A Round of Applause chronicles the lives of a depressed couple and their extraordinary son. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Mehmet and Zeynep go out shopping right away after learning that the model of the baby carriage that they saw is in stock again.
Mehmet and Zeynep end up shopping for everything they need for their baby. However, after finishing their shopping and returning home, they remember that they need to have a baby first.
Mehmet and Zeynep get pregnant, and they are expecting a boy. The two host their friends, Burak and Sevda, and have them over for a sleepover.
Mehmet dreams and fears about the possibility that their son may grow up to be like Burak or Sevda. Mehmet shares this with Zeynep and scares her as well.
The day of their son’s birth comes nearer. The son, inside Zeynep’s womb, has a conversation with Kudret, who says he will meet Zeynep and Mehmet’s son later in the real world.
Kudret advises Zeynep and Mehmet’s son to scrap the mission if he doesn’t have a plan for the outside world.
Zeynep and Mehmet’s son is not even sure if he wants to be born. He knows that his mother has never been happy. He is already feeling the symptoms of what Zeynep is going through.
He feels he has already been through a lot inside Zeynep’s womb and wants to go back to being an orange pulp.
It turns out that he has to find out for himself how life is going to be. Zeynep gives birth to their son, whom they later name Metin.
Metin goes missing on his first night back home and is later found inside Zeynep’s womb again. He somehow crawled back inside.
Now that Metin is smart enough to make a decision for himself and crawl back into the womb, the nurse at the hospital questions if Mehmet and Zeynep have the right to bring him out again.
At a time like this, Zeynep receives a call from a different Mehmet, not the one present with her. She talks to this Mehmet, who agrees that they are robbing their son of his first decision as a free-thinking individual.
Mehmet also asks how Zeynep is doing, and she confesses that she thinks she is not in love with Mehmet and that they gave birth to a baby to avoid a possible divorce.
Zeynep is advised not to keep everything bottled up in her mind. Zeynep likes the conversation she has with this Mehmet. They agree to keep having this sort of conversations.
Ultimately, Zeynep decides to give birth to Metin again, hoping things will improve. Years later, Metin grows up to be a highly intelligent individual.
However, his parents are always fighting, and Zeynep wonders if that’s the reason he has become mature so early. She thinks Metin is somewhat depressed.
Zeynep and Mehmet agree that they need to figure something out. Zeynep is adamant about divorcing Mehmet, and she has let him know about it.
A few more years into the future, Zeynep and Mehmet grow distant, while Metin is drawn towards making music.
Ending explained:
A successful DJ
In the future, Metin is a successful DJ but a narcissist who judges people for doing what they love and puts them down. He thinks that he should stop doing that, but struggles.
Metin attends one of his panels, hosted by none other than one of Metin’s old flames.
Zeynep attends it and intends to know whether Metin remembers memories from before he was 3 years old. She has made a few mistakes, and she hasn’t forgotten about them.
Zeynep wonders if she has caused some permanent damage to Metin. Metin admits to remembering how he was born and how he crawled back into his mother’s womb.
Back home, he comforts Zeynep, who seeks forgiveness from her son. Metin has grown apart from his parents, but he promises to meet his mother often.
The fate of Zeynep and Mehmet’s relationship
Mehmet long wanted to know what conversation Zeynep had with the other Mehmet. Years later, now that they are almost dying, Zeynep thinks of letting Mehmet know the truth.
Mehmet is asleep when Zeynep confesses that the Mehmet she talked to the day she gave birth to Metin again was brutally honest, unlike the Mehmet she knows in real life.
This Mehmet has the courage to admit when he is wrong. She fell for that Mehmet and this Mehmet is not that one. Hence, she wants a divorce, even if they are one step away from their graves.
Zeynep dated Mehmet because she was lonely and hopeless. Suddenly, they got married, had a kid, and now 30 years have passed by.
Zeynep confesses all of this while Mehmet is asleep. Hence, she doesn’t really go through divorce ever.
Return to womb
Metin has transitioned into a street performer who wears all orange and meditates on the streets. He crosses paths with Kudret, but Kudret doesn’t recognize Metin at all.
Zeynep visits her son, who won’t talk to her mother at all. Zeynep came down here to ask Metin what color she should use to knit his sweater.
Zeynep sees how far Metin is from his true potential now as she gets emotional. She somewhere feels she is responsible for failing him. When Metin continues to hold back, Zeynep leaves.
Moments later, the fake snake that Metin has with him becomes real and bites Metin. Zeynep, on the other hand, feels that her son has returned to her womb as she cries.
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