{ "id": "epgkahgzsc", "slug": "ethos-epgkahgzsc", "title": "Ethos", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_turkish_other", "label": "Turkish, Middle Eastern, and African serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_turkish_other" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_turkish_other.turkish_dizi_contemporary", "label": "Contemporary Turkish serial dramas (dizi)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_turkish_other.turkish_dizi_contemporary" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 2001 to 2020: Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "path": [ { "id": "geo.mena", "label": "Middle East and North Africa", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t2001", "label": "Middle East and North Africa · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.mena.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Ethos (Turkish: Bir Başkadır) is a Turkish Netflix drama series written and directed by Berkun Oya, first released 12 November 2020 in eight Istanbul-set episodes about Meryem, a religious cleaner, and psychiatrist Peri, exploring Turkey's secular-religious divide; a four-episode second season premiered 12 November 2026.", "snippet": "Ethos (Turkish: Bir Başkadır) is a Turkish Netflix drama series written and directed by Berkun Oya, first released 12 November 2020 in eight Istanbul-set episodes about Meryem, a religious cleaner, and psychiatrist Peri, exploring Turkey's secular-religious divide; a four-episode second season premiered 12 November 2026.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_turkish_other.turkish_dizi_contemporary", "markdown": "# Ethos\n\n**Ethos** (Turkish: *Bir Başkadır*) is a Turkish drama television series written and directed by Berkun Oya, released on Netflix on 12 November 2020.[1](https://akademikarsiv.kilis.edu.tr/yayinaea/10-mardin-artuklu-kongre-kitabi_665f13bb3880f.pdf) Its first season of eight episodes follows a group of people from different social classes, beliefs, and lifestyles whose paths cross in Istanbul, beginning with Meryem, a religious, headscarf-wearing part-time cleaner who consults the secular psychiatrist Peri about her fainting spells.[2](https://www.netflix.com/tr-en/title/81106900?source=35) • [3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) The series became one of the most discussed Turkish productions of its year, praised for opening a conversation about the country's social divides and criticized by others for relying on clichés.[4](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/11/turkey-netflix-show-ethos-divides-already-polarized-society.html)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | *Bir Başkadır*, roughly \"something other, different\"; released internationally as *Ethos*[5](https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_article/ethos-turkey-looks-in-the-mirror/) |\n| Creator | Written and directed by Berkun Oya, a theater writer previously known for the series *Masum* (Innocent)[1](https://akademikarsiv.kilis.edu.tr/yayinaea/10-mardin-artuklu-kongre-kitabi_665f13bb3880f.pdf) • [5](https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_article/ethos-turkey-looks-in-the-mirror/) |\n| First season | 8 episodes, premiered on Netflix 12 November 2020; the fifth Turkish Netflix Original series[2](https://www.netflix.com/tr-en/title/81106900?source=35) • [6](https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/60660/Gezgin-Berksan-Merve.pdf) |\n| Main cast | Öykü Karayel (Meryem), Defne Kayalar (Dr. Peri Aksoy), Fatih Artman (Yasin), Funda Eryiğit (Ruhiye), Settar Tanrıöğen (Ali Sadi Hoca), Alican Yücesoy (Sinan), Tülin Özen (Gülbin), Bige Önal (Hayrunnisa)[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) |\n| Production | Krek Film; producers Ali Farkhonde and Nisan Ceren Göçen; episode running times 40 to 58 minutes[7](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnikGB6w1-I) |\n| Reception | IMDb 8.4/10 from about 32,000 votes; Rotten Tomatoes audience score 82%[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) |\n| Second season | Four episodes, premiered on Netflix 12 November 2026, five years after the first[8](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-reveals-the-premiere-date-for-season-2-of-berkun-oyas-ethos) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and characters\n\nThe story begins when Meryem (Öykü Karayel), a young woman from a conservative, low-income family on the outskirts of Istanbul, seeks help for fainting spells. The doctor she first sees finds nothing physically wrong, so she is sent to the psychiatrist Peri (Defne Kayalar), who comes from a wealthy, secular background.