Kubra is a Turkish Netflix series about a man who suddenly becomes a prophet – and his mobile phone tells him so. It’s a faintly silly premise treated with complete seriousness as an examination of faith and technology and their potentially terrifying intersection, and our recap of Season 1 explains how this manifests through Episodes 1-8.
Episode 1
The premiere introduces us to our protagonist, Gokhan, and the premise of the show. Gokhan, a former soldier who has experienced some horrific trauma overseas, is a devout Muslim who is beginning to fancy himself as something of a messiah thanks to text messages he is receiving through an app called SoulTouch from a mysterious interlocutor who calls themselves Kubra.
Kubra, it seems, can predict the future. Nobody around Gokhan, especially his girlfriend Merve, believes this though, and the assumption is that it’s someone he knows messing with him. However, throughout the episode it becomes increasingly clear that the messenger has some kind of soothsaying power, forcing Gokhan to confront his faith and his potential new responsibilities.
We’re also introduced to some other characters and potential subplots in this episode: Gokhan’s friend Serhat is an addict whose father is Gokhan’s boss (he’s striving for a promotion), and Gokhan’s sister Gulcan is a recovering addict who seems to be relapsing with Serhat’s complicity.
Episode 2
In the second episode, Gokhan is rapidly retreating within himself, buying into the idea of his own biblical significance more and more. He has isolated himself and is becoming obsessive. Merve tries to bring him out of his funk. She also thinks he might be suddenly grieving the loss of his father; it’s coming close to the anniversary of his death and Gokhan never grieved at the time since he was fretting about Gulcan, who is also struggling in this episode, being ghosted by Serhat.
Gulcan blames herself for the death of her father, and it’s her trauma that becomes Gokhan’s first test when things take a dark turn. Kubra convinces Gokhan that loyalty to Allah will be tested through his family, through tears and blood and suchlike, and then drops him a pin to the location where Gulcan is preparing to commit suicide. Kubra implies that to intervene would be to show disloyalty to Allah, so Gokhan is forced to watch in hysterics as his sister prepares to take her own life. However, Kubra intervenes, and speaks to Gulcan in her father’s voice through her phone.
This brings Gulcan back from the brink and allows her to reconcile with Gokhan and her own guilt. However, it’s the start of what seems like it’s going to be a very slippery slope. The episode ends with Gokhan proudly telling his family that Allah has been speaking to him.
Episode 3
By Episode 3, Gokhan has fully bought into the idea that Allah is communicating with him through a phone app, and his connection to the Almighty is beginning to spread. Gulcan believes him, and so does Salih, but there remain many sceptics, including Gokhan’s mother and the imam, Hodja, who is worried he’s on the cusp of committing a grave sin.
The stakes are raised when Kubra warns Gokhan that some kind of disaster is coming and that only those who follow him will be sheltered from it. This turns out to be prophetic when a blackout occurs. This only increases Gokhan’s notoriety, and he’s arrested. However, despite some inconsistencies in his past, especially him being the sole survivor of a military raid that wiped out his entire unit, he’s let go. His followers continue to grow worldwide.
Episode 4
Gokhan’s following continues to grow in Episode 4. His latest message is to implore people to give up their worldly possessions and offer themselves to Allah, which morphs into a charity drive. Of course, this comes with various competing forces. Some believe Gokhan really does communicate with Allah, some don’t, and others want to exploit him for financial or political reasons.
The police aren’t happy either. When they try to confiscate all of the charitable donations that Gokhan is distributing to people in need, a scuffle breaks out, and in the midst of it a young man named Burak is shot dead by the cops. Expectation falls on Gokhan to heal him, but he can’t.
Serhat also pledges himself to Gokhan, but it’s a ruse. He is being pressured over his debts, which have already resulted in the workshop being closed and his father, Gokhan, and Salih all being laid off. While the scuffle is happening, Serhat copies the contents of Gokhan’s phone and gives them to Inspector Kara.
