I can never choose my favourite dog breed but it always comes down to two - German Shepherd and Labrador. I am an animal lover also - but I am too empathic - I can't even watch nature programs because I can't stand to see animals being hurt or killing each other. If I could rid the world of one thing it would be hunters - I see no glory in killing an animal safely from a distance - to me it is simply cowardly. I can understand when people kill to eat - but to kill for fun is unforgiveable. Have a restful night.

I've started watching Ezel now. It took me a little bit in the first episode to realize Omer and Ezel were the same guy 12 years apart. This looks like an interesting show. I like seeing the Turkish culture, how it is different, more like ours used to be in some ways. I read the iMDB summary of the show and a couple of reviews. Someone thinks it is loosely based on The Count of Monte Cristo. I never read the book. But I know it's about someone who is betrayed and gets revenge. And boy, was Omer ever betrayed. I cannot imagine how that would feel, but I know I would have jumped up and demanded the truth from her, not that it would have done any good. But Omer was in shock still.

I think there were 72 episodes in total, that is, from both seasons together. IMDB shows 33 episodes the first year and 38 the second, 71 total. Netflix put them all together in one for some reason, but it shows 72 episodes instead of 71. I'm not sure why that is. At any rate, I think Netflix has all the episodes of the show but it just lists them in one series instead of two.

It looks like the girlfriend was forced to participate in the betrayal and the marriage to Cengiz. There is no love there. She cried after bitterly lying in court. So she was forced to go along somehow.

I am already liking this show a whole lot.

I am on Episode 20. I am enjoying it - I'm glad we finally found something we can watch together !! I am also glad that both series are included. I am amazed at how tall Ezel is - I think that is a bit unusual for a Turkish man. Eysan is a very complex character - you will find out as it goes along. You will have to binge watch to catch up with me now !! I am slowing down a bit because I watch My Kitchen Rules and Australian MasterChef whilst they are on - it is a little light relief from all the plotting and scheming in Ezel !! (Having said that the competitors in MKR are mostly a horrible bunch of schemers!) There is a lot of background on all the characters so they are not just like cardboard characters - you may have read that they never mention the Mafia in it - but there are subtle hints I think to suggest it. I have the feeling you will really get into this and enjoy it - so - tally ho !!!

Yes, in the first episode one of his friends who betrayed him, Cengiz I think, the one who was drunk with the gun, made a statement that night "I am mafia". They had been talking about where they would be in ten years just before, so Omer might have thought he was suggesting he was going to be a mafia member in the future. Or more likely, he thought his drunk friend was saying that because he had a gun in his hand and was saying it for effect. I will find out later on, but it looks like Cengiz loved Omer's girl, was jealous of him being with her, and that this was a big part of his motivation for setting him up. I will find out later on how he managed to force her to go along with the plot, perhaps the threat of danger by an organized criminal gang or something. We shall see. I slept very late today, catching up from all the running around and late nights of the past few days. I have some things to take care of around here, but I know I will find time to binge on the show.

I know you will !! But really give yourself time to chill out and relax - when you are running around a lot you don't realise just how much it can take out of you when you are so caught up in the situations. You are right about Cengiz being in love with Eysan. Get the popcorn out and continue watching.!!!

I am watching episode 11 now. Eysan's father has shown up again. He threatened her son in order to motivate her to visit him, knowing she wanted nothing to do with him. After all, the last time he leveraged her into pulling a conjob he promised her it would be the last and she would be free from him. She would never have to see him again and he would never ask her to be involved in one of his schemes. Plus, he lied to her, pinned a murder on her fiance, and sent him to his death in prison (as far as she knows).

Now he shows up again, threatening her son to blackmail her into pulling another 'job'. If ever a scumbag lowlife character on TV deserved to suffer, Eysans dad certainly does.

