El kizi episode one review "Son Yaz Tears are Delicious!"*

 For real, I wasn't going to write a review on this show. I am not even terribly invested. Yes, I like the leads, Sevda Erginci and Ismail Sasmaz, and was interested to see how that pairing would work. Spoiler, it's kind of weird? I'm not sure where it's going. Is the Harun (Ismail) character going to be straight up evil? Is the Ezo character supposed to be a little evil, too? 

At ANY rate... the only reason why I feel compelled to write this review is that I've seen a lot of misinformation out there by Son Yaz fans who didn't even watch El kizi. For those of you unfamiliar with Fox Turkey and Diziland in general... this last season Fox had more shows in production than they had days in the week, which logic dictates would necessitate cancelation of some of the lower performing shows. Son Yaz was airing on Friday night against some stiff competition and the ratings weren't amazing. They kept falling to the point that there had already been rumors about cancellation last season, but due to a last minute reprieve, they decided to give Son Yaz a second season to begin in the fall. During the summer AMI aired on Friday night. It didn't have much competition, but ratings are usually lower in the summer due to soccer (football) competitions and the fact that people are traveling, but surprise of all surprises... Ask Mantik Intikam exceeded everyone's expectations and did well. It got higher ratings in the summer than Son Yaz got in the fall/winter which is hard to do. As a result, they decided to change Son Yaz to Saturday night up against some other VERY popular shows which would most certainly be difficult for a show that didn't have a particularly strong showing on its original night. A day change can be the kiss of death for a show... and that proved to be the case for Son Yaz. Cue a truck with tissues because Son Yaz fans LOST THIER COLLECTIVE SH*T... which gives me all sorts of ideas about their average age, but neyse, we can talk about the ethics of giving children a soap box at another time. The Son Yaz fandom (not everyone, obviously, but some LOUD fans) argued with EVERYONE. They hated AMI and their fans for "stealing their day" and getting better ratings with a plot they said was cliche though they didn't watch it... THEN they hated Kardeslerim a show that aired the new day that got higher ratings. They hated it so much they personally attacked the teenaged lead actress of Kardeslerim to the point of alienating people who were sympathetic to their show getting low ratings. Who among us hasn't watched a floundering show and CURSED the fact that international fans are relying on an archaic and chaotic ratings system. Their illogical arguments and blame made it hard to feel bad for them. Maybe get better writers, don't kill off a main character do a crappy time jump and change shooting locations if you want the second season to be successful. But again, fans have ZERO control over this. 

Fast forward to today.... Today was the first day El kizi aired in Saturday time slot that once belonged to Son Yaz (even though they hated that time slot, like they hate everything). I watched the episode then went online and SURPRISE SURPRISE Son Yaz fans had been out in force trashing a show they'd never even watched based on one or two clips without any context. So, here I am, wasting my precious time and setting the record strait.

RECAP

Ezo's father is a powerful businessman who runs his house with an iron fist which means he verbally and physically abuses his only daughter--more on all of this later. His second wife, Ezo's stepmother and her brother are no different, also treating Ezo horribly. Ezo's grandmother provides little protection so Ezo can only find comfort in her friendship with Ali (her father's business associate's grandson) and her servant. Meanwhile, after a chance meeting Harun and his mother set their sights on Ezo's fortune.

BULLET POINT REVIEW

-In the first scene we see Ezo noping out of the house to take a college entrance exam that her father most definitely would not approve of as he doesn't like women to do anything other than being under his thumb. She ALMOST gets away with it but not quite.

-We learn about Ezo's friend Ali, who she wants to marry. He's cute, but he's doing his military service... 

-After being chased by a bull cause she's wearing an eye catching red dress... Ezo is saved by Harun. They immediately hug, then he immediately acts like a jerk. Then he realizes who she was... and things are about to get interesting there. Maybe. I still can't tell.

-Back at home, Grandma (Sultana from Cukur who I HATED) has shown up and thrown things in to a bit of chaos. Wicked Stepmother and Grandmama do not get along, and Resul (the dad) is horrible to his daughter for a while. 

-Stepmama decides she can't bear to have Ezo's mom's clothes just lying around for her to wear so decides to have a little bonfire in the yard... which isn't discreet and is also ridiculous. The result of which is a face slapping match, and her brother shooting Ezo's dog after he hit Ezo.

-Be forewarned the face slapping in this show is top notch. EVERYONE gonna be slapped at some point.

-Here we find out that the dog was a gift from Ezo's deceased mother, so not only did she love the dog because she's not an animal hater, but because it represented a time when she was happy.

-Resul shows that not only is he a crappy husband by meeting with Harun's mom and trying to get a little affair started, and a crappy dad, but also a horrible person in general as he threatens some miserably poor workers, one of whom is in labor delivering a baby. Yes, they want you to know this man is no good.

-Ezo stands up to everyone and gets beaten again, and her favorite servant and the servant's horrible daughter (Hey, Ayse from Kardeslerim! Didn't like you there either!) are fired for trying to stick up for Ezo. Everyone else just stands around kind of useless. 

