Seyit and Sura: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

SPOILER ALERT: Do not read unless you have finished Episode 30 of Kurt Seyit and Sura. 

And please, all of my awesome drama-loving buds, please don't post spoilers in the comments. I have another 15 or 16 episodes to go and have been avoiding the internet like the plague right now. Read on to find out why.

"2 AM and I'm still awake writing a song. If I get it down on paper it's no longer inside of me, threatening the life it belongs to. And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd, 'cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud. And I know that you'll use them however you want to."  ~Breathe by Anna Nalick

Those are lines from one of my favorite songs, that I've used in blog posts before, and here I am using them again. Why? Because I was about to get into bed...yet had to come downstairs to my BFF, aka my MacBook Pro, and get all of this vivid static out of my brain or I'll never be able to sleep.

Another line I'm going to tackle, as I also have before, is this:

"Why Purgatory?"

Let me try to explain.

I have now watched 30 episodes of Kurt Seyit and Sura. And I am exhausted. Never has a story had more of a vice grip on my soul. My dueling sense of all-encompassing fascination and shameless hyper-focus makes me question the depths of my seemingly addictive personality, and I'm not sure I'm winning this fight.

Tonight, after Seyit and Sura finally sat down and talked on the bench at the beach, just before Sura was shot, I had to stop the show and hug my husband...and cry. Oh lord, did I cry. I'm not quite sure he knew what to do as it was happening. I told him, "You're my real life Seyit" while I was blubbering. Somehow it helped to remind myself that these aren't real people (at least in 2018) and I am safe at home with someone who loves me. I have no Petro (that I know of), no Ayse (Lord help us all if I did), and no Baroness who might be gunning for the demise of my lovely, 28 year relationship with a beautiful man who loves me, unconditionally, at any given moment.

And that, really, is the crux of the problem. The crux of MY problem with this show. OH NOT that I have a problem with the show, other than the fact that it makes me want to turn to a crack pipe as methadone. OH no, no, no. The problem I have is within myself, and the things I find I cannot handle, emotionally, while riding this Seyit and Sura roller coaster. On one hand, I could handle it if Sura was leaving, knowing what Seyit had actually done. (Although I'm still holding out silly hope we'll meet Vera? again and find out he passed out while calling Sura's name). And I could handle it if Seyit knew what Sura mistakenly thought had happened between him and Ayse (God forBID because I loathe that woman from the bottom of my shredded soul.) But what I CANNOT begin to accept are the decisions they've been making while not knowing the truth. The truth shall set you free...wait...sorry...the tears are coming again. Be right back...

OK where was I? Oh right. The truth shall set you free. And I have just been such a wreck over this mangled, mixed-up MESS of a once-beautiful life together that they are trying to sift through. Because WE know what's real, but THEY don't. I can't even stand to look at that Ayse, and I thank God every day for Ayla, because she feeds Sura AND Seyit as much truth as she can. And that leads me to the best character in the show...

Celil.

"Say it soft and it's almost like praying..." ~Leonard Bernstein

Celil is kind. Celil is decent. (Shit! Crying again...) Celil is just...so...good. He is everything that's right and unblemished in this world...and somehow Ushan Cakir's face seems to convey that near-piety so perfectly, it's impossible to take your eyes off him (even when Kivanç Tatlitug is on the screen with him.)

Without Celil, I would be lost. My mind would be adrift on a godless sea of doubt and despair. Celil comes along at just the right moment, surprises the hell out of us, and does something unrepentantly decent. And it's usually quite a surprise for the audience. When Celil told Tina to take a hike and went into that hospital room and talked to Sura...which caused her to tell him about creepy Ayse's bed antics, my heart almost leapt right out of my chest and planted a massive smacker right on his face across the room on my Samsung. Because THAT is what I need from this story. The truth. I need the TRUTH to come out so everyone is on an even playing field and can make their own, rational decisions. Which brings me to a bit of a complaint (not of the show, but of the characters' brilliantly drawn ignorance):

Stop shielding Sura!!! She's the smartest, most reasonable person on the whole damn show!!! She's not 16 anymore!!! She's seen things that even Captain Douchebag Billy hasn't had to deal with in her young life...so leave her alone and LET HER DECIDE FOR HERSELF!!! Tell her the truth (and that goes ESPECIALLY for you, SEYIT) and let her make some rational, logical decisions, based on that truth, for the love of all that is holy in this world.