I have been cutting up a dead tree in my front yard but I use an electric chain saw that runs off an 80V battery. It has worked great ever since I bought it last year. And today I cut up a few thick limbs with it, no problem. I recharged the battery pack and went out to cut some more, but the saw cuts off after a few seconds cutting. I think the chain break switch is acting up and the saw may need to be serviced. That is irritating. But it means I have an excuse to watch more TV for a while. haha

I hope you are using goggles and a safety guard with that saw - they can be very dangerous things. If it has been recharged then it is not lacking power which suggests that it may be an automatic safety cut out that is preventing you getting a shock. I would really advise you to get it serviced before using it again. Sergar the handsome (that's what he calls himself - as the saying goes - I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror cos it aint the same as me!!) - Eysan's father - oh boy - if he had used that beckoning finger trick to me I would have bitten it off !! What a repulsive character !! I am on about Episode 25 I think. You will catch up to me soon at this rate!! You will find as with most shows there are some implausibilities and even at least one impossibility in this - I know you will recognise it when you see it - but it does not detract from the overall entertainment. I think it's a pretty good balance of sympathetic and unsympathetic characters - oddly I don't dislike Ali as much as the others - he seems to have some kind of remorse and conscience at least.

The saw behaves the same way it does when the chain break lever is pushed forward toward the bar. That's a safety feature on all saws now. In case the saw kicks back toward the user, the lever will hit your hand holding the forward handle and automatically shut off the motor and stop the chain before it reaches you. It could still hurt you from the impact, but nowhere near as bad as if the chain were still running. So I am thinking that perhaps the switch for the chain brake is faulty. I will have to take it to a service center for troubleshooting and repair.

Yes, her father is a detestable, worthless, rat who should never have been allowed to have contact with children. I understand that Eysan loves him despite the massive damage he has done in her life, and the awful way he raised her. It was implausible that she would have agreed to send her fiance to prison even for four years. She loved him, so I didn't think it was plausible that she would take the stand and lie as she did. But I overlooked that and the other things because it is possible, and because I want to watch the story. Funny how we do that. Cengiz has made a deal with him to keep him from causing them any more problems and to stay away from them. But that old bastard never made a deal or a promise he felt he needed to honor so I am sure he will be back causing problems again in the future. Eventually Ezel will learn of his role, conceiving and orchestrating the crimes he was framed for.

Also, though his voice was changed and his face looks different, I think other things would still betray Ezel's identity to those who knew him so well. His hands might be familiar. And his movements and habits could easily remind them of their old friend; not right away, but over time they would begin to notice things. But again, it's possible to pull it off I think. It's not so implausible.

It seems Ezel is causing his mentor to worry a bit. He asked the man working for them who he would listen to and obey if he and Ezel gave conflicting orders. You may already know, but it looks like there may be some conflict between them eventually.

It's clear that Ezel and Eysan will eventually reunite. They never stopped loving each other and he clearly is jealous of Cengiz. When he heard they were going to have another child it got to him.

We have not heard what Ezel and his prison mentor (Ramiz?) schemed up for his revenge. I am guessing it will involve taking all of their money away from them and framing them for crimes, but not Eysan who will switch sides at some point I am betting. She didn't want to do it in the first place, and has never loved or liked Cengiz or Ali. And if they were not related she would hate her father. She will realize Ezel is Omer and go to pieces. They will have a long heart to heart and she will pledge her love, loyalty, and help in his revenge plan.

The text shown and the dubbed voices are not the same, but I like that. It gives a more full meaning.

I also like that the show had over 30 episodes per year. That is how shows were when I was young. They all had around 30 or so episodes per year back then. Today many shows have fewer than 10 per year.

You have some surprises in store!! There are things that happen in the story that I am not sure of - with particular regard to the crime that Omer/Ezel was framed for. They take a good few episodes to go back to this and to each characters role in it. I am not sure what you have seen yet and I have no intention of mentioning any spoilers. All I will say is that Eysan has reasons for what she does which become apparent bit by bit. I am not sure what to think about whether Ezel and Eysan will eventually reunite. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole for robbery and murder because of her testimony. He lost his liberty - his good name - his friends - his family - her - everything in fact. That is hard to forgive with no resentment. I am not sure if love can conquer all under those circumstances. I agree with you about not being able to assume an entirely different persona without any of the original remaining. There are things that it would take a lot of plastic surgery to change - birthmarks - moles - bone structure - hairline - ear shape - (if you notice Omer and Ezel have totally different ears) and of course - you can't change your foot size or your height - and both men are very tall. Ezel has a gesture that has already been noticed and he is deliberately saying some things that are designed to make others do a sort of double take. I didn't realise the voices were dubbed because I watch the subtitles not their mouths !! I am enjoying it though - and it's nice that it will go on for a while.

