Okay Friends and Foes, I did it! I woke up at a reasonable time to watch Yeni Hayat live. I should probably give a special shout out to KanalD for having a live stream and a special shout out to my neighbours and roommates for being loud AF in the morning. What would I do without y’all (note the sarcasm).
Anyways, let me start by saying that when watched it live, I had no idea what they were saying so my reaction was pretty much :
- Serkan is so beautiful
- Serkan with a child is doing something to me… do I secretly want to have children?
- Melisa Asli Pamuk is gorgeous
- I don’t know what’s happening with Adem’s jacket, but will someone in the clothing department please go steal one of Cihangir Tepeli’s jackets please!
Firstly, I would like to say congrats to everyone that worked on the show, because I feel like the first Bölum of the show really did a good job of establishing the characters and really setting the tone and plot of the show.
Now, if you know anything about the show you probably know that the basic premise of it follows Adem (as played by the ever handsome Serkan Cayoğlu) being hired by a rich businessman (Tayanç Ayaydin) to be his wife’s (Melisa Asli Pamu) bodyguard. Now, if you know anything about me (or you managed to find my Goodreads account) you know that I would probably go wild for this premise. It’s literally the plot of so many good stories, from whatever it was Dolph Lundgren and Grace Jones had, to the plot of countless books, countless movies (in various languages), and tv shows… and as you will soon learn, I am total trash for this plot!
Recap (With Commentary):
The episode starts by establishing Adem’s military past as well as showing him to be a man who stands up for people, as he saves a random woman from being stalked and stabbed by her ex-husband. Immediately, the writers of the show seem to give us a bit of foreshadowing, as the man accuses his ex-wife of cheating on him with Adem. With the premise in mind, it’s not hard to understand that Adem is eventually going to be put into a position where he’s going to be looking after the well being of a woman (Yasemin), and he is probably going to cheat on his wife.
However, the question that came to me based off this interaction was whether Adem (in later episodes) was going to intervene when Yasemin is being abused by her husband (as indicated in the trailer).
From, there we get a bit of Adem’s home life, and honestly it was gut wrenching to watch, because the show establishes that Adem is happily married to his wife and that his daughter is cute-af. This made me really apprehensive about the rest of the show, because his family really seems lovely and yet I know the show is about infidelity.
Adem is apparently job-hunting, and all I can say about that is, mood! We get an adorable seen as Adem’s family throw him a surprise birthday party, before we get a match cut showing us that its Yasemin’s birthday. Now as someone who studied film in school, let me tell you, that match cut made my little heart flutter.
We are then introduced to Yasemin and Timur and their life. It is clear that they live quite luxuriously and are rich. Yet, the crew of the show were able to capture the tension between Yasemin and Timur so artfully and subtly. With just a hint of slow motion showing Timur holding Yasemin’s neck as he tells her he’s happy that she’s his, we were able to quickly understand that Timur sees Yasemin as property.
(The "it" here is meant to be you and is a translation error because Turkish doesn't have gender pronouns)
We are also introduced to Timur’s brat of a daughter, Gökçe, and honestly seeing Ipek Filiz Yazici in this role after watching her in Aşk 101 low-key blew my mind. I personally think it speaks of Ipek’s acting ability, because while I totally loved her in the role as Işik in Aşk 101, I despise Gökçe for being such so bratty and spoiled.
The scenes that follow show both Adem and Yasemin at home and the only reason that I mention this is because it’s indicates five things. Firstly, it reminds us of what we already know Adem is a great dad.
My reaction whenever we see Adem and his family together.
Secondly, we get a scene of Adem’s family watching a news report of him saving the woman from earlier. This scene stood out to me because his wife tells him to be careful, reminding him he has a family, which could be a potential hint that something might happen to his family is future episodes.
We then learn that Timur is receiving messages threatening Yasemin’s life in what I can only describe as straight from Community, down to the red car. Then, we have learned that Timur’s first wife died and we are introduced to the villains (led by Kunduzi as played by Nebil Sayin), who are plotting against Yasemin. Lastly, one of Adem’s old partners sees the news reports and goes to Adem asking if he’s willing to be a bodyguard, which Adem sees hesitant about (though his wife is overjoyed).
The next day Adem prepares to visit the Karatan household, and we get a very sweet domestic scene. However, as he’s getting ready Adem responds to his wife comments of him looking good by asking her if she’ll be jealous, to which she replies she isn’t, and all I can say is…
Adem meets with Timur, but is interrupted by Yasemin who is unhappy about being forbidden from leaving the Karatan property and additionally for having a bodyguard forced upon her… To which I say you wait Yasemin, you complain now, but if Dolph Lundgren and Grace Jones have taught me anything, thing are about to get hot and steamy. And it does as Yasemin and Adem have a bit of back forth, complete with lingering looks and what could only be described as eye fucking.
We get another reminder that Adem is going to cheat, as Timur mentions Adem’s loyalty to his wife. Later Nevin convinces Adem to take the job (he does, no surprise) and Adem’s family moves into the Karatan compound.
From there we establish that Adem is a great dad (again), that Yasemin is intent on getting rid of Adem, and that every female within the Karatan compound is attracted to Adem. This includes Gökçe who approaches Adem and openly flirts with him in a way that somehow made me annoyed and gave me second hand embarrassment. All I can say about this is, is Sinan, come pick up your girl before she makes a fool of herself (but not really since Ipek has Corvid).
