The episode begins with Sheymuz threatening to kill Ali Riza for burning his merchandise unless he has a good explanation for his actions. Ali Riza asks Sheymuz to leave and says he will explain his reasons at the consortium meeting but Sheymuz demands an explanation immediately. Ali Riza tells him he burned his merchandise because he was saving him from being arrested as the sound of police sirens are heard. Sheymuz agrees to leaves but takes Ali Riza with him.
Numan yells at Burak for getting him involved with Sheymuz. Burak instructs him to hide until he hears from him. He says the consortium should already be meeting and will be sending Ali Riza after him, so he needs to hide for a while until Burak finalizes their next step since he’s the only person who can save him. Numan agrees and instructs his brother and his men to not allow anyone into their neighborhood.
The consortium eagerly awaits to hear Ali Riza’s explanation for burning Sheymuz’s merchandise. He explains that he was trying to get rid of the evidence before the police arrive. Sheymuz argues that when he got there, the police were nowhere near the scene yet Ali Riza was already destroying his merchandise. Ali Riza explains Sabri and his men were blocking the streets who notified him the police were on their way. Hasmet plays along with Ali Riza’s lie and confirms his story. The consortium accepts his explanation but demands that he find and capture Numan and bring him alive to Sheymuz so he can punish him.
After the meeting, Hasmet talks with Ali Riza. He warns him that he needs to be careful or the consortium will figure out what he’s up to. He tells him he will need to handle underworld business and since he’s not Fuat’s son, he will be punished harshly if he fails. Ali Riza attempts to explain that he can’t lose himself while on his path for revenge but Hasmet tells him he’s being tested by the partners because they’re trying to figure out his weakness which is why he doesn’t want Halide to be by his side. He warns Ali Riza that he doesn’t want her to be utilized as his weak point.
At that moment, Halide arrives. Hasmet tells her Ali Riza was just leaving so Halide tells him that she’ll walk him out. Once they’re alone, Halide asks him if everything is OK since it looked like they were having an intense conversation, but Ali Riza tells her something happened that upset Hasmet. She brings up the topic of telling her father about their relationship, but Ali Riza asks for more time since Hasmet is not in a good mood. Halide informs him of her conversation with her aunt from earlier that day then leaves Ali Riza speechless when she says “no one will condemn their relationship just because of what they are experiencing – neither her aunt, her father or anyone else.” As they say goodbye, she tells him that she loves him but when Ali Riza stays quiet, she looks worried. However, Ali Riza recovers from hearing her say that and FINALLY responds with “I love you too”.
Later that evening, Ali Riza has a heart to heart conversation with Hasan about his troubles with Hasmet regarding Halide. He understands Hasmet is worried for Halide especially since she’s his only daughter but he admits that he can’t stay away from her. He tells Hasan that Hasmet has supported his plan for revenge but threatened to refuse him if he didn’t stay away from her. He says he doesn’t care about his help but is concerned about being the person who gets between their relationship. Hasan encourages Ali Riza to talk to Halide to let her know what’s going on so they can figure out what to do together. He also warns Ali Riza that they don’t know what Hasmet is capable of doing for the sake of his only daughter.
The next day, Ali Riza meets with Muzaffer, who’s disguised as a fisherman. He tells him Fuat has Rifky investigating him and trying to find out everything about him so they need to limit their meetings. Ali Riza asks Muzaffer to help him locate Numan but he tells him they need to stop communicating for a while until Fuat stops doubting him. Muzaffer tells Ali Riza he needs Hasmet by his side to continue with their plan after he tells him of their current issues.
Ali Riza and Ferit go to see Numan’s brother so he can pass along a message to him since he’s still hiding. After a quick shoot out with his guards, he tells his brother to tell Numan to be a man and show his face. If he doesn’t, then he’s coming back to destroy his neighborhood and killing him. As they leave, they see their friend, Ramcho, who’s disguised as a drunk and spying on the neighborhood until Numan shows up. Melek, who is still staying with Hasmet, tells him she’s thinking of divorcing Mithat. He doesn’t believe her since he knows she has always been interested in money and power. She tells him she changed since Derya was kidnapped and Mithat didn’t do anything to save her. She says she won’t divorce him if he agrees to leave the consortium. Hasmet tells her she needs to get a good divorce lawyer because if Mithat is given the choice between work and family, he will always pick work. Later, Mithat visits Melek at Hasmet’s house. Apparently, their feud is actually a hoax! They’re attempting to convince Hasmet they’re having relationship problems so he can change his attitude towards Melek and be more sympathetic towards her. Melek plans on using Halide to get Hasmet on her side. She states that Halide and Ali Riza are in love and Hasmet is not happy about it. Mithat tells her that soon, they will be the ones in charge of everything and will destroy Fuat and Hasmet in the process. Later, Mithat takes the opportunity to irritate Hasmet by telling him he “heard” Ali Riza would soon become Halide’s fiancé. Hasmet becomes enraged and tells him it’s not true and no one should be talking about his daughter. Still upset, Hasmet asks Sabri to have Hasan come to his house so he could speak with him.
At the clinic, Halide has a big surprise for Ali Riza. She reveals the name of the clinic “Nihan Altay Solidarity Association” in memory of his sister. Ali Riza is moved to tears of her thoughtfulness and tells her it’s good that she’s with him.