[9](https://www.trtworld.com/article/13115968) • [10](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/netflix-revives-turkish-drama-ethos-with-new-season-3230712) In their sessions, Peri notices that her patient is deeply religious and under the influence of the neighborhood hodja, Ali Sadi (Settar Tanrıöğen), a teacher and wise man, and that Meryem is in love with her wealthy employer Sinan (Alican Yücesoy).[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress)\n\nAround this central pair, the series builds an ensemble whose lives intersect within a few degrees of separation. Meryem's sister-in-law Ruhiye (Funda Eryiğit) is a manic depressive concealing past sexual trauma; her husband Yasin (Fatih Artman) works as a security guard and mistreats her as her condition worsens.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) • [11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress) Other characters include Gülbin (Tülin Özen), Peri's therapist; Hayrunnisa (Bige Önal), the hodja's daughter; and Hilmi (Gökhan Yıkılkan), who forms a connection with Meryem late in the season.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/tr-en/title/81106900?source=35) • [23](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/columns/2020/dec/16/home-theatrebir-ba%C5%9Fkad%C4%B1r-ethos-intersecting-lives-21805.html) Each episode ends with a confrontation or an acceptance, and the narrative relies on the characters' everyday conversations and small choices rather than large dramatic events.[12](https://nereden-izlenir.com/yerli-dizi/bir-baskadir/)\n\n## Themes\n\nThe series works through the divide between Turkey's religious-conservative segment and the secular, westernized segment often called beyaz türkler, the \"white\" Turks.[5](https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_article/ethos-turkey-looks-in-the-mirror/) A scholarly analysis by Michael J. Shapiro, a professor of political theory at the University of Hawai'i, describes the series as exploring characters on either side of Turkey's Islamist-Kemalist and class-related divide, and emphasizes its contrast between Western-created psychoanalytic counseling and Islamist spiritual healing.[13](https://academic.oup.com/book/45342/chapter-abstract/389245236) The same reading notes the role of architecture in the narrative and the ways the women characters collaborate to gain urban mobility and self-expression while struggling against the policing practices of Turkish men.[13](https://academic.oup.com/book/45342/chapter-abstract/389245236)\n\nThe headscarf and its different interpretations recur throughout the first season, along with mental illness, misogyny, and repressed emotion.[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress) • [13](https://academic.oup.com/book/45342/chapter-abstract/389245236) A psychoanalytic commentary in *Studies in Gender and Sexuality* describes the show as problematizing binaries such as religious/secular, primitive/civilized, and client/therapist, while noting that some resolutions drift toward sentimental territory.[14](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15240657.2021.1996743)\n\n## Title, music, and style\n\nThe Turkish title *Bir Başkadır* can be translated as \"something other, different\" or, interpreted, \"unique\"; Netflix presents the series internationally as *Ethos*, the Greek word characterizing a community or ideology.[5](https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_article/ethos-turkey-looks-in-the-mirror/) • [15](https://sfb1472.uni-siegen.de/publikationen/can-we-all-relate) • [16](https://acikerisim.gelisim.edu.tr/bitstreams/8a7668cc-09ed-47ea-827c-cb131e40d869/download) The title also echoes the song \"Bir Başkadır Benim Memleketim\" (\"My Unique Country\"), which marked the 1970s in Turkey, and Oya draws on Ferdi Özbeğen's album *Bir Başkadır* for music, with Özbeğen, an openly gay arabesque singer, closing several episodes.[17](https://series.unibo.it/article/download/15401/15692/64105) • [16](https://acikerisim.gelisim.edu.tr/bitstreams/8a7668cc-09ed-47ea-827c-cb131e40d869/download) • [9](https://www.trtworld.com/article/13115968) The closing credits also incorporate footage from Maurice Pialat's 1964 film *Turquie Hier et Aujourd'hui*.