Kan Cicekleri 209

 Episode 209 The Never-ending War

Quick synopsis: Hasan is barely shot. The mother of all confessions. The medallion is revealed. 

Seyit shoots but even though it is Baran who is right in front of him, it's Hasan who drops. Baran snatches Seyit's gun away and immediately checks on Dilan. She is unscathed. People flock around Hasan but Kudret tells him to cut it out and sit up. He's fine. Hasan immediately starts howling and Kudret offers a hankie for his scrape. He's basically got a boo-boo.

Firat is upset though. He picks up his gun and runs over to Seyit, pointing it at him. Dilan runs to her dad. Kudret yells at Firat to stop and Baran is worried for Dilan. It's Gul running up and reminding him who he wanted to be that diffuses the situation. Kudret pulls Seyit away but as they go, Seyit is repeating how Hasan is a murderer. Baran watches them go.

The fathers argue but in the end, it was Kudret's family who died, and that decides it. If he can be silent, waiting for the right moment to out Hasan, then so can Seyit.

Firat calls Sabiha; Hasan has been taken to her hospital. They need her staff to not report the wound as a gunshot. He wants to protect Dilan and her dad, and keep it in the family. Sabhia agrees.

Dilan is freaking out. No matter what they do this vendetta is its own evil thing and the darkness follows them. She thinks it will never end.

Baran has longer experience with it. And he's more upset that Seyit showed up out of the blue with a gun. What prompted that? What if she had been hurt?

Cevdet is catching up on events. He didn't even know Seyit was ambushed in the first place. He's about to go off half-cocked too. It's Cevriye who stops him. She lost a life too. She bled. If she doesn't pick up the gun, what right does he have too? It's a nice symmetry to Kudret's earlier statement.

Once again, Who Run the World? Girls. We run this motha'.

Hasan doesn't even spend a night in the hospital for observation.  He's still a big baby and complaining though. Particularly about having to travel to Mardin.

Cihan reigns him in. 

Azade-doom starts in again with Dilan. Baran steps in. She calls him BaranBoss. It has the effect of calling him Boss Baby I think.

Dilan calls Sabiha; she needs a favor.

Firat is grateful to Gul. She has a valid counterpoint: That's nice, but I can't live my life wondering who you'll kill or will kill you if I'm not there. You have to remember these things on your own, bud. Time to grow up, kiddo. He has to promise. She can't bear it if something happens to him.

Dilan's favor is getting her parents the hell out of Dodge. The Demirs have a tearful good-bye but I'm not really that into it.

Baran tells her he's got it handled...he's sending her parents abroad. 

Oh. Ummmm...

Baran is cursing his guy out for losing them when Dilan pipes up. They're at Sabiha's house.*

Sorry...they're...where?

Ohhhh, something I hadn't thought about until Hanife walks in is how the mothers are coming face-to-face.

It's showtime, folks.

Hanife starts in with woe-is-me and Sabiha claws her own hand to keep quiet in the face of it.

Our lovers are ignoring each other while in the same bed. Baran is brooding and flexing his fingers. But by morning they are on the same page again and will go say goodbye to her parents before they go to Germany.

Oh my god. Hanife is blubbering again. But now she's blubbering in front of Sabiha and the blubbering is more like complaining about Dilan. There's a nice little face off with Sabiha saying she'd do anything for Dilan but somehow Hanife takes from this a reminder to complain about Dilan some more. Oof.

Seyit tries to shut her up, but she appeals--appeals!--to Sabiha. He's a man; he doesn't get it. But you do, you're a mother. You understand me.

Ahhhh, and there it is folks, the fireworks begin. And pow! Just when I think it's all Sabiha can do to stop herself from punching her--bam! She hauls off and slaps her. Followed by a confirmation that she is Dilan's mom.

She actually tells her she is Ezra Yilmaz.

And what does Hanife do? Start in on how Sabiha, not Dilan, is the source of their trouble. No shame, this woman. She regrets nothing.

In the end, Sabiha just threatens her to keep quiet.

Hasan is still bound for Mardin. He can take a couple days to heal, then it's adios to the rat.

