“You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.” – Anton Chekhov
Episode 8 was a tough one, our lovers are not in a good place at all and the trust that had been building between them has been shattered with one “Git”. After watching it through with subtitles I actually really enjoyed this episode because I appreciate the overarching themes that were focused on throughout the show. There are three main things I want to touch on that I think were important to the story in episode 8.
The first is trust. Serkan believes that Eda has betrayed him by selling/giving his design to Kaan. Given the circumstances he thinks that she is the only one who could have done it as she had custody of the paperwork and the design when it wasn’t in his possession. He isn’t willing to entertain any other possibility and when a visibly distraught Eda tell him if he really believes she could have done that she will leave and he will never see her again. He tells her to go. There is mutual loss of trust between them with this, he believes she betrayed him and she believed he wouldn’t hurt her, not like this.
The second theme is one that culturally Turkey as a society is trying to tackle, violence and harassment of women. There have been several anti-violence against women social media campaigns recently and many Turkish actors and actresses have spoken out. Notably in this episode it is Aydan who is upset at her son and calls him out for the way that he speaks to Eda. No one is suggesting that he is violent but she says that she didn’t raise him to be so aggressive. She is very disappointed in his behaviour and is worried.
Lastly, friendship and all it brings with it. Eda is a very bright light, not unlike a star, that attracts people to her. The old friends that she has will do anything for her and they mention, especially Ceren, how her goodness brightens everyone’s lives that she touches. She also makes new friends very easily. After the accusal by Serkan, when she first comes back to the office she looks a little nervous, but everyone greets her warmly, no one thinks that she has betrayed the company. A person like Eda is rare, she draws people in and they love her, she is the star around whom others orbit hoping to be warmed from her light.
Trust
Eda and Serkan
“What loneliness is more lonely than distrust?” – George Eliot
Even though she is furious and hurt that Serkan would think she would betray him, the next morning Eda goes back to his house to give him back the ring. I think she is also looking for an apology, one is not forthcoming, but he tell her not to take off the ring, to keep it. She says that she won’t keep the ring of a man she hates, but she can’t get it off her finger, He says that people will notice and to keep wearing it until he can figure out what to say to everyone. He will let her know when he’s taken care of it, she tells him to have Leyla call he, she doesn’t want to see or talk to him again. Lost opportunity number one for Serkan to apology.
Eda and Serkan have parallel conversations with Aydan and Ayfer respectively about the break in their relationship. Aydan wants to stress to Eda that she doesn’t agree with Serkan yelling at Eda, and Ayfer wants to let Serkan know that she is furious at him calling Eda a thief after he had promised her that he wouldn’t hurt Eda. Eda and Serkan have identical answers as to who is to blame for the situation and each expects an apology from the other. I loved Ayfer coming to confront Serkan and as she and Eda are leaving the Bolat estate says that no one can hurt Eda. Ayfer is a powerful defender of her niece.
“It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.” – Confucius
Eda has to come to the office to sign some paperwork as she applied for the patent for the company. Serkan makes Engin call Eda to get her to come in, she won’t unless Engin can promise that Serkan won’t be there. Serkan is upset that Eda will only come if he isn’t there. Serkan leaves with Selin to have coffee but has had Leyla call him when Eda arrives at the office. He wants to see her, that is clear. She tells him she will find proof that she didn’t steal from him and after she doesn’t she doesn’t ever want to see him again. Serkan misses a second opportunity to apologize.
Serkan has been walking Sirius through Eda’s neighbourhood at night, he sits and remembers the gift she gave him just the night before on the steps, he's already missing her like crazy. Sirius spots Eda and tries to go to her but Serkan doesn’t see her and pulls him away. The second night they are in the park by her house and she sees them coming and tries to hide but Sirius sniffs her out. Serkan asks her to sit for a few minutes and she does but she only talks to the dog. When she leave Serkan tells Sirius ‘why didn’t you ask her not to go?’ Why didn’t you, you big dummy?! Missed opportunity to apologize number three.
