The Tailor review: Suspenseful drama is a solid entertainer

The Tailor follows Peyami, Esvet, and Dimitri’s lives intertwining with each other amid high stakes chase of mouse and cat, with drama, betrayal, love, and hate aplenty.

Story

Peyami returns from his hometown with a secret, while his best friend Dimitri brings him in for the measurements for his fiancée’s wedding dress. He also keeps her captive and abuses her behind the doors.

Eavesdropping on Peyami’s conversation about his mentally challenged father, bride-to-be Esvet sees an opportunity and escapes. She ends up as a caregiver named Firuz at Peyami’s household.

Dimitri is rabid and looks for Esvet all around. Esvet’s negligence nearly compromises Peyami’s secret, leading to her getting fired and nearly getting recaptured by Dimitri. She comes back to accept the dire terms laid out by Peyami’s grandmother, and resumes her job.

Peyami eventually puts it together and learns Firuz’s real identity. Meanwhile, he and Esvet also start falling for each other. Peyami tries to protect her as long as he can until Dimitri learns where she is and also a major secret related to her and his parents’ past.

Peyami confronts Dimitri and tells him to leave Esvet alone. Dimitri gets violent and maniacal, pointing a gun at his best friend, while Esvet arrives and points one at Dimitri. However, Peyami comes in between and catches the bullet fired by Esvet. As he lies bleeding, losing consciousness, The Tailor season 1 rolls the credits.

Performances

The Tailor is supported by soild performances across the board. Although there’s no clear standout, the central cast does a great job portraying different characters put into situations with heightened stakes and sensibilities really well.

Cagatay Ulusoy plays Peyami with good conviction, rendering the character’s vulnerabilities amid his stoic professionalism and perfectionism with great ease.

Salih Bademci is really believable as the crazy psychopath that Dimitri is, playing all the perilous traits of the spoily, abusive brat with a commendable energy and flair.

Şifanur Gül is not just believable as Esvet, but also a contender for the best performance in the show, inspiring genuine emotions and praise with all her deliveries and expressions.

Positives

The Tailor has a great thriller at its core, with characters the audience can really root for, which makes for some stressful scenes and nail-biting sequences

There’s palpable tension whenever Dimitri is involved, his psychopathic obsession with Esvet being one of the more effective elements of the story.

The chemistry between Esvet and Peyami is also really great and makes one long for more sparks between them.

The storylines are also packed with potential for what can transpire and unleash next. Kiraz’s reason for staying away is not fleshed out yet, neither is the whole picture behind Esvet’s biological parentage and the legacy she’s been deprived of all her life.

Stakes are high quite often and with a snappy pace, the tensions and the suspense is only more heightened.

Negatives

The parts with Mustafa all feel like the worst aspect of the show, as quite often the inclusion of mental disabilities and challenged people comes off as cringey and problematic.

Unfortunately, The Tailor suffers from same issues and Mustafa’s character feels like a tool for Peyami to have his character growth.

Verdict

The Tailor is a solid thriller packed into seven episodes that fly by rather quickly, leaving one wanting more. Despite a lack of remarkable standouts in terms of the story or direction, the show does a great job maintaing thrills and suspense, right until the end, where the cliffhanger poses several biting questions and concerns for what lies ahead.

---

Also Read: The Tailor summary & ending explained