Gokhanhas a crisis of faith after this and asks for a sign that Allah can hear him. He gets it in the form of a collapsing building and seems to hear Allah’s voice through his Bluetooth earpiece.
Episode 5
During Burak’s funeral, things kick off between the police and Gokhan’s followers when it’s announced that the officer who shot him has been released. This creates a further schism in Gokhan’s followers and he begins to lose control of his flock. Hodja implores Gokhan to get the situation under control.
Gokhan’s followers are adamant about rioting through the neighbourhood and getting into conflicts with the police. Gokhan can’t talk them down, nor can he hear Allah. He believes he might have crossed a line by asking him to reveal himself.
Serhat begins to take Gokhan’s side, knowing he isn’t complicit in the violence. He ends his arrangement with Kara, who also speaks with Gokhan directly. Gokhan shakes him with a comment about his past that he couldn’t possibly know.
Gokhan is unable to prevent the riots from taking place. However, he tries to intervene while they’re underway and is shot. The bullet doesn’t pierce his skin, which is the miracle his followers needed to see.
Episode 6
Gokhan’s miraculous survival has made national news, and the following around him is even more enthusiastic than ever. His shooter remains in police custody, though, and Kara is becoming increasingly adamant about finding a justification to discredit and potentially arrest Gokhan.
Gokhan is approached by a woman named Nalan, who turns out to be Inspector Kara’s wife. When he learns that she believes in Gokhan and he helped her, he flips out and threatens Gokhan with a gun.
Turgut also informs Gokhan that his charitable foundation may have had its wheels greased by some very influential people that he didn’t agree to meeting with earlier in the season, and he expects Gokhan to publicly endorse him in exchange. Gokhan refuses to play politics.
At Gokhan and Merve’s wedding, Golcat overhears an exchange with Ali Cemal that reveals Merve has been lying to Gokhan about the attempt on his life. She arranged it so that he would believe in himself again.
Episode 7
Merve arranged with Ali Cemal to fake the attempt on Gokhan’s life in order to renew his faith in Allah. Golcat now knows but doesn’t say anything.
Turgut, annoyed about having been rejected, causes all kinds of public legal problems for Gokhan and his charitable efforts, trying to force Gokhan to bend the knee. His mother and many others are arrested. Serhat steals the shirt Gokhan was wearing when he was shot and gives it to Kara, not realizing that the shirt was fake, part of Merve’s plan with Ali Cemal.
Kara is smug about having proven to Nalan that Gokhan is a fake, but she doesn’t care either way since, bulletproof or not, Gokhan allowed her to heal. After Kara shows Gokhan the shirt and proves the miracle was fabricated, Gokhan is furious with Merve, but Nalan reminds him that he has still inspired his community and everyone continues to believe in him.
At the end of the episode, Gokhan is approached by a man who claims he needs to speak with him about Kubra.
Episode 8
This man’s name is Adem, and he reveals that Kubra is a creation.
Specifically, Kubra is a product of Datakraft, an AI (the acronym means Knowledge Unit Based Reasoning Automaton) created by Berk and Selim. Adem, the guy talking to Kubra, is hired as Berk’s assistant, as we see in a six-months-earlier flashback.
Berk asked Kubra to seize power, and the AI found a way to do so by playing God. Gokhan was chosen because of his specific actions and emotions. We see how Kubra has been manipulating him all along. Adem confronted Berk but was threatened in return, so he eventually confessed everything to Gokhan.
Gokhan nonetheless sees all this as Allah’s will.
Gokhan meets with Secretary Ekram as the publicity around the trial reaches a fever pitch. He uses the platform at an economic conference to announce Allah’s glory and say he is returning the money that was taken. ATMs start spewing out cash everywhere. He implores everyone to return to Allah, and the auditorium goes dark.
That’s my recap of Kubra Season 1 (Episodes 1-8). What did you think of the series? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
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