#watch cam tavanlar

[kurtscrackers]

HELLO PALS! Welcome to Kurt's Crackers, your #1 source for Unpopular OpinionsTM about the following shows/movies (and occasionally other things). I'm always open to messages, DMs, and tags, so feel free to say hello or holler YOUR opinions.

yes I named this blog after the cracker-obsessed henchman from Gaddar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he deserves it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! he is iconic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CURRENTLY WATCHING:

Gaddar (LOVE IT, A+, 10/10, I am Filled With Delight)

COMPLETED SHOWS:

Maral: En Güzel Hikayem

İçerde (in Turkish; watching in English/Spanish when available)

Hakan: Muhafız

50m2

Cam Tavanlar/Love Reserved/Glass Ceilings

Hatırla Gönül (mostly)

Kübra

COMPLETED MOVIES:

Mahmut ile Meryem

Delibal

Anadolu Kartalları/Anatolian Eagles

Sadece Sen/Only You

7. Koğuştaki Mucize/Miracle in Cell #7

Kağıttan Hayatlar/Paper Lives

Yarına Tek Bilet/One-Way to Tomorrow

Kardeşim Benim

Sen Kiminle Dans Ediyorsun/Turkish Dance School

Biz Böyleyiz/The Way We Are

INCOMPLETE SHOWS:

Muhteşem Yüzyıl/Magnificent Century

Binbir Gece/1001 Nights

Medcezir (would continue if available)

Pera Palas'ta Gece Yarısı/Midnight at the Pera Palace

Terzi/The Tailor

Yeşilçam

CLIPS ONLY:

Yüksek Sosyete/High Society

Dogdugun Ev Kaderindir/My Home My Destiny

Çukur/The Pit

[wahgifs]

Let me introduce you to our new CEO.

[sejanuspiinth]

kubilay aka as cem kumcu in cam tavanlar : episode 1 ( 2021 ).

[djemsostylist]

The Great Dizi List, Part 3a (The Summer Dizis and Son Yaz)

This list is comprised of dizis I'm currently watching. Some are in progress, some are on break. I'm in the process of watching all of them.

Son Yaz: This one is a dizi that has been recommended by countless people, but I had put off watching until closer to the second season. This is ostensibly a mafia drama, but I think a closer fit would be a family drama. It reminds me most of the old CW dramas, like Everwood (or Friday Night Lights as @lolo-deli said) with teens and their parents as the core of the story. It's good, and I think I'll enjoy it more as the story progresses. I'm a lot more interested in the parents right now and their struggles and in Selim and Akgün's burgeoning bromance--the teens are a little, well, teeny for me right now, but I suspect they'll grow as time progresses and we leave some of the more cliché storylines behind. (I had initially compared Akgün to characters like Cihangir and Yiğit or Sarp, but he's just a little too young and dumb to be compared to those men.)

Baş Belesı: This show is currently ongoing, and I think it's best described as a copy dramedy, in the vein of MI. It has a Pushing Daisies kind of vibe to it--not necessarily in the quirkiness, but the feel of it if that makes sense. The cases are serious but are handed with a sort of irreverent hilarity that makes it fun, and the focus of the show is fairly firmly on Ipek and Şahin and their respective families and issues. The two leads have excellent chemistry, and they work wonderfully together. This show is fun and smart and light, and the latest episode was deeply heartwarming. There is an element of "found family" that I really love, and the inevitable slow burn romance makes this an all around delight. I would highly recommend, and it's the only dizi I see having the legs to handle a long run...the plot changes weekly and the focus is mostly on the family, which makes it easy to have content into fall.

Ada Masalı: I've written a few pieces on this show on tumblr, but this is pretty much as pure romcom as you can get. The plot itself is straight-forward and doesn't really ask much from the viewer other than to sit back and enjoy the pretty. But the characters are solid (both lead and secondary), it balances humor with seriousness, and it subverts enough tropes while giving us others in a way that makes the two hours you are watching it breeze by. As with all romcoms, the main draw is the lead couple, so if you aren't feeling them, I wouldn't recommend. But as long as it ends by not later than 20, I think this romcom would join HYS as the only romcom I would recommend.

