Season 2 of Netflix’s Turkish series, Thank You, Next, picks up from where it had left us in the first season. After walking out of her wedding, Leyla Talyan focused on rebuilding her life and finding her happiness. The single phase didn’t last very long though, she ended up falling in love with Cem. The man she once considered narcissistic and arrogant turned out to be a mad romantic. Every morning she received a bouquet of roses from him, and she had started getting used to his little thoughtful gestures. But was Cem the right man for her? In the first season, Cem’s closeness with Defne seemed to be a cause for concern for everyone around them, so did Leyla accept their friendship? Let’s get into the details.
Spoiler Alert
Why did Beliz plot against Leyla?
Somewhere deep down, Beliz must have always known that Sarp was romantically attracted to Leyla, but she tried not to think about that possibility. But one day, after he got really high at a party, he confessed to loving Leyla, and she had it on record. He complained about Leyla always falling for men who didn’t deserve her and ignoring his advice. Beliz packed her belongings, emptied their apartment, and filed for a divorce. With nowhere else to go, Sarp ended up staying at Leyla’s place. Despite being attracted to her, Sarp never imposed his feelings on her, which was why Leyla didn’t mind when he moved into her living room.
Meanwhile, Cem and Leyla’s relationship made the headlines when their date was interrupted by Cem’s second wife, Nil, and television journalist Hande Berkant. They were celebrating the release of her second book, and Hande thought the interaction could help boost Nil’s book sales. Cem later confronted Nil, hoping they could come to an understanding, but she was not interested. She wanted Cem to suffer, and she hoped his true face would be exposed to the world. It was eventually revealed that, as Cem’s lawyer, Beliz had advised him to come to an agreement with Nil. She wanted Nil to trust her to manipulate the media circus in a way that would destroy Leyla’s reputation. Beliz wanted to portray Leyla as an evil woman for dating the ex-husband of her client, Tuba. She was the one who had represented Tuba during the divorce case, and Hande even went on to read a statement made by Tuba on television. The madness stopped after Leyla confronted Nil and Hande at a restaurant and announced that she had filed a criminal complaint with the DA for their violation of her privacy, and she had also submitted a petition to file a lawsuit for moral damages. Beliz also played a crucial role in convincing Cem to come to an agreement with Hande. The media frenzy came to a pause as a result, and towards the end of season 2 we also witnessed a collaboration between Cem and Hande (perhaps Beliz always knew it would come to that).
Why did Cem and Leyla drift apart?
Leyla thought her relationship with Cem was almost like a fairy tale. He went above and beyond to make her feel special, and she was completely smitten by him. Initially, Leyla thought he was the perfect man for her, but she gradually started to notice the cracks in his character. Cem was all about grand gestures, and as much as she adored him for always taking the time to plan things for her, she soon realized that she didn’t know much about him. He was still a mystery to her, and every time she tried to get to know him better, he pushed her away. It was almost as if he had a secret life that he didn’t want Leyla to know about. She was aware that Defne was one of the most important people in his life, but their friendship started to bother her. After Defne went through a miscarriage, she pushed her husband away and instead searched for comfort from Cem. Leyla initially tried not to think the worst, but after Defne got drunk at her birthday party and reminded Leyla that she could never come between her and Cem, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were more than just friends.
Leyla valued her friends’ opinions, and when they showed hesitation about hanging out with Cem, she wondered if she was making a mistake. They didn’t feel any connection with him, and they could sense that he didn’t cherish their company. Leyla loved her friends, and she couldn’t imagine living a life without meeting them every other day. She tried to bring her friends and Cem together, but Leyla noticed that Cem pretended to be entertained when they were around, but in reality he couldn’t care less about them.
Cem had been persistent about marrying Leyla, and even though she wanted to take it slow, she eventually gave in when they were together in New York. Cem was a completely different person there. He was more vulnerable and happy than he ever was in Turkey. Perhaps the lack of expectation was the reason behind his good mood, or maybe he simply had a mask on to impress Leyla. Gradually, Leyla started noticing the red flags. She never felt at home after she moved in with him, and she could see her dog struggle to adapt to the new environment. She was bothered when she realized that Cem had started making plans for the both of them without consulting her. She didn’t get enough time to spend with her friends, and she didn’t feel she was herself anymore. She ended up going to her old apartment where Sarp lived, because that was the only place that brought her comfort. Leyla realized how unhappy she was when she spoke to her father over a video call. She was tired of Cem’s narcissistic nature and his need to control every aspect of his life that made her feel as if everything was fake and they were avoiding real conversations. Her father promised to support her if she decided to leave Cem; after all, the lack of transparency could never amount to a healthy relationship.
Leyla suffered a panic attack the moment she came to terms with the truth— she didn’t want to marry Cem. Sarp comforted her, and she decided to spend the afternoon at her old apartment. She ignored Cem’s calls, because she didn’t know how to explain what she was going through. Leyla had no idea that Cem had been monitoring her every move, and he waited outside her old apartment to find out what she was up to. When she saw Leyla leaving with Sarp, he assumed that they were having an affair. He was insecure, and his passive-aggressive nature became more evident to Leyla as he intentionally missed her calls to make her crave his attention.
What was the reason behind Cem’s aggression?
