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You Make Me More has moved to a new domain, please find the most current content at youmakememore.net and update your bookmarks!
You Make Me More 
Warning! I disagree with almost all of this. (But I don’t hate you!)
MR SONG and EMILY:
I do agree that the Asian hate crime wasn’t fully explored; however at least the writers recognized it as an issue to address. I get that it may be a stretch that he’d literally rather die than appear “weak” but apparently the need to be strong is common among certain generations of Asian men, particularly in Martial Arts that trickles down even to those not involved in those arts. Such as: Park’s father, who told his son to “be like stone”.
As for Emily, yes Shaun was rude to her, but he was, as usual, laser focused on saving his patient’s life. And although Shaun’s interpretation of the tux guy’s advice was awkward, it was yet another example of his taking things literally…often to extremes, It harkens back to Season 1 when he told Lea that she looked “ridiculous in that sweater” Not the same I know, but it’s characteristic.
Emily thanked Park for helping her see that she should support her father’s decision (NOT his intention), but did she thank Shaun for ultimately saving her father’s life? For all of Park’s and Jordon’s well intentioned, kind, empathetic efforts to steer her to sign off on the brain surgery, which, BTW, was Shaun’s design, it was Shaun who cut through the crap and (yes, rudely) got through to her by telling her it didn’t matter if her father got mad at her, but the only important thing was saving his life. In return, she not only wrote a bad review, but a long, detailed, nasty one. She couldn’t see past how he made her uncomfortable; didn’t it matter that he saved her father’s life? Because he did.
ROSA
I thought this was a stretch too, but I’m glad they didn’t leave Audrey waiting, wondering, pining for several episodes. She’s too fine for that. This resolved Mateo’s status quickly.
As for Shaun’s fixation about the reviews, it’s fairly normal for him as he often fixates on an issue, particularly when he’s stressed. And he is stressed, not only about the reviews. Besides, Freddie Highmore knows more about Shaun than anyone. If he thought it was out of character I’m sure he would have made his objections known. He’s also an executive producer and has even more say over his own character’s arc.
I’m surprised that Shaun didn’t recognize the very real problems with the algorithms, to the point of telling Lea not to talk to Salen about it.
Which brings us, of course, to what Lea did instead.
Yes, it was wrong, I wish she hadn’t done it. Yet I understand why. She’s not only concerned about Shaun, she’s terribly worried. She was there for the hand dryer meltdown; even she couldn’t calm him. She also knows he feels abandoned by Glassman; she tried her best to get him to help Shaun. Yes, there will be repercussions, both professionally and personally, with Shaun.
About the speculations; I firmly believe she’ll voluntarily tell Shaun what she did, after struggling mentally. He was so relieved and proud about the “improved” reviews! But I don’t think she’s capable of lying to him, even by omission. She couldn’t about Marcie’s Save the Date; I don’t think she can now. Shaun has never lied to her, and he puts a premium on honesty.
As an aside, I’m starting to really dislike Salen. I can’t stand people who smile and smile while putting people down. Audrey hates her and I don’t blame her.
Please always call me out on my crap if you don’t agree, I love hearing different thoughts and opinions and explore the different angles. This, in particular, may help me understand the episode better and maybe start liking it more. I think a lot of my dislike for this episode stems from several angles and was probably a culmination of many different things hitting all at once. And ultimately, different people can have different opinions, which keeps things interesting.
The hate crime:
If the writers didn’t have enough space in the episode to address and explore the issue properly, sorry, they shouldn’t have used it as a storyline at all. That’s my personal opinion. They could have just as easily left that part out and said Mr. Song fell or had an accident, etc. and it would have sufficed to just focus on the story around brain surgery or not. They’ve always been very strongly advocating for addressing controversial issues, and you wouldn’t want to know how many complaints there are from idiots and trolls on Reddit about the show being too political, too SJW and too woke. I love when they make a stand for such topics, but it just fell flat in this episode. This is pure conjecture, but it may be possible that the plot was initially planned differently, and they had to course-correct relatively spontaneously because of Osvaldo’s departure, which could explain some of the disconnects.