Cam Tavanlar: This show reminded me a lot of Yeni Hayat if I'm being honest, in that it had a really great premise and the first two episodes were strong, the actors were good, and then...it just kind of went nowhere. (Turns out both were made by the same production company, which is interesting.) This is a story of women in business and the sexism they endure, but after episode 2 the script seemed to lose its way. It became a meandering story with poor pacing and a wishy washy main character, who seemed to vacillate between trying to be the strong woman we could believe in and the stereotypical Turkish romcom heroine--who is honestly not that interesting. I felt like there were threads early on that have so far gone nowhere, character motivations and backstories are still unclear, and overall I just find myself growing increasingly apathetic as the weeks go on. With rumors that it's being cancelled running wild, I can't say I'd be all that sad to see it end. A quick wrap up may be a mercy for a show that seems to not be clear on what it truly wants to be.

I'm not watching any of the other summer shows--keeping up with two is hard enough, and none of the other romcoms are doing it for me just based off gifs/fragmans. The problem with romcoms (and it's likely why I've only finished 1 ) is that if the main couple doesn't do it for you, it's just not worth it. I've heard variously good things about BO and AMI, but I'm shallow enough that neither couple is doing it for me aesthetically, so I think I'll pass for now. I am looking forward to fall dizis, and am looking to start Kuzey Guney next, though this one is something of an undertaking. And always, I'm hoping for Halka season 2!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3b

[disisphlebotinum]

Posting my dizi reactions tomorrow for Bas Belasi, Ada Masali, and Cam Tavanlar.

Also planning at at least watching the first episodes of The Morning Show, Physical, Kingdom, and the Republic of Sarah.

[mysoul-is-paintedpastel]

So I decided to watch cam tavanlar and I don’t like it??? The main characters have 0 chemistry and the main girl can’t act for life plsss

[to-come-alive]

The Dizi Tag Game

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag people you want to participate! (Also tag it #The Dizi Tag Game so we can see everyone’s lists)

Tagged by: @thescorpioracer thank you!!

1. Your first dizi and how you discovered turkish dramas

Medcezir. It was back in 2014, I encountered this gif of yamira on the internet. After that I searched for other gifs and watched random scenes without subs (I didn't understand anything). Only in 2015 I decided to look for the show to watch with subs, and finally watched it.

2. Shows you're currently watching

I'm not watching anything right now. I'm giving a break from dizis, but I'll come back.

3. Your favorite genre of dizi (romcom, mafia show, contemporary drama, historical/fantasy, etc.)

Romcom. I love comedy and I love romance, so that's the perfect genre for me. But a show that has a cute pairing and a story that revolves around them it catches me. Drama is not my favorite genre bc I always lose excitement for the show after some time, but I tend to give it a try. I haven't tried any other genre, and I don't intend to.

4. The show you rewatched (parts of) the most

Medcezir. It's the first one, so it's the one I'm always coming back bc it's special. But Love 101 comes right after, it was the first dizi I watched after a long time, and it was in the beginning of the pandemic so it's kinda special to me too. It was like an awakening.

5. Favorite turkish actor and actress (feel free to pick multiples)

Serenay Sarıkaya, Çağatay Ulusoy, Hazar Ergüçlü, Demet Özdemir, Engin Öztürk, İpek Filiz Yazıcı, Kubilay Aka, Alperen Duymaz (although I haven't watched anything from him, every gif and video I see from his latest shows he's just funny and cute, maybe one day I'll watch something from him).

6. A show you quit before finishing

Kara Para Aşk, İçerde, Arıza (I tried but I have a problem with mafia shows). And Erkenci Kuş and Sen Çal Kapımı. One day I'll come back to EK, but SÇK I just can't anymore.

