Sen Cal Kapimi: An Update

In my last blog post I covered what occurred in the first episode of Sen Cal Kapimi, which right off the bat had a lot of drama in the 2 hour episode. After binging for the past several days and squeezing in watch time during my free time...a lot has happened. I'll try my best to catch y'all up to speed, but buckle up, it's kind of hard to summarize over 20 hours of content!!

To start off, Eda and Serkan's chemistry and tension remains the best part of the show and seeing them interact on screen is always a delight. From the first episode, their dynamic was already intriguing and I could already visualize the future romance that was in store for their relationship. With the actors' chemistry aided with the cinematography and music within the show, a lot of work is put into their romance, ensuring that it is strong and believable. As a quick refresher, Eda and Serkan are in a fake engagement. Serkan wants to make his ex, Selin jealous, and Eda wants to continue her college education in Italy. Through this engagement, they've been lying to the public and even their loved ones (besides Serkan's mom and assistant). However, the tides have definitely changed as real feelings got stronger and more involved throughout the show.

Now, things have gotten a lot more complex. In the last episode I watched, Serkan finally admitted his true feelings to Eda, saying that he "fell crazy in love" with her. This scene was very emotional and poignant to their character arcs, not to mention beautifully shot (they kissed on the beach with the sunset behind them. I cried). As a character, Serkan struggles to verbalize his true feelings, leaving Eda confused with his true intentions and feelings, as she was also grasping her true feelings for him; Is it true love or are they just getting lost in the sauce with their fake engagement? Should she pursue her feelings, or should she just go to Italy once their contract is officially over? Should Serkan pursue his feelings, or should he settle for Selin, and let Eda pursue her educational dreams? Despite this love and happiness though, I'm still wary of Serkan and his ex, Selin. I don't deny his love for Eda, but I just hope he has internally dealt with the torch he's held for Selin, because Selin definitely still holds that torch for him.

Selin is the PR manager for Serkan's architecture company, and she makes it known that she is the only one "meant" for Serkan. They're both rich, successful, they're family friends, and his mother loves her! What more could he want in a woman besides her right? The problem is, she's engaged to another man who is madly in love with her, and yet she battles her unresolved feelings for Serkan. In a way, I sympathize with her and her situation. Especially considering how hot and cold of a character Serkan is, I understand her confusion! I feel like in terms of villains or antagonists, Sen Cal Kapimi has humanized them in a way that makes me look at them with more nuance. Well, at least in the case of female antagonists in the show.

The female representation in the show has actually been quite refreshing. The main protagonist, Eda has clear career goals and doesn't let anyone, let alone a man, interfere with those goals. Sure she's had to move the goalpost for her dreams a couple times due to different circumstances, but those circumstances never stopped her from continuing to pursue her dreams. Same goes for the women in her inner circle, her aunt and her best friends, Melek, Seren, and Fifi. They're all strong, empowered women who empower and uplift each other, especially with their career aspirations. This also applies to the antagonists, Selin and Aydan, especially Aydan. Through Aydan's storyline, we follow her struggle with grief and mental health as she is still mourning the loss of her first-born son from many years ago, while also battling her agoraphobia. As a character, she is extremely interesting and not one-dimensional as I would normally expect from the stereotypical "rich evil mother-in-law" trope. I wouldn't even call her evil, maybe just misunderstood. Still, I enjoy her arc probably the most because I think it's important for major forms of media to advocate for mental health and actively promote it as a healthy, good, and normal thing.

Even though romance is at the core of this show, Sen Cal Kapimi has incorporated other elements to keep the storyline fresh and modern, and in general has remained an enjoyable watch. Sure, it still has its cliches and stereotypes, but it refrains from being surface level and allows important conversations and topics to be discussed in each episode. 

I plan to keep watching the show as I still have plenty of episodes to go, and I can't wait for it to get more wild and unpredictable.

Hope y'all are enjoying/enjoyed your shows!!

-Alicia

Their chemistry = Unmatched