Yeah, I could be wrong about Ezel and Eysan, but it seems like they both still carry the torch. I don't believe it will happen anytime soon, maybe toward the end of the whole series. Ezel has already found he cannot go through with some aspects of the plan. Bahar is an innocent in all of this, and he couldn't hurt her as he had planned. But that is different from Eysan of course. She isn't innocent. A lot of things will need to come to pass before they could come to any kind of reconciliation.

As far as the crime itself I know that Eysan kept Omer occupied all night and left early so he would be found alone by the police. Ali and Cengiz performed the robbery. Cengiz knew the guard so was able to talk his way past the locked door, and Ali followed after him and killed the guard since he could identify Cengiz. Sergar planned it all, including the murder, and lied to his daughter about that part. That much has been shown. Also, Sergar told Eysan that Bahar needed medical treatment at some expensive clinic outside the country or she would die. When I saw that scene I figured Sergar was lying about that, that he had faked the document showing Bahar had a terminal illness if untreated by specialists. Even if it were true, Sergar would not have cared about her; he only wanted the money. They portray him as the worst kind of reprehensible sociopath, a conman with no remorse, someone who only tells the truth by accident. If he said "good morning" I would figure he was lying. - So Eysan was led to believe that unless she betrayed Omer her sister would die, and was further led to believe that she could only con Omer into being the patsy.

"Pliers Ali" continues to whine and moan that he had to commit murder, that that crime turned him into a murderer. It doesn't seem like that was a hard line for him to cross. He was already in the habit of using his pliers to nip off people's fingers and God knows what else. I think he bitches about having to kill that guard because he is jealous of Cengiz's success and wealth, whereas he lost his money through bad business. So now he plays the victim "that crime turned me into a murderer, and if not for me you wouldn't be where you are today" and so on.

I am watching episode 15 presently. Sergar is stalking Can, his grandson. I knew this was coming. And this is another implausible thing; Eysan never put a bodyguard on her son after her father first threatened him to get her to visit him. She knows her father, the creep he is, and how completely lacking in morals he is. She knows he has lied to her consistently, has gone back on his word repeatedly, and she knows there is no low to which he will not stoop. It just doesn't seem conceivable that she would neglect to assign someone to watch over the boy, to prevent her rat fink pig of a monstrous father from coming anywhere near the boy.

You don't like Sergar then !!! lol. Thanks for the reminder about the jail plot - that's what I thought had happened but there is an incident later on that casts doubt on that for me - maybe I misread a piece of dialogue. You are also right about the lack of protection for Can - this is what I meant about some inplausibilities. Bahar seems to be living an awfully long time for someone with a terminal illness - although I don't doubt that she is really ill. Twelve years plus is a pretty long survival rate. This situation - the choice Eysan was given between her sister and her boyfriend might be the only thing that sways Ezel in his forgiveness of her - how do you make an impossible choice? I can't comment on much because I don't know what you know already - I am slowing down because I am watching other things in between - and you seem to be speeding up so very soon we will be on the same episodes and can talk in more detail.

You don't like Sergar then !!! lol. Thanks for the reminder about the jail plot - that's what I thought had happened but there is an incident later on that casts doubt on that for me - maybe I misread a piece of dialogue. You are also right about the lack of protection for Can - this is what I meant about some inplausibilities. Bahar seems to be living an awfully long time for someone with a terminal illness - although I don't doubt that she is really ill. Twelve years plus is a pretty long survival rate. This situation - the choice Eysan was given between her sister and her boyfriend might be the only thing that sways Ezel in his forgiveness of her - how do you make an impossible choice? I can't comment on much because I don't know what you know already - I am slowing down because I am watching other things in between - and you seem to be speeding up so very soon we will be on the same episodes and can talk in more detail.

I don't recall what I said about the jail plot. Was it that Sergar told Eysan that Omer would only go to jail for the robbery and would be out in four years? And that Sergar was lying when he told her that because he knew he had tasked Ali with killing the guard? My old man brain can't recall now what I mentioned.

I am up to episode 24 now. I may have to rewatch an episode or two. I was really sleepy for some of them last night. Ezel slipped up and called Ali "Pliers Ali" a few episodes back. Ali has begun hallucinating Omer now. He doesn't realize that Ezel is Omer, but he might think that he is part of the bad karma he created when he betrayed his best friend. I saw the flashback where Ali went to visit Omer in prison and did him the courtesy of not lying to him. He admitted he betrayed him. But then he threatened his mom, dad, and little brother if Omer tried to tell anyone what he had figured out about the frame up.

