THE PERFORMER | Birkan Sokullu
THE SHOW | Masumlar Apartmanı
THE EPISODE | Season 1, Episode 18 (Jan. 19, 2021)
THE PERFORMANCE | Our top pick for "Best Shows of 2020" was TRT1's Masumlar Apartmanı for many reasons but mostly because of the stellar performances put on by the show's cast every single week. The casting directors did a fantastic job in that department, and if it were left to us, we would be highlighting each and every performance of the show every single week.
On that note, Birkan Sokullu, who plays Han in the critically-acclaimed drama series, delivered our favorite performance this week as we inched a step closer, unveiling the many shades of grey his character is woven in.
Han no longer takes kindly to being abandoned, and with Inci, his wife, dipping without so much as a note, an indescribable level of rage overthrew his usually cool and calm demeanor. With every pit stop Han made in this episode, Birkan Sokullu jumped at the opportunity to showcase his masterful skills as an actor.
For the better part of the episode, Han seemed consciously dazed as he made his way through familiar stops in search of his beloved. But his eyes, his eyes were wide open and frightening at that, which pointed towards imminent breakdown. He broke down alright, towards the end of the episode when he used an accident he caused to get his behind whooped. In the scuffle with the driver he hit when he saw someone he thought was Inci, the more he got punched, the more he laughed, as though the pain was separating him from the other ongoing burdens in his life.
We've known for weeks that there is more than meets the eye with Han, but so far, he has managed to mask his outward appearance with a deceptive veil of being put together. Like his sisters, Han is a character with many layers –– broken layers. And as we saw with his chilling conversation with the mannequin he stole, he harbors a lot of unresolved trauma that has resulted in his life moving in exactly one bumpy direction.
In portraying Han's downward spiral as he came to terms with losing yet another loved one, Birkan Sokullu delivered a brilliant and enigmatic performance, bolstering every scene with the right amount of daring emotions.