Azade pleads his case. Just when she got one son back from a coma, Baran is sending the other away. And if he does...she'll never forgive all of them: Baran, Cihan, Kudret. So she's abused her power as a mom and made Baran responsible for all three of them.

But Kudret drops the high bower in this game: Mom, did you know what Hasan was going to do?

She stops in her tracks.

Not only will her answer lose her the high ground, but also put her in a position to be in Baran's debt. And if the punishment for what Hasan did was banishment, then she would share in that fate. Basically, he's turned the tables on her in exactly the same way. Don't make us banish you.

In one fell swoop he's given Baran the upper hand to the extent that she now owes him. 

If they let her stay, that's an equalizer to her argument. 

And if he forgives her role in the events, then she is indebted to him.

Bubba got game.

Not that it would matter much if she was indebted. She'd never pay up if it meant accepting Dilan or Gul. 

All of this plays out only in the abstract because she doesn't answer. But Baran's mouth ticks and we all know they know.

Cevahir is making bigger villain plans. Havin reports something to the authorities. Anonymously, because she then smashes her phone.

Kudret is at Baran's desk in the study when Kader asks him to appraise Gul's necklace. It's very expensive, contrary to the explanation Gul gave.

Baran's guys are taking the Demirs from Sabiha's to Germany. Dilan and a stoney-faced Baran say their goodbyes. Hanife apologizes and not even in a backhanded way. Baran gets a call. It's Kudret; Cihan has the Sabiha file. They are raiding Turgut's place. When Sabiha comforts Dilan, a strand of Dilan's hair gets caught on Sabiha's 1/2 of the medallion, pulling it out when they break apart. She picks it up and stares at it in disbelief. Baran turns around but can't quite see what's going on. 

Yelling at the tv:
*Now--and I know I am overthinking this--but with the way Cevahir likes to just show up, is this really the best place for her to move them to? Presumably, Sabiha could get them anywhere Baran could if this is indeed a stopgap measure, but staying with her seems like an iffy choice.

Kan Cicekleri 209

 Episode 209 Dilan Faces The Music

Quick synopsis: Hasan has really done it (this time). Cevriye's loss. Havin's gain.

There has been a shootout at the Demir's. Baran is done with this nonsense, how it messes with their lives. Hasan is drinking coffee, relaxing after a job well done.

We're still not sure how everything ended. But here comes Baran in a slow walk around the corner. And he's got Hasan in his sights. Pretty soon the whole family is there, watching Baran hold his uncle by fistfuls of his shirt. Hasan feigns innocence. 

Really, my dude? We saw you there.

Kudret asks Dilan what happened.

Firat starts to intervene; Kudret backs him off.

Baran is fired UP y'all.

Azade-doom steps between the 2 men. 

Dilan speaks up. There's been bloodshed. Cevriye lost one of the babies in the terror of the shootout. We've missed the time from the initial gunshots through a hospital visit. Maybe they'll flashback like they sometimes do.

Kudret is shaking with rage.

Azade sticks to her guns (yeah, I know). The family was fooled. That's why Hasan did what he did. 

Hasan has big, round, puppy dog eyes. It's so gross.

Dilan brings it to a point: Did that baby's death abate your honor? It's a damning phrase.

And to boot, Dilan does what she always does: speak to similarities between people in an effort to create empathy and understanding. Azade is a mother too. She caused this for another mother. 

Everyone is moved. Kudret is fit to be tied. Dilan starts to falter and Baran's attention snaps back to her. He will meet out punishment later.

Azade gives Hasan a look like, I can't save you this time.

Kudret hauls off and smacks him! Like, a really big whack! It's lightning fast. And he's about to do it again when Azade begs him to stop. Hasan slinks away and as he passes each person, they all turn their faces away, one by one: Kudret, Azade, Cihan, Firat.*

Baran pulls Dilan  into a hug when he goes upstairs. Poor Cevriye. This isn't the first time, and it doesn't really matter who's at fault. It just sucks for her, over and over again. She's the real victim and the rest is just crap. They lost only 1 baby (of the twins) but it doesn't really matter. They owe this woman, all of them.

