Ask Mantik Intikam Episode 13 Review "Embrace the Pain"
Shaking my head friends and foes. This is TOO much. Again, I emotionally divorced myself from the show and am now just watching because the leads are my jam and I like to criticize questionable writing choices. This episode was a mess from beginning to end. They did not dwell on things that should have been dwelt upon and spent emotional energy on pointless scenes (Cinar trying to get to the airport?). Long story short--since this is supposedly the recap part--Ozan DOES indeed marry Cagla, but don't worry it is only so as not to embarrass her in front of her family. But also, he goes on a honeymoon with her... and lets her move in? But everything's cool guys, its only a marriage on paper. Meanwhile, my Esra is thriving, doing business deals, planning to move to Antalya, letting Ozan know he has no business interfering with her life because he's a married man. Cinar grows emotionally closer to Esra which Ozan fans REALLY don't like, and also pulls some shady stuff in the company in order to be around Esra alone. Cagla has a million little emotional breakdowns that no on cares about. They also have a slightly "Breaking Bad" storyline involving Eko and Yalcin.
Bullet Point Observations
-Cagla is a pretty crier. Damn her.
-Ozan's sense of duty is seriously suspect... marrying someone so they won't be embarrassed when you KNOW they have feelings for you and you KNOW how your ex wife--who you happen to be in love with--is going to react to the situation? Um.... *blinking rapidly*
-When Ozan Bey says for Cagla not to expect things from him that he won't do... well, I think Cagla had certain unfulfilled expectations from that honeymoon and now I just want to laugh and laugh.
-Ozan looking at Esra with those sad puppy eyes hurts my heart... Esra not giving a damn brings me joy. I'm torn.
-Jealous Elif is kind of cute. Eko the philosopher is great. Aside from this the neighborhood storylines are "meh".
-Hearing Hande talk about "healthy relationships" is PEAK comedy. Why a smart woman like Cagla would listen to a woman who's own ex husband and son can't stand her makes no sense.
-Eh, the cuts between the serious moments and the comedy are not it.
-That snow globe might not survive this series. I fear for it every episode.
-I'm glad Cinar/Cagla's dad finally told Hande what we were all saying. We don't want to see you here next episode.
-Ozan confessing his love while he's married to another woman ain't it... AND BEFORE ALL OF YOU COME HERE WITH THE "It's not a real marriage" line--culturally speaking, to ESRA, even if they aren't sleeping together, even if it was never consummated, his signature on that paper says it is a real marriage. So everyone, take all your international sensibilities out of the equation and think what it would mean for a Turkish woman, even a fairly secular one, to have a married man talking to her in this way. It is disrespect and neither Esra nor I are having it...
-Can we also talk about how he was concerned about Cagla's embarrassment but feels no compunction asking a woman who he's disrespected in ALMOST every way to WAIT FOR HIM for an indeterminate amount of time while he is in a 'fake' marriage? Fool, please! This woman is done waiting on you.
-Cinar... please, do not try so hard for Esra... 1) it makes everyone hate you, not me, but everyone else on the internet and 2) your heart will break and 3) when you go evil, everyone will feel justified in hating you. And you will go evil, with that mom and that sister, honey, you're going evil.
-Ozan is really so stupid... "just close friends" with Cagla. Oh good heavens.
-When Esra plans revenge... girl plans revenge. Remind me never to get on her bad side.
-Now Cagla has seen that Esra is not so good natured, lets see what happens next (goodbye, snow globe!).
-Not Zumrut and Menekse teaming up to keep Eko and Elif apart!
-And in a surprise to no one, since they showed the entire thing in the Fragman... Ozan took Cinar's spot on the plane and is going to Antalya with Esra.
Thoughts & Predictions
-I've so many thoughts, where to begin? Lets talk about Cagla's mom, Hande, since they are going to force her down my throat... introducing Cagla as a sympathetic character initially then doing an about face was odd. I feel that the addition of Hande is make Cagla's change more palatable. "Oh, look, Hande's manipulating her! Oh look, it isn't her fault!" This all goes back to the hastiness and grandness of the engagement storyline. They have to keep upping the ante to keep explaining characters acting in ways we haven't seen before. This is what subpar writing looks like, folks.
-Flashbacks: There is always a lot of online chatter about the lack of flashbacks (or any character other than Ozan having a flashback? Don't ask, this fandom is something else...). As someone who studied writing in college (read: clearly an expert!), flashbacks are a tricky writing devise that used well can enhance a story. When used too often or incorrectly it breaks up scenes and makes things feel choppy. It ruins the flow. In the initial episodes those flashbacks were used to highlight the characters and their history with one another. They added to the plot, they moved the story forward, they were used subtly and with clear intent. Lately, they are doing flashbacks of conversations characters had ONE EPISODE IN THE PAST. That is not a flashback! If you really think the audience is so stupid that they can't remember the conversation of a week ago, you throw in a voiceover. There is no need for a flashback.
-They glossed over the SUPER SECRET MISCARRIAGE and that was just criminal. When you do a remake, obviously following it strictly brings no surprises... but there are certain tenants of the original that were vital to the plot and the characters. That is the SUPER SECRET MISCARRIAGE as both cause for divorce and the desire for revenge. It had been built up to be that catalyst in the Turkish version as well but at some point they either deviated from the course, or wrote themselves into a corner where they didn't know how to properly look after what should have been the biggest reveal of the series and certainly a climax of an episode or two. Here it is an afterthought, not given a flashback (I repeat, NOT GIVEN A FLASHBACK! They gave eating oranges a flashback for the love!), not addressed emotionally by Ozan to whom this is brand new information, and then glossed over in order to talk about marriages and trips to Antalya.
-Showing Ozan going to Antalya in the Fragman was a waste. Why even bother with the episode? We already knew what was going to happen. We couldn't even as a fandom get excited about it. They need to do better with the fragman's in general. They are edited weird and have sloppy music that makes it sound like a thriller.
-There is a fun little rumor going around diziland that Fox is sabotaging Ask Mantik Intikam because they didn't expect it do so well and they have so many other shows in development. This is an interesting theory, but why wouldn't they just change the day if they wanted to sabotage and return Son Yaz to Fridays? Son Yaz fans claim that Fox is trying to sabotage them with the move to Saturdays... They can't BOTH be right. Fox can't be trying to destroy two shows just for the hell of it. Particularly considering the ratings system and how they've kept floundering shows going for WAY too long on Fox. Anyway, it is a fun theory. I don't know how much credence I give it, but they don't put a lot of money into promotion. I'll say that.
-Since we didn't get a fragman, I have to predict blind. Obviously, Ozan and Esra will go to Antalya. How long they'll last there is another matter. Will Cinar join them there? Hande will clearly tell Cagla to do all the wrong things and Cagla will do them. They are either going to go with a reconciliation route which, with the Ozan's current marriage, seems kind of sloppy but I'm an international fan and have no cultural stake so... it wasn't consummated, in the US it can still be annulled so, baby, they aren't married! Esra and Ozan are free to reunite any way they see fit... and probably get her pregnant because this is a dizi in which any sex outside of marriage must needs result in pregnancy. I don't make these rules, I just observe them. OR they could go the Esra takes the first plane back to Istanbul and everyone is pissed as hell then Cagla slips Ozan a roofie and SHE gets pregnant, or pretends to be pregnant or some nonsensical thing because this is diziland. The most winningest of all situations would be for everyone to somehow discover that Esra and Ozan's divorce wasn't actually legal, therefore his marriage to Cagla is illegal and everyone lives happily ever after but who knows?
-I'm on this sinking ship till I drown! Happy Watching!
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