Le Protecteur d'Istanbul

I liked season 1, it was original and different. I liked the characters, and the story. I enjoyed watching it and was usually staying up later than I should binge watching this show.

Then there was the end of season 1, where the bad decisions started being made. Let's let the bad guy live, let's make deals, blah, blah, blah. Ok, so they wanted to set up something for season 2. Fair enough, but they should have just let the show end after season 1. Kill the bad guy, end the show. Good stuff.

But no.... Then there was season 2. Bad decision after bad decision, bad plot twists and bad story in general. Don't drink and write. Ok?

Season 3 didn't get much better. I spent most of my time questioning why I was still watching this show. I zoned out somewhere in the last episode several times and ended up watching it over 3 days. Oh he screwed everything up and lost? What a shock.

So now there's season 4. I guess there had to be one, since Hakan is such a moron that he just couldn't keep his ego in check, and make some smart decisions. He lost in the present, now he's going to fight in the past. Good luck buddy. Not sure I can bring myself to watch another season.

The series was very good. However, I think they would´ve done a great 5th season if Hakan would have turned an evil immortal as Faysal as a cliffhanger and then, on the 5th. season, Zeynep could have help him turning him back to good and then kill Faysal. The missed the chance for a great 5th season.

The only way to review foreign titles on the international market is directly and honestly. Too many reviews will be by patriots of their country and to be fair that can be expected, but we all need to know the broader perspective!

So, to start, it is in Turkish with English subs. I watch a lot of international titles and if you can handle sub titles, then you are doing yourself proud, because there are many excellent stories out there if you can!

The main character is above average in the way he presents as a lead hero. I say that, because when you look his character he is a historical hero, not a superhero, ( though he does have superpowers! ) This makes him different from Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Dare Devil etc etc. His acting is excellent, he is solid, believable and credible. And above all, LIKEABLE !

The acting is very good generally and easily on par with anything produced in the West, (bearing in mind this is a Netflix sponsored production). The characters are well rounded and present very well.

The filming is average an again on par with Western production, but not over emphasising 'breath taking' back drops to divert from the story or to ram Turkish culture down your throat. Many foreign productions do seem to do that as if tourism is more the angle than the story itself!

All in all the premise of the story is good and I have found the flavour of the whole show enjoyable and most importantly NOT CHEESY !!

If you want low quality cheese the watch BLACK LIGHTNING.

I am glad to see something new coming from the world of Turkish cinematography. The show is far from perfect, there are holes in the storyline, and the dialogue seemed sometimes really shallow and unrealistic that it made me chuckle on few ocassions. When it comes to acting, the character of Hakan was quite belivable, and the rest of the cast was quite solid. You can see that the team really wanted to show the beauty of modern day Istanbul with glorius Ottoman history. And this is what makes the show special to western audiance, as this is the world we don't know that much about. All in all, there is definitely room for improvement, however I aplaud the attempt to push outside of the box when it comes to Turkish production.

This is actually pretty good, interesting plot and storyline arc. I actually watched all episodes within one day. I've read several reviews that they watched it with subtitles but in the UK it was dubbed into English which is a shame. The acting I thought was excellent, from both male and female leads, and I think it would have been far better to have heard the original voices with subtitles rather than someone's idea of an American accent. I did think that the last episode was a little predictable, without giving away any spoilers and even some inconsistencies but I'm looking forward to series 2.