Caray, Caray!

lejos

I have often recapped a premiere. I have mostly recovered from a bad bug that sent me to Urgent Care to get antibiotics. I had a hard time finding a cast list, vital for my getting these Turkish names straight. But I did find one. The issue this time was that I needed to find out the Turkish name of the dizi to get that cast list. But I did find it.

So, I got back to the gym for a cycling class after missing two weeks. Wow, that fitness goes fast.

So I'll put something up, and it will be very, very late for East Coasters. This won't likely be as detailed as I like to do them, but I've been trying to get some sleep to finish off this critter that's had me weak as a kitten.
 

Lejos

Wow about the bad bug! You are a champ to offer to recap this one. At least the dialog is simple.

The only thing I liked about this is the scenery. But of course I have to stick with it to find out the dead husband’s backstory.

Maggie

 

lejos

#1 – Part 1 of 3

We begin in Mardin, which is the name of both the province and a city within that province. We open with a car chase. We don’t know this at the beginning, but the guy being pursued in the white car is Demir Baybars. The guy in pursuit is Cihan Albora. After both Demir and Cihan (passengers, not drivers) fire shots back and forth, Demir’s car is crashed. Cihan yanks Demir out of the car.

Just then our female protagonist, Alya Smith Albora, calls Cihan. He says he’s kind of busy. She vents at the man with her, Izzet, an attorney and her husband Boran Albora’s best friend.

Demir is on his knees. Right away I can see that the guy is an arrogant punk. Three or four other cars show up. Cihan asks if Demir had something to do with the car that killed his brother. A guy named Nadim gets out of one of the cars that just showed up. Pretty sure he’s Demir’s father. He begs for Demir’s life, swearing he didn’t do it, that he was nowhere near Canada. Plus, he can barely get to the bathroom without help.

A stereotypical young hothead, Kaya Albora, is ready to shoot Demir in the head. Demir swears he’d shake the hand of the man who killed Boran Albora, but it wasn’t him. Demir is dragged off by his daddy, swearing vengeance for the humiliation.

Now what? Alya, the widow, is trying to bring her husband’s body to a funeral when she’s stopped by a bunch of soldiers in camo. The guy in charge says they have to open the coffin to inspect inside. Arms are sometimes smuggled here.

Some guy on the Albora team calls Cihan and explains what’s going on. He jumps in a car, and another guy says he shouldn’t go. They’d arrest him. Cihan shows up anyway. The camo guy says that Cihan is out on a conditional release and he’s now outside of the correct zone. [So, this is why he didn’t come to the airport, leaving Alya to cope.] Then some other camo guy, who looks barely 21 but has a higher rank, tells the other military dude to let them pass, coffin intact.

Cihan introduces himself. But Alya is very angry. Sahin Albora introduces himself as a cousin. [He had a role as a jerk who reformed in La Familia.] Cihan wants the child to come out of the car. Apparently, the boy is the spittin’ image of his father. Cihan and Kaya sort of tear up. Alya’s boy Deniz (also named Cihan) bonds immediately with his Uncle Cihan.

Alya unloads on Cihan. Why didn’t he come to Canada? He wasn’t at the airport to receive his brother’s body. She’s right on every count but has no idea of what’s been going on. She says she now understands why Boran avoided his family. Cihan inserts that Boran named his child after him. Alya wants the funeral to be today. Cihan insists on tomorrow. He says that there’s family involved, and his mother will want to see her son. As the cars move down the road, we see that the place they live bears their name.

When she arrives at the family mansion, Alya sees armed guards. Cihan insists on carrying the child inside.
 

lejos

#1 – Part 2 of 3

We get the first of several examples of what dondi has told us about this part of Turkey. Izzet is not permitted to come inside because there are women of the family there.

A rather worried looking woman is introduced. She’s Nare, apparently the only daughter. She embraces Alya.

Cihan brings Deniz/Cihan to meet his grandmother. To say that Sadakat Albora is moved by the sight of the kid is an understatement. Alya tries to take her son’s hand, and Sadakat tells her to get away. She then stands up, cold as ice, and says that Alya was driving the car (when the accident that killed Boran happened). Sadakat then tells Cihan to take the child, but Alya grabs her son.

Sadakat has the coffin opened, and we see a muslin wrapped body. She stands and orders all the men to find out who killed her son. Cihan slowly nods in agreement. All the men start firing pistols into the air. Alya was looking on from a second story balcony and grabs Denis to protect him.

Alya calls Izzet and tells him they’re blaming her for Boran’s death. She wants to leave and come to the hotel in town where Izzet is staying. Then some woman tells Cihan that Alya is leaving. We see her pulling her wheeled suitcase and holding Deniz. Cihan stops her and takes away the boy. He says that she’s not being respectful. She replies that he didn’t come (to Canada, I assume) to get his brother’s body. She had to be the one to do it. She didn’t want to come here, but she did it because it was Boran’s wish. He tells her she can’t stay in a hotel with Izzet. She’s still his brother’s wife. He states that she’s in Mardin and should respect their traditions. [So even separate rooms on separate floors would be suspect.]