Baran is worried for Dilan and her family. He will make the culprits pay. Sabiha tries to call her but Dilan brushes her off. She'll go to the mansion. She directs Havin to find out everything about Cevahir's shipment.

Now Azade slaps Hasan. Hard. To be clear, she's pissed it wasn't Seyit and was a baby instead. The killing was never the problem. Baran was furious, she tells him. Hasan had better be careful.

The Karabey boys all agree: Hasan was in the wrong and deserves whatever is coming to him. 

Even Firat is freaking out about his dad. Gul says it best: the whole freaking lot of you are unbelievable. It's a bit of a wakeup call for Firat. He's followed in his father's footsteps so many times. He and Gul share a very sweet moment in re-pledging to do right by each other.

Dilan's family blames her...for letting the secret out that she was adopted and prompting the attack.** But she wants to see them anyway. Even if they yell and tell her to get lost again. They set out to leave but meet Sabiha in the driveway. Baran's not happy about it, but he'll wait in the car. Dilan relays the who and what of the situation. 

Azade gets a visit from Ahmet. They both stand with their canes. Of course he proverbs the hell out of the circumstance, specifically mentioning a time when--even if it's your due, forgoing it and offering forgiveness is preferable. Even mature. Forgiving at the height of your power is the highest power move you can make.

Bam! Ahmet needs no stick to bang, y'all.

Azade-doom is a thoughtful cobra as he melts away, back to where he appeared from.

Dilan will face Cevriye.

A word: all of this shooting and vendetta and dudes plotting, and we get to the poignant moment and it's two women. Like I said, they all owe Cevriye, but it's Dilan who steps forward to pay the piper.

Who run the world? 

For my part, Hanife can stuff it. She is more to blame than anyone. Cevriye ushers Dilan in. Baran sits with Seyit. Seyit blames Hasan, not Baran. He calls Hasan a murderer. That gets Baran's attention. Seyit brushes it off. Baran makes it clear; Hasan is his to deal with. It's a Karabey issue now.

Cevriye is the embodiment of the lesson: she won't seek revenge for her dead child at the expense of the one that still lives. They have put their entire dilemma in her; she is the physical manifestation of a vendetta. She contains multitudes. She's like the fool in a Shakespeare play who speaks truth at crucial moments but has no power to wield.

Havin finds the shipment manifest but Cevahir and his goon are on the way back. A phone call as they open the door is her saving grace. She escapes undetected.

The skinny on Cevahir is that he and his dad smuggled antiques. Even been arrested a couple of times but someone else always took the fall. (Seems to be a habit of his, having others take the blame.)  But the photos Havin took of the manifests...now they have proof. Sabiha isn't the least bit surprised.

Neither are we.

Kader finds a copy of Gul's marriage license photo in one of Firat's drawers. The earrings Gul is wearing in the photo give her away. The photo is recent. Kader wants to know why she had it taken.

The Karabeys are all lounging in the living room when the couple gets back from the Demirs. Hasan is ordered to move out. Baran banishes him to Mardin. Immediately.

Bye bye, rat.

I bet Cevahir takes him in.

No one speaks on his behalf as he says goodbye. They all go inside. No one sees Seyit with the gun. Until they all file back out. Dilan shouts at him. Baran yells to stop. Firat rushes forward and pulls his gun on Seyit. Kuret yells at Firat to stop. Dilan yells for the bloodshed to stop. Baran steps in front of Firat. Firat lowers his gun. Baran then steps directly in front of Seyit's gun. Kudret implores Seyit...they talked about this. Drop the weapon.

Baran edges closer.

Seyit fires.

Culturisms:

* Is the turning away of your face a typical, known insult in the Middle East? Or just in dizi?

The style of Sabiha's house is better than the Karabey's. Less ostentatious. Less gold. Is that betraying a prejudice for English style rather than the sultanesque aesthetic the Karabeys might be trying to evoke? Or, just a cultural difference in style in general?

Yelling at the tv:
**The blame they put on her is bollocks, of course. They gave her up, instead of one of their own kids. In so much as the vendetta makes sense at all, they've brought the wrath on themselves with that choice.

