I’ve seen a tweet about how interesting the show’s perception of “good guy/bad guy” is (or rather how the writers play with that notion) and I definitely agree. I have some thoughts on this, actually, so I apologize for this long post lmao.
At first glance, Arman is the stereotypical bad guy/gangster/whatever you want to call it. He makes his deals, charms the politicians, kills people that aren’t loyal and threatens others when they don’t comply. His occupation is without doubt immoral. While not all of his actions are immoral per se, he still leads a very morally grey life (at least for our typical perception of morally good/bad). The narrative doesn’t lie about that part of his life: From the beginning we as the viewers have to acknowledge every part of Arman. He’s not only the bad gangster that threatens people but he’s also not just the guy that smiles shyly when he’s gifted a drawing from a kid.
His intentions are very clear though, which is why Thony is drawn to him and why we as viewers like him. He’s loyal to a fault, clearly cares about family and honoring the people he loves. He’s protective, loves to provide and help everyone in his circle. He’s very intelligent, attentive and in tune with other people’s emotions (There’s a reason why he handles all the deals. He’s good at calming other people down and charming them). He’s very respectful to women and values the women in his life: He was literally properly introduced to us as a man that will call out other men when they don’t treat women and/or for example cleaning staff with respect. He’s actually pretty sweet and gentle, which is such an unusual personality trait for characters like him AND I LOVE IT. And the most important part, he does have a moral compass (at least in the realm of his occupation): As he said last episode, there’s nothing more he hates than people in power screwing over people in need.
Now, look at Garrett in this equation: He’s supposed to be the good guy. The FBI agent that saves the day, protects innocent people from gangs and crime. But when we look at him as a person, I don’t really see a clear moral compass, I just see someone doing everything in his power to get what he wants (aka screwing over people in need). Sure, he works for the law and therefore for the typical definition of morally right – but the narrative doesn’t make us feel like he’s doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He’s doing it because he fucked up his last job and wants to get all the freedom he had beforehand to handle the cases the way he wants to. He threatens Thony and her son repeatedly, makes ultimatums, so she has no choice but to follow through. He doesn’t care about her, doesn’t care about her sick son, doesn’t care about the unfairness of the entire system. He doesn’t care about actual justice, he only cares about himself.
It’s such a stark and intentional difference to Arman and you’re left with this feeling: Garrett might follow the justice system and do what is known as lawfully good but when it comes to being a good person, doing good things for the people around him, he’s just a shitty person all around. Without his job covering his goodness basically, he’s not good. He’s actually awful lmao.
Arman, on the other hand, showed time and time again that he can be good, that he’s capable of genuinely caring about others and he’s not portrayed selfish once (!!!!). When he helped Thony in the last episode, he helped her because he felt like this wasn’t fair, this wasn’t morally just (!!!). When you look at their relationship so far, Arman has been nothing but good to her (incredibly selfless, self-sacrificing to some degree). I’d even argue, she’s the morally grey part in their relationship (when it comes to how they treat each other).
We don’t know where this show is going yet but I’m pretty sure Arman will distance himself from Hayak and this life sooner or later. And this character foundation is important for that because his character development needs to be believable.
I could write essays on Hayak/Arman and why Arman/Thony work so well and how much they actually mirror each other but this is already long enough. This show is asking some pretty interesting questions regarding morality and how our perception of good/bad guy can change just as easily though. It’s really thrilling to follow. <3
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