I was relatively new to Turkish Television Dramas when I started watching three series live in 2019. The three that I watched were Vuslat, Her Yerde Sen and Kimse Bilmez. Initially I loved the chemistry between Aziz and Feride and the mystery of Vuslat...but in the end I think my favorite of the three ended up being Her Yerde Sen, which was the only romantic comedy and hate to love story in the group of three. Having said that, I did really enjoy Kimse Bilmez...but I have to keep it in perspective.
Kimse Bilmez is the story of a young innocent and lovely girl named Sevda who finds herself in a horrible situation from the start of this series. Her father is in debt to this great villain named Uygar. Her brother Sinan in an attempt to help the family out with their money problems ends up owing a drug dealer money. When the drug dealer threatens Sinan's life if he doesn't pay this large sum of money...Sevda goes to Uygar to ask for a loan. Uygar, who is probably the most single minded villain in history and also the most two-faced, explains to Sevda how her father is already massively indebted to him and has been for sometime under the premise that Uygar and Sevda will become man and wife some day soon (a thought that nauseates Sevda). Uygar proceeds to say he will give her the money if she sleeps with him now, when she not only says no...but emphatically insists that she will never marry him, Uygar tries to force himself on her. Sevda manages to fight him off and escapes with the money fleeing to her friend's neighborhood. Uygar and his men are hot on her heels...and have the police looking for her as well, claiming she is a thief. Sevda manages to hide in what she thinks is an unoccupied home, but ends up meeting the owner Ali. Ali lives by himself, has a small electronic repair shop, and chooses to devote himself to a devout life within the church and community earning himself the title of hoca or teacher, but Ali has a secret past that contrasts greatly with this new life...and comes in handy with the trouble Sevda brings upon his doorstep.
Thus begins the interesting story of Sevda and Ali's eventual romance. There are some interesting themes in this 27 episode series...there is single-minded obsession, greed, poverty, charity, an orphanage story that involves the separation of siblings, adoptive parents, violence, whether one has the ability to change or not change, forgiveness, fear, lies, betrayal, innocence, and love. You know, all the elements you need to tell an epic story.
I did enjoy the love story between Ali and Sevda (I am a romantic at heart...so I must start with that). I personally like a man who can do anything and is protective, which Ali checks those boxes, and Sevda is truly lovely as a sweet, young, innocent and naive girl. What I didn't care for is the baggage that Ali brought to the table and the power imbalance between the two who seemed far from equals. I want to be clear about the baggage that I didn't care for...the ex-wife and child. I really enjoyed Ali's lifelong quest to find his brother who ran away from the orphanage and I liked his previous work for the super secret government agency that gave him special training (hence the can do everything...including seeing in the dark and changing traffic signals at will!). There seemed to be a big difference in their age and where they were in their life...ie just starting out vs already done most adult things (marriage, child, career, religious epiphany). I did love Sevda's innocent love for Ali, who she seems to trust and be devoted to from the very beginning. I also appreciated that it took Ali longer to develop feelings for Sevda...but the journal was really eye opening and one of my favorite parts. It was nice to have that revealed in a moment of severe heartbreak for us romantics!
I did appreciate (or should I say loved to hate) the villain for the series Uygar. He truly was single-minded in his obsession that he called love for Sevda. He was great to hate and caused so much pain and destruction. It was a little harder to appreciate the new/old villain that is introduced in the last three episodes of the series. He might have been a great villain...but was just too late to the party with the ex-wife connection etc. The other series villain who is a little more morally grey was Tugce. She continually betrayed her friend for money from the beginning of the series...but their was a moral play for your sympathy in that she and her mom really needed the money? I felt like that storyline could have been handled a little better. For example maybe when she is saved from being raped she grows some empathy for her friend Sevda and stops betraying her for money? Like she turns a corner morally?
I appreciated the ending, but it did seem wrapped up a little too quickly. Interesting Turkish drama with lots of action and some interesting storylines. Not my favorite Turkish series, but also not the worst. Lots of reasons to watch including that it is one of the shorter series at just 27-2+hour episodes.
