Yakamoz S-245 – Season 1 Episode 6 Recap & Review

Stabbed In The Back

Episode 6 of Yakamoz S-245 begins with Umut organizing the troops and surfacing the sub. With a whole day having passed (presumably anyway, last we saw it was sunrise), they find Cem face-down in the water, very much dead. Clutching a picture of his family, Armat and Defne pay their respects as the others contemplate what to do next.

The group all crowd back into the naval base, where they hear a shelter broadcast urging survivors to join them in the Gijon mine in Spain. Between this or following the plane, which has touched down in Bulgaria, Umut decides to go for the latter. Given Umut is stating to load up guns and ammunition, Defne worries that they’re marching toward a bleak future that she wants to no part of. She even worries that Umut could turn this into a dictatorship.

While Defne stashes her laptop in storage, Arman arrives to wish her a happy birthday. She makes a wish that no one else should die like Cem did. The pair reflect on their relationship and what they had, before they predictably kiss and make love.

Meanwhile, Umut overhears a broadcast about Norway and tasks Altan with changing course and heading toward this broadcast without consulting anyone else. They’re not going for the NATO shelter after all.

When the others do predictably find out, they’re shocked and want an explanation. Now, Umut claims that with their food stocks dwindling, they’re heading for what’s referred to as the “doomsday vault.” This happens to be a vault containing numerous seeds.

The plan here is to create a hydrophonic farming system. All the materials they need should be compatible to use on their sub. It’s a risky journey though, and with Spain en-route to Norway, the group compromise and decide to stop by Spain (the Gijon mine to be precise) on the way. Umut promises that if anything goes wrong, then it’s Defne and Arman held responsible.

The sub eventually makes it to Gijon, where they hear a broadcast on the loudspeakers. The place is abandoned, so naturally they all hop aboard and head off in different cars for the mines, following ominous signs in scribbled red writing that read “refuge.” There’s a cage there too, which only holds 5 people at a time. Among those heading down are Arman, Umut and Defne. Guess where Hatice is? Yep, she’s been left behind on the sub.

As the group make it into the mines, they find themselves surrounded by survivors who are desperate. Arman talks them down but unfortunately Umut isn’t in the forgiving mood and immediately begins shooting. A big fight breaks out between the two groups, but trouble above ground is even more alarming.

Felix heads into the control room only to find someone has cut the wires to the elevator. Felix will need some time to try and fix it, leaving Yonca to descend down and try to tip the scales of this fight. In her absence, Rana checks the camera feed as we cut back down to the mines. It turns out these miners are actually cannibals, and they’ve been eating any of the survivors who follow their message and try to seek salvation. Hmm, where have I seen this plotline before? (fans of Walking Dead may remember that this very plot line was part of one of the seasons of the show.)

Eventually our group make it back to the lift but of course we know that the elevator can’t be fixed. I’m not sure why Yonca is  surprised, given she was literally just there and found out herself. Anyway, the group make it into the lift, slam the doors shut and try to withstand the onslaught from these miners, who pound on the door.

Despite the cables having been broken, Arman uses controls from the ground floor to lift the elevator. He makes it aboard just in time, as the miners promise they’ll be coming for them.

With the elevator going back down again, they all prepare to leave and head back to the sub. Only, there’s a problem. In Defne and Arman’s car, the keys have gone. Unfortunately this means they need to run back to the docks. It turns out Felix is the one with the keys.

Back on the sub, Altan notices Hatice snooping around Defne’s room and confronts her, demanding answers. Unfortunately, he wants more than that too. The pair end up fighting, with Hatice eventually choking him out and killing the guy. While he’s deceased on the ground, Hatice looks through Defne’s laptop and notices numerous unsent messages referencing the sun and what’s happening.

With little time remaining until the sun rises, Arman and Defne find themselves on the run. They make it back to the docks where the miners hold Defne up at knife-point. Umut refuses to let them aboard the boat, so he shoots all the men. Unfortunately, one of them stabs Defne in the back. As she collapses on the ground and starts bleeding out, Arman is beside himself with grief and screams to the heavens.

The Episode Review

So much for Defne’s birthday wish; fate has a cruel way of circling back and biting you in the behind, and that seems to be what’s happened here. The group find themselves off on a subplot to try and find survivors in the Spanish mines and in doing so, walk into a big trap.

This certainly works to ramp up the tension and excitement, but it also demonstrates how illogical these characters actually are. I mean, I know that’s par the course for shows like this but it still irks me when you see such dumb decisions being made.

However, Defne’s death at the end is certainly unexpected and adds a crucial bit of shock value to a season that’s largely been rather pedestrian on the whole. I know there’s been spikes of action and thriller elements, which is great to see, but not actually witnessing the sun destroying parts of this world – or even burning people to see the horrific effects this has on humanity – feels like a missed opportunity.

Everything is left wide open for a dramatic finale to follow, which will hopefully tie everything in with Into The Night nicely.