Entertainment

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'The Fix' Isn't *Totally* Based On The O.J. Simpson Trial But It Sort Of Is

I love a good crime drama, especially when it's based on true events. With all the different versions available to watch — Dateline, Snapped, 20/20 — it's a buffet of terror every night of the week. When you add Marcia Clark to the credits, I'm fully invested no matter what. Though you may remember Clark as lead prosecutor for the O.J. Simpson trial (back in '94), her work lately has been a little more creative — including her writing for this limited series. Based on Clark's previous experience, it's easy to assumeThe Fix is based on a true story, but is it really? The truth is it is and it isn't.

according to Clark, who cowrote and co-created the series with Elizabeth Craft and Sarah Fain, The Fix is "part legal thriller, part confessional, and part revenge fantasy." The show itself follows former prosecutor Maya Travis (Robin Tunney). She leaves her home in Los Angeles after losing a huge case, trading it all in for a quieter life in Oregon. All is well until the murderer she didn't get convicted eight years prior kills again. If the character is based on Clark, however loosely, Maya's return to LA shouldn't be a shock. Clark said in a trailer, while it's not entirely true or fiction, she wanted to pull her life experiences together saying, "I lived through a high-profile media circus. It tells the story of what goes on beyond the TV cameras. Is this a revenge fantasy? Maybe!"

Though if you were to ask Clark about the portrayal of Maya and how similar she is to Clark, you'd probably be slightly disappointed. She recently told TV Insider Maya isn't a fictional version of Clark. "I'm sorry, but you won't learn anything new about me personally," she said. "The Fix is a totally fictional imagining of what might happen if the killer who got away with murder the first time winds up charged with murder again — and the prosecutor who lost the first trial comes back to try and bring him to justice this time."

It's understandable why you'd want it to ring true. The Fix captures Clark's persona as a take-no-bull lawyer. She's been widely followed since the infamous Simpson trial. Though after her resignation from the District Attorney's office post-Simpson era, she's done more than prosecute. In fact, she's been on numerous TV shows as correspondent and host, and has even penned the nonfiction book, Without a Doubt with Teresa Carpenter, all about the Simpson ordeal, and two crime fiction series — the Samantha Brinkman and Rachel Knight books.

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Whether you're into crime and legal dramas or not, Clark's talent (in everything she does) is clear. The Fix may not be entirely true, and the leading character may not fully capture all Clark has experienced over the years, but there's enough grains of truth in there for it to be easy to believe you're watching Clark's life play out right before your eyes. If you're not old enough to have witnessed the Simpson trial firsthand as it played out in TV, I'd say The Fix is probably the closest thing to it — in the most fictional way possible, of course.

The Fix premieres March 18 on ABC.