Ariza: Season 1, Episode 17 Review

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Ep 17 Photo Cover 2

Summary:

Haşmet and Ali Riza find out that Halide is missing and begin searching for her.  They soon find out she met with Burak and left with him.  While Ali Riza starts to look for her, Haşmet secretly informs Sabri he’s leaving immediately to meet with The Old Man to plead with him to help him get Halide back.  Sabri warns him of how dangerous he is but Haşmet says he doesn’t care about himself as long as Halide is safe.       

After Halide shoots Fuat, he’s taken to the hospital while Halide attempts to escape, however, Burak stops her and since he’s not capable of killing her, he takes her captive.  He lets Haşmet and Ali Riza know that he has Halide for breaking the rules and attacking their home.  Both Haşmet and Ali Riza threaten him to return Halide but Burak knows he has the upper hand having her as his prisoner.  When Burak checks in on Halide, she tells him she doesn’t care about what happens to her, however, he’s more upset that she doesn’t love him rather than the fact that she just attempted to kill his father.  Priorities.    

Ali Riza has a secret meeting with Muzaffer and fills him in on the recent events with Fuat.  He lets him know that Halide attacked Fuat and is now his prisoner.  Muzaffer warns Ali Riza not to lose sight of their mission or to give in to Burak’s demands just to save Halide.  Ali Riza does not accept his advice and tells him he’d rather give up his soul, but he will not lose those he loves and walks away.  It’s apparent Muzaffer’s only concerns involve the mission with no regard to Ali Riza’s point of view.

Later that evening, both Halide and Ali Riza, although separated, have the same flashback memory of their last conversation when Ali Riza took Halide to drink tea by the shore on their way home.  Since Halide was still anxious about recently learning the identity of her family’s murder, Ali Riza attempts to distract her by telling her a cute story of how he got in a fight when he was younger over a girl.  Halide becomes intrigued to find out what kind of girl would catch his interest, so he describes her as a girl so beautiful that he can’t stop looking at which is obvious he was describing Halide.  When the story becomes serious after Halide asks what he considers to be important in life, Ali Riza explains pride and honor are important to him, Halide wants to know how love fits into his life.  As always, Ali Riza tries to avoid the topic by telling her they need to get fresh tea.  Uffff Ali Riza!

Still desperate to find Halide, Ali Riza breaks into Fusun’s house to try to get information but Fusun plays dumb and says she doesn’t know anything.  Unknowingly, Ali Riza planted a listening device to listen in on her after he leaves.  Sure enough, she calls him as soon as Ali Riza leaves and discovers Fuat is still alive however Burak is lying to everyone about his condition.

Burak meets with Galip to let him know he’s taking over as head of the family and take control while Fuat recovers.  Galip of course has issues but since he’s a coward, he agrees with Burak after he tells him he’s still going to follow through with Fuat’s plan regarding the war.  After Galip leaves, Burak receives a call from Derya.  Since he constantly uses her, Burak uses that opportunity to speak with Mithat to attempt to convince him to join him since the consortium has been demolished.  Mithat attempts to convince him to stop the war and think smart about his next moves but of course, Burak isn’t smart.  Mithat and Melek realize Burak is out of control and with Fuat still alive, their plans to gain power have crashed.  After they hang up with Burak, they get a surprise visit from Ali Riza who lets them know Haşmet is nowhere to be found and isn’t answering his phone.  Melek suggests he went to see Fuat but Ali Riza informs them he’s been shot and could possibly be dead.  Ali Riza suggests talking to all the other underground families to let them know about Fuat’s condition and that Burak is taking control.  Mithat agrees and says the families will not fight in a war if the leader dies especially if it’s opposed by Haşmet and himself.    

The following day is an action-filled day of the war.  First, Burak attempts to kill Ali Riza at the taxi stop by planting a bomb in Fatih’s cab that ends up killing him and hurting Ramcho and Hasan after it explodes.    Then, Fiko attacks Mithat in his car however they find Derya is the one in the car instead but isn’t harmed.  When Derya arrives home, Melek receives a call from Burak.  She threatens him by telling him that she’s going to tell Haşmet he’s the one who killed his family but Burak tells her that his “connection” has deleted the recording so she has no proof.  Burak demands they team up with him to avoid him attacking them again.  After Melek checks her phone and is not able to find the recording, Derya tells them she did it because she supports Burak just like Melek supports Mithat in everything.  Lastly, the meeting with the other families is also attacked which causes several casualties and fatalities but not before Sabri is able to inform the families that Fuat has gone against the rules that started the war so he asks for their support and join Haşmet and Mithat to fight against the Ersoylu family.  They all agree but are immediately attacked by Burak’s men but thankfully Sabri is able to escape.        

