Son Yaz-Is This What You Call Justice?
“There is no such thing as justice, all the best that we can hope for is revenge.”
― Emilie Autumn
The first season of Son Yaz showed us time and time again that vengeance never brings fulfillment to anyone. What started as Akgün’s attempt at getting revenge from Selim ended up with him becoming almost like a son to Selim. What started as Gökhan’s revenge from Selçuk Taşkın ended up with him almost killing his half brother Akgün and getting his life taken by him as a result.
Selim’s never-ending quest for catching Halil Sadi ended up bringing Canan’s death and the collapse of his family leaving Yağmur and Altay as orphans. Almost all characters tried to hurt each other, from Eray who left Soner in prison longer because he was mad at him for stealing Naz from him, to Kaan who helped Fatih to get Akgün arrested. Fatih until the last episodes was a rival to Selim, trying to hurt Selim’s career because his boss Halil Sadi wanted it. But almost all characters, except for whoever organized the car shooting in the finale, all characters regretted their decisions and redeemed themselves one way or the other.
For all the hard work that was put into bringing some kind of justice to a world that lacks it during season one, it ended in the most heartbreaking way. Season 2 starts with a time jump of 3 years but for most characters their pain is fresh as new. No one is over what has happened. So today let’s take a look at the first 2 episodes of second season and try to understand together, what this new season is bringing to the table.
Only The Good Ones Die Here
“I can’t trust my wealth, my property
I have no hope for today and tomorrow
The earth will embrace me too.
Is this your justice World?
You neither gave me a lover, nor property
You belong to the villains World
You kill the good ones World.”
Artist: Selda Bağcan -Adaletin Bu Mu Dünya? -Music and Lyrics: Ali Ercan
Man’s pursuit of justice seldom ends well in stories. So Son Yaz’s opening song is in perfect sync with what Season 1’s characters chased but could not reach. At times like these we do feel there is no justice in the world. There are laws but certain people seem to be above them. In Turkey we say fire burns where it falls, so needless to say that from afar, the world may seem just to you until you experience some type of injustice yourself.
In Season 1 Son Yaz characters like Canan and Selim were trying to prove that the justice system was working and could be trusted but we all know how the season ended. Season 2 is a different journey because this time it seems like everyone believes in a different version of the truth. We as the viewers have been watching in horror and excitement trying to understand what that means. But as the song which I translated (episode opening song) a part of and from the title of this piece, general mood of the story is that there is no justice in the world. And it makes sense because they are all living in a tragedy.
I was afraid the time jump would try to get Canan out of the story quickly but Son Yaz is taking it’s time with the storytelling, giving the characters and us enough time to grieve her death a bit more. Canan really was the heart of Son Yaz and a lot of us worried if the show could survive without her. It does, the writers achieve in giving us a compelling story, raising many questions in us along the way. Let’s look closer.
Dealing With Grief In Their Own Ways
“Acceptance is often confused with the notion of being “all right” or “OK” with what has happened. This is not the case. Most people don’t ever feel OK or all right about the loss of a loved one. This stage is about accepting the reality that our loved one is physically gone and recognizing that this new reality is the permanent reality.” 5 Stages of Grief
If you ever lost a loved one permanently you too have been through the stages of grief. I am not sure if there are 5 of them and I am also not sure how long it takes for us to go through them. Acceptance seems to be the ultimate goal in the process but as the quote above suggests, it doesn’t really bring a sense of relief as most people think. Usually all it brings is the understanding that we have to go on with our life. We can’t stay depressed and under blankets for any longer. There are things we need to do and life has to go on. There are people depending on us and stuff that we need to attend to. This is what the stage of acceptance in grief means and I think most of the characters are in this process, except maybe for Altay who still seems to be in the “anger” phase. We might also say Selim is also kind of in the “depression” phase.
I feel like one of the reasons some people like you reading this and myself love Son Yaz, but some people don’t care for it, is because of the way it approaches the human condition. Any other show would make a huge deal out of this grief process. Son Yaz shows us the heaviness of grief in a more subtle way. We can see it in the way Yağmur tries to keep her mom’s spirit alive by acting like her or dressing like her. This is Yağmur’s denial of her mom’s loss. It’s in the way Selim refuses to face his children because seeing them would make him face the reality of Canan’s loss every single day. Yağmur and Altay are parts of Canan and seeing them will mean he will have to face Canan’s death each time he looks at them. This is even before including his guilt which is heavy because he blames himself for Canan’s death.
Everyone deals with grief differently, and grief is a chemical response to a traumatic event so it changes us. We rarely remain who we are after losing someone to death. So I wasn’t surprised how Yağmur and Altay reversed their roles when it comes to Selim leaving them. Now Altay is angry and Yağmur is more understanding. She can relate to her dad but Altay can’t. Many of us blame Selim and on the second episode I was relieved that Emel said those words to him. He needed to hear it.
Till Death Do Us Part Or Selim Does
“She dried her tears, and they did smile
To see her cheeks’ returning glow;
Nor did discern how all the while
That full heart throbbed to overflow.With that sweet look and lively tone,
And bright eye shining all the day,
They could not guess, at midnight lone
How she would weep the time away.”-Emily Brontë
Just when we thought Yağmur and Akgün would be inseparable now, the writers did them dirty with this new season’s plotline. What separates Akgün and Yağmur is Akgün and Selim’s secret and their unforgivable sin. With what they have on their hands neither of them can approach Yağmur or Altay. Where Selim gets away with seclusion by his depression, Akgün has to lie to Yağmur and seem distant and heartless. He is so good at acting his role that Yağmur doesn’t have any other chance but to believe him. So Yağmur loses her mom, her dad and Akgün all at the same time.
