Muhtesem Yüzyil: Kösem

In my opinion a much better series and sequel than Suleiman the Magnificent. Here we see more diverse characters, more sultans and a better plot. The 3 actresses who played Kosem Sultana did a great job, although Nurgul is still the best for me. Also other actors are excellently chosen, such as Sultan Murat whose acting carefully portrays his character as he really was in reality. A well-done serie that takes us back in history and shows the power of the greatest and most powerful woman sultanate of the Ottoman Empire, Kosem sultan.

This was the first Turkish series I've watched and from thereon I've been watching mostly Turkish movies or series. This series focuses on Kosem who originally was known as Anastasia. She was brought into the palace as a slave and gifted to Sultan Ahmed. She fell in love with the Sultan and the series beautifully tells of her journey as a young innocent girl who became a powerful influence on Ottoman politics for half a century acting as a wife, mother and grandmother of different reigning Sultans. It's a fictional historical drama with an interesting script, good cinematography, grand costume and great acting. 3 different character acted as Kosem and all of them did a beautiful job. Lots of palace intrigue, a good depiction of a Sultan's harem, murder, politics, romance and jealousy. Never a dull moment.

I enjoyed this show and falling in love with Sultan Ahmet and Iskendar. The soundtracks of this show still playing in my ears.

Safiye Sultan continuously refers herself as a third person and calls herself in plural, namely as "BIZ". In Christianity "Popes" refers themselves in plural, referring to the "Trinity" (God, Holly ghost and Christ). Neither in Osmanli, Turkish nor Muslim languages there is a place for such a misinformed deviation. I suggest to stop this non- nonsensical pretension. Kosem Sultan series is true history and that makes it very believable and authentic. I have to make one more comment about the series; it is too slow. I wait impatiently to watch it every Thursday, however even myself sometimes I lose my focus because too long conversations and lack of action. Ergun Tok (erguntok@msn.com)

FANTASTIC ACTING, I'd give 10/10 in terms of acting performance. The cast and acting is solid throughout the series. BRAVO. Music 10/10. CGI/Effects 3/10 - but that's OK, it didn't really affect or distract from the actual storyline. Storyline/script 7/10 - it's really a game of thrones, betrayal, power plays. It was basically 60 episodes at 2-2.5 hours per episode. What it lacks: grandiose scenes of the Ottoman Empire's power and history to make it look more epic. What brought me to the show was a random picture of Beren Saat from a random scene of the show, so it intrigued me to watch it. Took me a month to finish the entire show in English subtitles, so overall I would rate it as 8 stars. My favorite characters in terms of acting performances where Kosem (By Anastasia, Beren, Nurgul), Safiye, Murad, Ibrahim. Whoever did the casting should be given a raise!