And as I  see the clock it ticking even faster than it was when I sat down, I will start to wrap this up, because I'll be up in a few hours driving kids to school. But here's MY unmitigated truth:

When Sura ran into that courtyard during the fire, grabbed Seyit and told him she loved him and would never be away from him again, I have never been so happy in my whole life. (I'm not even doing my Long Duck Dong accent while saying that; THAT is how serious I am about these feelings.) THAT is what it's all about. THAT is what we've needed for what, something like TEN episodes??? Just unbridled RAW EMOTION. And fear. FEAR is what made her say "to HELL with him not being able to keep it in his annoyingly over-worn black dress pants; I LOVE the sonofabitch!" And it was seriously one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Ever. Because let me tell you, THAT is what it's all about. I rewound right in the middle of it, just so I could see HIS arm around HER during that whole thing...and those 10 seconds of mutual adoration made it all OK when they dragged him off in cuffs. I could/might seriously stop watching RIGHT THIS VERY MOMENT because I am so completely satiated from that otherworldly moment...and don't want anything to happen to alter it's sublime impact on my tattered heart.

And that, my friends, is the answer to "Why Purgatory?" ❤️

Seyit and Sura have Stolen my Sanity


Spoiler Alert: Do not read unless you've watched up through Episode 13 in Kurt Seyit ve Sura.

Dear God. What has Seyit done to me? I am a mess. I dream about him and Sura and all their trials and tribulations. (And Celil, too, because there is something delicious about him!) Are these people ever going to be free from turmoil? (Shhhh! Don't answer that! NO spoilers! The anticipation is half the fun of this show!)

You guys...I am seriously smitten with every second of this series. Not only that, I'm quickly becoming obsessed with thoughts of far off places like Crimea and Turkey...and I can't stop staring at Turkey on the My Origins page on FTDNA.

Feast thine eyes:


That's right, y'all. TWENTY ONE PERCENT!!! 

When I told my dad, he was all "You have too much time on your hands!" because it means he's not 100% Italian American like he thought. LOL

And any of you who are going to throw a bunch of statistics at me about DNA testing and bogus results, just SAVE IT! I don't want to hear it. lalalalalalala :::fingers in ears::: I know. Whatever. Yada Yada. I am happy living here at 21 Turkishville and I'm not leaving for a long time, no matter what my DNA really says about me.

OK so here's the scoop on where I am. Seyit took Sura to Crimea because life was imploding in Petrograd (where jerky Petro lives) and her family had to leave their house in _______ (where did they live? I'm too afraid to Google.) OMG when she found out he was still alive and they were STAYING IN THE SAME HOTEL when he got back from the front??? Oh I almost lost my shiz and had to hightail it to the local hospital for friggin injections (of what, I'm not quite sure.) This show is the TASTIEST MORSEL I've had in a long, long time.

Observations:

1) Jerky Petro is hot under that mustache.
2) Thank GOD they stopped dying Sura's eyebrows; she looks WAY better now with some roots.
3) Am I the only one who wants someone to hook adorable Nina up with cutie pie Osman??

4) One whole week in an uncomfortable, wooden box car with Seyit? WHERE DO I SIGN???
5) All those HOT BOOTS!!!

6) Mahmut is the smartest one in the family.

7) The Baroness is icky.

8) Seyit's dad needs to chillllll (a la Pauly Shore in the 80s. Someone needs to wheeze the ju-ice.)

9) Give me Seyit in a bath house any damn day of the week.
10) Seyit's fur collared coat is the hottest thing I've EVER seen.

10a) Did I say that coat? Because I also meant that BLACK TURTLENECK!!


OK that's it for me. In tonight's ep, Seyit and Celil will be heading to the farm to protect Meanie McSeyit's dad and they threw Sura and Celil's girlfriend (why can't I ever remember her name?) in the coach with Mahmut's wife, who is STILL bitching. "I don't want to go with them! Waaahhhh!" Listen, chickie, Mahmut is not only risking DYING to get YOUR ass out of Crimea, but he's also secretly LEAVING HIS FAMILY forever!! And seeing as Seyit has already cornered the market on THAT trick, you might want to PIPE DOWN and let the man get the job done, mmmkayyyy???

Stay tuned!!!

Oh and PS...you're welcome. Thanks to EM for the hot shot.