7. Favorite songs you have discovered in dizis

Bana Öyle Bakma from Teoman I discovered in Bana Sevmeyi Anlat; Kanatlarım var Ruhumda from Nil Karaibrahimgil, Isyan from Halil Sezai and Aşk Kırıntıları by Teoman I heard in Medcezir; Resmen Aşığım from Nil I know from SÇK.

8. The show whose plot disappointed you the most

Sen Çal Kapımı, after Serkan's memory loss I just couldn't continue. And Her Yerde Sen, everyone says they love this show but the way Demir handled their relationship problems by simply locking her up until she accepted listening to him was just toxic for me, and I just don't understand how nobody sees it. I just finished bc when I couldn't stand anymore it was the second to last ep already.

9. A show that was cancelled too soon/ran too long

Fortunately for me I never watched a dizi that was cancelled abruptly. As for the ones that ran too long, EK and SÇK. SÇK should have ended before all the memory loss thing.

10. Favorite characters

Mira (Medcezir); Sanem (EK); Sinan, Osman and Işık (Love 101).

11. Your favorite romantic pairings

Yamira (Medcezir), they don't do romantic scenes like theirs anymore, it's amazing the amount of times they make out in this dizi. Seriously. And they're so cute and good with each other, I love them; DicBar (Menajerimi Ara, I never watched this dizi but every gif and scene I see they're just perfect); Sinan and Işık (Love 101)

12. Favorite side characters

CeyCey (EK); Melo (SÇK); Mert and Eylül (Medcezir); Mühtar and Turan, only when he was with Mühtar (50m2)

13. Best kiss

It's Yamira's of course. It was hard to pick just one bc, like I said before, it's just too much making out. But after thinking about it, it has to be this one. They were both mad at each other so I was not expecting that kiss.

But there's another kiss I can't forget. Sinan and Işık are simply beautiful together.

14. An underrated show more people should watch

Love 101. I just feel that this show deserves more love than it has.

15. A show everyone loves that you aren't interested

Her Yerde Sen. I've already said my reasons, basically Demir was toxic and didn't respected Selin's choices. He treated her like a child at times, locking her up and not giving her time to digest the way he lied to her, and it bothered me, although she really behaved like a baby sometimes (which bothered me same). I couldn't ship them and sometimes I just watched bc of the side characters. Burak and Eylül were waaaay better together.

Other than that, I don't feel like watching Çukur, Hercai, Kiralık Aşk and many others. I have a friend who's watching KA and she's loving it, but I just don't feel it, you know.

16. A show you want to recomend right now

Medcezir. Just watch it if you like drama and romance. The first season is good but the second manages to make it better, especially the second half of it. Mira and Yaman's relationship just evolves to a new level, they trust each other and take care of each other, it's just beautiful (and most importantly, through most of the series they are together, they broke up twice in 77 eps, and the second time they spent like idk 10 ep apart, but when they get back together they don't separate anymore). And Serenay and Çağatay are just amazing in this dizi, they're great actors. And I recomend Love 101 too. It's funny, dramatic, romantic. The pace of the story is great, the relationships in this show evolve beautifully and we really get to root for the characters.

17. The next show on your list

The summer dizis: Cam Tavanlar, Baht Oyunu and Kazara Aşk. And I'm still waiting for Ada Masalı's teaser, but I'm planning on watching it.

Tagging: anyone who wants to do it! C'mon guys, it's fun!!

[mrsgreenworld]

Hi! You had mentioned you watched the first episodes of 5 summer dizis. How is that going? Still watching all of them? (Of course Cam Tavanlar has ended) Are your thoughts and opinions still the same? Did you start watching any others?

Hello, dear friend! So, I never made it past episode 1 of Aşk Mantık İntikam and I stopped watching Cam Tavanlar after episode 3 or 4. I kept up with Baş Belası, Ada Masalı and - surprisingly - Baht Oyunu. However, right at this moment I'm a little behind on all of them cause life's been busy and I'm also in the middle of Son Yaz rewatch.

