This week’s theme is an interwoven story of how the legendary Goddess Umay (Umay Ana in Turkish), ‘the greatest hero of ancient mother stories and is the compassionate and merciful Goddess of fertility’, represents many facets of a woman and motherhood. From the warrior mother to the women who truly love and protect to the femme fatales, Umay is every woman whose stories keep the world turning.
Devran’s quest to avenge Boran is born out of his deep love for his mother. His heightened intelligence also gifts him with astute and intense understanding of ambient emotions. He understands the depth of his mother’s sorrow from losing her child and he says the most beautiful thing to his mother when she doubts his actions regarding keeping Iskender so close. He says, “Just trust me as much as I love you.”
Gülce, who took the helm of her broken family and raised her children with love, is also the one who understands her children the best. The mother son bond that emerges through their simple exchanges is such a contrast to the disturbing one shared by Aysel and Cesur. While one seems calming within chaos, the other is chilling even in silence.
The Laundering Game
Devran allows himself to be drawn into the money laundering game, because his real aim is to find the people truly responsible for Boran’s death. His conscience is the antithesis to Iskender’s apathy and Devran exploits Iskender’s self-pride about fully understanding the human condition and their motivations.
The truth is, Iskender only understands crooked people with shady morality as his. While he wants to believe that Devran is a chip off the old block, and very much his son, Devran isn’t. Devran is one who can pull the good in the universe towards him. He has the X factor that cannot be put into a computable equation and that is why he can have a whole neighborhood rally behind him in his plans. They know his intentions are pure.
Devran is his mother’s son who will not succumb to the vices of money or women and make himself as corruptible as Iskender. To him, his mother represents this aspect of Umay: “Mother is the one who lives for you. She wins the battles you would lose because she is strong.”
Justice and The Long Game
Devran is devastated when he sees the footage of how Boran was unceremoniously dumped in front of Iskender’s house. He strengthens his resolve to play whatever role necessary so he can get justice for his brother’s death.
Until now he has indulged Esme’s anger against his actions but afterwards, he once again tells her that he will not stop. He stresses the point that sometimes the legal system is inadequate in doling out the justice required, and leaves the choice to Esme on whether she wishes to stand next to him or not.
Esme goes above and beyond her call of duty, exposing yet another face of Umay: “The woman who loves you, never gives up on you, picks up every time you fall, heals you and always brings you to life with her compassion.”
With a love and a pillar like Esme in his life, is Devran likely to be corrupted by a woman as Iskender was by Aysel? With Imre’s suggestive appearance as the temptation, and her similarities to Aysel in her cunning, this arc will become another plot mechanism through which we see the contrast between father and son. The two men play very kinds of long games in life.
The Debauchery
Cesur the sociopath, played absolutely brilliantly by Taner Ölmez, is more dangerous than Iskender. With acute understanding of the situation and the various players, he is observing and plotting for his ultimate rise, even if it is at the expense of his mother. He is as much of a puppet master as Devran, but with entirely different goals and methods. He is already corrupted by money and the power it wields; he is unlikely to be ‘fixed’ by a good woman. He feels no remorse for the destruction he causes and maybe even derives a perverse pleasure out of the pain he can inflict. Cesur is the one to watch; more so than Hakim, Iskender or Yusuf put together.
As I have alluded before, Cesur is an example of an apple that didn’t fall far from the tree. With two self-serving parents with dubious morals, Cesur is the more refined version of their combined evil. Aysel’s upbringing and callous parenting is complemented by her viciousness with Iskender. She is unrelenting in how she exploits Iskender’s weaknesses and lives her part as the temptation he cannot resist.
Aysel, with her snake like disposition and demeanor, represents yet another face of Umay: “She personifies not only womanhood, but also femininity. As much as she has mercy, grace and greatness, she carries as much disaster, cruelty and death in her heart.”
Author’s Note
Deha’s character study is brilliantly captured by the writer Damla Serim. This is almost a fantasy genre because the characters seem larger than life and are presented quite differently than the typical dizi rooted in an everyday family conflict. There are metaphors and allegories that we must read into.
Aras’ singular performance as Devran is to be studied for the kaleidoscope of human emotions an intense personality such as him goes through. With an extraordinary mind that processes stimulus in a heightened fashion, trying to cast him into the mold of the typical hero figure with daddy issues is a disservice to the story being told. We are seeing the world through his eyes and through his calculative mind. There are many things that he will see in black and white while the average person will see grey, and vice versa.
For viewers looking for a cinematic experience that explores intertwined human emotions in dramatic ways, Deha delivers.
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