Sadakat tells Cihan that she can leave, but the boy belongs to them, not that disgraceful woman.

Cihan and the boy continue to bond. The uncle tells him that everything he sees around them is his.

Sadakat’s brother, Hasan Kerali, arrives for the funeral. [Hmmm. Sahin Albora, the cousin, doesn’t seem to like Hasan much.]

We then see Sahin having dinner with his mother, another bitter woman in a hijab. She says that Sadakat let her husband rot in jail. Sahin tells his mother that Sadakat isn’t to blame. His father was found with drugs. He goes on to say that he has permission to take his father to the funeral, and that she needs to come as well.

Sadakat isn’t happy Cihan let Demir go. He says it couldn’t be proven. And, if he killed Demir, there’d be a bloodbath. Nare says that Boran traveled far and wide and ended up in Canada. No one knew his whereabouts. How could they have found him? Sadakat: “His wife.” Both sons and Nare don’t believe this, but Sadakat insists Alya was forced to come rather than came out of good will. She also thinks Izzet may be her lover. Maybe she wants the inheritance. [Yikes! I divorced their son, but I was crazy about my in-laws. Decades later my father-in-law came to my dad’s funeral.]

Kaya, the youngest son, calls a young girl named Zerrin. He wants to meet her in the street, the usual place. He’s clearly in love, but she says this cannot be and runs off.
 

lejos

#1 – Part 3 of 3

We get a look at Demir, a bit the worse for wear. He is looking at some photos of a couple on their wedding day. He tears the groom out of the photo and wads up his photo. I’m definitely curious about this. Maybe I was supposed to recognize the groom as a cast member, but my TV has to fit in the entertainment center I love, so I couldn't make the guy out.

Izzet tells Alya over the phone that the Alboras are dangerous. Cihan couldn’t come to Canada to get his brother’s body because he’s on a conditional release. Izzet heard some vague thing about a vehicle being discovered full of firearms near the border of the Albora property.

We see Nare patting a little tummy, so maybe 3 or 4 months along. Her husband Ozkan calls. He says he’s sorry. It sounds like he was abusive. Sadakat, who apparently respects no boundaries, has walked in and grabs the phone. She tells Ozkan he’ll be sorry if he ever calls again. She then coldly tells her daughter that, if he did it once, he’ll do it again.

Cihan and Alya confront each other once again. She says she’s leaving with her son as soon as Boran is buried. She wants to protect her son from people like him. She calls him an arms trafficker. He replies that that vehicle wasn’t theirs; it was a trick. Cihan then grills Alya about who she is and how she met his brother. She says that she knew Boran was a lawyer from Istanbul. He didn’t want to live in Turkey. He was decent and kind and nothing like “you people”.

Sadakat strides right in. She’s had Izzet brought there. She accuses Alya of revealing Boran’s identity and that he was living in Canada. Alya is aghast. She doesn’t understand any of this. Sadakat asks if Boran never explained why he moved so far away. Cihan tries to tell his mother that Alya doesn’t know anything.

Alya runs out. Cihan follows her. He says that he didn’t want it to be this way. Alya: “Everyone thinks I had something to do with his death. It wasn’t an accident? Why would people kill Boran? What’s going on?” Cihan tries to calm her, saying they’ll bury his brother and then he’ll try to explain. She replies that they’ll bury him, and then she’ll take her son and leave.

Sadakat has followed them, of course. She says that Alya can go where she likes, but this isn’t over. “If you had anything to do with the death of my son, I’ll pursue you forever. But my dear grandson stays here.”

Well, it looks like Boran was the favorite. Sadakat took one look at the grandchild who looks like him and apparently decides to just take him. She doesn't, at least to me, appear to show much affection for the other three children. What I'm wondering about is whether the Albora's knew Boran was in Canada. At first I thought he'd been estranged from them (and could see why). But maybe whatever he did in Turkey or witnessed in Turkey made him disappear to everyone else while the family knew where he was.
 

Lejos

Novelera, thank you so much for this comprehensive introduction to this dizi. You answered so many questions! The scenery is fascinating and such a contrast to Istanbul and Izmir.

All the shooting was startling as the beginning of a story, but it fits this tale. I do want to know Boran’s backstory. I wonder how Alya Smith learned Turkish. Perhaps her mother was Turkish. I wonder if there are ties to Mardin.
Cihan is the protagonist. Has he been married?

It’s fun picking out actors from previous dizis like Sadakat (Hija del Embajador) and Sahin (La Familia). I thought Demir also looked familiar.