Ezel is close to roping Cengiz into the hotel deal. Cengiz is trying to get a bank loan for his part of the deal. So it appears that part of his plan involves bankrupting Cengiz, although I don't know the specifics of it yet. He needs to get all of Cengiz's loan tied up in construction costs and such before pulling the plug on the whole deal. Cengiz will default on his loan, the bank will foreclose on his collateral, the casino, and then Ramiz can buy it up for pennies on the dollar. I guess they are planning something like that.

After all I said about Sergar, now he is showing some concern and affection for Bahar and for Can. So I suppose he is not a real sociopath. But he is a slippery dick if there ever was one. And now he has the videotape of Ali and Cengiz and the murder of the guard. He is demading weekly payments from Cengiz, though I noted that he did not mention the videotape when he made his demand. That was a tactical error. Cengiz cannot see this as anything other than a ballsy demand for money. If Sergar thinks he is safe because Ali and Cengiz split up after the casino shooting incident, he is stupid. Cengiz can always hire a thug to kill him. But I doubt that will happen yet. It is too early in the show and Sergar is a main character in the betrayal.

Yes, Bahar seems to have been in remission for years after the treatment in London. She mentioned cancer the last time she and Ezel spoke. I don't recall hearing what her illness was prior to that. If it is cancer then it is possible that she could last this long and get sick again.

Ezel and Eysan: Ezel is torn, but he has strong motivation for revenge. He listens to Eysan carefully when she is speaking about what she would do if she could correct her mistakes as though he is trying to see if she is really remorseful, if she ever really loved him, etc. Perhaps Ezel will make Eysan suffer. Eysan will turn to him, not knowing that he is the author of her suffering. Perhaps as she is suffering, feeling all is lost and she is at the bottom of her rope, she may confess to Ezel her terrible secret, the dilemma she faced, how she was lied to, and how she betrayed the love of her life. She may tell Ezel that she deserves her suffering for what she did, and that she wishes she could go back and do things differently. If the story plays out like that, I can see where Ezel may feel she has suffered enough and might reveal himself to her as Omer. I don't know. There have been some scenes which lead me to believe that there is still a love story buried underneath all the revenge and intrigue. In one scene a drunken Cengiz kind of explains why Eysan has stayed with him although she doesn't love him, how she is trapped by their common crime. He said it in a drunken state, speaking to someone else as though making up a story, but said it right after Ezel had asked him why Eysan stayed with him if she didn't love him. Cengiz then blabbed his reason to a lady standing nearby, and then turned to Ezel and asked 'what were we talking about?' So at that point Ezel has a look of understanding on his face; he realizes why Eysan has stayed with Cengiz. Little things like that happen now and then. And Ezel is storing the information away, putting pieces together. Those pieces don't exonerate Eysan for her betrayal. But they begin to show her part is not what the others' parts were. Eventually Ezel will learn the entire story. After Eysan has suffered, and Ezel learns of the dilemma she faced, perhaps he will feel she has suffered enough for her part. And, he still loves her. That is why I think it probable they will reconcile at some much later point. We will see. I could be very wrong on this.

Now you know that Sergar has the video tape I wanted to ask you about when Eysan was watching it (not bothering to even close the door of course) and Can appeared the dialogue said something about watching his father kill a man - well Cengiz was there of course but he wasn't the one who did the killing. Maybe I misheard it. Another thing I found implausible was that Cengiz had to turn up as well (that damned door!!) and Can grabs the videotape and rushes outside down the road and hey presto your favourite guy is there waiting for him - not only but also he has a spare video tape which he has time to switch before Can throws one in the fire. How could he have known that Can had stolen the tape? You mentioned four years - I must have been distracted when that was mentioned. I think Sergar is an idiot - if he thinks he can threaten a snake like Cengiz without something bad happening to him he's crazy. But then he knows that Cengiz is all mouth and is basically a coward - also he thinks being Eysan's father makes him safe. I do think that Ezel will forgive Eysan if she asks him who would he have chosen in those circumstances - her or his brother Mert. Ezel is a bit like Heathcliff I think - he married for hate and revenge - he took everything the Linton family had and his heart was still broken. Have you seen the bit where Ali threatens Ramiz yet? Very Corleone !!! Quick question - have you got to the bit where Ramiz and Omer are talking in prison and Ramiz is analysing the crime Omer was imprisoned for - he says a crime like this has four players - he holds up four fingers - and they go through it - the inside man - Omer answers Cengiz - and then he lists the three others with the most guilty one coming last. Have you seen that yet?

