The Phenomenon of the Untimely Dizi Cancelation

         Merhaba arkadaşlar aka hello friends! I`m sneaking a quick Turkish language lesson into this week`s post. You`re welcome! 

With so many new Turkish dizis coming out this month (do let me know which ones you`d like me to check out and review in the comments below), I`ve spent quite a lot of time chatting with fellow dizi enthusiasts on Twitter. It`s a magical time for us dizi fans because there are so many shows to pick from and so many new ships to make edits and gifs of. But, while everyone seems excited for at least one romantic comedy or drama because their favorite actor/actress is the lead, or because it is centered around a trope they are absolutely head over heels for, I also received quite a few comments and DMs from viewers sharing their hesitations when it comes to watching a new show that has just started airing. They`ve gone through heartbreak over shows they fell in love because they got canceled after only a few episodes. I`m scared to get attached to a new story and characters, they say. Especially when there`s a risk of a show ending prematurely and us fans not getting any closure.

Not getting closure and being left forever wondering what plans the writers had for my favorite characters is a feeling I know all too well. Azize, a drama about a nurse (Hande Erçel) who enters a lion`s den aka the Alpan family house in order to save her brother and avenge her family, but ends up falling in love with Kartal Alpan (Bugra Gülsoy), one of the Alpan family`s sons, captured my heart in 2019 and subsequently broke it that same year when it came to an end after a mere six episodes. It had everything: a strong female lead, a compelling love interest, drama, and love that should`ve and would`ve conquered it all…if the writers were given more time to get to that point. What actually happened is that almost right after the last episode aired (which, to make matters worse, ended on a major cliffhanger that left the fans wanting more), the unsuspecting fans, including myself, were shaken up when instead of getting a trailer for the much-awaited upcoming episode, we got the standard cancelation announcement via social media. 

No explanation. No conclusion. Not even one additional episode to allow the writers and the cast to tie up at least some of the loose ends and give the viewers a chance to say goodbye.

To this day, the Azize cancelation haunts me. It might sound a bit dramatic, but Turkish dizis are different from any other shows I have ever had a chance to watch. They are extremely character-driven and since the episodes tend to be long (it`s typical for an episode to be at least two hours long), the audience is given a lot of time to get to know and bond with the characters. Most of them come off as extremely human and relatable, with distinct talents, traumas, and flaws. It`s easy to root for them. It`s also easy for viewers to see themselves in these characters. Which is why, when awful things keep happening to these fictional people we want the best for, we want to see them rise above it all. We want them to persevere and to win in the end. We want their character arc to be completed by the time the show reaches its ending, preferably a satisfying and happy one. So, when there`s no ending at all, as a viewer, you feel like your favorite characters will now remain forever stuck in some sort of limbo with no way out. 

I`ve gone through many dizi cancelations since and have grown to expect a show to be canceled at a moment`s notice, but I`ve had many fans reach out and reaffirm my feelings—the Azize cancelation did and forever will hit different. Since the Azize fandom loved those characters so much, I want to put my writing skills to good use and give us all at least a little bit of closure. 

Introducing—my very first Turkish dizi fan fiction piece! 

Ieva | The Dizi Spell