EMANET: A Broken Soul’s Journey to Redemption

By Zeina Soulaiman

Opening with the theme of light vs darkness, the Turkish tv series, EMANET, shows its characters repeatedly changing positions between the two concepts. Yaman Kırımlı is a successful businessman that built a life and a fortune from scratch, after living a childhood abandonment trauma. He is a dark character that fought all veins of life and stood on his feet to become the man he is today. Seher Kerimoğlu is a kind, good-hearted character that lived a sheltered upbringing and has no idea what real life is. Both Seher and Yaman are brought together by grief and the responsibility of raising their orphaned five-year old nephew, Yusuf, entrusted to both of them by their respective siblings. When their two opposite worlds collide, a war breaks out between Seher and Yaman until each one of them learns to live in the other’s world. They are put through many challenges that change the dynamics between them from enemies to ‘lovers’, gaining trust and love along the way. They fight the odds they encounter and come out of each test with a stronger bond. 

When you look into EMANET, it not only tells you what is there, but also speaks of hidden messages behind the heavy drama it contains. Moreover, EMANET is a local daily tv series that tackles universal topics. It is a story of courage, honesty, sacrifice, persistence and perseverance. It taps the human nature tackling life, love, redemption and death. The universality, uniqueness and freshness of the storyline helped in gaining international views, was nominated for the Seoul International Drama Award 2021 in Korea and made its way to the Cannes festival in France. 

Social criticism is abundant in the series. It presents the issues of violence, abuse, corruption, neglect, abandonment, childhood trauma and mental health disorders among other topics. In the opening scene of the series, Yaman gives a speech to Yusuf that serves as a manual for him on how to live in this life, but his words reveal the wounds and the trauma he tries so hard to conceal, 

“Listen to me well, Piece of Fire. If you want to stand firm on your feet in this life, … You will be strong. You will not waste your strength with mercy. You will never lower your cards, and if that moment comes, you will break the hand that will reach you without blinking an eye... And when you fall again, don’t cry, and you will learn how to get back on your feet… Now, we reached our most important rule. You will not trust anyone, especially women. Women are snakes. The mother is the least harmful of them. A day will come where even she will poison her children. Okay, Lion. Then start your job by healing your wound. And don't show your wounds to anyone.”

With Seher entering his life, Yaman starts to drop his rules one by one, and goes with her on a journey of self-discovery. Her light is more powerful than his darkness, that she eventually succeeds in extricating the good person imprisoned within through her honesty, love, care and devotion. Seher is his redemption. We see how love can do miracles and how every person needs love, no matter how strong they pretend to be. The tests they go through, as a couple, serve as a reminder that there is more to marriage than affection. Their relationship is one of its kind, loving the other for their soul, spirit and self, rather than love of the flesh. It redefines the feeling, changing the meaning of a simple touch or a forehead kiss and making love so mesmeric. It reminds us of what can be missing in modern relationships. It is not only love what brings two people together: love is but one pillar that holds a marriage and needs to be supported by trust, respect, openness and proper communication.

Sufism is also a theme touched on by using poems and quotes of the famous Sufi poet, Rumi, on the tongue of Arif Bab, the voice of wisdom in the series. Arif Baba is Yaman’s moral mentor and serves as a compensation for the loss of the father figure in his life. Arif Baba is there along the way to guide Yaman on how to heal his wounds with the help of Seher. Because everyone of us walks around with wounds, where internal wounds do not have a time frame for healing, you need patience, time, overcoming obstacles and challenges, and strength to go through them. 

Mental health issues occupy a great deal in the series, represented by Ziya, Yaman’s brother, amongst others ,who became mentally unwell as a result of their mother’s abandonment. Dealing with mental disorders and what it means for the caregivers is put under the spotlight in this show. It reveals the daily hurdles caregivers face, the impact it has on their own well-being, how they are forced to take decisions out of their fear for the ones they look after and handling each fit one at a time. It also sheds light on the stigma associated with mental health disorders. It is a lesson to judge less and care more. 

