Its been a while since my last post, and while I have plenty to talk about, long essays are a lot of work and I’ve been procrastinating. To get back on the horse, here is a quick recap of some recent Turkish TV news. I’m sure I’m capable of writing a post thats under the Gmail word limit, right? Lets find out!1
Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu (TRT1)
Season two of Alparslan has been underway for a while now; I’m lagging a month or so behind but I’m enjoying the story so far. Apparently we get a further chance to catch up while Barış Arduç, the actor in the title role, takes some time off to recover from Covid.
As the picture caption suggests, I’m really enjoying the dynamic between the returning character Yınal Bey and his wife Öke Hatun who is newly introduced this season. Yınal is portrayed as basically loyal to the empire at heart, but he feels he doesnt get everything he is owed as his birthright (he is half brother to Sultan Tuğrul). In season one his ambitions were held back because he isn’t clever enough to get what he wants, and he is rather easily manipulated by others. In season two his wife Öke, who is plainly much smarter than he is, looks to be arranging things much more to his liking. They are a cute couple because she genuinely seems to love him, and is manipulating him for their mutual benefit. I’m keen to see how far her ambitions can take them.
Sorting out the family trees in this show is difficult; my wife and I have frequently had to pause the show and discuss exactly who is related to whom. Having Googled things just now to confirm, this chart on wikipedia is the best I can find. Çağrı Bey and Sultan Tuğrul are full brothers, and Yınal was born of the same mother (making him Alparslan’s half-uncle). As I’ve noted before there are Too Many Süleymans; the “Süleyman Şah” who was cheekily claimed as an ancestor to the Ottoman empire was not Alparslan’s brother Süleyman ibn Çağrı (who appears in the show played by Korel Cezayirli), but rather Süleyman ibn Kutalmış who seems to be Alparslan’s second cousin (i.e. they share Selçuk Bey himself as their great-grandfather). We haven’t met any of the Kutalmış side of the family yet, but maybe thats still to come?
In addition to Too Many Süleymans, I can now confirm there are Too Many Yusufs. I wasn’t sure if the newly introduced character of Arslan Yusuf (played by Umut Karadağ) was the “Arslan Yavgu” (Yavgu being an old Turkic title) listed as Süleyman Şah’s grandfather on that family tree chart. But no, historically the reason that Sultan Tuğrul is on the throne at this point in the show is that Arslan Yavgu (who opposed him) had been kept locked up until his death. The chart above lists his date of death as 1032, i.e. three years after Alparslan was born. So two characters not appearing in the show are Arslan Yavgu (deceased), grandfather of Süleyman Şah; and Yusuf Yınal (also deceased), father of Yınal Bey. The new character Arslan Yusuf is the killer of Yusuf Yınal, and therefore the object of Yınal Bey’s lust for vengeance. (Apologies to anyone still reading after all that, but hopefully it will clear things up for someone googling it in the future).
Kuruluş: Osman (ATV)
This show is still ticking over nicely, with the Vikings still doing Viking things and getting punished appropriately. My favourite line from last week is this one2 from Viking leader Olof (played by Nihat Altınkaya):
Ciğerlerini boğazından çıkarmaya geldim Osman'ın faresi
(Osman’s mouse: I came to pull your lungs out from your throat)
Not identical to that awful “blood eagle” concept from the Vikings (2013) TV show, but close in intent. Of course since its Turkish TV he does nothing so violent in practice.
Anyway, the big news this week is that actor Deniz Barut, who played Ulu Ece in my favourite award-winning show Destan, will be joining the cast of Osman in the role of “Ismihan Sultan”. I can’t wait.
Netflix news
There have been some fantastic Netflix Originals in Turkish. I’ve previously mentioned Bir Başkadır (2020) (titled “Ethos” in English) and that recommendation stands. One I havent watched yet is Hakan: Muhafız (2018) (titled “The Protector” in English) that seems something like the Turkish version of Iron Fist (2017). As someone who quite enjoyed those Netflix Marvel series (Jessica Jones season 1 was the best of them) this looks like something I should check out.
There is however a lot more Turkish content coming up on Netflix. This includes a mysterious show called Şahmaran, which is apparently about “a group of 400-year-old university students who are actually snakes”, and due to air in January. Something like a typical vampire story I guess, but I’m sure they can have a lot of fun with it.
Since Destan ended I’ve been curious where Ebru Şahin (who played the main role of Akkız) would end up; it seems she is off to Netflix as well, with a show called Terzi (“The Tailor”). According to that wikipedia link the show has had some production issues, losing big-name actresses and racking up a budget too high for anyone except Disney+ or Netflix to afford. If they’ve only now cast Ebru Şahin in a main role, then any filming done previously may have to be repeated. Netflix has apparently signed up for a full three seasons already though, which I guess means they see some potential.
You can watch Alparslan: Büyük Selçuklu for free on TRT1’s official Youtube here.
Kuruluş: Osman is similarly available on Youtube here.
My guide for using subtitles is here.
Success!
Kuruluş: Osman 103. Bölüm, timestamp 2:09:08