As for my opinion on these shows, I quite enjoy them all, although in a different way. I've already said in one of my previous asks that my enthusiasm re Baş Belası has died down a bit but there are still good things about this dizi. Like the acting, the focus on the relationships, the balance of drama and humour.

Ada Masalı. Damn... Aren't Poyraz and Haziran getting hotter and hotter with each new episode? 🥵🔥 And I love the pace they're going at. I'm glad they haven't dragged on the secret storyline. All in all the show keeps being light and summery without too much dramatic drama, if you know what I mean.

Baht Oyunu is ok but they have their own secret storyline, turning the female lead into a liar. And let me tell you that I've seen this way too many times and I'm officially fed up with this type of story. The acting is good and Ada is funny but I'm not sure it's enough for me anymore 🤷

[years-waiting]

1. Bölüm

Never really gave much thought about watching this dizi, but then I dreamed with it so here it comes.

You know, I was very curious about this dizi even without giving much chance to watch and it was worth watching it. I liked Ayşe and Ferit together, they seem to be already friends and I like this detail. Why? You ask me. Because in this summer season almost all couples are enemies to lovers (I already said in my other reviews that it's not my favorite trope, but I can survive as some of them are doing great until now) and they are not that. I believe they'll be friends to lovers and I'm fond of it. They are cute together, I can't explain why I like them, maybe they just clicked with me that other couples in this summer season didn't (I'm talking about Cam Tavanlar and Kazara Aşk and Baş Belası. But they still have time o make me swoon over them), it appears that they'll be sweet and cute together. You know, maybe the fake-wedding trope is the thing that makes me so anxious right now for the next episode (the fake-dating trope is the ultimate trope for me).

I started watching and it totally gave me Hercai vibes. Now, I didn't watch Hercai, but I saw some clips of different seasons of the show and I know one or two things about the story. But I reckon the thing that made me feel super Hercai vibes was the architecture of the city they filmed Kalp Yarası. Antakya is SO beautiful! Everywhere you go there's a history to be told and I like this. I believe they filmed Hercai in Mardin, which is also a beautiful and historical city, so there's that. Other thing to be told is about the drama. In this first episode, there wasn't too much drama. Wait, I'm gonna correct myself. There wasn't too much melodrama. I don't hate drama, I hate the melodrama, so I'm watching in hopes of NO melodrama. If they go through a melodramatic path, then maybe I'll stop watching.

Is it humiliating to be abandoned by your fiancé in front of all their guests? Yes. Am I feeling pity for Hande? Humm.. no. Ferit told her on the phone that everything was over and she was still going into the rest of the organization for the wedding. Even the wedding dress she was trying with excitement. Worse than being abandoned in front of everybody is being abandoned by him for another woman in a wedding dress IN FRONT of everyone. I'm still not feeling pity for her, so...

I think that's all for now!

[coolcatkerr]

Hi! I just wanted to drop by and say that you're the reason I started watching Ask Mantik Intikam. I was late to jump on the train with that dizi. I watched BO, AM and CT along with SCK from the beginning but I tried to avoid adding more dizis because of time limits. I've only watched the 1st epi but I'm hooked. So thanks for your fan videos. I fell in love with Esra and Ozan without even watching the show. They both deserve to be happy and I can't wait to see how their story unfolds.

Awwww yay, I am so glad ❤️❤️

My edits really are just my evil plan to get everyone on board with the shows I'm watching so we can all suffer the angst together 😁😁

I tried too not adding more Dizi's to my life too but I have no self control 🤡🤡 😂😂

I am sure I will look back and go, how the hell did I watch Ada Masali, Baht Oyunu, Cam Tavanlar, Ask Mantık İntikam AND Sen Çal Kapimi, edit and do my day job 😂 but I am obsessed!

Hope you enjoy the rest! Zümrüt makes me laugh so hard, esp the height distance between her and Ozan

[aslibekroglu]

are you watching all the summer dizis? how would you rank them?