Shaun’s behaviour:
To a degree, I agree with what you’re saying. Of course I recognise that Shaun has a tendency to hyper-fixate on certain things and lose sight of other things as a result. I also very much understand that he can overcompensate and overinterpret advice he’s been given to apply it in all the wrong ways. And I don’t mind seeing it done on the show, but I strongly felt like they over-caricatured it in this episode, and amped it up to a degree that felt unrealistic for how much Shaun had learned and grown particularly in season 4. Like I said, maybe that’s pure projection or wishful thinking on my part because I love the character so much. And I will say that, on a rewatch of the episode, I have softened my stance somewhat after all the discussion I’ve had with other fans.
But I stand by my personal assessment that a lot of the dialogue and behaviour felt awkwardly over-engineered, clumsy and forced. It’s easy for me to say because I’m not a scriptwriter, and I don’t want to claim I know this character better or even the same as the people writing or otherwise working for the show. And I agree with you that if Freddie or anyone else had felt strongly about the episdoe being too out of character for Shaun, they likely would have challenged it.
At the end of the day, we don’t know the inner workings of how these episodes come together, or what the motivations are for certain decisions that are being made. And whatever my interpretation of what’s in and out of character is, it may not always align with where the writers or producers want to take these characters. That’s ultimately true for any fictional character, unless they are your own creation. But I’m still free to yell into the void if I would like to see the character be treated differently, right? 🙂
I think in the end that may even be a good thing. It means I’m passionate about the show and the character, and if I feel he’s not being done justice, then it only means I’m invested. If my ideas stray from how the writers and producers see the character, then I can live with that, to a degree. If it starts bothering me too much, I can always take my leave from the show, though I certainly hope that won’t happen. I may just not be a fan of this particular writing duo’s writing style, and then I’ll swallow that pill and hope for better writing to come.
It’s interesting you made a comparison to the sweater line from season 1. First of all, that was 4+ years and a whole lot of learning and character growth ago. It’s not out of character for Shaun as such to be brutally honest, often awkwardly so. My gripe is not with that fact as such, my gripe is with how clumsily it was done in this episode. Everything was amped up to a degree where (to me) it felt unrealistic and uncharacteristic.
And the sweater line was somehow endearing in that moment, because it was not angry or selfish or self-serving. Shaun’s tirade towards Emily felt like it came from the wrong place, because it was all Shaun being cross with Emily for not having the same opinion he did, because he felt, simply, she was WRONG. And that’s an opinion you, as a surgeon or physician, can have, but it’s not the right way to go about it to then yell at your patient that you think they’re wrong, particularly not in such a rude way. Kinda feels like you’re comparing apples and oranges here.
If was I really invested and had the kind of time, I would actually love to take a stab at rewriting some of this episode into how I think I could have been done more respectfully while still having the same or a similar effect. (Cause it’s easy to say you think something’s sub-par when you don’t actually try to give specific ideas about how it could be improved, right?) I’d like to think it could be done. But it would be a pretty hefty effort, and I do, after all, have a full time job and already spend way too much time being engrossed in this TV show’s universe. For now, I think I’lll just try to come up with a few missing scenes that might help me with a certain level of reconciliation.
Thanks again for your lovely comment, and thanks also for challenging my viewpoint. I love the deep level discussion like this!
Some time ago, a university student diagnosed with ASD claimed in a support group meeting that there was no need for him to learn how to communicate properly with neurotypicals – if he was to become a luminary of his profession, they would come to him to be enlightened by his wisdom anyway.
When I retold that sentiment to a neuroscientist doing research at the very same university’s hospital (and accidentally knowledgeable about ASD), her reaction was a deadpanned “That might have worked in 1921, but not in 2021.”
That’s what came to my mind, TeeJay, when I read how you juxtaposed Shaun’s inadequate handling of patents and relatives with his medical prowess – yet, in today’s working environment the latter does not nullify the former.
In a way, season 5 is returning to questions that were raised in seasons 1 & 2: can Shaun properly communicate when lives are in danger (Andrews, 1×01) and can he handle the emotional needs of patients and their relatives. In season 2, Dr. Han’s answer to this was to keep Shaun away from patient care altogether.