Serkan finds the plans for the landscaping at the golf course on the hood of his car and realized that Eda had to have been there the night before. He loves the design and even tells her that she has created something magical. He goes to the flower shop to talk to her and ask her to come with him to the site but she isn’t interested in doing either of those things with him. Missed opportunity number four.
Friendship
Ceren and Eda
Ceren comes to the office with Eda to provide moral support but it turns out it isn’t needed. The employees are all really glad to see Eda, especially Leyla, who is desperately missing Eda’s calming influence on Serkan. Ceren is also on the hunt for the person who gave the contract to the press and has tracked down the journalist. This is ultimately fruitless but it does expose Selin’s over-interest in the story, Ceren and Eda are both suspicious of her.
“The trust of the innocent is the liar’s most useful tool.” – Stephen King
Melo and Eda
These two are as close as sisters, and as soon as Melo realizes that Kaan had targeted her to get close to Eda and Serkan she comes clean about her relationship with Kaan. She is devastated that Kaan has been playing her all along and that she is the reason that the designs were stolen and Eda and Serkan have broken up. She apologizes repeatedly and is immediately forgiven by Eda. This is the trust and love between these two characters, forgiveness asked for and forgiveness given, without delay.
Fifi and Melo
The lightest and the darkest of Eda’s friends have a great, unexpected friendship, they couldn’t be more different. But Fifi is ride or die for all of them and takes Melo to get the proof that Eda needs and maybe a bit of payback for Kaan deceiving her. They chloroform him and check his phone and sure enough he still has the pictures he took of Serkan’s designs and the paperwork on the phone. Dumbass. Fifi might be the least emotionally available of the girls but she knows what Melo needs and I love their hug after the caper.
I appreciate so much the love shared by all of these young women in Sen Çal Kapimi, and the lengths they will go to to support and protect one another. There is no overt feminist dialogue here but in all the scenes and all the interactions between the female characters we see love and respect between them and also the shear capability of each. There are no damsels that need saving here. Ayfer is constantly reminding all the girls that they don’t need a man and that they are all bright, smart, and capable women.
Ceren and Engin
They are still trying to make Pyril jealous and move forward with a relationship with Engin. This has been hit and miss but it seems like maybe there might be something romantic brewing between these two as well. We shall see.
What I loved
Parallels of Serkan with Selin compared to Serkan with Eda. In the car, he puts the top down but Selin immediately asks him to put it back up because it is messing up her hair, of course Eda loves riding around with the top down. When they are talking in the stables Serkan mentions how inspirational the horse with the broken leg is to him, Selin says that he doesn’t usually talk so emotionally, he says that Engin mentioned the same thing to him but he hasn’t felt the difference. I like this as it seems that Eda has awakened these things in him, he has changed but not to a new Serkan in response to Eda, she brings out the old Serkan, I think that is why it doesn’t seem unfamiliar to him.
Engin was the voice of reason to Serkan and called him out about how quickly he jumped on Eda. Serkan really needs someone to push back at him and Engin was better at it this time around than he has been in the past.
All of the Art/Life staff being glad to see Eda. Serkan without her has reverted back to his mercurial ways and everyone is on edge, especially poor Leyla. The woman who was confident enough to tease Serkan a few episodes ago has been replaced by the quivering mass of nerves she was when we first meet her.
Seyfi is firmly on team Eda and is very upset at Serkan for how he treated Eda. He takes a rare day off and goes to Eda’s house, she isn’t there but he spends the afternoon cooking and chatting with Ayfer. He has seamless made himself a part of their little found family.
Kaan has been found out and Fifi and Melo go to his office to try and find the proof that Eda needs to prove to Serkan that she’s innocent. I was floored when they chloroformed him and retrieved the pictures off his phone. I’m pretty sure that’s a felony! But hallelujah the Kaan/Melo storyline is over. Ayfer predicted that Melo would have to leave him but I can’t even imagine that she knew just how bad he was.