I'm only watching three, Baht Oyunu, Ask Mantik Intikam and Bas Belasi. I watched the first two episodes of Cam Tavanlar and Ada Masali, but idk I just never really got into them. At a certain point, I fell behind and just didn't feel like catching back up 🤷🏾‍♀️

I honestly don't know how I would rank the three that I'm watching. I feel like they're all really good and they all have different strengths. I think of the three I just enjoy Baht Oyunu more, despite all of it's flaws. I think Bas Belasi probably has the most interesting story. And I think Ask Mantik Intikam is just kind of different and refreshing mostly due to the the fact that there's really no villain/antagonist. Both main characters have incredibly valid reasons for their animosity towards each other and this show is one of the very few times where I have shipped both sides of a love triangle.

All that being said, I do think Bas Belasi is SEVERELY UNDERRATED and really deserves a chance. It's basically a procedural police show (which I haven't heard of many turkish procedural shows) and is in the same vein as American shows like Castle or Bones or Lucifer (and I love those types of shows). The chemistry between the two leads is GREATTTT and like I said the storyline is very compelling.

PS - I hear Kalp Yarasi is actually really good and Kazara Ask is pretty funny. I would like to give them a chance, but I just don't have any time :(

[lizacstuff]

idk if you follow any other dizis, iirc sck is your first turkish show right? but i was just curious if any other summer romcoms airing this year have caught your eye? i started watching turkish series' 2 years ago and for some reason can never really get into the dramas, i usually prefer watching things that are on the more lighthearted side. as for this summer season, personally, none of them have really interested me too much.

SCK is my first Turkish dizi. Since then I've sampled a couple of others but nothing that kept me watching. I would like to finish Marasli though. I've started a list that I need to sample once SCK is over.

As for the new shows this summer, the concept for Cam Tavanlar interested me, but to be perfectly honest, on a very shallow note, I don't find the lead actor attractive at all! So that's what's making that not very appealing. (What is with Turkish men doing the scruff with a full mustache look? It is not a good look. thank goodness Kerem doesn't do that.)

Ada Masali seems like an interesting scenario, very pretty looking on the coast, maybe I'll watch the first one of that. Though the production is trying way to hard to manufacture some real life chemistry between the leads... like chill. I know SCK's success with Hande and Kerem has them all salivating, but no one is going to be Hande and Kerem. And you can't get the same traction making actors pretend like they're vibing off screen. It's creepy of the producers.

I'm sort of interested in İkimizin Sırrı, the remake of the Kdrama. Depends if it's more comedy or drama, but the photo I saw of the leads made it seem appealing.

I thought about sampling the one with Melisa Dongle, but again the male leads don't seem that appealing, though I do like Burcu, I watched a few episode of Afili Ask so I know her from that. We'll see, I may give that a chance even though the scenario seems hokey.

[venti3dieci]

I'm watching the second episode of Cam Tavanlar and omg I'm laughing so much!

I love this show so much!!!!

[djemsostylist]

This is not Eda Yildiz's Story...

With SCK’s return in season 2 and this highly polarizing plot, I’ve seen a lot of talk and debate about plot and character and the direction of the show. I’ve complained enough on my tumblr that I think it’s pretty obvious where I stand, but lately I’ve been thinking less about what I hate and rather why it doesn’t work. Like it or hate it, I think we can all agree that the plot and direction of the show is strange. The story has been a mess, arguably, since the early teens. Once we’d finished Ayse’s initial arc, it was clear we were moving into “plot” controlled territory, and that trend continued. I don’t think anyone can deny that the new story follows a similar narrative “shift” that seems to have dominated the story since the 30s. It feels different, and I think that feeling has continued even with the return of the original writer. It sort of crystallized for me when I was watching one of summer’s new show, Cam Tavanlar. 40 minutes in and we had yet to meet the male lead, and it was then that I realized that’s it.

