Baris Arduc ~ Kiralik Ask or Kuzgun?

by Ginger Monette

Having been thoroughly enchanted by Baris Arduc in Kiralik Ask, I immediately wanted to watch him in another role. I had heard good things about Kuzgun, so I dove right in. So how did I think these two very different series compared?

?	KIRALIK ASK	KUZGUN
Genre	? Light-hearted RomCom	? Dark Romantic Drama
Starring ⭐️	Baris Arduc | Elicin Sangu	Baris Arduc | Burcu Biricik
Air Date	2015 – 2017	2019
Synopsis ?‍❤️‍?	Omer Iplikci is the eligible bachelor every woman aims to snag. But the brooding shoe designer has no interest in the high-brow socialites pushed on him by his meddling aunt.   Defne is aghast when Omer’s aunt offers to hire her to steal Omer’s heart, but seeing the offer as a solution to a family crisis, Defne reluctantly agrees. But when Defne falls head-over-heels for Omer, she finds herself trapped between her love for him and a 200,000 lira secret…	Eight-year-old neighbors Dila and Kuzgun are soul mates. But when Dila innocently plants evidence in Kuzgun’s house, he vanishes.   Twenty years later Kuzgun is out for revenge on the man who stole his childhood—Dila’s beloved father.   Will Kuzgun succeed in taking down her father, or will he surrender to the cry of his heart for Dila?
Number of Episodes	✅ 69 Episodes Its popularity sustained it for 52 straight weeks and then another 17 after summer break.	✅ 21 Episodes Although short by dizi standards, it was ample time to explore a full story without getting bogged down or boring.
Strength of Romantic Storyline ?	✅ Good balance of sustained “on again romance” with “off again conflict”	More off than on. And in season 2 (ep 17+) the couple was so separated, it limited their opportunities for meaningful interactions.
Subplots & Episode length ⏳	Subplots: -Defne’s brother Serder -Defne’s friend Iso -Omer’s partner Sinan -Omer’s aunt Neriman ✅In a span of relatively short episodes ranging from 1:45-2:15, a lot of ‘story’ was covered but split among numerous characters. But the main couple still had ample screen time.	Subplots: -Kuzgun’s brother Kartal (minor subplot) ✅ With episodes clocking at a hefty 2:15-2:40, stars Baris and Burcu were front and center the majority of the time. Hats off to them for what must have been a grueling filming schedule.
Hero’s Wounds	✅ Omer: Loss of parent shaped his personality. Appropriate for the show’s mood and Omer’s brooding character.	✅ Kuzgun: Rip-your-heart-out sad childhood experience. Appropriate for the series’ tone  and Kuzgun’s scarred character.
Chemistry ?	✅ Omer/Defne: Outstanding!	Kuzgun/Dila: I didn’t feel it.
Emotionally Impactful Moments	✅ It was a rom-com, so not as many emotionally packed moments, but when they occurred, it was powerful—mostly due to Omer and Defne’s synergistic chemistry.	Writer created lot of goosebumps-worthy scenes, but I didn’t ‘feel’ their emotional impact on many occasions because I just wasn’t feeling the Kuzgun/Dila chemistry.
Acting Performance ?	✅ Standouts: -No individual actor in particular, but Baris and Elcin as a couple sparkled.	✅ Standouts:  -Omer’s mother Meryem  -Omer’s sister Kumru -Onur Saylak as Feriman I didn’t ‘feel’ Baris as Kuzgun as much as I did him as Omer. At first I thought Ibrahim Celikkol would have been the ideal actor to play the very wounded soul of Kuzgun, but in the end, Baris’ portrayal grew on me.
Filming Locations	Some familiar locations used in other dizis:  ? Defne’s house and Omer’s second house were also used in Carpisma (so Elcin has starred in 2 different series using the same houses.) -Neriman’s house has been in numerous dizis: Medcezir, Sen Cal Kapimi, Erkenci Kus to name a few.	Show opens in Cappadocia with stunning landscapes. ? A magnificent tree was an anchor location, which was unique and added some symbolic significance.
Villains ?	-Rival Trombe -typical dizi villain -Neriman, Omer’s well-meaning but selfish aunt  -Sude, Omer’s ‘woman scorned’ cousin -Yasemin, Omer’s employee whose roles flip-flopped throughout None were particularly strong as a villain, and characters were often inconsistent.	-Ali, Dila’s brother- typical dizi villain -Feriman, the villain who started the chain reaction of events that drove the storyline.  ✅ Feriman, played by Onur Saylak, was outstanding.
Ending	✅ Happy  Ideal ending that allowed viewers to bask in the couple’s happiness and feel sappy-happy for a lot of the last episode	✅ Happy  Best chemistry of the show between Kuzgun and Dila, but time allotted for viewers to bask in their happiness was restricted to the last minutes of the series.

Conclusion?

Both series were well written, but I particularly enjoyed Kiralik Ask mostly due to more romance and sparkling chemistry between Baris and Elcin.

Post script:
If you’re looking for more lighthearted series like Kiralik Ask with electric chemistry between the leads, try Erkenci Kus and Sen Cal Kapimi.

If you’re looking for more romantic drama series like Kuzgun with a very wounded hero, I recommend Siyah Beyaz Ask and Cesur ve Guzel.

If you’d like to skim either series or re-watch your favorite scenes, check out my Kiralik Ask Episode Guide and my Kuzgun Episode Guide.

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