From a conversation between Nevin and her friend we learn that Nevin might not be able to have kids and that Ece (probably) isn’t Adem’s child, a thing Adem doesn’t know. We get shots of Adem being Yasemin’s bodyguard, intercut with shots of Nevin and Ece shopping. Yasemin handbag get stolen, and Adem chases down the muggers, only to be admonished for this action by Yasemin. This causes Adem to grow suspicious of why she would care about the muggers. Everyone arrives at home, and Ece and Nevin see Adem and Yasemine from afar, and as soon as Nevin sees Yasemine, her face falls. The obvious answer to this, is Nevin is eating her words and is jealous… however based off the fact this a Dizi I’m watching… perhaps there is something more at foot.
Timur tells Adem that his first wife died because he was being extorted for money through someone threatening his first wife’s life. Timur apparently went to the police who weren’t able to solve the case. Not wanting the cycle to happen again, Timur asks Adem to investigate the case and Adem agrees as long as he is allowed to turn the blackmailers to the police.
That night, both Adem and Yasemin can’t sleep. Yasemin goes and sits on her balcony, while Adem goes outside. We then get perhaps the most important shot of the whole show as Adem starts doing some pull ups as Yasemin watches from a distance… and all I can say is I would like to thank not only God but also Jesus.
In the scenes that follow Gökçe drunkenly returns homes and shamelessly flirts with Adem, who turns down her advances. Yasemin watches this interaction looking upset (or maybe jealous), before she helps Gökçe, which ends with them fighting. Timur intervenes, and Yasemin (rightfully) calls out Gökçe for being a brat (and Timur as well), Timur shows his true colours by dragging her to their room where he physically abuses her.
The next morning both Yasemin and Adem are getting ready for an event. Nevin tries to casually tell Adem that she might not be as perfect as he might think she is. Nevin also tries to casually ask Adem if he finds Yasemin beautiful, to which he tells her Yasemin is annoying, reminding Nevin that Yasemin is just his employer. Timur and Yasemin are at an important lunch when a mysterious gunman opens fire on them, and Adem saves Yasemin. Which leads us to that scene, you know the one in all the trailers.
Adem and Yasemin end up in a random room in the kitchen, and Adem gives his bullet proof vest to Yasemin. And let me tell you, that women is dedicated because though she literally almost got shot, she still finds the time to check out Adem.
Okay, to be honest... I think she's looking at his gunshot wound.
Adem soon figures out that whoever is sending the messages probably is close to the family and informs both Yasemin and Timur of this. In the scene that follows we learn about Timur and Yasemin relationship, before learning that Timur is smuggling guns into the country.
This is when the plot kicks up as someone attacks Yasemin in her room. Adem chases him down as Yasemin slips away. It is revealed that the assailant is Fatih, Yasemin’s driver, and that Yasemin has slipped away to the Kunduzi, who she is working with. She wants to make it look like her life is in danger in order fake her death and get fake papers so she escape the Karatan’s. Kunduzi suggests that Yasemin seduce Adem in order to throw him off her scent. The episode ends with Adem finding a “knocked out” Yasemin.
Final Thoughts:
All in all I really enjoyed the show and as previously stated, I think it’s a great first episode. However, as of the moment, I am finding it really difficult to ship Adem and Yasemin because Nevin is still in the picture.
I love Yasemin, I really do. She is such a fun character who seems rather complex and I’m super excited to see more of her. However, I have also grown to love Nevin, even if she is hiding something from Adem, and I don’t want to see him cheat on her (especially because he seems so in love with her). Honestly, there’s a part of me that’s hoping that Nevin dies, so that I can ship Yasemin and Adem… #sorrynotsorry
My only other thought was I really need Gökçe, to get a hobby or something… Please stop flirting with Adem.
Theories & Questions:
- Is there a double meaning to all of the shots that involve mirrors. There are so many shots where Adem and Yasemin are looking into mirrors… So were these shots done for aesthetic purposes or is there symbolism that I’m missing…
- Does the show’s title has a double meaning? On one hand Yeni Hayat (translation: New Life) could be a reference to both Adem and Yasemin finding “new life” (Adem in his new job, and Yasemin as she tries to escape the Karatans and find a new life)…
However, an alternate explanation can be found in the fact that both Nevin and Timur address Adem and Yasemine as “my life” (to my knowledge neither Adem nor Yasemin call their spouses this).
Could this be due to the fact that “Yeni Hayat” is a reference to the fact that Adem and Yasemine will become each other’s “new life”. - Is Yasemin seeing Adem’s gunshot wound and him around his family going to make her change her mind and decide to stop
seducingusing him to get her way? - Is Timur’s first wife actually dead?
- Is something going to happen to Adem’s family and is Yasemin at all going to be involved in the kidnaping of Adem’s daughter? Also… will Nevin please die?
- Also, so the show establishes that Adem is a character that follows the rules. He wants to go to the police constantly and he clearly is very loyal to his family… So it will be interesting to see Adem’s demise as he gets close to Yasemin. However, I’m curious to know if he will find out Kunduzi and Yasemin’s connection and what he will do then…
Anyways, that it for now! Thank you for reading my nonsensical thoughts, and feel free to leave a comment… and see you next week as we continue to thirst for Serkan Cayoğlu.
ERICA TALKS SH*T 