Kan Cicekleri 208

Episode 208 Dilan Faces The Music

Quick Synopsis: Hasan has really done it (this time). Cevriye's loss. Havin's gain.

There has been a shootout at the Demir's. Baran is done with this nonsense, how it messes with their lives. Hasan is drinking coffee, relaxing after a job well done.

We're still not sure how everything ended. But here comes Baran in a slow walk around the corner. And he's got Hasan in his sight. Pretty soon the whole family is there, watching Baran hold his uncle by fistfuls of his shirt. Hasan feigns innocence. 

Really, my dude? We saw you there.

Kudret asks Dilan what happened.

Firat starts to intervene; Kudret backs him off.

Baran is fired UP y'all.

Azade-doom steps between the 2 men. 

Dilan speaks up. There's been bloodshed. Cevriye lost one of the babies in the terror of the shootout. We've missed the time from the initial gunshots through a hospital visit. Maybe they'll flashback like they sometimes do.

Kudret is shaking with rage.

Azade sticks to her guns (yeah, I know). The family was fooled. That's why Hasan did what he did. 

Hasan has big, round, puppy dog eyes. It's so gross.

Dilan brings it to a point: Did that baby's death abate your honor? It's a damning phrase.

And to boot, Dilan does what she always does: speak to similarities between people in an effort to create empathy and understanding. Azade is a mother too. She caused this for another mother. 

Everyone is moved. Kudret is fit to be tied. Dilan starts to falter and Baran's attention snaps back to her. He will meet out punishment later.

Azade gives Hasan a look like, I can't save you this time.

Kudret hauls off and smacks him! Like, a really big whack! It's lightning fast. And he's about to do it again when Azade begs him to stop. Hasan slinks away and as he passes each person, they all turn their faces away, one by one: Kudret, Azade, Cihan, Firat.*

Baran pulls Dilan  into a hug when he goes upstairs. Poor Cevriye. This isn't the first time, and it doesn't really matter who's at fault. It just sucks for her, over and over again. She's the real victim and the rest is just crap.They lost only 1 baby (of the twins) but it doesn't really matter. They owe this woman, all of them.

Baran is worried for Dilan and her family. He will make the culprits pay. Sabiha tries to call her but Dilan brushes her off. She'll go to the mansion. She directs Havin to find out everything about Cevahir's shipment.

Now Azade slaps Hasan. Hard. To be clear, she's pissed it wasn't Seyit and was a baby instead. The killing was never the problem. Baran was furious, she tells him. Hasan had better be careful.

The Karabey boys all agree: Hasan was in the wrong and deserves whatever is coming to him. 

Even Firat is freaking out about his dad. Gul says it best: the whole freaking lot of you are unbelievable. It's a bit of a wakeup call for Firat. He's followed in his father's footsteps so many times. He and Gul share a very sweet moment in re-pledging to do right by each other.

Dilan's family blames her...for letting the secret out that she was adopted and prompting the attack.** But she wants to see them anyway. Even if they yell and tell her to get lost again. They set out to leave but meet Sabiha in the driveway. Baran's not happy about it, but he'll wait in the car. Dilan relays the who and what of the situation. 

Azade gets a visit from Ahmet. They both stand with their canes. Of course he proverbs the hell out of the circumstance, specifically mentioning a time when--even if it's your due, forgoing it and offering forgiveness is preferable. Even mature. Forgiving at the height of your power is the highest power move you can make.

Bam! Ahmet needs no stick to bang, y'all.

Azade-doom is a thoughtful cobra as he melts away, back to where he appeared from.

Dilan will face Cevriye.

A word: all of this shooting and vendetta and dudes plotting, and we get to the poignant moment and it's two women. Like I said, they all owe Cevriye, but it's Dilan who steps forward to pay the piper.

Who run the world?

For my part, Hanife can stuff it. She is more to blame than anyone. Cevriye ushers Dilan in. Baran sits with Seyit. Seyit blames Hasan, not Baran. He calls Hasan a murderer. That gets Baran's attention. Seyit brushes it off. Baran makes it clear; Hasan is his to deal with. It's a Karabey issue now.