Halide invites Ali Riza’s entire family to see the name of the clinic who are all touched and happy about the name that Halid chose. Later, Derya also visits the clinic but with a false pretense. She tells Halide she will keep Burak away from Ali Riza if she stays away from Burak. Halide becomes angry and tells her to leave. At that moment, Burak arrives and tells Halide she named the clinic in memory of Nihan due to her guilty conscience since she’s the reason she was killed. Fed up with their attitude, she kicks them both out.
Burak continues with his plan of creating his own “consortium”. Along with Numan, he enlists Erol and his partner to join forces to go against Fuat and the consortium and target Ali Riza as their first enemy. Fuat visits Ali Riza at the Taxi Café. He tells him if he needs additional men to help him during his missions, he needs to reach out to Rifky who will contract them for him so he doesn’t have to use Sabri. He also brings up Burak. Fuat reminds him that his new position includes him protecting the partners and their families. Although Ali Riza isn’t pleased about having to protect Burak, he says he’ll try but also tells him that he’s not happy he chose to move into his neighborhood.
Hasan meets with Hasmet to speak about Ali Riza. He says he warned Ali Riza several times about staying away from Halide but isn’t listening to him. Hasan explains Ali Riza is a good person and he and Halide just gravitated towards each other which developed into love. Hasmet says Ali Riza needs to correct his behavior and actions. He lies and says Ali Riza needs to be more careful or the consortium will find out that he works for the state as an informant. Hasan is shocked but doesn’t confirm or deny Hasmet’s allegations and leaves abruptly.
Burak receives several guests in his new house located in Ali Riza’s neighborhood. First, after Fusun runs into Burak near Ali Riza’s house, he takes her to his house so he can explain to her he’s not using Murat to get information about Ali Riza. Murat arrives and in front of them, Burak tells Fusun he won’t involve his brother in any of his business deals and to prove it, he gives Murat their mother’s ring that he inherited from her. Murat accepts the ring and proceeds to propose to Fusun who accepts. Later, Fuat visits Burak, who’s still mad at him for not supporting him when the consortium kicked him out. Fuat becomes angry and tells him he’s still trying to help him but Burak doesn’t appreciate it. He has to fake his support for Ali Riza and just made sure that he wouldn’t kill him. Fuat tells him he’s angry that the only legacy he will leave him is his money but Burak says that he doesn’t need anything because he’s taking care of things on his own. Burak finally realizes that Fuat is worried about him and doing what he can to protect him. As Fuat leaves, Emine and Mrs. Rukiye run into them and become angry that Burak has moved into their neighborhood. Mrs. Rukiye confronts Burak and tells him to leave their area but Burak tells her that it’s Ali Riza’s fault that he had to relocate there.
That evening, Numan’s brother finally leaves the neighborhood and Ramcho follows him which takes him to a warehouse where they appear to be unloading merchandise. He notifies Ali Riza, and along with Ferit, they check the location for Numan. As they attempt to surprise him, they realize too late that it’s a trap when they see he has Ramcho. Numan calls Ali Riza, who confronts him, however, Fatih shows up just in time to help them and the shoot-out begins! As Ali Riza is about to capture Numan, he escapes once again.
Ali Riza and the crew return to the Taxi Café and find Hasan waiting for them. Hasan asks to speak with Ali Riza alone. He tells him he considered him a brother and demands to know who he’s working with. Ali Riza says Hasmet doesn’t know anything about him. He denies being an informant and that he’s working for the state. His goal is still to avenge Nihan’s death. Hasan, still hurt, tells Ali Riza that he doesn’t want to speak to him anymore but warns him that Hasmet is making threats. He pretended to accidentally tell him Ali Riza’s secret to destroy him if he doesn’t stop seeing Halide. His message was loud and clear - he will become his enemy if he doesn’t leave Halide.
Fuat receives word they located Ismael, the man who helped Ali Riza get Jabir’s brother to break out from prison. He immediately goes to see him so he can get information about Ali Riza. When Fuat and his guards arrive at Ismael’s home, they ask how Ali Riza convinced him to help. Ismael responds that he doesn’t know anyone named Ali Riza. Fuat demands to know exactly how he got involved in the escape plan as they point a gun to his head if he doesn’t tell them the truth.
After Ali Riza arrives at Hasmet’s home, he asks him if he received the message he sent with Hasan. Ali Riza says he did and he understood it perfectly. He tells him he called Halide to meet them there because they have something to tell him. Once Halide arrives, Ali Riza tells her that Hasmet would do anything for his daughter so he too is ready to do anything for her. He reaches for her hand and announces they have fallen in love and expect Hasmet to respect their relationship. Hasmet is furious! With a cold stare, he tells Ali Riza from here on out, he’s responsible for everything that happens.
My Thoughts:
This episode was intense. I loved that Ali Riza finally said I love you to Halide. I really liked their scenes together - I wish they had more screen time but I’ll take what they give us. One of the biggest surprises in this episode was Murat and Fusun getting engaged - that came out of nowhere. I guess we'll find out soon if Fuat allows it. Another surprise was Mithat and Melek’s secret plot to get revenge on Hasmet and Fuat for what happened to Derya. There will be major drama if their plan is discovered. I still love seeing Ali Riza and Ferit together when they go out on missions – they’re so fearless. Love! And of course, Hasmet and Ali Riza as enemies?! Yikes!! They are both very strong-minded individuals who don’t back down and fight for what they believe in. If they go against each other, the battle will be epic. Can’t wait to find out what happens next week!