Purgatory High Alert: Kurt Seyit and Sura

Alright you guys. Listen up. All you hopeless romantics who don't mind a little old school charm; Kurt Seyit ve Sura is for you. It is based on a book by the same name by author Nermin Bezmen. I am four episodes in and I am positively ENRAPTURED.

My apologies to my awesome Outlander buds, Tonya and Carla who told me to watch this eons ago and I put it off until now. OK so let's get the up-fronts out of the way: #1) If you are like me and are one of those people who would much rather read the book first, you may change your mind. I tried. And it's a good, solid, well-written book. But I got halfway through the sample and wasn't feeling quite the splendor of the romance on the TV series. The TV series has turned the relationships into full, vivid, technicolor, Wizard of Oz-transformation FABULOUSNESS. There are so many twists and turns and things you weren't expecting...you won't be able to turn it off. (Mind you, I said it charged up the ROMANCE. The history and geography writing is so far above me, I need a class on Crimea just to keep up. It's awesome.) #2) American friends, hear me now: some of the music will make you giggle, because we aren't used to this type of overly dramatic scoring of our TV series. You'll be like "What 1970s soap opera am I watching? Was this made with Gone with the Wind??" JUST KEEP WATCHING and tune it out if you think some of it is - how shall I say it? Slightly cheesy. TRUST. You'll be BEGGING to hear it in about 2 or 3 episodes. #3) Not a subtitle person? Not only do you forget about them in about 30 seconds, but listening to Seyit the Wolf (played by the ridiculously luscious Kivanç Tatlitug) WHISPER SWEET NOTHINGS IN TURKISH will drive you to a madness you have only read about in books. I-AM-SO-NOT-JOKING. So GET ON IT and watch this series. It's on Netflix. You're welcome.

UPDATE 6/2/18: I FULLY intend to go back and READ have been reading Nermin Bezmen's Kurt Seyt & Shura, and you will want to as well. The book is the REAL story, and as much as I love the TV series, you are going to want to know "what really happened" when you are finished.

I CALLED IT!

Someone commented anonymously on my old A Discovery of Purgatory blog this morning and reminded me of my post about how I wanted Matthew Goode to play Matthew Clairmont. Um, squee??

This got me thinking...what about everyone else??

Has YOUR <insert character name here> every been played by the actor you wanted?!


TURN: Washington's Spies: Holy Woodhull

I can't remember the last time I saw a few minutes of TV this riveting. I couldn't look away. Hell, I couldn't BREATHE.

 

Carol and Tracey's PurgText Du Jour

So Tracey and I had a bit of an entertainment convo this AM via text. It's a visual likeness of one of our hour-long videos, in about 5 minutes or less. LOL I'm in blue, Tracey's in grey. Enjoy! 😘





Bloodline Season 3 Trailer

I can't decide if I'm posting this because I'm so effing STOKED for Season 3 on Sunday night...or if I just like looking at Kyle Chandler.  Something tells me it's a little of both. 😈

TURN: Washington's Spies - NEVER UNDERESTIMATE!

You could tell yourself that Major Hewlett isn't exactly the toughest guy alive...



But you'd be dead wrong. 

My OUTLANDER Presents: Droughtlander Diversions!

This is a video from My OUTLANDER Purgatory...but I thought you guys might enjoy it, too. We talk about a lot of different TV series in addition to Outlander...like Mercy Street, Survivor, TURN: Washington's Spies, The Americans, etc etc. Hope you like it!

My Black Sails Withdrawal

Apparently creating memes makes one feel better when she's lamenting over missing one of her favorite series after it's been gone barely one week...


Deep Thoughts

What would you think about a Four Weddings and a Funeral remake with Robert Pattinson playing Hugh Grant's role?  Just wondering...



Gilmore Girls: Stop This Ride, I Wanna Get Off

SPOILER ALERT: Don't read unless you've watched up through Episode 9 of Season 7 on Gilmore Girls!

Some of you may know that I've been watching Gilmore Girls - at Tracey's request - for the past 6 weeks. 6 Weeks, 141 Episodes down and 13 Episodes to go before the revival.

I am finally on Season 7, about to start Episode 10.

And I have some things to say.

HAS EVERYONE JUST GONE TOTAL OUTER LIMITS?!?!