Cevriye is the embodiment of the lesson: she won't seek revenge for her dead child at the expense of the one that still lives. They have put their entire dilemma in her; she is the physical manifestation of a vendetta. She contains multitudes. She's like the fool in a Shakespeare play who speaks truth at crucial moments but has no power to wield.

Havin finds the shipment manifest but Cevahir and his goon are on the way back. A phone call as they open the door is her saving grace. She escapes undetected.

The skinny on Cevahir is that he and his dad smuggled antiques. Even been arrested a couple of times but someone else always took the fall. (Seems to be a habit of his, having others take the blame.)  But the photos Havin took of the manifests...now they have proof. Sabiha isn't the least bit surprised.

Neither are we.

Kader finds a copy of Gul's marriage license photo in one of Firat's drawers. The earrings Gul is wearing in the photo give her away.The photo is recent. Kader wants to know why she had it taken.

The Karabeys are all lounging in the living room when the couple gets back from the Demirs. Hasan is ordered to move out. Baran banishes him to Mardin. Immediately.

Bye bye, rat.

I bet Cevahir takes him in.

No one speaks on his behalf as he says goodbye. They all go inside. No one sees Seyit with the gun. Until they all file back out. Dilan shouts at him. Baran yells to stop. Firat rushes forward and pulls his gun on Seyit. Kuret yells at Firat to stop. Dilan yells for the bloodshed to stop. Baran steps in front of Firat. Firat lowers his gun. Baran then steps directly in front of Seyit's gun. Kudret implores Seyit...they talked about this. Drop the weapon.

Baran edges closer.

Seyit fires.

Culturisms:

* Is the turning away of your face a typical, known insult in the Middle East? Or just in dizi?

The style of Sabiha's house is better than the Karabey's. Less ostentatious. Less gold. Is that betraying a prejudice for English style rather than the sultanesque aesthetic the Karabeys might be trying to evoke? Or, just a cultural difference in style in general?

Yelling at the tv:
**The blame they put on her is bollocks, of course. They gave her up, instead of one of their own kids. In so much as the vendetta makes sense at all, they've brought the wrath on themselves with that choice.

Kan Cicekleri 207

 Episode 207 Shootout At The Demirs

Quick synopsis: Cevahir the iceman. Sabiha makes an offer. The rat starts a shootout.

Dilan is done with the thug life. All this worrying about the vendetta, her brother, if her family will be killed now that the adoption secret is out. They talk about Baran's latest design instead. He was inspired by how he feels when he looks into Dilan's eyes. 

Is it cheesy or heady stuff? I'm not sure.

Dilan, Kader and Gul have a fun minute and group hug in the kitchen. Unitil Azade-doom comes in and breaks it up. She always brings the baggage.

Lady, bas.

Sabiha is trying to figure out how to be in Dilan's life without being in her life; how to skirt Cevahir's notice of her interest in Dilan. Maybe a business reason. She seems excited by the possibility 

Dilan has fallen asleep in a chair, reading. Baran takes the book, then picks her up and carries her to bed. I guess we can forgive him for not using a bookmark. They banter and he gives her a flirty, mock-chiding teeth-suck. It still makes me giggle.

Their morning banter gets a little saucier, bolder. They leave the room holding hands.

What. the. F. 

Cevahir has his face in a bowl of ice water.

While playing chess.

With Sair.

Ice. Water.

I was sort of joking earlier, but now I'm really not: #weirdhobbies.

And they don't even explain it. Like with some evil genius, whacked out, made up reason that it makes him strong on his enemies or something. There's just electric guitar riff, glove flexing and lots of pawn talk. Then fondling some ice.

Breakfast do-over. Hasan gets a call. He is incapable of nonchalance. 

Everyone has to eat and run, on to their busy day. Cihan makes a joke that makes everyone smile, but the translation is weird and I'm not sure what just happened.

It's no face in an ice bucket tho.

Firat and Gil and stepping out. They're so cute. 

Dilan and Kudret talk on the patios. She is worried he'll be upset with her now that he knows the truth. She needn't have worried. He'd never believed she wanted to leave Baran for revenge. He knows how she feels better than anyone. He'd heard her pour her heart out all that time he was paralyzed. He has a feeling there's more to tell, and he's willing to listen. If she wants.