-Meanwhile Harun's mom is drowning in debt and trying to convince Harun to go after Ezo. He isn't interested. At least... not initially. There is a promising younger brother, Mert who perhaps we'll get to see more, but thus far Harun and his mom are scheming away.

-Ezo is on a semi hunger strike when her Wicked Stepmother's creepy brother comes to leer at her. He's done this before and he has something shady going on with the maid's daughter so he's someone we hate. I do remember liking him on another show, though I can't remember what it was? Someone help. 

-For some reason it is really important Ezo attend a party and wear a basic choral number, instead of dressing in the dress everyone wanted, Ezo wears her mother's wedding dress*BOLD MOVE* and the night ends in yet another beating and a quick trip to visit her mother's grave after her dad confessed he killed her mom, and tried to kill her as well. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool.

-Also, Harun stalks her to the graveside to ask questions about her dad and suggest she go to the police, but just then they see her house on fire. Fortunately, Resul and Wicked Stepmother perish in the blaze but not before we learn some more critical information about Ezo!

-Cut to the funeral where Ali comes just in time to hug her and upset Harun and his mom who want Ezo's money and plan to get it through marriage. 

-In the end we find out that Ezo deliberately set the fire to kill her father... Yeah, did NOT see that coming. Then the police come, and there's some history there.

THOUGHTS 

-Here is where we talk about violence (against women and animals specifically) on screen. It appears the biggest turn off for Son Yaz fans who never watched El kizi and why they are trashing it all over social media is that is shows a woman being beaten and a dog getting shot. Well, not exactly, but a dog is shot and you see the actress's face as she witnesses the event.  

-I've written EXTENSIVELY about the harmful effects of abuse being shown for entertainment purposes and how it can normalize abuse in general. Don't remember? Okay... let me refresh your memory. Here. I dislike gratuitous violence in general, but violence against women shown as entertainment is THE WORST. Particularly when the show springs it on  you all at once (I'm looking at you, Kardeslerim and your stupid "escort" plot line) or when they try to couch it in comedy (Baht Oyunu, don't think I forgot your mean girl scribbling a woman's phone number all over the bathroom). I find any sexual assault particularly disturbing and have stopped watching shows, or never started shows because of the negative energy I feel when consuming that type of media. We are entitled to like and not like what we want, but I dislike hypocrisy. 

-El kizi IS NOT GRATUITOUS violence. How can you tell if violence is gratuitous? Well...

a) Does the violence develop the character/plot? 

Turkish shows are famous for mistreating the female leads because they love the idea of this pure woman overcoming all these hellish odds. Usually that type of show is not for me, but El kizi didn't hide the fact that THAT was the plot. All the marketing, previews, trailers, let you know immediately that Ezo was going to be abused.

As Ezo confronts her abuse she becomes stronger. A MAN doesn't settle matters for her, she settles them herself. The murder of the dog is to show that these people are systematically trying to erase every part of Ezo's mother from her life. Whether on purpose of by accident. They are trying to break her down. This is part of the story. It shows the evil of those she is confronting (her father, stepmother, stepmother's brother) so when they have a downfall, you will be on Ezo's side... cause spoiler SHE KILLS SOME OF THEM.

b) Is the violence portrayed in a romantic/comedic/positive light?

No, most assuredly not. They let you know it is ugly. It is cruel, and not only the physical violence, but the emotional violence is not entertaining. The looks of hatred between Ezo and her father are frightening. This is not romanticizing abuse at all.

c) Do the perpetrators suffer real consequences from their violence whether legal or otherwise?

Well, Ezo burns some of the people to the ground, so there is that. 

d) Do the perpetrators have a change of heart?

Thus far they are dead, except for the grandma and the creepy step uncle, but we'll see.

-I'm not trying to convince anyone to watch El kizi. I don't care if you do or if you don't. What I am trying to do is shine a light on HOW one should address a dizi they aren't watching without becoming childish... and yes, PETTY. (For example, from a person who didn't watch the show, and also didn't indicate she didn't watch the show until I asked. BE UP FRONT. Say you watched a clip, it isn't hard.)-"You don't understand the outrage?! Hmm..Well let me break it down, it's pretty disturbing to see a woman slapped to the ground & hear her dog squealing as he's killed. It's normalizing violence towards women and animals that I take issue with. SY fans aren't petty, we're evolved" Although, Son Yaz fans, did you forget you watched a mafia dizi that involved torture, murder, etc? 

-The moral of the story is this, Son Yaz fans are the worst. Watch whatever you like, but be educated, if you have arguments to make, make sure you know what you're talking about. LUTFEN! 

*Seriously, though, the ONLY reason I decided to write a review was because I COULD NOT ENDURE anymore uninformed and ignorant takes from Son Yaz fans who are upset their dizi was cancelled. Is this your first rodeo SY fans? That is what happens in diziland... please act like you've been here before.