Shows like Elsbeth have been the latest to show that, even in mystery series that are supposed to be comedic, the main character needs to have some sort of depth to them in order for audiences to want to solve mysteries with them. In a new comedic mystery series from Turkey, the main character certainly isn’t a detective; he’s a guy who writes a wagering column in a newspaper. But is he a guy you want to follow as he digs for clues?
Opening Shot: An awards ceremony, where “the most prestigious award in sports journalism” is being given.
The Gist: İsa Torabili (Ata Demirer), who is known throughout Turkey as “İsa-bet,” is getting the award for all of his accurate wagering predictions in various soccer matches. As İsa gets up and soaks in the adulation, something turns. The presenter becomes his late father (Altan Erkekli), and he’s excoriated for not getting a prediction right in years. But his dad does give him a tip that might turn it all around.
İsa wakes up from his dream with that pick in his mind. He needs a win lately; not only are readers of his newspaper wagering column leaving him in droves due to his cold streak, but he owes back rent and is in debt to a loan shark named Haydar (Beyti Engin). He’s so confident in the pick that he goes to Haydar and tells him to bet his own money on the match.
When İsa wakes up the next morning, his phone is dead, so he still thinks his prediction came true. A story about the game is interrupted by news about the death of a billionaire named Refik Argun (Uğur Yücel). When İsa arrives at his newspaper’s offices, his editor angrily tells him how wrong his prediction was.
Knowing that an angry Haydar will be sending his thugs after him, İsa dashes home to hastily pack. There he sees an older man; thinking he’s an intruder, he throws a potted plant at the man’s head, and it just goes right through.
The older man is the ghost of Refik, who knew İsa’s father. He thinks İsa has the right skills to help him find out who murdered him. Authorities think it was a suicide, and his daughter Seda (Esra Bilgiç), no fan of her father’s, has no reason to think otherwise. Refik persuades İsa to do it by saying he’ll give him access to a stash of money that will help him pay off his debts. This leads İsa to go to his hometown of Urla, where his aunt, Ayfer Hala (Lale Mansur), works for Seda at her vineyard. When İsa goes to the vineyard, his first encounter with Seda is on the business end of a shotgun.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Bet Your Life is a combination of Ghosts and a mystery series along the lines of Ludwig.
Our Take: Written by Deniz Akcay Katiksiz, Bet Your Life is supposed to be a mostly comedic mystery, but the part that’s supposed to be funny didn’t even elicit a chuckle. İsa is supposed to be a guy who essentially stumbles his way through this mystery, desperate to get his debts paid off. When he sees Refik, he keeps ranting and raving that the image of the billionaire is a “demon” and prays to Allah to make him go away. While it’s all over the top and silly, nothing about İsa is all that funny or appealing.
What we hope is that as the show goes along, and İsa gets more involved finding out what happened to Refik — likely with the help of Seda — that more dimensions to his character will become evident. We know that his relationship with his father, who also had the same gift of prediction İsa has, was a tough one. We also know that the wagering column has made him a success, given how nice his apartment was, and he wants to get back to those times.
But will trying to find Refik’s killer reform İsa to the point where he might think there’s more to life than predicting soccer matches? We don’t get much evidence in the first episode that that will happen, and just having İsa rant for eight episodes is not our idea of a fun watch.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: İsa and Refik watch Refik’s funeral, wondering if any of the attendees had anything to do with it. That’s when İsa observes who isn’t there: Erkan (Umit Ibrahim Kantarcilar), Seda’s husband and the CFO of Refik’s company.
Sleeper Star: We enjoyed Seda’s rant to the police about why she doesn’t care all that much about why her father is dead, and Esra Bilgiç’s performance in that scene shows how defiant and angry Seda is about her dad.
Most Pilot-y Line: While still in Istanbul, İsa has no idea who Refik is. By the time they get off the bus in Urla, İsa knows the whole story. Why not show a scene where Refik fills İsa in on who he is?
Our Call: SKIP IT. While the mystery in Bet Your Life is intriguing, the humor isn’t funny and the main character has very little nuance.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
