Bir Zamanlar Çukurova

Don't usually watch these Novellas at all but caught one episode around number 40 and enjoyed it so decided to give it a run. A few of the more likeable or main actors started to die, get murdered or whatever and soon others followed in the strangest and most unbelievable circumstances. Different events were introduced but were in the main just too impossible to believe and caused the characters to do things and make decisions that were simply too illogical to believe and totally contrary to any common-sense. Added to this was the fact that in Spain where I watched it the programme had a START TIME of 17.45pm but in fact started at 18.15 because it was PRECEDED by 30 minutes of ADVERTS and it had a FINISH TIME OF 1900 but ended at 18.50pm to allow 10 minutes of ADVERTS to be allowed to PRECEDE the programme following. THIS also allowed the Spanish TV Channel Antena 3 to extend the series by months so I long ago stopped watching it because Spanish TV may be free on some Channels but the quality of programmes are the worst imaginable. Spanish viewers in the main like and prefer to watch series like La Voz, Salveme and any reality shows that don't require them to think!

The story line is awful, the writer must have considered that the viewers iq is at least 80. No reasonable reactions is considered for the characters and the things happened.

I could not wait for another episode! Now at number 119 I don't think I'm going to continue. The story is going in circles and became unnecessarily complicated. Leading characters disappeared struck suddenly by death! New one were introduced changing the whole atmosphere, too bad. Why not closing it, why continuing? I don't think I want to continue watching a dumb Zuleyha and the disappearing of Gulten and Sanye! Why Turkish actors are not bound to stricter rules when they sign up a contract?

I give seasons 1 and 2, 7 ratings but seasons 3 and 4 have many flaws that bring the ratings down. The dramatic twists are good most of the time but sometimes there are too many of them. The B- stories i.e., the relationships between the servants and field workers worked perfectly in seasons 1 and 2 but got boring along the way (seasons 3 and 4) Good performances and good character building in general.

The hospitalizations are too repetitive and cliché. Everyone who gets severely injured gets a cardiovascular stop and they get CPR etc. And come back again. Everything is predictable even the dialogs.

Bad face job along the way especially for Hilal, which is sad because her natural face looked more beautiful in the first season. She starts showing her feelings through her lips later on, which look fake. Her performance was much better in seasons 1 and 2.

It is good that Ibrahim Celikkol changes his acting style along the way and removes his fake smile from his face, and acts more seriously. The constant smile on his face in the first couple of episodes doesn't make sense at all.

There is a side-by-side refrigerator in the kitchen that actually came out in the 90s but they do their laundry in a very old fashion way. The washing machines came out in 1760 and were modernized in 1908. They were further developed in the 70s. I wonder why they wash their clothes the way they do in this TV show but use a side-by-side fridge in their kitchen.

One loses the tract of time in 'Bir Zamanlar Cukurova'. The dialogues show a lot of time has passed by but the babies don't grow up accordingly. In season 4 they celebrate Leyla and Karam Ali's 3-year-old birthday. From the beginning until Adnan's age in season four shows that 4-6 years have passed which is not as long to me as they express it in season 4.

Many crimes i.e., Ali Rahman's, remain unpunished. The relationship between Betul and Abdoulkadir does not make sense. I can't get it. Why does Zoleyha forgive Hakan? Maybe circumstances and things were different in the 70s? Now societies and legislation do not accept violence against women. To Zoleyka it is okay Hakan comes to her hotel room in Izmir in the middle of the night, wearing masks, and scares her to death. In conclusion, there are too many things that don't make sense to me in this show.

This series drags on forever, whenever something is solved they dig up problems from under the ground, just to make it last longer, I guess it is financially rewarding, can't blame them, but I couldn't keep on watching after all. The protagonist just cries, most of her life in the series and her performance relies on crying, poor thing lol I du no how much longer it will last, but for me it is more than I can take.