Cihan: I’m undergoing surgery tomorrow morning. Will you come before I go in?
Alya: I won’t.
Cihan: I know you. You will.
Alya: Then I guess you don’t know me after all. Because I won’t. Anything else?
Cihan: I love you.
Wanting to donate her kidney to a zombie man so that Cihan can live…The fact that Alya loves this man this much…Not even Sadakat cares about him as much as Alya does.
And the fact that he’s still waiting for her to appear before his surgery…
In the midst of such a ridiculous plot, we find ourselves searching for our characters. And then we realize somewhere deep down, they’re still there.
The kidney drama is another one of our brilliant screenwriter’s groundbreaking contributions to modern medicine. You can’t help but wonder, when this man himself is a -not yet but soon- walking medical miracle, how could they have not noticed that one of them miraculously has three kidneys? Because with the kind of "consistently nonsensical" storytelling, that would’ve actually been true as well.
There’s a saying in Turkish: "If something has no explanation, it becomes a joke." And that’s exactly where this show has ended up. Since nothing makes sense anymore, all we can do is make jokes and laugh.
As for the part that involves the characters I care about… What the writer is giving us is a true "hero" story. The trigger may be the most absurd thing ever, but the cause-and-effect is pure drama, pain and angst.
Cihan, having been raised with a deep sense of sacrifice, naturally stepped up the moment he realized he was the only option. Because he’s someone who doesn’t really value his own life -yet constantly prioritizes the lives of others - he’s suffering from a kind of Harry Potter / Frodo Baggins syndrome. So of course he was ready to embark on a journey that could very well end in death.
Of course, this is ultimately a matter of choice but there’s also a strong sense in the story that it’s a kind of "debt." Because he believes he betrayed his brother, there’s this thought he obsessively believes that he deserves to be "sacrificed."
And the third reason, maybe the one that makes this path completely irreversible for him, is Alya stepping forward. Because there is no universe in which he would ever allow her to put her life at risk, not ever. So not going into the surgery is no longer even an option for Cihan.
These are the reasons, yes, but then there’s also Alya’s accusations in the trailer. She’s trying to say, "Death looks safer choice to you." Because she sees a kind of resignation in Cihan and she can’t accept that. The issue isn’t that Cihan is trying to save his brother. It’s that he’s giving in. And Alya sees a deeper subtext in that surrender. An escape.
Alya is right from her perspective. But that doesn’t answer this question: Let’s say Cihan and Boran finally confront each other. Let’s say Cihan chooses love, stands by it despite everything. It’s obvious Boran won’t respond with "how wonderful." It’s obvious whom Sadakat will side with. It’s also clear that Cihan will lose the chance to be a father to Deniz. So… can they really build a happy life under these circumstances?
Right now, Cihan believes it’s impossible. In his mind, the moment that day comes, there won’t be something called a "happy life." He can’t imagine that. That belief will be shattered somehow, I know. But Cihan doesn’t know that yet. He can’t even picture it.
That’s why, when he saw Boran, he said: "He’s alive, but I've died."
Also in my opinion there’s another thing Cihan thinks: Yes, Alya would be devastated, but she would move on. Because she’s a phoenix. She even said it herself: "If you don’t stand by me, I’ll take my son and leave." And she would - heartbroken, destroyed, leaving behind the love of her life. But at least she’d have something to hold on to: her son. But if things don’t go well... if he loses both Alya and Deniz because of Boran… Cihan can’t go on. (a very problematic thought, I know)
That’s why he isn’t afraid of death, he silently accepts it.
Alya is written almost flawlessly but she’s been written that way from the very beginning. Cihan, on the other hand, is problematic in many ways. Sometimes he even shows traits that can be considered as "red flag". That’s how he’s always been portrayed.
Another issue, in my opinion -from a realistic point of view- is that this show is a mainstream drama. And people genuinely love the main characters. When those characters start crossing certain lines recklessly, it becomes something that could draw judgment. That’s why you might notice how strange some things seem. For example, Sadakat is an extremely bad mother. But despite that, her children still say, "She’s our mother, after all." Even Alya puts up with some things for the sake of "family." And unfortuntately this stems from the cultural mindset of "No matter what, you don’t cross certain lines with a mother."
What I mean is, from the very beginning, some sensitive topics in this series have been deliberately written this way. Cihan’s portrayal as a "sacrificial/selfless" hero for his family is crafted to win audience sympathy. I don’t think anyone actually doubts the depth of his love but that doesn’t mean he isn’t flawed. And by the way, this kind of things happened in older Turkish dramas too. Let me tell you something even more extreme: In Sahra, which is still one of my favorite series, the main character, despite being pregnant, donated her liver to her stepsister who had once tried to kill her. She lost her baby because of it.
This show is old-school-ish too. And people always love long-suffering, self-sacrificing, noble-hearted characters the most.
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