Ask Mantik Intikam Episode 11 Review "Jesus Take the Wheel... For Real"

Recap

I didn't love this episode, I was hoping it would be more cohesive but felt a bit disjointed, like they were rushing along because they had scheduled the BIG SECRET MISCARRIAGE REVEAL for next week, so they had a bunch of boxes they needed to tick with this episode in order to make it happen. That being said, lets dive on in. Ozan rushes to Cagla and hastily proposes marriage, this will make no one happy, not even Cinar who should be happy as Ozan will no longer be a rival for Esra's affection... but no, turns out he isn't a completely selfish brother and he doubts Ozan's motivations. Esra takes the news of Ozan's engagement poorly. Zumrut loves it. Sweet Eko moments incoming. 

    Review Bullet Points

-Ozan is really going into self destruct mode and burning ALL those bridges. I thought I'd like this, turns out, I really don't. His dead eyes are not my friend.

-Cinar's NE!? at Cagla's engagement announcement was good. He said what we were all thinking.

-I had to drop off my baby at preschool while the first Ozan/Esra standoff happened so I listened to it on my headphones. Long story short, the women at preschool drop off probably think I was going through an emotional breakdown and they were right. There were tears. Burcu does heartache SO well. Going through all those 5 stages of grief right before our eyes. Something about her pleading with Ozan just tore me apart... Not Ozan, though, he is a stone cold bastard.

-Predictably, Esra takes Cinar's job offer, yet homegirl needs a couple days to watch trashy tv (I see you Yasak Elma) and eat chocolate before she can face the horror show that is Dead Eyed Ozan and Smug Cagla. Something tells me that Esra should have read the fine print in that contract.

-Usually I'm all for Musa and Zeyno's hijinks, particularly their efforts to unite Ozan and Esra, but this time I think Zeyno let her girl down by letting her get so drunk and embarrassing herself. 

-I can't really blame Musa and Zeyno for assuming that if you get two adults in the same place they might talk about their issues... you know, like adults.

-Unfortunately, drunk Esra couldn't quite get her point across despite using some rough and ready means at her disposal. I'm sorry but nothing about that kiss was fulfilling in any way. 

-I interrupt our regularly scheduled review to talk about Cagla... Ooof Cagla, ooof! Look, I wanted to like Cagla a lot because I like the actress, and I feel like the writers of SCK did her character dirty, so I was hoping that while she would be a rival for Ozan, she would have a decent backstory and wouldn't be so predictably dizi "blond girl that his mom likes". For the first few episodes, they had me believing it would be a more subtle and complex relationship, but ever since episode 10, Cagla went full crazy... BUT QUICK! Saying horrible comments to Esra at every turn, trying to inflict the most damage, chasing Ozan around and not confronting him about seeing him kissing Esra. Esra is NOT her problem. Ozan is. She needs to be focusing her energy in that direction. 

-At least Cinar exists to get Esra frozen yogurt and pull her out of despair. He's going to go evil quick really soon as well, so lets enjoy him as he is now.

-Boring stuff involving Zumrut and Menekse. Didn't care all that much.

-Elif learns the truth about her sculptor. Never trust them.

-And we have the most uncomfortable "family dinner" ever with Esra, Ozan, the Twins from Hell, and their dad. Look, I usually crack up during awkward dinner scenes because they are too hilarious. This one was not. To Cagla talking about redecorating the secret house, to work issues... very much I wanted that scene to end.

-Finally, Esra becomes aware of the reason for Ozan's hasty engagement and instead of listening to her, Ozan decides to tell everyone Esra is his ex wife. I honestly don't know what he's trying to accomplish with this other than prove to Esra that he cares so little about her, he doesn't care who knows they were married. Or maybe he's hoping this new info will help Cagla force Esra out of the company since Ozan never had the balls to do so? Either way... Esra warned him. She said that when he regretted his actions it would be too late, and I see too late pulling out of the driveway at the end of this scene.