[18](https://www.star.com.tr/acik-gorus/bir-baskadir-baskayi-tanimak-haber-1592209/)\n\nVisually, the series departs from mainstream Turkish television. Where conventional Turkish soaps run about 150 minutes per episode, *Ethos* tells its story in eight episodes of roughly 45 minutes, about 360 minutes in total, the length of about two episodes of a regular Turkish show.[19](https://artdogistanbul.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ArtDog_Istanbul_6.pdf) It uses a less conventional visual language based on long takes, and the iconic Istanbul skyline, Bosphorus views, and seagulls common in Netflix productions are notably absent.[20](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13678779231202040?download=true) • [21](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4526376) The opening sequence follows Meryem on foot from her rural home to her cleaning job in the city, as green landscape gives way to the metropolis.[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress)\n\n## Reception\n\nThe release in mid-November 2020 caused heated debate in the Turkish media and on social media. The series was read by some as a portrait of the country under long-ruling president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and by others as the liberal intelligentsia's self-flagellation; it was praised for bridging Turkey's feuding segments and disparaged for enforcing them with clichés.[4](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/11/turkey-netflix-show-ethos-divides-already-polarized-society.html) According to AFP reporting summarized by Türkiye Today, the series prompted online debate in Türkiye on prejudice and social divides, and some conservative media outlets called for censorship while it drew support on social media.[10](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/netflix-revives-turkish-drama-ethos-with-new-season-3230712)\n\nCritics abroad were largely positive. The [British Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-film-institute)'s *Sight and Sound* review found that Oya's drama, in being both authentic and accessible, would reach far beyond Turkey, while noting that some characters function as ciphers for specific issues.[11](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress) [TRT World](https://www.edgepedia.org/trt-world) credited Oya with starting a conversation among Turks and the diaspora about social strata and archetypes that had not always been discussed openly.[9](https://www.trtworld.com/article/13115968) Audience ratings have remained strong: 8.4 on IMDb from about 32,000 votes and 82% on the Rotten Tomatoes audience meter.[3](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos) The series also found international audiences, entering the most-watched lists in many countries, and scholars have studied its reception in Germany, Spain, and the [Arab world](https://www.edgepedia.org/arab-world), where cultural affinity and high production value have driven demand for Turkish series.[22](https://t24.com.tr/yazarlar/atilla-dorsay/bir-baskadir-uzerine-benim-baska-goruslerim%2C28875) • [15](https://sfb1472.uni-siegen.de/publikationen/can-we-all-relate)\n\n## Second season\n\nNetflix announced on 20 October 2026 that a second season would premiere on Thursday, 12 November 2026, five years after the first. The new season consists of four episodes, was filmed the previous year, and again stars Öykü Karayel as Meryem, with returning cast members including Defne Kayalar, Fatih Artman, Funda Eryiğit, and Nur Sürer, joined by Onur Saylak and others. Oya again wrote and directed, with producers Evrim Zeybek, Ali Farkhonde, and Oya for Krek Film.