as the number of warnings Tua receives, implying that he has been treading the line for some time, even before he tells Prakan about his father. Tua's punishment--his separation from the doctor--leads directly to how they handle their relationship at the end of the series.

The primary plot of Something is that Phob needs to come to terms with bad events in his previous life, to meet and reconcile with various people before he moves on. I found the "Ben" subplot quite interesting--and the Ben character notable in his own right. The parental plot was less interesting but still appropriate to the premise. 

Except Phob never answers for his own behavior/choices, as Korn must in Until We Meet Again--and as Tua does when he pays for helping Prakan--and as Prakan must when he reconciles with his rival, another surgeon. Phob is presented almost entirely as someone who suffered at the hands of others. Some people adore this plot. It bores me only slightly less than mafia and drug storylines. I want to see the main character grow and adapt, not accept others' groveling or get buried under an avalanche of inevitable badness. 

The Subplots

The subplots in Dear Doctor are standard hospital fare: rivalry and politics. See every hospital drama ever! In some places, the subplots falter, but they pay off in a decent fashion (and far more positively than in many similar dramas). 

The primary subplot in Something in My Room is the nutty next door neighbor and it completely falls apart at the end. The next door neighbor, Nuan, is chillingly and convincingly suspicious--until it turns out that nothing was really her fault either and oh, she's going home now. 

Really? What a let down! I thought the actress deserved a scene-chewing "I'm taking you all down!" complex-antagonist's moment at the end. 

She didn't get it. 

The Sub Romances

Most Thai series have one to two other romances, mostly--I would guess--to fill in the episodes. 

I don't usually mind these romances, but other than Dr. Metha and the bold Dr. Nuch in Dear Doctor, I found the other romances in both series somewhat disturbing. 

In Dear Doctor, Kheeta bothered me since his "confession" seemed to take priority, in his mind, over all else, including Dr. Prakan's recovery.

In Something, Luck's behavior was actually illegal. Besides which, I do not favor the idea that stupid actions should be excused because they came about due to great passion. 

The Themes 

Dear Doctor is about the doctor coming to terms with all aspects of being a doctor. He doesn't accept death in the sense that he stops fighting it--but he does ultimately accept it as something he must address and handle. 

Consequently, his arguments/confrontations with Tua indicate growth. During the first major confrontation, he tries to banish Tua. With the second, he is angry at the timing of his mother's death but continues to interact with Tua. The third time, he asks for space yet acquiesces when Tua insists on a conversation. 

He accepts his own near-death experience. At the end of his life, he accepts his death--and the taking of his soul at Tua's hand--with gentle gravity. 

Reconciliation seems (maybe, perhaps, sort of) to be the theme of Something, but, as I mention above, Phob never really has to answer for his part in the process. Everybody else does. But not Phob.

"Everything is so unfair" unfortunately permeates the second series. See below.

The Primary Romance

I love the Hawaiian shirt--

I also love the gardening discussion.

Prakan and Tua/Sanya's relationship is cute, gentle, and deeply romantic. They determine at the end that they will remain together for Prakan's lifetime, yet Tua retreats from trying to interact with humans and be a soul reaper. Many of his rule violations arose because he was trying to do both at once. He has to choose--as all good Elvin/supernatural/fantasy characters must--and he chooses doing what will enable him to stay with the doctor. 

The final scene of the series implies that Tua will continue to operate, perhaps for several more generations, until he and the doctor can be reincarnated at the same time. 

The relationship in Something is more Romeo & Juliet (without the irony). The romance is believable and quite sweet but a moral lecture begins to creep into the final episodes, namely, it is unfair that Phob and Phat will be separated just as it is unfair that gay people cannot marry. 

The analogy is not without its merits: Phat's inability to acknowledge his "ghost" boyfriend is compared to a living boyfriend being "ghosted" by society. 

And I was fully prepared for Phob to be only symbolically dead. 

Only he was actually dead. And being actually dead in a supernatural show means that the character is...actually dead. 

Consequently, the end of the second series comes across as nearly nihilistic.

In Dear Doctor, Dr. Prakan continues to be a hard-working doctor who lives for his job and his family's hospital. His lover works invisibly at the same hospital, continuing to reap souls. They reserve their private relationship for home. Tua steps back from being friends with Prakan's friends. Life isn't perfect yet the lovers are happy and satisfied with their choices. 

In contrast, Phat becomes a sad man who married, then got divorced, doesn't appear to have had kids, and lived with a mother who was never happy. He treads water until his life ends. 

Again, some people may like the "Queen Victoria never puts off black clothing" act, but I've always been grateful that Monk, for one, kept doing the job he was good at, no matter how deeply he mourned his dead wife. He added positive actions to the world.  

"He's always around."

I felt less sympathy, ultimately, for the Something characters than I felt for Prakan and Tua/Sanya. With Dear Doctor, I mourned what Sanya had lost and nourished hope for both characters in the future. With Something, I was forced to conclude that Phob actually did ruin Phat's life, even if he does come for him at the end. Vampire-like, he fixated Phat on the unattainable dead rather than the complicated and potentially lovable living.

Since Phob is a decent character, I blame the writers (for a lot of stuff) more than the character. 

In sum...

The differences point to the difficulty of creating supernatural plots that rely on comprehensible rules that work organically throughout the story and avoid, however tempting, thematic analogies that potentially overwhelm and derail the story. I will address these issues in future posts.