ALPARSLAN BUYUK SELCUKLU EPISODE (Bolum) 8 REVIEW

Rating: A

What an episode. Excitement, tension, curiosity were some of feelings which, I am sure the majority of viewers felt as they were enthralled into this emotional rollercoaster of an episode. The episode contained many key moments that shall influence the meticulously crafted storyline which, Is the main strength of Alparslan Buyuk Selcuklu just like its predecessor Uyanis Buyuk Selcuklu. The way the episode ended was in typical Buyuk Selcuklu style, leaving the viewer stunned and gasping for an opportunity to watch the next episode.

It began with a large fight scene as Alparslan and his alps struggled against a swarm of Byzantine soldiers who, were all fully equipped with chain armour and metal helmets. Seeing Alparslan and his alps demolish these soldiers, leaving most of them in a pool of their own blood is not for the feint of heart. One of my favourite things about Alparslan is just how gory these fight scenes can become. With swords being thrusted into enemy abdomens, plenty of blood and the physical specimen that is Hassan bey, annihilating enemies with his trusty axe, this fight scene was able to keep me intrigued for much of its duration. However, the actual cinematography was slightly questionable. For most of the action, the camera was moving too much for my liking, making it hard to keep up with what was going on. For a show where Cinematics are its strong point, I really feel they should attempt to fix this. After the headquarters had been taken, the cinematic shots were stunning as Alparslan, planted the Kinik flag.

This episode had extremely good use of suspense. When Alpagut learned that Kevkamanos was planning on poisoning Alparslan he abruptly informed Maria, who, was tasked with stealing its antidote. I was extremely intrigued into how Alparslan would be saved especially after maria supposedly failed. It was shown that she was trying to enter the room as the Landlord approached. As Alparslan slowly began to eat his meal with a slow pause after each bite, the doubts slowly grew stronger in my mind with each passing bite. Dying of curiosity, I was trying my best to conjure up ideas of how Alparslan would be saved. The effects of the poison at first weren’t even visible and I began to question the fact that the poisoned meal was even given to Alparslan Bey. Whilst arriving in the newly conquered headquarters, It happened. It was odd for me to see this character portrayed as strong and usually unflinching in the face of death just drop helplessly to the ground. The audience was well reminded that even Alparslan is just a human. As Hassan bey and Batur stared toward the infidels, the biggest plot twist imaginable occurred. Hardly breathing, Alparslan took out a bottle of antidote and began to gulp it. I was dumbfounded and bewildered but before I could even process what had occurred, Kevkamanos was poisoned and lay in a heap of agony on the floor, crying in what seemed like disbelief rather than pain. How could his flawless plan have been turned on him? Then it was revealed that maria had successfully stolen the antidote. This was a genius idea by the producer, and it really helped build the suspense for that huge plot twist.

There was an extremely interesting scene that caught my attention. Whilst fighting in an ambush, Suleyman had caught the Mighty Natik and injured him in battle on his hand. Emir bozan arrived at Suleyman’s tent as he had heard about the ambush. When Karaca hatun questioned her older brother about his injury, the camera panned to the clearly injured hand briefly pausing almost trying to copy Suleyman’s vision before panning over to Suleyman. He has always been portrayed as less intelligent than his brother but, the suspicion was clear in his tone of facial expression. As the show continues to develop, I feel Suleyman may begin to side with Alparslan on the emir Bozan issue. That will of course widen the conflict between Karaca and himself and I am looking forward to what’s in store ahead.

Another scene which will have a huge Impact on the plot going forward was when the Sultan Tughrul called for Yinal Bey. The cold look in the eye of the magnificent Sultan as he pulled on the bow created a tense atmosphere. “Is betrayal of the state and your religion excusable”. This line was delivered emphatically and sent chills down the spine of Yinal who could almost feel his end. cowering before the very sultan he could only dream of replacing, Yinal had to find a way out of this. Eventually he was able to use his cunning words to “convince” the sultan. Yinal bey is one of those characters who are so overfilled with ambition that, they end up making themselves look like fools most of them time. This scene planted the seed of suspicion but also fuelled Yinals personal quest for the throne even more. Don’t be surprised to see Yinal attempt an uprising sometime soon.

Overall, this episode was extremely eventful and helped plant the seeds to a few new storylines. The manner in which, all of these character arcs are being carried out along side the beautiful cinematography and the action filled sequences is a formula for great success. I am extremely enjoying this right now and each upcoming episode is just getting better and better. Its only early days but I believe, when all these smaller mini plots all come together and culminate into the larger plot of the show, we will be in for a treat. Much like how Uyanis Buyuk Selcuklu really became amazing after ten or so episodes of setting the scene, I expect Alparslan to be no different and each episode should only get better from here onwards.

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