I am currently watching the dizi, Yargi. Yargi is a crime and police drama that tries to answer the classic whodunnit question and has a romantic element between the two main characters Ilgaz and Ceylin. Ilgaz and Ceylon represent the popular trope of enemies to lovers (my favorite). Starting from the very first episode, we see Ilgaz order Ceylin to be locked in a jail cell due to her meddling. Already this scene sets the characters' conflicting personalities.
I think the main factor that makes their chemistry exciting is the juxtaposition of their characters. Ceylin is a very sarcastic and cunning character who is not afraid to bend the rules to reach her end goal. Ilgaz is very serious and a rule follower. This is likely due to his upbringing with his police chief father since he acts much the same way. However, he still does the best he can for his family, which is why he appoints the best lawyer he thinks to defend his brother Chynar, Ceylin. It seems at every turn Ceylin and Ilgaz are caught up in the best method to proceed with the investigation. In these somewhat tense conversations, there is always playful back and forth between them. Their eyes never leave each other’s, and they are tuned out to the others around them during those times.
There is a scene where Ilgaz and Ceylin come across a bloody sweater in his father’s car that heavily implicates his brother in the crime. Instead of hiding the evidence as Ceylin suggests, he volunteers it to the police. Right before Ilgaz and Ceylon visit the victim in the morgue Ceylin admits she used her position to grant them access to the morgue. Ilgaz quickly calls her out for this, pointing out that the victim had a life once too and she shouldn’t be careless to forget that. This scene revealed to me a softer side of Ilgaz.
Next comes the shocking revelation that the victim is Ceylon’s sister Inji. Ceylin’s actress was terrific in this scene, and I truly felt all her emotions of overwhelming shock and grief in her scenes. However, it was Ilgaz who I paid the most attention to. In all honesty, I initially found it hard to get into Ilgaz because he was not very attractive to me. Yet in this scene, I watched as his eyes turned to Ceylin in empathy as she realized her sister was the victim. A look was shared between them for a brief moment, and I could almost hear the words he wanted to say just through his eyes.
I think it’s amazing how even amidst the tragic event that connects them, there is still such a striking chemistry that cannot be ignored. Each episode draws in more to their budding relationship and I’m very excited to see what will happen from here.
I like how you discussed the way the personality of the characters, specifically Ilgaz, is what makes them attractive. I think that in a lot of traditional telenovelas, the male characters can be slightly shallow, as they are easily influenced, and just kind of go along with things. Typically, the female lead carries the intense, deep emotions, so it seems that Ilgaz taking on some of these three dimensional emotions makes him a stand out character, and in this case, makes him seem more attractive. In class we have talked about how the smile of the male lead can win us over, but in this case its his eyes. That makes perfect sense, as this is such a heavy storyline where the chemistry has to be built upon tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI also deeply enjoy the enemies of lovers trope, and also in that first scene where Ceylin is arrested, is that a scene representative of foreshadowing or does the show itself go straight into an arrest order in the first episode? I like how you mentioned that Ilgaz and Ceylin are polar opposites, and how that's instrumental in making their chemistry look so good. I think that their differences just make watching them fall in love so interesting because we can watch these two form a common ground in their differences. Similar to what Megan said, I think it's great that the man has more complexity to him and possesses some complex emotions that typically the female protagonist has. He has empathy and a softness towards Ceylin, which honestly, makes the development of their love story even better because it shows that he can be good to Ceylin.
ReplyDeleteAdja, you're making me want to watch this show, and I'm mad that I can't because of midterms! I love a good portrayal of the enemies to lovers trope and the dynamic that you're describing between Ilgaz and Ceylin sounds like it's not just a good version of enemies to lovers, it's great. Obviously the plot point of Ilgaz's brother being the potential murderer of Ceylin's sister is a GIANT roadblock to their relationship, but I think that probably makes the show *that* much better. I also want to watch the show because I love a good police/crime drama. It's not a melodrama, but if you like the police/crime genre you should watch American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson! It was sooooooo good. Great blog post!
ReplyDelete