Right Before The Dark Age-Looking Back At #EdSer Part 7
“Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.”
― James A. Baldwin
This is the 7th and final part of Sen Çal Kapımı Looking Back At Edser series. I titled this one “right before the dark age” because I intend on covering the episodes 24–28. What I call “the dark age” is the episodes between 29–39 which I will address in another post but I intend on writing about how I wish the memory loss plot was handled and I promise it will not be me venting about how badly it was handled. I think we are all sick and tired about how that era traumatized us. No need for more of that. Instead I’ll explore some of the fun things that could have been used but weren’t explored enough.
Episode #24: Reset
Episode 23 ends with the arrival of Babaanne which was highly expected. Of course since Ayfer and Eda never talked highly of her and they shut her off of their life, we knew she wasn’t going to be a sweet old lady. The casting was spot on with Ayşegül İşsever who had just the right amount of sass and confidence. Episode 24 starts with Babaanne’s surprise arrival at Art Life and everyone especially Eda is shocked. Well, not just shocked but also infuriated.
This is the new year episode and it also marks the beginning of some relationships. Eda and Serkan are drawn closer by Semiha Hanım’s attempts at drawing them apart. Balca finds a strong ally in Semiha and starts making bold moves to fight for Serkan’s attention and love. Engin and Pırıl get married. Ferit and Ceren decide to start over. Alex and Ayfer start flirting. Aydan gets her divorce papers and we see her trying to flirt with Alex as well.
The episode ends with Serkan asking Eda to get back to being lovers which she seems to accept by her rejoice in seeing the bracelet he bought for her. Well, the episode doesn’t exactly end there (Serkan gets arrested) but let’s close one eye to the unnecessary drama.
This episode in a lot of ways marks a healthier era in EdSer relationship. Serkan is this vulnerable in front of Eda for the first time and it’s very effective. In his house right after the Babaanne crisis he tells her, he’s the first thing she lets go of when there’s an issue. Of course this is not true but he feels that way which is understandable because we already know he has abandonment issues. Finally in this episode EdSer decide to face problems together as a couple whatever comes their way. There will always be problems, but a couple that faces and fights problems together will stay together. Yani, hopefully.
Episode #25: Renunciation
Sometimes, to forgive someone completely we have to do the same mistake. This episode is a depiction of that. Episode 25 follows the despair of Eda who stays between her love and her evil grandmother’s threats. Just on the last episode EdSer promised to fight everything together but in this episode Eda makes the same mistake Serkan did on episode 14 and she leaves Serkan, hoping that this separation will protect him from her evil grandmother.
Because she knows Serkan wouldn’t let go of her for any other reason, she brings up her parents’ death. The episode ends right after their break up (as if they were a real couple) and as if we are not tormented enough we are faced with a Prince Seymen photo with a photoshopped Eda. Thanks God this plotline gets removed faster than an old Turkish woman finishing her tea.
Eda, of course doesn’t want to give up neither on Serkan nor their love but she is forced to do it. Serkan on the other hand receives a similar but much lighter warning from Ayfer. Ayfer should really get the most useless dizi teyze award or something. In this episode she says parting ways is the better option to both Serkan and Eda. Seeing her so docile in front of her mom breaks my heart and makes me think is this the woman who took her niece and ran away? Where is her courage now?
Episode #26: Games
After trying briefly (for one episode) to give up on Serkan, Eda states clearly at the beginning of this episode that she will not give up on Serkan. A lot happens this episode, a lot of games are played until we arrive at Eda’s marriage proposal in the last minutes.
On one hand Eda tries to find out a weakness on her grandmother’s part that will allow her to use against her. On the other hand Balca still has hopes that she can win Serkan’s heart and she even tries to poison him. Babaanne tries to do some matchmaking between Eda and Prince Seymen. Ayfer and Aydan fight shamelessly over Alexander.
The games in this episode cause other games. Like Balca and Babaanne conspiring on Serkan and Eda but causing them to have bookcase breaking sex. Like Eda and Serkan deciding to be friends only to have passionate love making the night after. Like Semiha who plays Eda, making her believe she’s onto something only to find her you’re busted note in the safe.
