Gülcemal

The first episode of this TV series was outstanding, and I am excited to watch the rest of the series. The actors portrayed their roles with subtlety and nuance, making their performances is incredibly. The male and female leads had excellent chemistry. The story was complex, layered, and kept me on the edge of my seat, with a fantastic blend of intrigue, drama, and romance.

I completely understand that some people do not appreciate a good revenge story with intricate and intense emotions. However, for those who do, this TV series is a must-watch. The first episode was not predictable at all, and it kept me guessing until the very end. I did not need to fast-forward through any part of the episode, as every scene was essential to the overall narrative. I am excited to watch the rest of the series and see how the story unfolds.

It is very beautiful and stunning and it is taken from the story of Beauty and the Beast . Morat and Melis are very talented actors with great backgrounds. Murat is a very capable actor he doesn't just play every role, he lives it. I really enjoyed seeing their strong acting and especially the movie scenes. Watching this movie brought back my childhood memories. The scenes of the movie are very well filmed and it looks like a wonderful piece of art. I definitely recommend watching it, you will be captivated by this movie and you don't want to ignore the excellent acting of the actors. I can't wait for the next episodes.

I gave the show 6 starts not because it's not good, but because of the female lead. She overacts. I keep skipping some scenes until I no longer see her. The story is great, the plot is definitely not cliché. However the cast for the female lead role is not right for me.

When I watched the first episode, I wanted to give it a 10 rating, since it was really good, but now I am at episode 9, I find it hard to keep watching it. Melis is not fit to play the role of Deva, it's a real shame they didn't choose someone else's.

I have seen half of the cast in previous roles and I love the mother's acting, spot on. However, this is my first time seeing Melis Sezen, I don't know if it's her first acting or acting as the lead at all (I haven't done any research about her) but she is too much. (slightly like the actor playing the role of her real mother)

Overall, the series is really good, I love how Gulendam's husband is a bad guy wanna be, but cowardly funny on his own. I want to say that I would love to see how the story will develop and the characters change to reach or not that happy ending. But, when I think about the female lead's scenes, I doubt it.

It is a captivating story from the beginning, an excellent visual and acting quality. Perhaps the main actress Melis Sezen is not the one I would have chosen but I notice a lot of effort in her to be part of the project. I see her a bit forced in some scenes but it should be noted that she has very good chemistry with Gulcemal who is the one who holds the plot.

Murat Ünalmis is a high-quality, charismatic actor with a great track record. The story revolves around him but he is very well surrounded by other actors such as the one who plays his mother, Ayda Askel, brother-in-law Edip Tepeli, etc. I am counting the days to see the next chapter, I hope this series will be long-lived . I love these kinds of stories: they don't differ much from real life. Where there is passion, fury, love: all human feelings.

I actually really enjoyed this modern Turkish retelling of Beauty and The Beast. Murat Unalmis and Melis Sezen, as Gülcemal and Deva, had amazing chemistry and really made this hate to love series one to watch. The supporting cast was phenomenal and Avda Aksel as Zafer made a wonderful villain in this over-arching story of estranged mother and son. At times it was difficult to watch Zafer being so phenomenally evil...although it did make Gülcemal's wins that much greater. Shockingly, the series had lots of secrets and surprise twists that really kept you coming back for more. This was one 2023 series that I looked forward to every week and was disappointed when it was over. That leads me to the final episode, episode 13...for which I have mixed emotions. I really enjoyed the reunion, which was bittersweet knowing the series was over, but the bits with Zafer felt unbelievable. She was such an evil villain, I would have liked to see something a little more suiting to her big personality.

I was surprised that there was as much violence between the two main characters....stabbing, hitting, shooting, yelling. There are no holds barred in this hate to love.

As a romantic, I love the hate to love genre and I highly recommend this fairly short (13 episodes) Turkish series. Forced proximity and great banter are a signature of the series...but it really is all about Gülcemal and Deva. Romantics will be enthralled. I was inspired to buy the book My Sweet Orange Tree because of the references in this series, a book I had never heard of.

My review is based on watching the series in it's original Turkish language with English subtitles.