I’ve seen a lot of talk about how feminist SCK is, and how this is “Eda’s” story. Fans have long asked the question “when is Eda going to graduate?” and it’s a valid question if Eda is our main character, since that is one of her two primary motivations. It's worth noting before we begin that I like Eda--I loved her for the first 28 episodes, her portrayal by Hande is excellent, and she is a fun and easy character to love. But rewatching the early episodes of the show and then watching Cam Tavanlar made me realize the issue at hand: this isn’t Eda’s story, and she is not, nor has she ever been, the main character. The story of SCK is the story of Serkan Bolat--I just don’t think anyone realized it.

Let’s think about Eda for a moment. When we meet Eda, she is a down-on-her-luck college drop out. She’s lost her scholarship and is stuck working at her aunt’s flower shop until she figures out what to do with her life. From the first episode, we learn a few things. She has two main goals--graduate, and be with the man she loves. We also learn a little about her character--she is determined, strong-willed, stubborn, impulsive, kind-hearted, and loving. She believes in seeing the best in people (unless their name is Serkan Bolat), and she values family and friends above almost everything else. Her introduction shows her as slightly frazzled, a little overwhelmed, and very young.

Over the next 11 episodes, we learn surprisingly little else about her. These are the things we know:

She lives with her aunt after her parent’s untimely death which affects her to this day.

She blames her grandmother for their death and is scared of her control.

She and Melo have known each other since they were children.

She works with orphans and loves the idea of helping children.

She loves plants and flowers.

She likes dogs.

She has plans for two children someday.

She wants to study in Italy.

She used to own a charm bracelet.

She is claustrophobic, which is likely connected to her fainting when she is stressed because of a claustrophobic situation when she learned of her parents’ passing.

What we don’t know could fill books. We don’t know exactly why she blames her grandmother for their death. We don’t know if Eda actually knows/has met her grandmother after her aunt took her and left. We don’t know how she met or knows either Ceren or Fifi. We don't know why she wants to be a landscape architect, or what drew her to want to study in Italy. We don’t know why she never pursued any other options when she lost her scholarship. We don’t know how she got the scholarship in the first place (grades, essay, project, some combination?). We don’t know her long term goals other than graduate and get married. Does she want her own company, is there a project she really wants or a company she would love to work for? We don’t really even know her feelings on relationships and marriage. How long did she date Cenk? How did they meet? What did she hope for their future? We don’t know anything about her childhood or how she was raised, and we aren’t even that clear on her relationship with her aunt, since it vacillates from almost no guidance at all to extremely controlling and manipulative. The point is, Eda is still, even 39 episodes in, more a collection of traits than a fully realized character.

Eda starts Episode 1 as a headstrong, independent, impulsive, kind, strong-willed, determined woman who wants to graduate and be with the man she loves. She ends episode 12 exactly the same--different man, same goals, same traits. She ends the way she starts.

The next 12 are the same. Eda starts as a headstrong, independent, impulsive, kind, strong-willed, determined woman who wants to graduate and be with the man she loves. She ends episode 24 the same way. This time, everything is the same as it was 12 episodes ago--same man, same goals, same traits. Again, what changes does Eda truly go through in these episodes? Any? Does she learn to think before she acts? Does she learn to temper her stubbornness? Does she define her future goals?

Let’s look at Serkan Bolat. When we meet Serkan, he is the successful CEO of an architecture firm returning from a business trip. His main goal--his only goal--is to achieve success and recognition in business. We also learn a little about his character--he is a stubborn, strong-willed, independent, closed-off man who prioritizes work over everything. He believes love is a fairy tale, and that all relationships are ultimately contracts no different from work contracts. His introduction is calm, cool, collected, and in control.

Over the next 11 episodes, we learn A LOT about Serkan. We learn:

He had an older brother he was very close to. His brother was the golden child and the center of his family, who was a musician. We learn that Serkan was very close to him, and that his brother’s death rocked the foundations of his entire family.

He was sent away by his father to boarding school at an early age because his mother had a mental breakdown and couldn’t cope and his father wasn’t capable of handling it.

A lot about his relationship with his parents, their goals and expectations for him, and why he is so closed off and has a hard time making meaningful connections as a result of how he was raised.

