Episode Summary
This episode is a signature of Asli Zengin’s brand of rom coms, where it is heavy on comedic and extenuating circumstances, peppered with some understated moments that begin to form the structure of the eventual romance between Ozgur and Ezgi. Their physical comedy is laugh out loud funny, as we continue to see Ozgur as this over-grown man child who’s very aware of the world around him, sensitive to the needs of his mother, but he consciously chooses the lighter side of life, wanting to take each experience as it comes, to be looked back on with fondness in the future.
We start the episode with Ozgur breaking the spell between them by making fun of Ezgi’s sense of trust while she nearly succumbs to kissing him. Mortified at how right he is in his assessment, Ezgi reacts with loud indignation, gets back on the boat only to learn that Cansu/ Deniz are now aware of her trip with Ozgur and, in another hissy fit now customary for her, she throws the first thing she can find into the water. The object happens to be the key to their boat, effectively marooning them in the middle of nowhere.
With Ezgi’s phone now out of charge while in the middle of her conversation with Cansu, Ozgur having left his at home, and with another careless move from Ezgi burning the electronics in the boat, they are out of contact with civilization. They board their dinghy boat, but it is low on gas, and they get stranded until Ozgur is able to row onto an island late at night. Ezgi proves to have a handbag that competes with Harry Potters’ Hermoine Granger’s bag with the extension charm. She’s able to produce a torch light, a lighter, water bottle and snack bars, leading Ozgur to claim that if he ever had to choose any 3 things to take when on an island, he’ll just take Ezgi!
For his part, Ozgur sweetly remembers to bring medicine and dressing kit for the bloody wound Ezgi acquired on the boat, when she stepped on a fishing hook. Ezgi, once again, is touched by Ozgur’s thoughtfulness and makes the diagnosis that Ozgur keeps his life in balance by being a deeply emotional man but seeming callous so that he can have control over his life. He fears losing himself in his love when he finally does fall in love. Once again, instead of responding to the moment, Ozgur teases Ezgi about her need to make him seem perfect in her head. Even though through their understated expressions the audience realizes that the two seem very aware of their own awakening feelings for the other, both are too stubborn to acknowledge it.
Several cute and funny moments later, the pair manage to run into a set of drug dealers, get tied up and eventually rescued by a goat that felt a sense of obligation towards Ezgi for feeding her some crackers the night before, steal one of the smuggler’s boats for their getaway, and is eventually saved from the boors by the coast guards, who had been on the lookout for Ozgur and Ezgi after their families raised the alarm about their disappearance. One needs to watch this adrenaline-charged sequence of events to fully appreciate the humor in the script, but it is well done with Can and Ozge really digging into the idiosyncrasies of their characters. One cannot help but find both of them endearing in their own ways.
Back on land and within their families, all of whom have now converged on Gocek and the wedding home, including Ezgi’s parents and friends, Ozan and Levent, Ezgi chooses to renege on the collective decision to come clean about the truth of their relationship. They were supposed to say to the parents that they broke up, but seeing the crest-fallen expressions on all their faces, Ezgi back-pedals and says they have made up again.
Everyone is happy and bonds over preparing for Ebru’s henna night, which goes off beautifully thanks to Ezgi’s event management skills. The next morning, after a hearty breakfast during which Ezgi’s parents seem to miss the detail about Ozgur’s declaration about being a bartender, the merry band of youngsters comprising of the three pairs – Ozgur/ Ezgi, Cansu/ Levent and Ozan/ Deniz – prepare to go out on the boat again. As they are joking around with Ozgur and Ezgi seeming like the perfect pair of hosts, we see Serdar the Doctor make an appearance at the dock as well, his trip to New York cancelled due to an emergency procedure performed on Soner the Pislik’s girlfriend, who sadly suffers a miscarriage.
Episode Analysis
Love and our need for the opposite gender is a life-long panacea for life as we wish to build it. We face many obstacles along the way, make mistakes, have bad relationships, become insecure about ourselves, but cannot ever fully give up hope that someday it is possible to have a happy ever after. Cansu is honest when she says that she needs a man in her life, and Deniz’s current complacence with life without one is because she has been burnt by the wrong one. We begin to see a softening Deniz as she starts to notice Ozan’s affable and kind demeanor, and his attention towards her. Serkay Tutuncu is really great in his role as Ozan, and with his enaction of Ozan he will prove that some nuts may be hard to crack, but somehow love finds a way.
The girls are so convinced that Ozgur is the wrong one for Ezgi that they take the weight of their good intentions and lay it on Ezgi when they finally reunite. Not wanting to accept that she may have begun to have feelings for Ozgur, Ezgi hides behind the need to keep the parents happy during Ebru’s wedding and remains tethered to Ozgur. Their comfort with each other within their personal space is palpable, and theirs foretell a love story that is rooted in a strong friendship first and passion later. For those of us who are more cerebral in how we engage in relationships will appreciate this aspect of their budding relationship.
This is certainly a fun little story that is designed to make us laugh through outlandish plot devices, physical comedy and fun dialogue with great comic timing, with a talented cast who have no issues with a caricaturist interpretation of the characters. Can’s sleeveless, muscleman wardrobe creates an outrageous persona for Can, but I feel it is intentional so that the audience can appreciate his antics in spite of the visual distractions. Ozge, in contrast, is very feminine in her color palette and style. Asli Parlak, who styles them both, seems to have taken an intentional path where Ezgi’s naivete and innocence is accentuated by her simple, pretty look, but Ozgur is a character that is more layered and who needs to be discovered under all the eccentric details.
With more spice mixed into the pot with the entry of Serder the Doctor, how will Ezgi and Ozgur wiggle out of the web of lies they have created for the families and for themselves? Episode 5 awaits next week!