There are many mysteries. Among the Albora clan are many intrigues going on. I imagine we’ll find the Baybars to not be all bad. That picture Demir tore was interesting. I assumed it was Boran and Alya, but that seems unlikely. I need to go back and watch to see if I can recognize the couple.

The tale reminds me of the wild western films from the US and spaghetti westerns from Italy. It also reminds me of narco stories. Not my favorite sort of dizi, but I am already hooked. I was watching Alya slowly realizing that she has few rights there and might not get to keep her son if she leaves. Did the authorities keep her passport? Everyone was very impactado at how much Deniz looked like his father. They looked at the boy almost as a savior figure! I want to see Alya figure a way out of this! So, I’ll be watching for now.

Thank you again for the background. I hope you feel better soon!

Babachita
 

Lejos continued

I went back to the part with Demir tearing the photo, but can’t make out the couple. Perhaps it gives a clue to what drives Demir. Maybe he’s the groom.

Also, the beautiful music played with a Turkish singer was very familiar to me as the Adagio from Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo. It is a favorite of mine and fits the sadness of this tale. Maybe Dondi can tell us about the Turkish words in her spare time! Just joking, Dondi! You don’t need to do it all, but you get very close! We are so fortunate!!!

Babachita
 

Müfit Kayacan appears to have a small role in this dizi. I have seen him in several, including Bahar, Cesur ve Gosul (with Kivanç Tatlitug), and as the father in Kadermin Oyuno (with Akin Akinoso). I don't remember the Spanish names, just the galans.
 

Lejos - Müfit Kayacan is in Lejos. (Forgot to designate.)
 

Lejos

Yes, he looks very familiar. I think he plays Cihan’s paternal uncle Ekmel Albora. Sahin might be his son. He might be in prison for shooting a cop. (I scribble things as I hear them. I could have heard wrong!). He’s a great actor.

Babachita
 

"CASILLAS"
Dondi356, Kat in SC, Babachita, RGV Chick, SpanProf, Kirby, Darcy & Co.,: I missed last night's episode due to watching the Toronto Blue Jays advancing to their 3rd World Series berth (Blue Jays won World Series championships in 1992 & 1993).

Did anything crazy happen in last night's episode ?
 

lejos

You are the master of the premiere recap, novelera. Special thanks for getting it done while you are under the weather.

Dizis in Southeast Türkiye are like another world. Babachita, I think your comparison to the wild west is appropriate. I’ve seen the first few Turkish eps so I can’t speculate on some questions.

IIRC, Cihan was the groom in the wedding picture that Demir tore.

The soundtrack is excellent. I’ve heard some of it. I wonder how much of it we will hear.

Since you asked Babachita, this is also the opening theme for the Turkish eps:

De Mardin - Sezen Aksu (ft. Nazlı Bilginer Yengi)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez6VNqyT8VE&t=21s

 

Lejos

Thank you for the link, Dondi. The music is hauntingly beautiful!

Babachita
 

lejos

Thanks for the kind words, patio. I think that cycling class that left me gasping gave me a second wind later on to complete the recap. I feel the best today I've felt for 3 weeks.

Babachita, I also wondered about Alya's being a Turkish speaker. Last night they really didn't explain someone with the surname Smith being fluent. I didn't see Hija del Embajador but I kind of noticed it had a pretty fanatical following. Was the actor playing Sandakat also kind of a domineering figure in that one?

Anonymous at 9:24, thank you for supplying the name of the actor we've yet to see: Müfit Kayakan, who will play Ecmel Albora, currently residing in a Turkish prison. I've seen that actor in more than one dizi, but my brain just won't come up with the titles. His own son feels he deserves being in prison, so I'll be interested to see how he's portrayed.

And, yes, thanks a million, dondi, for the terrific song. I don't remember hearing it when the premiere began. Don't know if that's because of my faulty memory or Telemundo's lamentable cheapskatedness in not including the Turkish music. That was another haunting, minor chord song that seems so prevalent in the Turkish music I've heard. No idea what the words mean, but it seemed like maybe someone singing about either nostalgia about Mardin or a lost love in Mardin.
 

Lejos

Novelera, the actress playing Sandakat was also very domineering in Hija del Embajador as well. We later found out some reasons Halise was that way, but she was always a strong matriarch.

Babachita
 

Bahar

Wow. I finished through #48. I couldn't stop watching the show. Now I'll have to continue with season 3 because the cliffhanger it left us with is too big to leave unknown. I've read reviews of season 3 so I may be disappointed, but I'll watch a few at least.

Dondi, the Dailymotion app is great. The English CC's were better than Telemundo or ViX. In the 7 episodes I watched there was only a single 15 second ad. Thanks for the suggestion. Now I can try to find some of the shows you all recommended in the past. There were some Spanish suggestions (full 2 hour 20 minutes versions) when I searched for it but I decided to stick with the Turkish version.