Thank You, Next – Episode 5 “#Benching” Recap & Review

#Benching

Episode 5 of Thank You, Next starts with us in the present timeline. Cem watches Leyla sleep from across the room but it would appear that he hasn’t actually slept with her. In the morning, he sits on the edge of the bed and brushes her hair out of her face. This explains that scene, as we cut back to the past.

Sarp and Beliz celebrate their engagement, while Seyyaz speaks to Leyla about marriage too. However, as Seyyaz is applauded, Leyla heads off down to the dock when she notices Cem on the deck deciding to have a quick getaway. He’s on the phone to Defne though and after hanging up, the pair have a dance (which he promised her) right there down on the edge of the dock.

As they turn together, Cem points out that Defne has broken up with her husband now but she’s also not involved with him. In fact, he claims he’s not involved with anyone. However, Leyla finds herself coming under fire when she receives word of Tuba being made aware of the party. And she’s not happy.

Back home, Omer returns Buddy to Leyla. However, his phone blows up with messages from his partner… whom he’s now broken up with. Apparently. This further confuses Leyla, as she heads back to work. There, she learns that Cem is joining their firm and that means he and Leyla are going to be seeing a lot more of each other.

Meanwhile, Sarp learns that Beliz is pregnant and he’s crushed. And that folks, is why you wear protection. Anyway, they celebrate it at Seyyaz’s restaurant, where he pops over afterwards and tells her he misses her. However, he’s still wrapped up with other women so she ignores him and bolts. But between Cem and Seyyaz, there’s also Omer too who has started messaging her again.

In the morning, Leyla is tasked with heading out to a winery auction, to represent Cem’s company. No matter what, she has to win this auction. Her challenger is Nil’s firm, Habanero Winery. Things don’t get well, and when she’s badmouthing him on the phone after, he happens to be right up behind her. He points out that he’s really into her and he never cheated on the other women he was with either.

This turns Leyla’s opinion, as she’s encouraged to join him on his private jet. They drink expensive wine together and eventually head to the opening party for the hotel, where all 3 men are attending. She’s cold to Seyyaz, who she addresses formally, and Omer clearly still wants her too.

However, the real showstopper here is Tuba, who shows up when Cem is giving his big speech. She gate-crashes and puts the focus on herself alongside Nil. After the party, Leyla speaks to Cem down by the horses and he broaches the idea of them getting together. Leyla isn’t sure but after kissing, she pulls away and walks off… but Omer happens to be watching from afar.

As we cut back to the present, Leyla opens the door, sporting a different dress other than her wedding outfit, and there’s a big ruckus outside when a car shows up.

The Episode Review

Who’s inside the car? And who is Leyla marrying in the present? Questions continue to swirl with this one and it’ll be interesting to see exactly what sort of questions we get.

So far things have been decent, albeit somewhat underwhelming in the grand scheme of things. The show is a decent enough watch but it really lacks the oomph to help it stand out next to others in this field. And honestly, a lot of that comes from the supporting characters who do feel rather archetypal. Anyway, we’ll have to wait and see what happens next with this one.