The tornado that was Dr. Han blew over eventually with the remaining surgical team reacting in their own way to the whole affair: superiors and fellow residents closed ranks around Shaun and spanned a safety net around him.
Shaun losing control over his first lead surgery? Give him a full rehearsal while having the ICU short-staffed.
Shaun losing control over his second first lead surgery and insulting a nurse? Chief Lim has him running on long leash so that he does worsen the situation even further.
Shaun losing control in his mad pursuit of the death of a Jane Doe, frightening her son so that he’s put into jail an receives a restraining order? Park and Glassy to the rescue, no repercussions even as he neglected his duties.
Shaun defying direct orders by Chief Lim in his mad pursuit of rescuing Lea in the ruins of the brewery? Lim did not even consider to chew him out.
Shaun lashing out on a patient’s worried-to-death wife? Andrews gives him a mild slap on the hand.
Shaun dumping adult toys on his female boss’s desk and asking for an opinion? Never mind.
Shaun bluntly accusing a senior surgeon he does not know a bit of making fatal mistakes? Andrews covers for him.
To be continued…
Truth be told, Shaun fucks up a lot but is regularly saved not by his medical epiphanies, but the bubble his peers created around him.
Shaun has benefitted a lot from this grace extended to him – he could progress in his own (slow) pace with spare time to develop his romantic life. Though, this could not go on forever. Colleagues would transfer out (Claire!), superiors might change, the residency would end eventually. They couldn’t protect him forever from his own shortcomings – shortcomings he even might have underestimated greatly because of this safety net.
Now, Salen is rapidly cutting away the strings that held Shaun in balance and he is ill-prepared to stand on his own. Shaun is stumbling and Salen will continue to push him because neurodivergent herself, she does understand where he’s coming from, but doesn’t approve of the way he’s handled. Her philosophy is the stark opposite of the bubble created around Shaun: “Nobody made accommodations for my ADHD. That was hard, but it made me stronger, smarter, more resourceful. We have different problems and different strengths, but I know if you keep patronizing him, it’ll backfire.”
I approve of her approach by personal experience.
You know, Andreas, I absolutely love everything about your comment, because it gives me a whole new perspective. So thank you for that! Probably a lot of us are somewhat enamoured with Shaun and we want him to do well and succeed, but you’re right that he’s been surrounded with fluffy cushions quite considerably. Salen is taking them away, and suddently the ground feels so much harder and more uncomfortable. We’ve seen him flourish particularly in season 4, because he’s had the safety net of Lea and Glassman and his colleagues, and while that’s important for him, I suppose at some point you have to push the fledgling out of the nest and hope he flies on his own.
It’s pretty clear that season 5 is all about pushing (not just) Shaun to the limit, testing his strength, resilience and adaptability. While the neurotypicals around him also struggle but mostly manage to course-correct in time, Shaun hits one guardrail after the next, and the dings in his autobody are starting to become noticeable and detrimental.
I’ve been asking myself why I hated this episode so much, and I think partly it *is* because I hate seeing Shaun bumble and fail and, well, royally fuck things up. But I think there’s absolute merit to throwing him in the deep end and hoping that, while he may be swallowing some water in the process, he will eventually swim. I don’t approve of what Lea did with the omitted review, because it was patronising as hell. But it aligns with her wanting to protect Shaun, wanting to be that safety net you mentioned — particularly now that Glassman is AWOL that part of the safety net is hanging loose.
It’s always wonderful to hear your insights, because me being neurotypical, it’s not always easy to parse and understand where certain behaviours and reactions are coming from, also knowing full well we can’t fully free ourselves of biases, prejudice and socio-cultural beliefs and norms. If there’s anything that I want to take away from watching this show and writing about it, it’s to hopefully learn to be more understanding of the neurodivergent people around us. Please feel free to ever call me out on anything that is disrespectful or wrong.
I will stand steadfast, however, that some of the dialogue and story points were just not a great choice and could have been written in a way that it felt more in character and more organic, without compromising the intention to have Shaun struggle and fail.
You’re welcome, TeeJay. Wanting to protect a fictional character is sure proof of good drama…
Now, good drama is rooted in reality. There’s this student of medicine I happened to run across once, who was sure that she never could disclose her ASD diagnosis to any potential employer because no hospital would hire an autistic doctor. It was the year 2020.
