Ask Mantik Intikam Episode Six Review "The Wedding Photo Shoot Episode"
Quick recap: Esra and Ozan see things they willfully misinterpret whilst their parent's feud continues. The twins begin to reveal all the reasons why we'll have to hate them in the future.
REVIEW:
-Ooof Ozan, Ooof ya. First he accuses Esra of some REALLY shady behavior (various translations go from hitting on, throwing yourself at, or putting out for...) then runs away to hide. Such an Ozan move, apparently. No one can find him, but Esra swallows her pride and heads over to yet another location where Ozan verbally abused and humiliated her***, in order to bring him out of his funk. She annoys him. Classic Esra, but she also accomplishes what she set out to do. Ozan is a man who needs a woman to pull him out of his comfort zone. Too bad he decides to say more hurtful things to her.
-Zumrut is out and about doing Zumrut things. Stealing Esra's dad's notebook, cradling her bracelets like they are her offspring, scheming to somehow get those credit cards back. All to no avail. Girl is going to have to pawn one or two of those bracelets because she hasn't learned the big life lesson which is, don't mess with other people's livelihoods. I have some questions as to what jobs this woman did to support her family while Ozan was growing up...
-Cinar then tells Ozan exactly how Esra friend zoned him (because apparently there is no one else to confide in) and instead of immediately going to apologize to Esra for misinterpreting the situation... Ozan asks to hear more, but then doesn't like what he hears (surprise, surprise) when Cinar vows to win Esra's heart. Yeah. It sucks, but you asked for that info, so...
-Meanwhile Cagla is out here being awkwardly in love with Ozan who is blissfully unaware. She even railroads him into doing a wedding photoshoot for the new company they are working with. HERE IT IS FOLKS! I was wondering when they were going to start to turn Cinar and Cagla into schemers and we are seeing the beginning now. Cagla knows Ozan doesn't want to do it but says yes without asking him then informs him in a big meeting so he looks like a jerk if he says no. It is the subtle manipulations that are going to build to bigger things later on. Mark my words. Mark them.
-Due to a facial mishap the only possible replacement said photoshoot is Esra... who dazzles both Ozan (thought he is too much of a douche to admit it) and Cinar who was basically booking his wedding venue on the spot. Apparently that is all it takes to generate interest, ladies. Show up in front of someone wearing a wedding dress. Okay, I'm sure it helps if you also look like Burcu, but hey, a wedding dress is a start.
-The shoot is awkward, but in the end there are some loving looks overshadowed by a falling piece of lighting. Happily, Ozan remembers he's a decent human being and takes a head injury for the team.
-Esra refuses to leave Ozan's side and ALLUDES TO THE BIG SECRET WHICH WE ALL KNOW IS HER MISCARRIAGE!!! Okay, we're not supposed to know that and I don't care that I'm spoiling it. Here Burcu's acting is a 10/10. Her eyes filling with tears, her tenderness, the way she says "I'm here" when Ozan calls her name in his drug induced sleep. These kids. They break my heart.
-Speaking of breaking things. CAGLA!!! Okay, Get your hand of Esra's man's face. That's one. Two, how dare you act like you stayed in the hospital all night? Although, I know you would have because that is the kind of woman you are, but still. You didn't.
-So I'm feeling negative things toward Cagla right now. She's ramping up her pursuit of Ozan which makes her enemy number one. The fact that Ozan is kind to her and cruel to Esra doesn't help.
PREDICTIONS:
-Esra will misinterpret what she sees and believe that Cagla is the person Ozan has in his life.
-Cagla will start to realize that Ozan is a little too close to Esra for comfort.
-Eventually Ozan will find out that Esra stayed by his bedside all night.
-I'm really hoping for an Esra/Ozan kiss. Perhaps when she says she isn't jealous of him because she doesn't love him? There is a lack of kissing in this show.
THOUGHTS:
-This episode is I hope a bit of a turning point. Initially, when Esra went to work she wanted to punish Ozan and have him fall in love with her again. She worked toward this. Now she has realized this will not happen the way she thinks and every time she gets into Ozan's path she ends up getting hurt so she claims that she will focus on earning money to pay him back. Supposedly she owes him 500,000 which is dumb since her brother is the one that took the money so put that fool to work, but neyse, this is a dizi so we gotta complicate things. There was also some (I hope) foreshadowing about somehow coming into money. I would LOVE it for Esra's family to strike it rich, for her to write her resignation and a check to Ozan and tell him that he was right and she should silently get out of his life. All this BEFORE him finding out about the miscarriage would be chef's kiss! You'd see him scramble for a way to keep Esra in the company!
-Also, I want to see Esra standing on her own two feet and doing successful things within the company on her own merits. We saw how she sealed the wedding planners deal, but it still irritates me that the restaurant deal was basically a favor that someone gave to Cinar. Ozan needs to see Esra working and striving and succeeding.... but why is this important, you ask? While Ozan loves Esra, he doesn't respect her or understand her. He thinks she's unwilling to work and doesn't believe she's smart. While he didn't have the courage to propose to her, he still didn't value her. Ozan needs to learn to value her as she is. Esra, for her part doesn't realize she loves Ozan, nor does she understand his feelings at all. Ozan clearly has abandonment issues (hello, absent father) and she's been callous with his feelings in that respect. When she left him without explaining, without giving him a chance to understand her, she did him a disservice. They are both very wrong and need to learn to communicate. I swear. I could sit them in a room and have this all sorted out within the hour, but that would not an interesting dizi make.
***-Here we come to my BIGGEST TURKISH DIZI COMPLAINT! Well, maybe not the biggest, but one I address over and over and over. Ozan is emotionally abusive to Esra. That is all there is to it. Telling her she isn't worth anything. Telling her she doesn't deserve happiness. Saying she's a gold digger. Telling her she's putting out for some guy... yeah, all of this is VERY wrong. Belittling and demeaning her efforts in public. I think that the writers are TRYING to make a big contrast for when the "secret" is actually revealed... but they've taken things too far. This happens a lot. Male characters will use abusive language to the female characters in the show and then as soon as they realize the mistake they move it right along. There is no apology. No admission of major guilt. No acknowledgment that these behaviors are fundamentally wrong. No real consequences. And look, I get that this is a dizi and moreover a summer dizi, so it should be light hearted and fun, but this sends the wrong message. It sends men a message that if they are let down or hurt by a woman it is okay to treat her horribly and you are justified. It teaches women that their value is contingent upon making some man happy. This is NOT the message to send. It wasn't the message 10 years ago, and it certainly is not the message now. Women don't exist to make men happy. We have our own worth. I want these dizis to start reflecting that with the language that they use when male and female characters fight and how those disputes are resolved. That is all.
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