That he has wanted to be an architect since he was a child, which is how long he has loved magic and the stars.

He studied astronomy in college.

He believes in supporting the education of young people.

He rescued his dog.

He moved home to be close to his mother who suffers from agoraphobia.

Where he met all of his close friends and enemies.

His feelings on relationships and marriage.

His fears and insecurities.

His hypochondria.

His various talents (horseback riding, car racing, swimming, guitar playing).

In fact, there is very little we don’t know about Serkan Bolat.

Serkan starts episode 1 as a strong-willed, closed-off, business minded asshole who believes all relationships are contracts and doesn’t believe in love. He ends the first 12 as a more open, giving, softer version of himself, who believes in love and the importance of a relationship and whose goal is no longer just to be a businessman, but to prioritize the needs of the woman he loves over his own.

Over the next 12 episodes, we see Serkan learn to navigate what it means to be in a relationship--to learn to trust, to give and take, to let go of control, or let his feelings guide him, and to be open and honest with what he feels and how he loves. We go from a Serkan who couldn’t say the word “love” when talking in private to his best friend and thought apologizing by email was the best choice, to a man who can sit in a room full of people and declare openly his love for the woman beside him. When the series comes to a close in 28, we have a Serkan Bolat whose priority is love and family, and whose main goal is to become a husband and father.

Serkan, from episodes 1-28, experiences an entire arc, from consummate businessman to family man. He goes from closed and cold to open and warm. From a man who can’t even bring himself to explain that he doesn’t love his ex-girlfriend, to a man who can openly sit and talk about how much he loves his fiancee. He goes from a man whose friends drift around the periphery of his life, to a man whose newest friend is a former business rival. He grows and changes and develops, and each of the storylines, from the fake contract in 1-12 to the breakup in 13-24, to working towards marriage in 25-28, all bring this about.

Even the story is shot to show us Serkan's pov. How many times do we see Eda through his eyes? How many times do we get to focus on Serkan and his reactions, whether it’s to Eda, to news, to his feelings? Think about it. If the story is really about Eda, then all the focus in the teens should be on Eda. And while we certainly see her reactions, the story is squarely centered on Serkan and his feelings. 13 is about his relationship with his father, dealing with his company in crisis, and making the choice to go to Italy with Eda. 14 is about him coming to grips with the news and deciding what he wants to do. 15/16 are watching him deal with the fallout and the loss of Eda in his life. 17 is about his fears and hopes for children and a family with Eda. 18/19 are him coming to realize how desperately he wants and needs her in his life. Eda gets reaction time sure, but she’s not the focus--Serkan is. Think about the episodes I just described--what does Eda really do in any of them?

Even their family and friends. Eda’s life is filled with people who are less characters and more set dressing for her story. Ayfer begins and ends our series as a character who seems to be whatever the narrative requires--she has no real defining personality traits, and her backstory is nonexistent. She has no life beyond Eda and the girls, and it isn’t even until after Ayse is gone that we start to see hints of her maybe becoming a real character. The results were disappointing, but I give props to the writers for giving Ayfer some kind of plot beyond “the flower shop is suddenly in a monetary crisis”. Fifi, Ceren, and Melo don’t fare much better. Ceren we know has the desire to be a shoe designer and has a rich lawyer daddy. She at least gets a side plot with Engin where we can see her as more of a person than Fifi, who was basically never a character at all. Melo fares the best, although much like Eda, she is boiled down to a few basic traits that don’t change. Eda’s life is otherwise devoid of color and life--no neighborhood friends or acquaintances, no backstory for her childhood. She seems to spring into our story like a fairy fully formed, and there is no real effort made to develop her at all.

Contrast this to Serkan’s family, where we get to watch not only his parents, but also Engin and even Piril and Ferit, grow and change. We see Aydan go from a stubborn, nasty, judgmental woman to a woman who is kind, open, and supportive of her son and the woman she wants to be her daughter. We see his father is more than merely an absent dad, but a man who is so stuck in his ways he is unable to open up--until Eda. (That his story is ruined is neither here nor there). Engin goes from a goofy sidekick to a competent husband and. Even Piril learns to unclench, Ferit goes from a doofy, hanger on to one of Serkan’s greatest supports.