It’s not fair, but this are the harsh realities any individual on the spectrum has to reckon with at some point. It’s a big pro of this show that it never shied away from depicting this.
Concerning the notion that a specific character would never say this or do that, I tend to look at this more relaxed. In The X-Files, another favorite of mine, the main protagonists Fox Mulder and Dana Scully could be a very different characters from episode to episode, which wasn’t only because they developed organically over seasons but also because different writers within the writing room were given the opportunity to explore different angles of themes and the characters. Thus, there never was a definitive Mulder or Scully character, but a rich assortment of character traits that were remembered by the fandom with individual emphases – the perception of a character varies, just as in real life. It’s a highly subjective matter in the end.
One episode, 5×12 Bad Blood, was even built entirely on subjective perception of characters and situations, parodying the beloved heroes with great joy: after Mulder killed a young member of a trailer park community he believed to be a vampire, Mulder and Scully are required to report to their boss. To get their story straight, they tell each other their individual version of the events.
Scully remembers Mulder to have acted like a real dick to her, dismissive of her professional opinions and personal needs. In Mulder’s version, Scully has been whiney, uncooperative, and unresponsive to his theories, while behaving like a smitten schoolgirl to the backwater sheriff, who, as Mulder keeps insisting, had an overbite.
The whole episode is about perception and subjectivity. Who to tell what were the “real” characters’ actions and discussions? In the end, nobody is able to tell or check it with the locals – because the whole community has pulled stakes and vanished. 😉
https://them0vieblog.com/2015/06/04/the-x-files-bad-blood-review/
What is important to me about Crazytown isn’t a certain line of dialogue but the directions the plot is taking the characters. Shaun is on a straight way to be confronted with his weaknesses – a necessity for further character growth on his behalf – and Lea has handed Salen the lever to enroll the IT head and fiancée into in the CEO’s plans for St. Bonaventure’s new poster boy. A great setup for divided loyalties and hard choices down the road.
“Bad Blood” is one of my all time favourite X-Files episodes, I know it very well! But while I love the comparison you’re making, I feel that this comparison is “limping” (you know the German saying). Bad Blood was written in a way that it’s pretty clear the episode is meant to be tongue-in-cheek. It was set up to poke fun at itself and not take itself seriously. I don’t think Crazytown was meant to be an episode with a self-ironic undertone. If that were the case, I wouldn’t mind so much that Shaun was (IMHO) portrayed as somewhat over-caricatured.
And I’m absolutely with you on the “big picture” topics that are presented in Crazytown. I like the general direction that they’re taking this season — the continuing alienation of Shaun from his safety net. Glassman is AWOL and out of reach. Lea is overprotetive and doing more harm than good at this point. Salen is fastening the thumb screws little by little, and everyone is under continual pressure. The rug is being slowly pulled out from under Shaun, and I’m a 100% interested in seeing that playing out in the long run. I have absolutely zero issues with them going this route, though I think they need to carefully balance all the misery with a little more hope and enjoyable moments. I do love my angst, but I need a bit of relief sprinkled in, just to keep me afloat, you know?
From what I’m seeing, there’s a pretty universal sentiment in the fandom that people really despise Salen and they want to see her gone as quickly as possible. I would not count myself as part of that group. I think Salen is a great character who is mixing things up and introducing a wind of change. Yes, that wind is also disruptive, and not all her ideas and changes are positive.
As a person who works in a corporate setting, I can very much empathise with the worker bee perspective, and how “helicoper management” head honchos like Salen are usually frustrating as hell, whose methods and ideas don’t always result in a good outcome for the company or the business. Disruptive change is only ultimately positive if you don’t end up disgruntling the majority of your workforce and making the work environment unbearable. And I think Salen isn’t necessarily on the right side of that equation, but we’ll see how that continues to play out.
I do realise that I may have overreacted a little with my initial strongly negative review of the episode. It’s great to be discussing the big picture views and weigh thoughts and opinions with other fans. It may ultimately motivate me to rewrite this recap into something a little less acerbic and somewhat more appreciative of the intent of the episode, even though I still feel it was not up to par.
Thanks again for all the food for thought!