[8](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-reveals-the-premiere-date-for-season-2-of-berkun-oyas-ethos) • [10](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/netflix-revives-turkish-drama-ethos-with-new-season-3230712)\n\n## References\n\n1. [\"Ethos (TR: Bir Başkadır)\" conference paper, Kilis 7 Aralık University academic archive](https://akademikarsiv.kilis.edu.tr/yayinaea/10-mardin-artuklu-kongre-kitabi_665f13bb3880f.pdf)\n2. [Ethos, Netflix official page](https://www.netflix.com/tr-en/title/81106900?source=35)\n3. [Ethos (2020), JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/tv-show/ethos)\n4. [Nazlan Ertan, \"Top Netflix drama lays open Turkish divides\", Al-Monitor, 20 November 2020](https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/11/turkey-netflix-show-ethos-divides-already-polarized-society.html)\n5. [Filippo Cicciù, \"Ethos: Turkey looks in the mirror\", Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, 19 January 2021](https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/en/cp_article/ethos-turkey-looks-in-the-mirror/)\n6. [Appendix A: Timeline of Netflix operations in Turkey, Merve Gezgin Berksan, Erasmus University thesis](https://thesis.eur.nl/pub/60660/Gezgin-Berksan-Merve.pdf)\n7. [Ethos (Bir Baskadir) Netflix Turkish Series Trailer, turkishdrama.com, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnikGB6w1-I)\n8. [\"Netflix Reveals the Premiere Date for Season 2 of Berkun Oya's 'Ethos'\", About Netflix, 20 October 2026](https://about.netflix.com/en/news/netflix-reveals-the-premiere-date-for-season-2-of-berkun-oyas-ethos)\n9. [Melis Alemdar, \"Netflix's 'Ethos' takes Turkey by storm\", TRT World](https://www.trtworld.com/article/13115968)\n10. [\"Netflix revives Turkish drama 'Ethos' with new season\", Türkiye Today, October 2026](https://www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/netflix-revives-turkish-drama-ethos-with-new-season-3230712)\n11. [Nikki Baughan, \"Ethos offers up Turkish coffee and cultural contradictions\", Sight and Sound, BFI, 11 March 2021](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/ethos-berkun-oya-turkish-series-istanbul-tradition-progress)\n12. [Bir Başkadır, Nereden İzlenir](https://nereden-izlenir.com/yerli-dizi/bir-baskadir/)\n13. [Michael J. Shapiro, \"An Egalitarian Istanbul: Ethos's Cinematic Portraiture\", in *Aesthetics of Equality*, Oxford University Press, 2023](https://academic.oup.com/book/45342/chapter-abstract/389245236)\n14. [George Taxidis, \"Waking Up in Someone Else's Bed: On Ethos (Bir Başkadır), Netflix, Turkey, 2020\", *Studies in Gender and Sexuality* 22(4), 2021](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15240657.2021.1996743)\n15. [Mine Gencel Bek, \"Can we all relate? The Turkish Television Series 'Ethos'\", SFB 1472, Universität Siegen, 2023](https://sfb1472.uni-siegen.de/publikationen/can-we-all-relate)\n16. [Burak Yıldırım, academic paper on Bir Başkadır, İstanbul Gelişim University archive](https://acikerisim.gelisim.edu.tr/bitstreams/8a7668cc-09ed-47ea-827c-cb131e40d869/download)\n17. [Erkiliç and Erkiliç, \"Standing on the Edge of the New Cognitive Mapping: 'Ethos' ('Bir Başkadır')\", *International Journal of TV Serial Narratives*, 2023](https://series.unibo.it/article/download/15401/15692/64105)\n18. [\"Bir Başkadır 'başka'yı tanımak\", Star Açık Görüş](https://www.star.com.tr/acik-gorus/bir-baskadir-baskayi-tanimak-haber-1592209/)\n19. [ArtDog Istanbul, December 2021 issue](https://artdogistanbul.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/ArtDog_Istanbul_6.pdf)\n20. [International Journal of Cultural Studies, SAGE, 2026](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13678779231202040?download=true)\n21. [\"Narrative Transformation in the Turkish Television Industry\", DergiPark](https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/4526376)\n22. [Atilla Dorsay, \"Bir Başkadır üzerine benim başka görüşlerim\", T24](https://t24.com.tr/yazarlar/atilla-dorsay/bir-baskadir-uzerine-benim-baska-goruslerim%2C28875)\n23. [Home Theatre: Bir Başkadır (Ethos) - Intersecting lives](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/stories/columns/2020/dec/16/home-theatrebir-ba%C5%9Fkad%C4%B1r-ethos-intersecting-lives-21805.html)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › Turkish, Middle Eastern, and African serials › Contemporary Turkish serial dramas (dizi)*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Ethos\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Ethos](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc](https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Ethos\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/ethos-epgkahgzsc. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Ethos is a Turkish Netflix drama series written and directed by Berkun Oya, first released 12 November 2020 in eight Istanbul-set episodes about Meryem, a religious cleaner, and psychiatrist Peri, exploring Turkey's secular-religious divide; a four-episode second season premiered 12 November 2026." }