The Returning Netflix ‘Ethos’ Cast for Berkun Oya’s Second Season (With Photos)
Netflix has confirmed that the second season of ‘Ethos’ arrives on Thursday, November 12, with Berkun Oya again writing and directing. The ‘Ethos’ cast draws heavily on faces from the debut run, and the Turkish drama is also known as ‘Bir Başkadır’. The announcement is the first real look at who is coming back.
The new season consists of four episodes and arrives six years after the first season, which premiered on Nov. 12, 2020 with eight episodes. Below is a look at the ‘Ethos’ cast one name at a time, starting with the lead and moving through the family and the creator himself.
Öykü Karayel
Öykü Karayel, who played Meryem in the first season, leads again. Netflix names her first in the cast list for the new episodes. Her place at the top of the billing matches her role in the story.
Meryem is a cleaner who works part time, comes from a conservative family and lives on the outskirts of Istanbul. She suffers from fainting spells and confides in a psychologist, although she is reluctant to reveal one detail.
Many of the series’ other characters are connected through Meryem, which gives the show its shape. Netflix describes the new season only through the ideas of zeitgeist, unexpected encounters and new conflicts. How much of that runs through Karayel’s character remains to be seen.
Defne Kayalar
Defne Kayalar is the second name on Netflix’s cast list for the new season. She plays Peri, a psychiatrist whose background is dramatically different from Meryem’s. Tutto.TV counts her among the faces carried over from the first cycle.
Peri is educated, wealthy and secular, and she holds prejudicial views of openly religious people. That contrast with Meryem is what gives their sessions together their tension.
Peri also sees a therapist of her own, to whom she complains about growing conservatism in Turkish society. The doctor is shown as someone who needs listening to as much as the patient does, and that dual role is a large part of why the character stayed with viewers.
Fatih Artman
Fatih Artman played Yasin, Meryem’s domineering brother. He is named in Netflix’s cast list for the second season. His return puts Meryem’s family back at the center of the story.
Netflix’s own synopsis for the first season notes that Ruhiye’s condition deteriorates under Yasin’s maltreatment. That single line shows how much weight his character carries in the household drama.
Artman is also busy elsewhere on the platform. What’s on Netflix lists him among the returning cast of the rom com ‘Thank You, Next’ for its third season.
Funda Eryiğit
Funda Eryiğit played Ruhiye, Yasin’s disturbed wife. She appears in the cast list for the second season. Türkiye Today also places her among the principal first season cast alongside Karayel, Kayalar, Artman and Nur Sürer.
Two younger names on the list connect directly to her story. Cemre Zişan Sağbır played Esma, Ruhiye’s daughter, and Göktuğ Yıldırım played İsmail, Ruhiye’s son. Both are listed in the cast for the new season.
Nur Sürer, for her part, played Feray, Peri’s mother. Her name on the returning list suggests the wider families around Meryem and Peri remain part of the picture.
Berkun Oya
Berkun Oya is the writer and director of the second season and also appears in the cast list. He is credited as a producer alongside Evrim Zeybek and Ali Farkhonde, with KREK Film as the production company. Tutto.TV also notes that Oya appears among the performers.
The remaining names on Netflix’s roster are Onur Saylak, Cihat Süvarioğlu, Gökhan Yıkılkan, Oğulcan Arman Uslu, Eda Akalın and İdil Çelik. The announcement does not spell out their characters. Of those, Gökhan Yıkılkan is listed in the first season as Hilmi.
Türkiye Today reports that the new season was filmed last year. If you followed Meryem, Peri and Yasin through the first eight episodes, which of their stories are you most eager to see picked up again, and does Berkun Oya stepping in front of the camera change what you expect from the return of ‘Ethos’?