Fuat finally wakes up from consciousness and his first order is to kill Halide.  Burak is devastated and attempts to reason with him but Fuat tells him if he wants to be in control, he will kill her.  To top it all off, he orders him to do it in the same location he killed her mother and brothers.  Fuat is the devil!  Later, Fiko finds Burak looking desperate trying to come to terms with what he has to do to the woman he loves.  

Ali Riza, Mithat, and Sabri discuss the results of the recent attacks.  They’re surprised about the attack on the meeting with the families which was a secure location but Sabri mentions both Ahmet and Erol left a few minutes before the attack occurred.  Ali Riza expresses his concerns about them which he’s had from the beginning and now appears to be clear that they are not to be trusted.  Ali Riza tells them he offered Burak to exchange himself for Halide which he knows he’ll accept.  In the meantime, Mithat proceeds with his part of their plan and “agrees” to join Burak in order to meet with Galip alone.    

After Ali Riza stops at the hospital to check on Fatih, he finds out he did not make it.  Devasted, he offers his condolences to Fatih’s mother who is inconsolable.  When Ali Riza pays his respects to Fatih, he finally lets go of his emotions and cries for the loss of one of his close friends.  As always, Hasan and Ferit are there to support him and remind him it’s not his fault when Ali Riza starts blaming himself for his death.  Hasan reminds him of the conversation he had earlier with Fatih who told him he joined him on this path because of Nihan and because of their brotherhood.  Ali Riza, still devastated, realizes that everything has changed and decides to start acting “according to their laws”.

The following day is another eventful day.  Mithat meets with Galip at a restaurant to finalize his “agreement” with Burak.  Before Galip gets a chance to enjoy his meal, he gets shot in the head.  Mithat quickly takes a picture and leaves.  Melek forwards those pictures to Fuat so they know Galip has been taken OUT.  Next, Burak talks to Halide to let her know Fuat has gained consciousness and his first words were to kill her which doesn’t surprise her.  He suggests they get married so that no one can harm her, but Halide laughs at him and tells him she’d rather die than marry him.  Ouch!  As they drive to the location, Halide has another flashback to the end of her conversation with Ali Riza at the shore.   She asks him if he could risk losing her, but Ali Riza tells her he thought they had already passed that test when she was shot.  Halide however tells him she is unsure if they passed or not which makes Ali Riza very emotional hearing her say that.  When they get ready to leave, Halide tells Ali Riza she can’t and won’t make him tell her how he feels because she thinks it won’t change anything between them.  When he asks her how you know when you’re in love, she gets upset because she’s again doing all the talking but gives him her definition of how it feels to be in love “If there are two hearts that beat together.  Distances, mountains, seas, they don’t matter.”  She also tells him if a day comes when they’re not together, she wants him to know that she’ll “be in the wind that you feel on your face.  Or in the sunlight that will light up your room in the morning.  Or maybe in the water that you will drink.”  So beautiful. 

At the same time as Halide is thinking of that memory, Ali Riza is remembering it as well as he prepares to meet with Burak, who has agreed to accept his offer to exchange Halide for him.  Meanwhile, Burak arrives at the designated location they used to kill Halide’s family which she recognizes.  When Burak tries to justify himself by saying he’s not the one who chose the location, she tells him he apparently prevented “them” from killing her the night her family was killed.  She believes he knew her family was going to be killed ahead of time and only requested her to be saved thus allowing her family to be murdered.  When Burak attempts to kill her, he can’t bring himself to pull the trigger.  He tells Halide instead of killing her, he’s going to take the one person she loves the most.  At that moment, Fuat receives word from The Old Man demanding he releases Halide.  Fuat immediately knows Haşmet spoke with The Old Man and hurries to contact Burak to stop Halide’s execution.  Back at the woods, Ali Riza arrives.  Burak tells Halide he accepted his offer to exchange her for him but Halide pleads with Burak to not take another person she loves away from her.  Burak coldly tells her that is precisely the reason why he’s doing it - because she loves him so much.  As Halide and Ali Riza walk towards each other, she pleads with him to not do it but he lovingly repeats the words to her that she said to him at the shore “I’ll be the wind on your face.  I’ll be the light in your room.  I’ll be the water you will drink.  Just like you.”

As Ali Riza gets in the car with Burak and Halide is taken away by Hasan and Ferit, Burak reminds Ali Riza they were in the same situation the previous day but in different positions.  Burak tells him he won’t make the same mistake he did by wasting time talking and he won’t be saved by a last-minute call since they’re in a remote wooded area so his death is imminent.  However, Ali Riza shows no fear.  When Burak asks who can stop him from killing him, Ali Riza reveals his cards by telling him he has Murat and asks Burak to decide between Ali Riza and his brother.  As always, Ali Riza has a plan!     

