Hammer and Rose: A Behzat Ç. Story (Series)

Hammer and Rose: A Behzat Ç. Story is a digital platform series adapted from Emrah Serbes’s novel Hammer and Rose. It premiered on Blutv in 2022, with its first season consisting of eight episodes. Devrim Yalçın served as director.

The series is a continuation of the earlier production Behzat Ç.: An Ankara Crime Story, which aired on television and digital platforms. At its center are murders committed in Ankara’s dark alleys and the illicit networks behind them. Three seasons of the series have been released. The first and second seasons continue the same narrative, while the third season explores a different story.

The characters in the series vary from season to season. The following characters appear in all three seasons released so far:

• Behzat Ç. (Erdal Beşikçioğlu): A chief inspector with anti-hero traits, resembling the classic film noir detective through his traumas, loneliness, and addictions.
• Akbaba (Berkan Şal) and Hayalet (İnanç Konukçu): Behzat’s close colleagues, defined by their despair and melancholy.
• Şule (Ayça Eren): Behzat’s daughter.
• Memduh Başgan (Güven Kıraç): A well-known figure in Ankara’s underworld, at the center of connections between crime, money, and power.

The series revolves around corruption within the police force, illicit relationships, murders, and societal trauma. The plot, unfolding through buried bodies, reveals organic ties between the Demirdelen family and the police institution. Behzat Ç. and his team work to solve these murders while confronting their own personal dilemmas. The story highlights themes such as social corruption, paranoia, betrayal, loss, and melancholy. In the second season, Behzat Ç. and his team investigate crimes committed by the character known in the first season as Mürsel.

• Yücel Demirdelen (Mehmet Ali Nuroğlu): A character who kills his father out of ambition for power and becomes a threat to those around him, embodying the homme fatal archetype.
• Engin Demirdelen (Esra Ronabar): A female character with femme fatale traits.
• Harun (Evliya Aykan): A new character not present in the previous Behzat Ç.: An Ankara Crime Story series.
• Mürsel/Ateş (Burak Dakak): Introduced as Şule’s boyfriend; his mysterious background is revealed later.

Hammer and Rose reflects the aesthetics of film noir through its dark atmosphere, on-location shooting, chiaroscuro lighting, and stark contrasts. Scenes filmed in Ankara and Istanbul, illuminated by neon lights, evoke elements of neo-noir. The music, composed by the Ankara-based group Pilli Bebek as in previous Behzat Ç. series, reinforces themes of despair and pain.

The series aligns with the traditions of film noir and neo-noir. Murders, corruption, dark alleys, femme fatale and homme fatal characters, and the use of cigarettes and alcohol are prominent features. At the same time, scenes incorporating Anatolian motifs and local cultural elements distinguish the production from classic film noir.

Only the main characters from the first two seasons continue into this season. It is revealed that Prosecutor Esra did not die but was secretly hidden for years by a clandestine organization. As a result, Prosecutor Esra (Canan Ergüder) returns to the series.