Lorelai, I don't know WHAT the eff made you marry Chris...but it was not a smart move. At all. And you knew...you KNEW it wasn't a good move while you were sitting across the table wolfing down steak at 6AM. It wasn't even like you were soooo out of your mind in love with him as you gazed at the Eiffel tower that you immediately grabbed a minister;  Chris was a total bully nudge about the whole thing...and you let him talk you into it!!!! SINCE WHEN DO YOU LET HIM TALK YOU INTO MARRIAGE???

And now here she is, parading him around town as her husband (OK not really parading, more like hiding in plain sight LOL) and poor Luke...POOR LUKE has to deal with it. And don't get me wrong, I HATED LUKE for postponing the wedding and putting her off. I did. I was so mad at him. But then when he showed up and wanted to marry her and was ready to do it and she...she...UGHHHHHH I can't even think about it.

Turn around.
TURN AROUND!!! 
Listen, sister...LUKE is who you belong with. LUKE has been like a FATHER to Rory all these years; not Chris. LUKE has made a life - alongside you - in Stars Hollow all these years. LUKE cares. LUKE gets you. LUKE is your life...already.

And don't get me wrong; I actually like Chris! This show has me so crazy because I don't even know what I'm saying! I've always had a soft spot for Chris and the fact that he's tried really hard to be in Lorelai and Rory's lives. BUT...

I can only pray she and Chris break up and this revival involves all kinds of Luke-and-Laura-Lorelai love.

And PS - Logan needs to go. GO!!! Rory's right; he's a spoiled trust fund kid. And LOGAN WAS RIGHT; SO IS RORY! The whole storyline makes me sick. It was bad enough when he was playing house with Daddy's money ("Oh Rory, I've paid for the apartment for a year." NO YOU HAVEN'T YOU ASS; YOUR DAD DID!) but now we've got Rory being all Mary Tyler Moore at the paper. OH no, wait, she left the paper. Now she's just playing the victim with Naked Drunk Guy, who is dating her friend. Blorrrrttt. It's really annoying.

Oh and you know what? While I'm at it...BRING DEAN BACK!!! BOY, how I miss Dean!! Hell, for that matter, I'd even take JESS! 😱

The only thing getting me through this show is Paris. Paris and Doyle. Holy shite, they are so damned funny, I don't know what to do with myself. (I'd post a video of them dirty dancing, but that would involve me Googling, and I canNOT subject myself to spoilers this late in the game.)

Oh EFF IT! I couldn't resist! How funny is this???

OK that's it for me. More later. I'm watching 3 more eps tonight, and I'm sure I'll have plenty more to say about the HOT MESS that is Season 7 of Gilmore Girls.




Winter's Tale: Filmed at Lyndhurst Mansion

Lyndhurst Castle - Tarrytown, NY
Credit: picture-inc.com
I stumbled upon this trailer for the film, Winter's Tale when I was reading about the Lyndhurst Mansion in Sleepy Hollow, NY. I'm visiting the house ("house" is an understatement) in a couple of weeks when it turns into "Jay Ghoul's House of Curiosities" for the spooky Halloween season. Little did I know, however that a good amount of the movie was filmed there.

How is it possible that I - the sappiest Romantic of all time - have never heard of this book or seen this film??


Renew TURN Event - Monday July 11th

Come help us secure a 4th season for TURN: Washington's Spies on Twitter tonight by tweeting #RenewTURN!!  Let's get this thing trending!!



Making a Murderer: WTF??????

SPOILER ALERT: I am 2/3rds of the way through episode 7 of Making a Murderer. 

I have been watching Making a Murderer on Netflix all week and was about to explode if I didn't get this out.

Are these prosecutors out of their ever loving minds?  This is the most horrifically hilarious (or hilariously horrific?) high profile case since OJ and AJ Cowlings were on the phone with LAPD while driving down the 5. The absolute BEST part of this shitshow - and what prompted me to post about it - was the prosecution talking to the audience (or in this case, the jury) like they're 2 year olds while questioning the FBI's expert on EDTA. "OK now you lovely jury...the nice man up on the stand is going to talk to us about evidence! Yey!!!" I mean give me a BREAK - this is Broadway at its finest. I feel like I'm watching Inherit the Wind II: Fun with Blood Samples and DNA. They're literally WHISPERING...like you would when trying to get your point across to a toddler about making sure his crusts are cut off.

