When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard and steep. And when his wings enfold you yield to him, Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you. And when he speaks to you believe in him, Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the north wind lays waste the garden. For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your pruning. Even as he ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun, So shall he descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth…… *
Peki, işte bu! Eda and Serkan are married! I honestly wasn’t sure we would ever get here. After the dreaded episodes post episode 24, there was every chance that the show would get canceled and we wouldn’t be blessed with what we are going to get to enjoy now, five episodes of Eda and Serkan as a married couple with their daughter. I think we need to appreciate the rarity of this event. It seems to be a trend of the other Turkish romcoms to date to have a wedding and a quick flash forward to the future all in the final episode but we are going to get a decent amount of time to savour the happy moments of the reconciliation and renewed love affair of our protagonists. It is a gift.
That’s not to say that it’s all smooth sailing, because that would be too much to ask for, and the SÇK writers seem allergic to having Eda and Serkan be stress-free for longer than a day. So, there will be more bumps in the road, but they are going to weather them together. This is the best kind of happy ending we might have hoped for at this stage.
What I loved
I’m very glad that the engagement led immediately to the wedding, no time for things to get messed up. The wedding was lovely and I particularly loved Serkan’s speech to Eda at the luncheon. These two actors really are magic together, and him telling her in front of all their loved ones what she means to him, how he sees her, and that she is what love is for him was spectacularly beautiful. I will say again that Kerem Bürsin is an underrated actor and it is in these quiet but powerful scenes that he shines so bright. It was also lovely that he took her to Italy for their honeymoon, fulfilling a long-promised trip for the two of them.
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But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure, Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor, Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself. *
They have their original rings! I hated it so much that the flower ring was made into a necklace, and so I am so glad Serkan had it remade and that they have kept this a constant and Serkan got to show her again that he’s kept everything related to her.
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Engin and Melo saying, ‘no’ to the officiant as witnesses were so cute. They were both just so giddy at being at their best friend’s wedding.
Kemal and Serkan are slowly figuring out a path forward with their relationship and Serkan seems much more open to the idea. Kemal is a good man and hopefully once they get over the awkwardness of the situation they can be close. Serkan sees what a gift being Kiraz’s dad has been for him and hopes that Kemal can be his second chance to be a son. Kemal barking at Deniz and hanging up on her after she proposed that Serkan should come and beg her was fantastic as was him saying, ‘MY SON won’t do that!’.
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There is a beautiful short story by O.Henry called The Gift of the Magi, the plot is that a young, married couple, too poor to buy each other Christmas gifts, each sell off the only thing they each possess that can bring in some money. He sells his pocket watch to buy her hair combs and she sells her hair to buy a fob for his watch. If you are interested here is a link to the story:
https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/1-the_gift_of_the_magi_0.pdf
Eda and Serkan do something similar here, she tells him to save Art Life because she knows how much the company means to him, but he ultimately chooses to sell his shares in Art Life to raise the funds to save the company and fund her project in Italy. They are each willing to sacrifice for the other’s happiness and Serkan gets to prove without a doubt that it really is Eda and their family that is the most important thing in his life.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed; For love is sufficient unto love. And think not you can direct the course of love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course. Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself. *
What I liked
This episode contained more than just the reconciliation of Eda and Serkan. Ayfer admitted that Serkan had worked hard to be united with Eda and Kiraz and that she owed him an apology for doubting that he really loved them. I have more of a soft spot for the Ayfer character because she has good reason to dislike Serkan and even though she doesn’t like him she always treated him with some semblance of respect. Ayfer and Aydan are also fully made up.
I will, however, never be as forgiving with Aydan, but she also apologized and tried to make amends to Eda, she asked her to not call her Aydan hanim anymore but Eda is not there yet. Aydan has done too many hateful things to Eda and has flip-flopped so many times from friend to enemy, to be easily forgiven and I am glad that was addressed.
Piril tried her best to make sure that Eda and Serkan’s honeymoon wasn’t ruined, the fact that she wasn’t successful doesn’t take away from the effort she made. I have so enjoyed the character growth of Piril into a good friend and capable person. The writers have finally made both Engin and Piril back into good friends to Serkan and Eda.
Engin thinking that Piril was pregnant or was trying to get pregnant was hilarious when he thought she was going to try with one of the guys at work. Silly, but funny.
What I didn’t like
The Deniz hanim scenes and situation were nasty, gross, and really not funny. I have enjoyed her character up until this episode where she veered into completely delusional and was a full-on sexual harasser. It’s not cute or less problematic when it’s a woman. I’m sorry for this ending for her character.
I have no experience running a multi-million dollar architecture and design firm but it isn’t good general business practices to have all your assets tied to one project and usually when signing a contract and taking out loans for a project there are penalties for breaking the contract and fines that are paid so that companies DON’T go bankrupt when a project is canceled. Maybe I’m missing something, but this doesn’t seem realistic. Nor are all your personal assets tied to the company. However, this isn’t reality so Art Life is bankrupt and the only way out was for them to raise some new capital. They raised enough to save Art Life but at the expense of not being able to fund Eda’s Italy project. I get there still has to be conflict but this makes Serkan, Piril, and Engin look like terrible business people.
I am resigned that they are going with the Melo and Burak relationship. I don’t want to harp on all the reasons that Melo deserves more ama MELO DESERVES MORE.
Again, I don’t really dislike the Kerem/Pina relationship but at this point in the series, I can’t bring myself to care very much about it either.
What needs to happen next
- Without even having to see the fragman and the behind-the-scenes clips of the last filming day it was pretty obvious that Eda is going to be pregnant again. I’m glad because Serkan missed that with Kiraz and it’s going to be fun to see him freak out and be overprotective
- They better have Burak woo Melo hard over the next few episodes
- I really would like to see a strong bond form between Serkan and Kemal and for Kemal to show Aydan how to be a supportive parent
- I really want to witness Eda’s success in Italy. Too many of her accomplishments have been glossed over. Let’s see her win an award for best landscape architect
We are winding down the episodes and as of writing the filming for the series has been concluded. It is a bittersweet time because it has been a wonderful show, we have fallen in love with the cast and crew, but it is time for the show to finish up. Amazingly, we will get the happily-ever-after ending we deserve after sticking with the show through some tough times. I believe that the writers will justify our faith and give the series a beautiful conclusion.
But if you love and must need have desires, let these be your desires: To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night. To know the pain of too much tenderness. To be wounded by your own understanding of love; And to bleed willingly and joyfully. *
* All quotes Kahlil Gibran, Le Prophète
