Hello beanies,

Long time no see. What’s new in dramaland? Hope you all doing good…

For the first time, I am taking a detour from writing or discussing on a Kdrama over here to post about the last series I finished watching recently, which wasn’t a kdrama. I wanted to write down my recent experience with Turkish drama for a change over here.

I found myself having lots of DNFs in my kdrama list this year that I just gave up on kdramas and got busy dabbling in Turkish series for a change… and it was the best decision I made!!!!

Vatanim Sensin It was my second Turkish drama, 2 season, 59 episodes with 2.30 hours each… Yes, I was beyond committed when I dived into this masterpiece. Or more like I got hooked since the 1st ep. I took an impulse decision when I came across a small YouTube clip one day and decided to try it. Kdramas were boring my soul, so I went into this without realizing that it was 59 freaking episode with 2 and half hours each!!!! Cant stop emphasizing on that fact because If I knew it beforehand I wouldnt have started it, but I am so glad that I didnt bother checking for once. I cant imagine missing out on this gem!

I had little encounter with Turkish series. I have only watched one in my life. The first and last one was Aci Hayat in 2008 when I came across it on TV accidentally one cold lonely winter night. It was so makjang that I remember watching it for the chaos and drama that unfolded. It rivaled Mexican telenovelas lol!!! And the best or dumb part was I didn’t have a clue what was going on since I dont Turkish neither there was any subtitles.There was no other channel on my TV and this drama was all there was to kill those isolated days. But thats the love of art right? It transcends borders and language barriers. Later, when the internet became a permanent prescence in my life, I went back and watched that drama with subtitles and was happy to know that I did get most of the story onscreen right…

Anyway, back to Vatanim Sensin. This show was beautiful. Brilliant and a Masterpiece.

I was blown away by it, by how well directed, scripted and casted this entire show was. No wonder it had 59 episodes of 2.30 hours!!! bcoz this drama deserved it to be that long. Every character was brilliant and casted so well like…. ahh.. I feel so short with words to describe it all and put those feelings into words. Cinematography, BGM and dialogues…. oh the dialogues… there were like poetry! I found myself rewinding so many scenes so that I could read those dialogues like I would do with a poem. It was mesmerizing and thought provoking.

On to the couples in this series… I could write sonnets on that topic because wow!!! Star-crossed-lovers/enemy-to-lovers trope set in period drama with Military uniforms and brilliant characters?!! Yes, it was my catnip and I was in heaven. The enemy to lover trope was done so brilliantly, this couple have set the ultimate bar for me. Hello! Elizabeth and Darcy, please step back for a moment!

After finishing this series it made me realize that I have been watching kdramas for such a long long time that my mind have been programmed and gotten so used to the k-drama arc setting and storyline. That I finally realized why I ended up with a lot of DNFs with k-dramas. My brain was bored.

Bored with how most kdramas were predictable and offered the bare minimum to me recently. And even the brilliant ones that came out, they only came once so rarely. And I wish they werent so rare but flooded in.

So in short, I watched a turkish drama to cure my kdrama boredom syndromes lately and it worked like magic.

I just wanted to share this experience with fellow beanies and would love recommending this series who havent watched it like me. I know its 59 episodes and 2.30 hours each (cant stress enough on that), but it was worth it all… I feel thoroughly spoiled after watching this series. If anyone else having good turkish drama recommendation, please send them my way. My future looks like a deep dive into turkish series!

And, back to k-dramas… I see Lee Jong Suk is back in town!!Yay!! Cant wait to catch up with that and also to see that a Hyun Bin movie is on the horizon!!! Double Yaayy! I am indeed feeling very happy.

Hope you all doing great and stay safe yall!

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    It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Turkish drama. And that’s mainly because of their episode count otherwise they are quite quality dramas. For their local audience it’s no big deal I guess because they air like a kdrama does. 2 hours each week, just one episode though. The high number of episodes means it’s one drama divided into two seasons or a rather fitting word would be part since it’s the same thing but just with a short rest time. So I guess the way they arrange episodes may have never bothered the local audience hence, they stick to that formula. I’m seeing this is a Halit Ergenc show so I’ll direct you to one. And also because you liked Bloody Heart. His show right before this one is one of my favorite historical with deliciously gray characters, Muhtesem Yuzyil. All episodes are available on Youtube. But it may look slightly dated because it aired in from 2010 to 2014 and has a whopping 139 episodes.
    For a recent Turkish drama, I really enjoyed Midnight in Pera Palace. It’s a Netflix show and will probably have a few seasons but the first one at least quite good.

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      Yaa i kinda guessed that they must have aired one episode every week. I was surprised bcoz my dumbass failed to notice it was 2 plus hours until I was 40 mins into first ep. Haha

      And thanks for the recommendation. Muhtesem yuzil sounds exactly what I would love. 139 episode!! wow… I need all the free time for that. Will def check it out. And Midnight in Pera Palace, I have added that while browsing through Netflix. Def on the watch list. Thanks once again. Also, which Turkish drama is ur all time fav if you got any or which one would you say that one must def watch? Also, would love if u could recommend a romantic/rom com Turkish Drama too if u got any.

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    Thanks for sharing your write up it sounds like it was just what you needed. I think the reason a lot of people are watching K dramas is because they are offering something their home country dramas aren’t so maybe it is time for your brain to be stimulated elsewhere.
    What platform did you use to view it?

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      You are welcome 😊
      And yes, indeed. I am glad I stopped k drama for a while else if I had continued, I may have stopped watching forever. So this was nice break.

      I watched it on Turkish123. I couldn’t find it on Netflix/amazon and other platforms, so googled and watched it from that site. Since I am a noob I dont know which are the best sites to watch Turkish dramas yet. 🙂

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    I’m watching my first Turkish show Siyah Beyaz Ask (Black and White Love aka Price of Passion) on Disney+. Just like you, I was having a hard time sitting through kdramas, and I clicked on this by mistake. Best mistake I made.
    Surprise is a mild word when I found out each episode is almost 2.5 hours long. This show has 32 episodes, enemies to lovers trope. The couple’s chemistry is so amazing, I have to hold my breath every time they are on screen.
    I am also loving deciphering a new culture and a different style of storytelling. So many times I expect kdrama tropes to kick in, and it feels so fresh when they don’t.
    Ah I’m such a happy beanie right now.

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      Fellow happy beanie!!! hahaha someone who gets me word for word!!! I felt like I ghost wrote this. 😀 I am so excited to discover more Turkish dramas as I go searching for more.

      And enemy to lovers trope you say? Def checking this one out too… Like you, I was the same holding my breath every time the couple from the series I watched was onscreen. The chemistry was insane! I couldn’t get enough of them.

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    Long time no see indeed! Hope you’re doing well!

    Lately I’ve heard more and more positive comments about Turkish dramas ….. the ones they don’t cancel after 4 episodes though, because apparently that happens a lot.

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      Yes, thank you. Been in a good space for a while now. Thank God 😀
      Hope u doing good as well!

      yaa, I have seen many comments already with many series where fans are complaining about cancellation. I am guessing it has to do with how the ratings are maybe? No clue as of yet

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