The point is, the story of SCK is the story of how Serkan Bolat learned to open himself up to love, family, and the possibility of a life beyond work. That Eda is an essential part of that story goes without saying, but it is, ultimately, his story. It’s funny, but I remember at the end of 28 saying that I missed Serkan Bolat. My friends laughed at me “he’ll be back next week” and while at the time I was being dramatic, I realized it’s true. Because Serkan Bolat’s story was done at the end of 28 episodes. When he made the decision to get married to the woman he loves, to prioritize her over everything, to become a husband and father, his story came to a beautiful and natural close. Their love story was really his story, the story of two people who came together and loved each other, and the ways in which that love allowed him to live a full life.

Any story that would come after centered on Serkan wouldn’t make sense. At best, we could have a few episodes of Serkan as a married man, but really, he doesn’t have much else to give us. So, if the story was going to continue, something had to change. And that means finding a new character’s story to tell. Eda, naturally, fits the bill. Since her story and growth has taken a back seat to Serkan, it makes sense to pivot and make her the main character. At the end of 28, one of her goals has been fulfilled--be with the man she loves. Therefore, naturally, the next part of the story, the story she will now be telling, will be the other half of that goal--graduate and become a successful architect.

As Eda steps into the lead role, we no longer have a need to focus on a story about two people falling in love and how that love grows and changes them. That story was Serkan’s story, and the new story we are telling has Serkan in the supporting role, while Eda learns to navigate the corporate world. Her story is that of a woman who must balance work and life, motherhood and the job, family and friends while also running a successful business. In this new story, we have a time jump (5 years, which is necessary both because with covid we can’t have babies on set and also because they have found the perfect actress to portray their daughter). Serkan is taking more of a backseat role, having already achieved so many of his professional goals, so while he still is a successful CEO, he also has time to take care of their child and run the minutia of day to day business life while Eda stretches her wings and becomes the business woman she has dreamed of being.

In the final episodes, we would watch as Eda goes from a headstrong, willful, stubborn, impulsive young woman, to a strong, smart, business savvy boss who continues to put her family--her husband, children, and friends--in the forefront of her life. Their love story is now merely a backseat to Eda’s growth and journey.

Except, that’s not what they did. They made Eda the main character but then tried to retell a love story that had already concluded. And to do that, they needed to reset. Everything. After all, how do you retell a love story that has already finished? How do you retell a love story that we’ve already seen playout? How do you tell a love story between two people that has had a beginning, a middle and an end? The answer, it seems, is to start over. Scrap all previous growth, character progress, and storytelling from the first arc with one of your characters, and set him right back at square 1. Or, as it appears, square -10. Take your new main character, and change her. Tweak her just enough to make her work for this new and improved story by removing enough of her core to fit in the plot. Then, move forward from there, and pray the audience doesn’t see what you’ve done until it’s far too late.

So there it is. The fundamental problem with SCK. It’s not about liking or hating it--people like what they like, and this isn’t a judgement on anyone who is fine with the new plot. I’m hardly an expert writer, and perhaps I’m overlooking some missing nuance. But I don’t think you can argue that this new direction is good. It may be enjoyable, which is always subjective, but it’s not good. I don’t think it’s the sort of thing people will look back on and say “Oh, what an excellent piece of writing and characterization!” Hardcore Ayse stans will, I think, they seem impervious to critique or critical thinking, but a read on the fandom at large seems to indicate that most people accept that the plot itself is nonsensical, but they are here for Hande and Kerem and a cute little actress and not much else. To them, having Hanker on screen for another 10 episodes is enough, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I just think that it could have been so much more, and that’s what makes this so strange. But I guess maybe that’s what happens when not even the writer realizes who her own main character truly is.