Whatever games we play, whether they are for good or for bad, they are illusions of reality. That’s why they are called games. What’s real is what doesn’t flee, what we get to keep. In EdSer’s case, they play these games but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their love is not real. On the contrary, the games they play allow them to get to know each other better, therefore the games help solidify their bond.
Episode #27: Plans
Not all our plans come to fruition but we still keep making them. Episode 27 is about plans, most of which are EdSer’s plans on being happy and together. After Eda’s surprise proposal, Serkan makes a proposal himself leaving all us fans hating the fact that most of us will never get a proposal like that and none of us will marry a Serkan Bolat. I know, after the amnesia Serkan some of us would never wish on anyone a Serkan Bolat but let’s not forget that up until episode 29, we all found him very attractive and most of us still do. Anyway let’s stick with this episode’s Serkan.
Semiha Hanım’s last resort is to make the marriage rituals difficult for the love birds but of course it doesn’t work. As usual, the night when Serkan and Aydan visit Eda’s house to ask for Eda’s hand in marriage we get a series of very funny scenes. The nights ends well and is followed next day for henna night preparations. Semiha sends a ridiculously long list of things to do and buy. Both families go shopping to meet her demands.
The episode ends with Eda’s kidnapping by Prince Seymen’s men. An action that will burn bridges with him and with Balca as well because she lied about being unconscious. We would have enjoyed an episode like this a lot more if we didn’t know the show would get a reboot.
In this episode it’s so fun to see EdSer making plans and enjoying their time together. It’s refreshing to see them facing everyone as a couple without any doubts about each other or their relationships. However, I must be honest, at the time I thought that the decision to get married was a bit premature since they had very little experience being a couple and they had serious communication issues. Today, while expecting the 2nd episode of the 2nd season to drop, I guess that feeling some of us had, was true. Hopefully this new season they will have better communication and they will build a solid relationship.
Episode #28: Almost
In this episode everything is almost. First of all EdSer almost gets married. Balca is almost avenged but not really. Babaanne almost approves EdSer’s marriage but she doesn’t attend it so she kind of doesn’t. In the beginning of the episode they almost get a bachelor’s party before they almost break up.
I feel like this episode was what might have been the real finale if there ever was one. We get everything we dreamed of but almost! None of us could enjoy the episode as much as we hoped although it was a beautiful one with lots of cute EdSer scenes. One thing was still evident though. Eda and Serkan still sucked at communication. The misunderstanding they carried from the office to Sapanca but thankfully resolved there was a consequence of their misunderstanding. They have been through this a thousand times but they still forget to ask each other what they feel before jumping to conclusions.
I should also remind you that we almost enjoyed the episode, because it was said the show was getting a new team of writers and we knew things were going to change. Looking back, maybe it was good that EdSer who was unable to communicate on the simplest things didn’t get married just yet. After all, at that point in time, nothing was expressed openly and it seemed like they were just rushing to get a marriage certificate. Eda hadn’t accomplished anything she wanted to to academically.
Still, this almost happy episode is one of my favorites and if you cut out the terrible finale, it could have been a lovely ending to the show. Am I sad that they chose to make the show longer? You’ll have to wait for my next piece on 29–39 to learn that.
Sometimes, we don’t get what we want but we almost get a taste of it. That’s what this episode was for me. Maybe it’s not the same as getting exactly what you wanted. But it still feels nice and makes you feel that when you finally will get the real thing, it’s gonna be awesome.
Dear reader, thank you for reading so far. Writing this series and rewatching the old episodes are what got me through the torture of episodes 29–39. “Looking back at #EdSer” was the remedy of a dark era which I’ll tackle on my next Sen Çal Kapımı article. Regarding the second season, I’m cooking something up and I’ll probably come out with it next week. Share your thoughts with me on Twitter, you can find me as @edsavaseri there. Tell me what you think about this piece, about the new season or in this SÇK journey in general. Your commenst always make my day. Have a great day wherever you are in the world right now, I’m sending you peace, love and light from a hot Istanbul evening.
-Eda
Check the recaps of other episodes:
Part 1: What’s In A Love Story?
Part 2: Are They Already In Love?
Part 3: Love Is Like A Fever
Part 4: Love Makes Us Stronger
Part 5: Growing Older and Wiser Together
Part 6: An Essential Guide to True Love
My other articles on Sen Çal Kapımı:
