***SPOILERS***
In
Series One, Hakan has only one Immortal to contend with. Unexpectedly, it is
Faysal, Hakan’s role model who earns millions through his self-made company. At
the end of Series One, Faysal resurrects the other six Immortals, including his
lover Ruya. This radically changes the dynamic of Series Two which finally
demonstrates the true chaotic potential of the Immortals.
The
second series introduces Levent, Hakan’s brother. He was a wild card,
flipflopping his loyalties between the Loyal Ones and the Immortals, between
those who protect his bloodline and those who seek to destroy it. Yet both groups still permit him to
be in on their plans. Levent seems to not trust people but he always breaks
people’s trust.
When Ruya tells Levent that she was
a nurse during a war, Levent says she can’t be that old so, at that point, he
doesn’t know she’s an Immortal. Or at least pretends that way. Likewise, Ruya’s
behaviour showed that she didn’t know Levent. So one, the other or both are
bluffing, or both are being sincere.
What is clear is that Ruya and Levent hadn’t met each other whilst Levent had
first joined the side of the Immortals.
Near the end of Series Two, Levent
is signed up to the world vision of the Immortals by donating his Protector’s
blood for the Immortals’ use. For this to happen, they would have had to
divulge that they were Immortal and Protector. Yet we don’t see the moment when
Ruya and Levent come out to each other. Considering the show leaves the
audience uncertain about these two knowing each other’s secrets in the first
place, we should have seen them airing out their identities to resolve the uncertainty.
Initially I thought Levent was lying
about being Hakan’s brother because his behaviour matched the Immortals more
than it did the Loyal Ones. Indeed, in Series Two we only see six Immortals:
one’s missing! So once Levent came on the scene, his behaviour made me think he
was the last Immortal and was being Hakan’s brother just to have access to
killing both Protector and Loyal Ones. But no.
Maybe if Azra hadn’t lost her cool
by telling Levent he was worthless (among other insults) when he joined the
Loyal Ones again, he wouldn’t have defected to the Immortals (again) and this
whole mess could have been avoided.
Throughout
the second series, Faysal treats Ruya like a china doll and this pushes Ruya
over the edge. (Off the shelf?) Ruya is so incensed that she easily supplanted
control of Faysal’s company. But how?
Not a single second was spent
explaining how this happened. The Immortals are always complaining, teasing and
insulting mortals, so even if Ruya just said mortals are so stupid and easily
persuaded (like the Immortals say often), the ‘how’ would have been sufficed.
Without this explanation, for
something so odd like this to happen so easily is questionable. This then
brings into question everything that Ruya does in her position as head of the
company. It lacks believability. So this usurping seems to have been done for
the convenience of the plot rather than worked into the plot itself.
Not only does taking over a company
take lots of time and effort but everyone in the company, everyone who knew of Faysal,
knew Ruya was dead. Did no one wonder about how she was alive again? It would
have at least created some suspicion among the company and the public yet this
is neither dealt with nor even mentioned. Someone coming back from the dead is
a big deal.
Almost
inevitably there was romantic tension between the two protagonists, Zeynep and
Hakan.
Hakan’s lust went away when he was
with Leyla but Zeynep’s crush became stronger. Yes everyone expects romance in
all shows but there was a big enough cast for Hakan and Zeynep to not fall for
each other.
Hakan is shown to be a lusty
character in general so he in particular would (and did) like others. When he
first met Leyla for a job interview, he had just shagged someone else and
clearly hadn’t showered (I would have refused him entry for unprofessionalism
but that’s just me). When he first had sex with Leyla, he wasn’t afraid to dent
tables and walls (this scene was intermittent with Zeynep being attacked
against a wall and table, with people in both scenes grunting, sweating and
giving intense expressions. This was great cinematography). So there was no
need for Hakan and Zeynep to be a thing.
I do hate it when the main female
character and the main male character fall in love. Straight men and straight
women are allowed to be friends and have a strong, platonic relationship. This
kind of stuff in shows and films degrades the value of friendships and
overstates the value and importance of romance. (This is a criticism of the
trope rather than the programme, to be clear.)
Concluding
this review is a bit odd.
The Protector stuck to my attention,
full of well-crafted suspense and each character had a strong personality. A
language barrier always means these factors can’t be fully assessed but, for my
limited, non-immersive experience, it is true. No moment was wasted. No moment
was dragged out longer than it should have been, meaning none of that boring,
pause-for-effect malarkey.
I want answers to so many questions.
The suspense of the audience not knowing something (but knowing there’s
something to be known) helped carry the show along. Perhaps this means
answering too many questions would completely ruin the dynamics of the show.
But from the ending of Series Two
(which was radically different in style compared to Series One), I have a
horrible feeling that The Protector won’t be renewed for Series Three.
I can hope, though.
The Protector (Series One and Two) 1/2
No comments:
Post a Comment