She does not confide in him. He responds with a good point: he also knows better than anyone what it means to stay silent to protect your family. He trusts her. And that's huge. Her reasons--whatever they may be--have mage club benediction.

I'm so glad he woke up.

Sabiha finds out Cevahir is smuggling artifacts.

Hey! It's Ahmet! Long time, no see. He and Dilan talk family protection. He reminds her to look back through all she's been through to give her hope going forward. What light can she shed on this new darkness? See what light got her through the past.

He's lovely. As always.

Sabiha comes with Dilan's favorite lemon cookies. She makes her let's-work-together pitch. Azade-doom finds them talking and starts in with the insults directed at Dilan. Sabiha chastises her. (That's fun to watch.)

Out comes Baran. He sends his grandma inside. Sabiha chastises him too: with what she just witnessed from Azade, he would do better to protect his wife. 

Oh damn. Here we go...

Who is she to have a say in family matters? (Laying it on a little thick here, writers. But also, I had the same thought.)

She can't answer except with the protection she could offer DIlan in a new job.*

What job?!? he wants to know.

Dilan entreats him not to argue right now, and walks away. Something only a true Karabey can do. No arm-grabbing for her.

Firat mentions a future with a baby. I thought he meant Kader when he said, 'the three of us.' 

Hasan and his toadies are waiting for Seyit when he leaves the house. He draws a gun. Seyit draws his. Baran's guys shoot too.

Cevriye has baby cramps that could be premature labor brought on by the commotion.

Dilan brings Baran to task. He basically walks in and says, 'spit it out'. He doesn't ask. He doesn't wait. He's bossy and not very gracious. He'll probably yell. He glances at the small table where she set up a spread to butter him up. But he doesn't even let her present the idea. Just says he hopes she said 'no' because he doesn't want her working with Sabiha. 

But she wants to have something for herself.

Great! he replies. Come work with us. We also need smart people like you. 

(Well damn. That was slightly disarming.)

But it's also not her field. She wants to make her own choice.

Oh bugger; here's the arm grab, a double-fister spin. Ok, fine, he'll create a business in her field. Just for her.

Uh B, lovely thought but still man-handling and overbearing.

He gets a dainty, but stubborn tsk from Dilan. Her motives are altruistic too--she doesn't want to buy her way in with privilege. She wants to succeed on her own merit, as part of a team. To fit into the scientific world she studied in.

But he's still afraid this is part of some plot against them.** Baran calls Sabiha "spooky", hanging around for no reason. No reason that they know of...yet. 

So...true.

Dilan, having shared confidences with her about her mom, feels differently. And maybe there's a genuine mom vibe there too. He's trying oh so hard not to be the tyrant. There's facts they don't know about her. He's laying the blame entirely on Sabiha: she won't let you be; she's always around you. (I mean, that is her plan.) Maybe she's actively trying to deceive you. Even if you aren't naive, who can counter that kind of conning? He's actively investigating her. Just steer clear until that's done.

He keeps himself from squeezing her arms as is his habit. Instead it's a sliding caress, if still a means to keep her from walking away.

He finally does resort to an edict though: Don't go near her. Case closed.

Because we know how well that works.

Baran gets a call. Gunfire at the Demirs.*** He slowly turns to look at Dilan.

Yelling at the tv:
* I can't believe she turned it around, but I have to say: I'm liking Sabiha. The steel she shows in not backing down from Cevahir, doing her own plotting against him, those snake eyes turned on protecting her daughter. Even keeping in step with Baran. She's turning into a real force for justice.

**I mean, he's not wrong about the plot part. The man can sniff out disingenuousness like nobody else. It's just that this time the deception is well meant. The basic argument is a difference in opinion over trust / distrust of Sabiha.

***The dude who delivers the news of the gunfight to Baran is absolutely uninterested and monotone. Inexperience or dearth of it?

Baran has upgraded to an ipad for work.

1 Hagia Sofaraway chanted, and 1 Hagia Soveryclose chanted.