This dumb move they make to protect Yağmur and Altay affects both of them in the worst way possible. Our light of the party Altay is turned into a problematic teen who drinks and drives a motorcycle. Yağmur puts up a brave face but she constantly has panic attacks. Akgün tries to keep an eye on Yağmur by leaving Ahmet and Eray as her protectors but of course they have no idea what kind of demons she is fighting. On the second episode, when Akgün finally sees how broken the love of his life is, I sighed a breath of relief between my tears. Finally someone was able to see her real grief and pain and that person was meant to be Akgün. He was meant to see what his loss did to her.
Of course Selim is to blame here again. This man seems to be incapable of understanding what love feels like to others. He sure has the capacity to love but in order to make Selim Kara understand something you really have to shout and scream. Selim doesn’t understand how strong the bond between Akgün and Yağmur is but I’m sure he will find out this season.
After all that happened I don’t expect Yağmur to run into Akgün’s arms but I know they will find their way back to each other and I am willing to see what journey they will take to get there. If it means a psycho like Cihan to take an interest in Yağmur, for Akgün to see he just can’t let her go, then so be it. Also that Sancaktar girl might have to wait an eternity for someone like Akgün to love her back. The best she can hope for is to be bait for his undercover mission.
There is nothing as strong as love in this whole wild world so yes Akmur will find love just as it was shown as a dream in 23rd episode but until then, I am curious to see how they will build their relationship from scratch getting over the hurt and disappointment of 3 years. If there is anyone who knows sweet talking it’s Akgün so he better starts working that mouth fast and helps our baby Yağmur heal as quickly as possible.
Learning To Love Is A Beautiful Thing
“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
― Lao Tzu
If there is one character that did a 180 in the first season it’s Soner. Slowly but surely he changed over the course of 21 episodes from a mafia leader’s rejected son who tried to kill Akgün and from a guy who saw all women as cheap and easy, to Akgün’s bestie and Naz’s husband.
This episode he will have an important role in the story since his family -although they don’t see him as part of their family- plays an important role in the storyline. So if you ask my opinion, there is 0 change that he will die, no worries. But I think him being shot will be his ticket out of that family as he will figure out why he was found and shot so quickly that morning. It would take someone from his family to tell his whereabouts for them to be discovered there.
Naz and Soner’s love will guide Akmur back to each other. No matter how wrong Soner and Akgün look on paper as boyfriends because of how they are part of the mafia world, it is also important that they both want to leave that world and they are not in it because they enjoy it. They are not like Minik Sancaktar who likes having power to torture people or his brother who likes to manipulate people. Akgün and Soner are merely in this world because they have been forced into it. Hopefully season 2 finale will show them alive, well, and free from this terrible crime world, happy with their beautiful girls.
Fear The Enemy Who Looks Like A Friend
When Organized Crime Intelligence Agency Director Sare was announced as a new character I didn’t know what to expect. First episode of the season surprised us in a great way showing us that Sare has her own agenda and she wants to catch Selim and Akgün but she’s especially after Selim and she has been for a while. Not just that but she also entered Yağmur’s life as a Professor and made friends with her on a personal level as well.
Second episode ended with Selim finding out that Sare and Yağmur know each other. Selim also suspected Sare has ulterior motives so it will be interesting to see how these two will investigate each other while Sare will try to discover Akgün and Selim’s secret. Of course we know what that secret is. Selim and Akgün beat Halil Sadi with shovels blaming him for Canan’s killing and also for Akgün’s mother’s death. Then they buried him.
The interesting thing is when Akgün asked who ordered his mom’s shooting Selim said it was Halil Sadi but we remember from last season that Akgün’s brother Gökhan thought it was Selçuk Taşkın. So did Selim lie to Akgün or did he simply make an assumption. Akgün will sooner or later find out about Selçuk’s secret, who knows what he will do then.
Another theory is that Halil Sadi may not be dead. Because Akgün and Selim didn’t check his pulse and just buried him and drove off. If Sare’s intelligence office watched him 24/7 how did they miss his abduction? Also the person Sare keeps reporting to remains a mystery as well. The season is pregnant with so much mystery that I’m anxious to see how all these questions find their answers.
So far, I love the idea that Akgün, Selim and Sare all have secrets. Another player who is great at mysteries hasn’t been activated yet and that is Yağmur Kara. I’m counting on her to reveal Sare’s facade but until then we are going to see the boys mess things up and create a real mess. Remember this is Son Yaz, it’s always the women who solve problems, never the men. And I love Son Yaz for it.
Second season began with revenge schemes that collide, regret and pain. It might not be for everyone, some people might be missing the lighter mood of the first season. Some say it is a completely different dizi now. Well I told you grief changes you. So how could the series’ characters and mood stay the same? As the season proceeds I’m sure the mood will lighten and different themes will be added. But for now, as someone who is living god knows which stage of grief, I take and embrace this season as a long lost friend. Welcome back Son Yaz. I hope you are here to stay.
Dear reader, thanks for reading so far. Hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the first two episodes of the second season of Son Yaz. I have enjoyed both episodes immensely. I find the tone and mood much darker and mature and I like it. It is definitely a different take on a set of different emotions and I always love a series that doesn’t keep repeating itself. Let me know what you think, about this piece and the season and episodes in general. Find me as @edsavaseri on Twitter, I love hearing from you. Hope you are having a great day or night wherever you are in the world right now. I’m sending you good vibes from a cool Istanbul night.
-Eda
Check my other write-ups on Son Yaz here: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9
