The Expression Hub

“A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge and wisdom in the pupils.”

Ever Garrison

Genre: Thriller/ Youth

No. of episodes:9

Presented by: Medyapim

Welcome to another post of this month where in we celebrate the people who shape our lives after our parents by guiding us on the right path-our teachers. When we think about our teachers, they are the ones who give a direction to what we want to achieve in our lives and lend us a helping hand if we face any difficulty isn’t it? They are the ones who make other professions possible. After all without their knowledge and wisdom, how is one to traverse the path of the journey called life? Because you do need help while taking decisions a lot of times. Especially if you can seek help and are able to open up to a person whom you can easily trust. Not every advice shelled out will be great but at least it helps to look things from a different perspective.

Bringing on to the table another tale of a teacher who inspires but his way of inspiring is a bit different from others. And why is that so? Read on to find out more.

Synopsis: Öğretmen (meaning Teacher) is a Turkish web series that is inspired by the Japanese drama Mr. Hiiragi’s Homeroom (a review on this will be out soon when I do feel like revisiting this story)with a few modifications. The story is set in Küçükkapı High School which is supposed to be one of the finest high schools in Turkey. Akif Erdem joins as a Physics teacher and is shown to be a solitude fellow who interacts with everyone at the minimal. He is also shown to be a law abiding citizen who follows the rule of the land faithfully. Things do take a turn when one of his students Ruya Orne ends up committing suicide and his fiance Zeynep, who is a fellow teacher at the same school ends up in the hospital after being hit by a car. This law abiding citizen and a caring fiancee in order to unravel the truth as well as draw the attention of the society takes a path which is dangerous as well as the least expected.

He ends up taking up the students of class 12-A, the class in which Ruya studied as hostages.However, the only way the students can free themselves out of this is if they come forward and tell the truth behind Ruya’s death. The students feel as if their teacher is cracking a joke on them. But to make them understand the gravity of the situation which they had landed themselves or to put it in the words of Leo Tolstoy,”it is necessary to put people to sleep in order to operate physically; in order to operate spiritually it is necessary to wake up”, he ends up blowing the class with a bomb which separates the entire class from the entire school. This creates an atmosphere of fear not only in students but also in the management.

The entire school is evacuated except the students of class 12-A who are held hostage by their teacher. Interestingly, the very teacher that holds the class hostage involves the police in his plan as he starts giving them instructions . However, he has a word of caution to the police as well that if they fail to adhere to the instructions given by him he will kill the students as per the degree of disobedience as punishment. This incident starts getting viral on the social media. Parents, grandparents and relatives of the students rush to the bombing site and start panicking as well as asking their children to be freed.

Soon, it is 8 pm in the evening -the deadline which was imposed by the teacher to unravel the truth failing which would result into the death of a student. Nothing nor anyone is unwilling to give the details about Ruya. So, in order to set an example, Akif ends up murdering Tugrul in a cold blooded manner in front of the entire class. This leaves his girlfriend devastated and the entire class in a state of shock, anger and fear. They start fearing their teacher and start taking his assignments as days pass seriously. As days pass, new facts start emerging in the suicide case of Ruya. Facts which surprise the entire class and which force them to think. What are the shocking revelations that are behind the suicide of Ruya who was the country’s athletic champion? Who is really behind the suicide of Ruya? Is Ruya’s death actually a suicide or something else? Will the students of class 12-A be able to free themselves out or will they remain hostages ?

Assessment: This is a drama which looks into a variety of topics like bullying, jealousy among students, using students as delivery couriers, mental health issues, the over usage of social media. It is a thought provoking drama which actually forces us to think, pursue the truth and help make the world a better place . It actually forces us to ask questions that are posts on social media the way they look. Or is there something more that meets the eye? The lessons delivered by the teacher as he holds the class hostage and forces the students to think properly are unconventional but really forces one to think in the real life as well.

The positives of the show : a story line which keeps you hooked due to the twists and turns in the story, superb histrionics by Ilker Kaleli(it is a delight to watch him) along with Serkan Keskin and Serif Erol. Also, an amazing title track which you will keep playing on loop after finishing the series apart from the track which the teacher plays when he has to have fun. The cinematography will make you fall in love with the surroundings they are shot in giving you some travel goals as well😉. Though it is a youth oriented show but it has lessons for everyone which are really thought provoking and a food to the mind despite having a dark theme.

The negatives of the show- some misses in the story line. For instance, the teacher is shown to be suffering from a disease but that is not specified. Secondly, the time duration of each episode. Each episode is almost 2 hours long. That is equivalent to watching 9 movies . For a person who is short of time, this seems like a pure torture despite a gripping story line. Also, how can classmates of the same class turn upon each other is a thing which makes you wonder. It just makes you think that are friendships becoming shallower day by day that people cannot be trusted.

The view: A brilliant watch that focuses on a lot of topics and keeps the viewers hooked to their seats . Various twists and turns along with fantastic theatrics by the lead actors makes it a show to be included in your watch list. The only disappointment is the length of the episodes. Maybe if the makers could have a few edits and made the story shorter so that it is easy to consume for the people who are short on time. So, if you do have the time do watch it for the lessons it has to offer because it does give a lot of food to the mind.

Rating: *** and a 1/2 stars

Baap Dialogue: “Birbiri için yaşamak , doğanin kanunudur , Hayatta hiçbir şey yalanizica kendisi için var olmaz.”[Living for each other is the law of nature. Nothing in life exists simply for itself.]