 

What I Loved:

I loved the flashback scenes between Ali Riza and Halide drinking tea by the shore.  I really enjoy watching them interact in normal situations and having normal conversations.  I had to go back to episode 16 to watch the scene when Ali Riza tells Halide how he feels which explains why he made that confession.  I thought it was because he thought he was going to die during his mission to kill Fuat but now we know it’s because Halide expressed her feelings to him and he wanted to reciprocate.  And because his confession was just as beautiful as Halide’s, I’m including it again from episode 16: “There is no life before you, Halide.  I don’t think it will be after.  You are my light, Halide.  The light that illuminates my heart and soul.”  I also loved that Ali Riza finally put Rasim in his place!  He called him out for stealing money and gambling and threatened him to death if he doesn’t stop and man up to take care of their family if something happens to him.  I think the threat worked.  I also loved that Ali Riza decided to do what HE wants instead of following Muzaffer’s orders.  This confrontation opened his eyes and will affect their future together.    

 

What I Liked:

I really liked the scene between Ali Riza and Ferit and how dedicated they are to each other.  Not only are they brothers-in-law, they also have each other’s back and trust no matter what.  Their brotherhood has no limits.  I also liked that Fatih was able to get Ali Riza’s forgiveness before he died.  He finally had the guts to admit what he did and apologized.  I also liked seeing Burak vulnerable instead of his normal crazy self.  Watching him try to come to terms with the fact that his father ordered him to kill the woman he’s loved all his life was a plethora of emotions: shock, disbelief, anger, and then sadness.  Of course, Fiko was there to support him and I loved that he’s so honest with Burak.  When he asked him what he would do if he was in his position, Fiko honestly said he’s never been in that situation and I’m assuming he means being in love.        

 

What I Disliked:

I still don’t like Derya and now even more.  She got the wrong idea when Burak didn’t have her killed when he had the opportunity, but she should know by now he’s just using her.  He didn’t kill her so he could continue to use her against Mithat and Melek.  This girl needs to wake up and smell some Turkish coffee. I also really do not like Muzaffer who’s only concerned about the operation and doesn’t care about Ali Riza.  Suggesting he leave Halide with Burak is insane!  Doesn’t he know him or perhaps he just doesn’t care??  Although it was a short scene, it annoyed me when Fusun thought Ali Riza was trying to hook up with her.  Um hello!! It looks like Fusun is already acting like an Ersoylu when she refused to tell him anything about Halide.  And of course, I didn’t like that Fatih was killed.  He was entertaining and a dedicated part of Ali Riza’s team.  He will definitely be missed.     

 

What Needs To Happen Next:

We still don’t know the identity of The Old Man but since Haşmet went to see him and plead for Halide’s life, I’m sure we’ll be meeting him soon.  What will The Old Man do with the consortium now that it’s been dismantled – or has it?  Did Hasmet have to promise The Old Man something to get his help?  Since he’s very powerful, will he make Haşmet, Fuat, and Mithat continue to work together?  Perhaps bring in new members now that Galip and Şeymuz are dead?  Does he have the power to end the war?  Also, now that Melek and Mithat have teamed up with Haşmet, will they tell him that Burak and Murat are the ones who actually killed his family?  And last, will Ali Riza continue to work with Muzaffer after suggesting he leave Halide with Burak?     

 

My Thoughts:

First of all, this episode was so emotional that I actually cried a few times.  The scenes with Ali Riza paying his respects to Fatih’s mother and in the morgue and at the end when Halide pleads with him to not go with Burak were supreme.  I especially loved that scene and how it was laid out so perfectly with the leaves falling and the music – makes me want to cry right now just thinking about it!  I did get a little worried when Burak suggested he and Halide get married so no one would harm her.  I hope the show doesn’t follow that storyline to end the war between the families.  There will be a lot of unhappy fans, including me.  I feel like this episode changed Ali Riza.  He has a different look in his eyes like he’s more determined to finish what he started.  I also hope it made him realize that he needs to move his relationship along with Halide after what they went through.  I think the time has come for them to have more romantic scenes or at least let them spend some quality time together.  Alone.      

Last Updated: Jan 18, 2021 00:22 am (UTC) Filed Under:
Author
Dee Lo ~ Guest Contributor
I love Turkish dizis. Huge fan of Tolga Sarıtaş and Ayça Ayşin Turan.