I am sorry - but I've sat through almost 7 full episodes and if Steven Avery isn't innocent, there is sure as shit something ELSE going on here. WHERE IS THE BLOOD IN THE HOUSE????  WHERE IS THE DNA IN THE HOUSE???  And they went back MONTHS LATER and HAPPENED UPON about four zillion bullets in the garage???  And WHERE ARE THE BLOOD SPATTERS IN THE GARAGE?? And for the love of all that's holy - THERE'S A HOLE IN THE offing BLOOD VILE STOPPER and all the TAPE HAS BEEN CUT AROUND THE BOX.

This would be COMICAL if it wasn't so outrageous.  And sad.  Very, very sad.

More later...

VIKINGS: Okey Dokey Floki Dopey

SPOILER ALERT:  DO NOT read unless you have watched "Born Again" on season 2 of Vikings.  

I am so livid with Floki right now, I don't know what to do with myself.

I can't even look at this photo
without tearing up.  RIP Athelstan.
Athelstan - aka George Blagden - was my 2nd favorite character on Vikings, after Ragnar (duh.)

I should be reading this Hollywood Reporter article that includes an interview with George Blagden and series creator, Michael Hirst...but I am still so upset, I can't even bring myself to read it.  Let's just say I skimmed and got to a part where George is talking about the fact that Athelstan never knew he had a son...and I teared up and minimized the window.  Lordddddddd did I minimize the window.

I don't know WHAT they are thinking, killing Athelstan...and once I read the article, I'm sure I'll understand.

But for now, I'm content to hate Floki.  And love him like a crazy-assed brother.  And hate him some more.

My Purgatory's Favorite Spring TV Premieres

Looking forward to the following shows returning this spring/summer:

Call the Midwife 3/29
Outlander  4/4
Game of Thrones 4/12
Turn 4/13
Orange is the New Black 6/12

Right now I am watching: 

Vikings
Black Sails
The Walking Dead
House of Cards
Reign
Vampire Diaries

Thanks to Metacritic for the updates!

STARZ Today: 'Insurgent' actor Ray Stevenson boards Starz's 'Black Sails' as Blackbeard | EW.com

BEYOND THRILLED at THIS news!!!  TITUS POLLO!!!

Too bad the timeframe (early 18th century vs mid 18th century) precludes them from filming a "Very Special Black Sails" where they crossover with Outlander and get Ray Stevenson together with Tobias Menzies! ;)




Downton Abbey - Dog Day Afternoon

SPOILER ALERT:  Season 5,  Episode 7

HOT alert.  The cutiepie "I'm Jewish but I'm English" dude is a lovely addition to the show.  I hope he sticks around and married Rose.  I keep thinking Mary's going to steal him away, though.

Oh how I love when they trot the kids in.  Is that the only time the parents see them?  I think Mary forgot her kid's name this week.

Mary, you ignorant slut.  Now even TONY is all "Mary, you ignorant slut!"  I doubt he'll be pining away anymore now that she was making out with what'shisname at the moving pictures.  I have to laugh though...WHY does his EX fiance want him now?  She's going to be a terribly unhappily married woman if she takes him back.  That could be a storyline in and of itself.  Although she reminds me too much of that awful teacher who upset PaPA every week at dinner.  I'm glad they're both gone.

Has anyone noticed that Mary has no female friends?  It's quite humorous. And she thinks there's something wrong with Edith??  At least EDITH can work and play well with others!

SPEAKING of Edith...GREAT plan she and MaMA came up with, to bring little Marigold home to Downton.  The rest of us have just been saying that for...oh...I dunno...MONTHS?  Here's my question:  Why does Anna care so much?  Geez, honey.  Mind your OWN damned business...which is rather juicy in and of ITSELF these days, right???  You'd better hope to high heaven that Mary testifies for you and says she burned the train ticket.

I am LOVING this newer, gentler Thomas.  I hope he keeps it up.  I like him better when he's being nice, but you know there's something evil lurking just under the surface that he's desperately trying to keep hidden.

Gotta love how PaPA barely cared about Gregson dying, but he's lying on the floor with the dog.  And you know Cora is SO over the theatrics.

Poor Grandmama.  She was really sad about Mrs. Crawley's impending marriage...and she was very forthright and honest about it with Mary.  Hear hear.  Now that dinner with Larry went so badly (what a DICK!), I doubt she'll end up marrying that cute nobleman anyway.

OMG could Daisy's storyline BE any more boring?  No one cares, Daisy!  Either study - or don't!  And then STFU about it!

Same goes for Tom.  Either go - or stay - but stop skulking around threatening to leave...and just go!