“I would rather trust a woman’s instinct than a man’s reason.” – Stanley Baldwin
What I liked
Ferit and Eda meet up at Serkan and both eavesdrop the conversation between Serkan and Selin. Selin admits that Ferit is the logical choice for her, but never mentions she loves him, and Serkan says that Selin is the logical choice for him. Selin asks him about Eda but he doesn’t answer. Ferit and Eda walk back to their cars and have a conversation about what they have heard but Eda also wants to know if Selin is the one who leaked the contract to the press. She pressures Ferit enough that he admits that he was the one to give the picture to Kaan, but he didn’t mean for it to get to the press. He asks Eda not to say anything to Serkan as Selin has lied to Serkan for Ferit and Serkan would never forgive her for that. Eda agrees. Ferit has turned out to not be a bad guy, he’s just an idiot in love.
Aydan has come to appreciate what Eda has done for Serkan and for her. She sees the light in Eda and likes it and I really liked the conversation she has with Alptekin about Serkan and how angry and untrusting Serkan is. Alptekin blames himself and Aydan and says maybe it’s because they were too overprotective, likely after his brother died. Alptekin goes to Serkan’s house and notices the pictures of Serkan and Eda on the table and that from the lack of dust on it, that Serkan has been playing the guitar that’s hanging on the wall he seems pleased with that.
Alptekin makes an unannounced visit to Serkan’s company to have coffee with his son. It seems like this has maybe never happened before? Serkan is definitely confused by it, Alptekin mentions Eda and how Serkan has seemed to have changed since she’s been in his life. He mentions that Serkan is playing guitar again. Alptekin tries to give his son some advice which confuses Serkan even more but it seems like his father is making an effort to reach out to him, and Alptekin says that they are all changing and maybe that is a good thing.
What I didn’t like
Erdem’s obsession with Fifi veered into creepy this episode. He is obviously the comic relief in this show but demanding that her friends tell him where she is, showing up at Eda’s house trying to find her isn’t funny. She is uncomfortable around him, but given what she did to Kaan this episode I’m not too worried about her safety, but they need to rein in Erdem a bit because he is coming off as a stalker.
Selin’s behaviour is just getting worse. She is ready to believe straight away that Eda is guilty, she lies to Ferit about being with Serkan, she is so condescending to Eda, she is thrilled that Serkan and Eda have broken up and she messes with Ceren investigation with the reporter. She is still in love with Serkan and is unable to take the steps away from him she needs to make her relationship with Ferit work, if she isn’t careful she is going to end up without either of them.
I don’t love the idea of a love triangle brewing with Engin, Pyril and Ceren. I know this is a dizi staple but it’s usually not well done and the characters suffer for the story.
What Needs to Happen Next
Serkan has so much grovelling to do, but I also want to see him verbalize how what he did affected Eda, he needs to acknowledge that him screaming at her and accusing her in front of everyone was completely wrong and uncalled for and he needs to say that out loud to her
I’m hoping that they are going to explore the ‘magic’ of both Eda and Ayfer. It’s been hinted at that they both have ‘power’. Serkan has called Eda a fairy a few times and Ayfer seems to be able to both read people and get the truth out of them. I’m not say that I truly think that they are magical but that their effect on people is seemingly magical.
Eda and Serkan are in love with one another, but they are both volatile people and more than a little stubborn. However, I appreciate so much that they are still talking, as much as Eda says she doesn't want to see his face, they end up back together some how. This is their fate, it's written in the stars. There will be no need for a comedic intervention by their friends to get them together, at least I hope not, because the two of them can't stay away from each other. This is good, believable storytelling of how hard it can be to be in love, how hard it is to forgive your partners weaknesses, how much emotional work it takes to make a relationship stable, and Sen Çal Kapimi is exploring all those aspects in such a fantastic way.
“Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” – Maya Angelou