Thoughts and Predictions

-I'm not asking to change writers because I've seen what happens in diziland when they do switch... it gets worse (hence Melisa's situation in SCK). But there has been some BAD writing that needs to be addressed. 

Let us never forget...

-I really didn't want to meet The Twins' mom. There are enough bad/crazy parents in this dizi already.

-I keep hearing how "destroyed" Ozan will be when he learns the news of Esra's miscarriage... but thus far the writers have given me no indication that Ozan is capable of paternal feelings. There was a sentence in the last episode about having a room upstairs for children when Esra was ready. No lead up or preamble or even flashback of Ozan's desire for children in the past. As far as I know, Ozan could hate kids. I think the writers just wanted the audience to take for granted that Ozan had strong paternal feelings, but it wasn't written into any of the scenes I've watched. A friend mentioned that the devastation might be his sadness for putting Esra in that position alone, but again, what the writers have shown us is a ruthless person who is VERY willing and able to tromp all over Esra's feelings for his own pride, benefit, amusement... And I have kept saying... IF YOU MAKE OZAN TOO UNLIKEABLE, THE AUDIENCE WILL TURN ON HIM. I've forgiven a lot because I'm slightly obsessed with the veins in Ozan's hands, but I too am at the end of my rope.

-I already addressed how Cagla went too bad too quickly.

-The BIG SECRET MISCARRIAGE REVEAL!!! So, lots of people have LOTS of thoughts on how, when, where, why that should happen. Some wanted it earlier (I wanted it later). Some are fans of the original (I think the original is lame). From the fragman, we are lead to believe that Zeyno comes to Ozan before he and Cagla are getting married and reveals the truth prompting him to go to Esra to see if that is actually the case. They could be misleading us, they sometimes do... but the last several crappy fragmans have basically shown us exactly what is going to happen. No dreams. No nuance. No nonsense. They've shown it all. IF what is in the fragman stands as I see it, I'll be very disappointed. Primarily, because it really goes back to not addressing one of the chief issues within the complex Esra/Ozan dynamic. Ozan only considers Esra's feelings as they relate to his life. As written, Esra's importance is in relation to Ozan himself. For example, her role as someone who helped him when he was a child, her role as his wife/ex-wife, and if the reveal is as it stands, her role as the mother of his miscarried child. He didn't sit with his engagement and realize Esra's superior character attributes. He didn't sit in the engagement and realize he really loved her. He didn't realize anything... instead he learned that he was a crappy husband and Esra suffered for it. His guilt leads him to Esra, not his love. Then the writers are really going to expect me to watch some love story unfold when he would have married Cagla if not for an unborn child??? 

-And yes, the Ozan fan brigade (you know who you are, leave me alone) will try to justify ANYTHING Ozan does by yammering on about his fear of abandonment and his father leaving etc etc etc... but I'd LOVE to take a survey of how many of those people a) are actually married and understand the TRUE complexities in taking on someone else's mental baggage in such a vulnerable and intimate way b) actually have children or c) actually understand the pain of a miscarriage. I'd hazard a guess, not many. I'd also be interested to see if any of the writers fall into those groups because if you are allowing your partner to emotionally abuse you because he fears abandonment... then I feel bad for you in real life. And yes, Dizis are Dizis and real life is real life, but I will never stop talking about how fiction needs to do better addressing toxic masculinity and mental health issues. 

-So will I continue watching now that I've lost faith in the writers and have written extensively about how they suck? OF COURSE... I always stay on a sinking ship for MUCH longer than I should. I don't know that I'll watch live anymore, especially as fall dizi season is upon us and if AMI fails me there are plenty other dizis to take my time.

-I'll give it ONE more live episode, if 12 is as disjointed as 11 from a writing standpoint, I'll just catch it later in the week and not try to add to the ratings.

-Happy Watching! May all your Dizi dreams come true.