This series was wonderful and terrible at the same time. I love both Birce Akalay and Ibrahim Celikkol and was happy to see them reunited in a series (I really enjoyed them paired together in Siyah Beyaz Ask-which was one of the first Turkish series I ever watched...as such it occupies a special place in my heart.).
This series is wonderfully narrated and pits a team of gen Xers who are at the top of their game in the tv news media reporting (serious journalism)(the lions) vs a up and coming millennial (the bird aka kus) who hasn't even finished her education...in other words no experience.
Lale Kiran is a well respected on camera journalist and she made her way up the ranks by working in Ankara and Afghanistan, aka she worked hard, gained knowledge and earned her position and the respect she is given. She is supported by her husband Sinan a successful restauranteur, two daughters, and her long time partner and friend Kenan. Asli Tuna is an entitled little millennial who thinks that in spite of not having the knowledge or experience that she deserves Lale's job and there is just about nothing she isn't willing to do to get it...lie, cheat, steal, blackmail, manipulate (verbally and sexually), back-stab (figuratively and literally) and maybe even kill. She weaponizes social media in ways to help her advance and to take down others...thus showing some of the dangers of social media today.
This was a big production made for Netflix Turkish series and it really showed: lavish sets, good soundtrack, great costuming and wonderful acting. I found the series wonderfully done, but difficult to watch because it hit a little too close to home for me and I work in health care in a hospital setting. I too am seeing entitled millennials think that they deserve positions that they haven't the experience to do and the bad behavior that ensues when they don't get their way. I am really saddened and worried about what is going to happen when these individuals are reporting the news and providing health care to others when they no longer have ethics, lack the knowledge and have cut corners to get where they are.
The ending of season one was quasi satisfying in that I was glad to see respect given to someone who had earned it, I was glad to see some of the young generation questioning the ethics of reporting fake news and I was glad to see the pool get good use. I personally would have been a lot happier with the ending if we got to watch a bird get a horribly violent comeuppance. Oh well, I guess the ending was alright.