EMANET has more than what meets the eye. The literary features of the script, the depth of the dialogues and monologues, and the novel theme of the storyline integrate into a wonderful masterpiece. There are several elements in the plot that gave this series its uniqueness: name references where every character’s name refers to the type of character they represent, the story telling motif, the role-reversing technique, the use of symbols and numbers and the heavily scattered references that foreshadow events to come. Nothing is said arbitrarily in EMANET, whether referring to what a character might say or do that will be revisited tens of episodes later. Moreover, the paintings on the walls in the mansion tell stories of the people living there or refer to an event that is happening. The convolutions and twists of events always keep you in anticipation with the cliff hangers at the end of every episode constantly surprising viewers. 

The fairy tale element of the plot has two functions: either as a simplification and easement to tell a little boy about an unpleasant incident and as foreshadowing. Among all the stories and tales narrated, the Beauty and the Beast is the highlight. It was the perfect fit for the love story of the lead characters: a modern fairy tale.

Role reversal is excessively used between the two main characters, making each one of them stand in the other’s shoes. They live each other’s wounds and pain and are faced with similar dilemmas where the sweetest decision they have to make is bitter. This parallelism makes them stand on equal grounds, bring their worlds together and empty their emotional baggage to reach a mutual understanding and destroy all barriers. 

Symbols are an important concept in EMANET with the infinity symbol as the primary one and the most vital one. The infinity symbol points to the twisted nature of life. Life is not linear: it is lived on a curve. It is a reminder that life is a loopy process and things will eventually take a turn in a clearer direction. That is how the progress of events is in the series, representing real life cyclic motion with the protagonists living successive periods of tragedies and then having a break only to go back to facing another tragedy. It also explains why you might think that events are being repeated and that they seem to be going back to square one. Looking at the surface level, you will find events illogical, but taking a deeper look, you will see the logic behind. Looking through the lens of the infinity concept and how the two loops of the symbol mirror each other, you will see events closing into circles and coming to a complete closure.

The axis of evil in the series is extensive as to the type of antagonists and the amount of evil and mishaps they cause the protagonists. Plotting one plan after the other, in an attempt to destroy the couple’s relationship barely giving them space to catch their breath in between. It portrays villains appearing under different guises. This brings to mind Fyodor Dostoevsky’s quote “When you live with some people, then you will realise why God created Hell.” With that being said, a warning must be made: if you have a soft heart or if you have experienced a trauma, you should be aware that this series has heavy intense scenes. But if you are looking for something deeper, reflecting on life and exploring human nature, then go ahead. Keep in mind that you will be hitting turbulences at times and at others, you will be sailing in calm waters. The series offers an opportunity to step outside the normal boundaries of what you know or how you think life should be. It gives you an insight into the wounds of others and how they impact on their functioning as human beings.

Regards and respect to everyone working on this project so we get the end result we see on the screens. The directory vision and the outstanding performance of the actors, protagonists and antagonists alike, who lived and breathed their roles, levelled the show up and opened it globally. The lead actors, Halil İbrahim Ceyhan and Sıla Türkoğlu delivered wonderful scenes with the array of feelings they portrayed, making their performance authentic and genuine. With their ability to shift stances in a blink of an eye, the actors brought the fictional characters to life in a way that you always want to go back for more. EMANET is a jaw-dropping show that never ceases to amaze you with the twists and turns of events, whether good or bad. No matter how far the plot drifts you away, the dialogues will always draw you back to the show. Sometimes, you cannot help but wondering: how can a show be so toxic, yet so charming; so painful to watch, yet it keeps you glued to the screens. This paradox by itself is a merit of excellence. EMANET is a captivating show to watch that will take you also on a journey of discovery where you will need to be ready to decipher its advice on life. It is a must-watch that will definitely leave its imprint on your soul.

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Zeina is an Arabic < > English interpreter and translator based in Melbourne, Australia. she received a Bachelor in Arts and Humanities, English Literature from Syria where she taught English as a second language for ten years. she received a Master in Translation and Interpreting from Melbourne, Australia where she has been working for four years in the industry and planning on a PHD in Literature and Social Studies.