I am rewatching ep 23 now since I missed parts of it when I was sleepy. I just watched the scene where Ali broke into Sergar's place to kill him and finds him watching the videotape of the shooting. Yeah, it shows Cengiz cowering as Ali murders the guard. It would be easy in court for Cengiz to claim he didn't know Ali was going to do that. He could even claim he had been forced to participate and perhaps they would believe that. He would still do time for theft, obstruction of justice, and maybe other charges. But Ali would do the heavy time. I guess the statement about Can's father killing a man was made in the sense that he was a participant in the crime, and would be guilty by failing to report it, by assisting Ali gaining entry, and being part of a conspiracy and a crime which led to his death, even if they could not prove that he knew it would happen ahead of time.

I wonder, did Cengiz intentionally cower and act horrified while watching the murder? He knew there was videotape of the killing, because he grabbed the tape and held it for safekeeping all those years. So did he act surprised and shocked on purpose? He is a schemer and would want some kind of insurance in case they got caught. He would want some way to slip the murder charge if possible. I have no doubt he would have turned state's evidence and cooperated in order to avoid prison if possible.

Typical movie drama: Sergar waits until Ali is standing there with the pistol pointed at his head before he motions to look at the video. What if Ali had decided to shoot him from the stairs? Sergar waited until the last second before pointing to the TV. It's such a common trope in film; the countdown goes to the last second before the technician chooses the green wire instead of the blue wire, in every dangerous scene, it is drawn out to the last moment to heighten the drama.

By the way, how does one have copies made of a videotape which shows a murder? Won't the technician making the copies see the video? I doubt whether Sergar has a videotape duplicating machine in his little apartment. But we are not supposed to ask this question.

Sergar and Can had spoken about the videotape previously and Sergar had convinced Can that he should bring the tape to him, since it was potentially a source of conflict between his parents. But how could he have known when Can would get access to the tape? Impossible. It is conceivable he might have planned to switch out the video tapes ahead of time, but he could not have predicted when Can would get a chance to grab the tape. What would he do? Would he sit there day and night waiting for the boy to come with the tape? Would he know the parents would be chasing him so he could burn the fake tape in front of them? Yes, this is another time we must suspend our disbelief in order to continue watching the story.

I see what you're saying about Ali, how he seems to shown more remorse than the others involved in the plot. In ep. 23 he met with someone in 2005 to confess to the crime in order to free Omer and to accept punishment for himself. He sat there and confessed, telling the whole story about how the four conspirators did the crime and framed Omer for it. Just then Cengiz called him and told him to look in the paper. He picked up a copy of the paper and read that Omer had been killed in a prison riot. As soon as he read that he realized that his confession would not free Omer, it would only put him in prison. He then took out his pistol and killed the man who had been taking his confession (they had met in an empty warehouse Ali owned).

So Ali was consumed by his guilt. He had just lost his money through bad business and was then left with no money and the guilt of what he had done to his best friend. If not for the prison riot, he would have freed Omer from jail.

I saw Ali approach Ramiz on the street and threaten him there, and then the tables turned as a crowd of shopkeepers with meat-cleavers and other implements surrounded Ali and his small band. And I saw where Ramiz allowed himself to be captured and taken to a room by a gang of Ali's men, who turned out to be loyal to Ramiz instead of Ali. That reminded me somewhat of the Peaky Blinders scene where that Italian hood was set to destroy the Peaky Blinders, only to find out that the hired guns he brought with him had changed sides. The difference being that Ali was not killed.

Oh yeah, Ezel said he would take Eysan from Cengiz arms, little by little. Then he would take his hotel, and everything he owns. That does not show that he wants Eysan for himself, but that he wants to take her from Cengiz as part of his revenge. But it does indicate that they will get close to each other. That will trigger old feelings, and it may pave the way for Eysan to eventually confess everything to him. I wonder how close I am to how it plays out.