Nil left Leyla a voice note stating that she had learned about Defne and Cem’s past from Defne’s ex-husband, Yon Richards. In the previous season, Cem’s mother had told Leyla that Cem, Selim, and Defne were driving in a car together when they met with an accident. But Nil had learned from Yon that Defne and Selim were together when the car crashed. Cem and Defne had gotten into an argument, and when Selim intervened, it got worse. Selim and Defne wanted to drive away, and Cem followed them. Yon believed Cem was in a way responsible for the tragedy that had unfolded that night. Leyla didn’t know how to react, so she chose not to dig deep. She was not sure if Yon’s version was the truth, but it was obvious that there was something between Cem and Defne that always brought them back to each other, and that was the reason why none of their relationships had worked out. Leyla’s friends arrived at the conclusion that it was all a scheme—Cem and Defne’s relationships often resulted in business partnerships, and they always kept the people who mattered to their partners under their control by offering them jobs or opportunities. It helped them keep track of people, win their trust, and manipulate them if necessary.
It was not easy for Leyla to live with Cem, but after seeing him heartbroken on his brother’s death anniversary, she tried to provide him support. She didn’t know that Selim was on life support after the accident, and through a flashback we also discovered that Cem had tried to pull the plug on his brother, but couldn’t, so his father stepped in. Maybe they’d realized he wasn’t going to recover, or perhaps they thought he was better off dead because of his addiction and his supposed affair with Defne. Leyla agreed to have dinner with Cem’s mother in honor of Selim, but to her surprise no one spoke about him that night. Leyla noticed a shift in Cem’s mood when she mentioned that Yon Richards was in town. He knew that she’d met Nil, but Leyla wondered how.
When they returned home, Cem accused her of falling into Nil’s trap. Leyla admitted that she’d gotten curious and spoke to Nil, but that was only because Cem never shared anything with her. She wanted answers, so she ended up at Nil’s house. She acknowledged that she didn’t feel a connection with him because he never showed his actual feelings. When she brought up his friendship with Defne, he got agitated. He aggressively stated that the reason Defne was important to him was because she was the only person he could trust completely. Cem admitted that he didn’t trust Leyla because he knew she’d betrayed him. He mentioned seeing her with Feyyaz at his restaurant and how he’d waited outside her old apartment, where he saw her leave with Sarp. Leyla couldn’t believe that Cem had been keeping an eye on her. She was stunned and immediately knew it was over between them. When Leyla was about to leave, Cem stopped her. A flashback to the night Selim met with the accident explained the reason behind Cem’s aggressive behavior. When Leyla wanted to leave, he was reminded how Selim, too, had tried to walk away from him. Selim wanted to protect Defne after seeing Cem get hostile with her. But even Selim was not spared from his insults. Cem never tried to understand the reason behind Selim’s escapist nature; instead, he accused him of being a coward. Before leaving the house with Defne, Selim told Cem that he was exactly like their father, whom they despised when they were young. By the time Cem regretted his actions, it was too late. Needless to say, Cem was extremely problematic, and he needed therapy more than love. He wanted to control Leyla because he was too afraid to lose her like he did his brother. When he finally came to his senses and realized that he was hurting Leyla, he finally decided to let go of her hands. Over the years, Cem had realized that his brother was right; he was just like his father, and he hated himself for it. Cem believed he was responsible for Selim’s death, and we also learned that Cem’s mother had one day pulled the trigger on her husband (he had failed to be a good father and a caring husband), and Cem made it look like a suicide. His family was broken, and he’d been through hell, and Defne was the only one who’d seen everything.
Did Leyla win the case against Cem?
Even after Leyla moved back to her old apartment with Sarp, she couldn’t completely get over Cem. After seeing him get vulnerable, she wondered what else he was hiding behind the mask. She knew he was trouble, but she also believed that he had a lot of unresolved issues that clouded his judgment. Thankfully, Leyla’s friends advised her to not let her feelings stop her from seeing the truth—he had tried to physically harm her. On her birthday, Leyla waited for Cem’s call, but he didn’t contact her. Instead, the next day his driver showed up at her doorstep to return some of her belongings. Leyla handed him the wedding ring; it was obvious that Cem didn’t wish to stay in touch with her. She was frustrated with the way their relationship ended, and she complained about it to her friends.
Leyla’s phone had recently been damaged, and Sarp fixed it for her. He also mentioned that she had an app named ‘WhereRU,’ and it was killing her phone battery. Leyla, Nil, and some of Leyla’s friends eventually discovered that all of their phones were running out of charge, and that was when they figured out that they too had the ‘WhereRU’ app installed on their phones. Upon digging a little deeper, Sarp learned that it was a spy app that didn’t show up, but it helped keep track of the individual. It became obvious that Cem had downloaded it in some sly way. As it turned out, he’d tried to license the app to release it commercially, but since it was an invasion of privacy, the government banned it. But he used it for personal reasons to manipulate and control those around him. As an advocate, Leyla refused to let this slide, and she and her team decided to take action against him. They even managed to convince Yon Richards to testify against Cem since it was through his company that Cem had tried to license the app.
In Thank You, Next season 2’s ending, Cem participated in a television interview with Hande during which he made a shocking revelation. He announced that he was madly in love with Defne and she’d always been the one for him. He added that he was planning on retiring from his business and spending a quiet life with Defne. To Leyla’s surprise, Defne showed up at her doorstep immediately after the announcement. Leyla knew that the only reason Cem had made the announcement before the lawsuit became public was because he wanted to show the world that Leyla was a bitter ex who’d plotted against him out of jealousy. She admitted that she felt bad for Defne because, at the end of the day, she was just a pawn in his game. But Defne didn’t feel that way; she and Cem had been friends since childhood, and she’d always loved him. Defne refused to testify against the love of her life, even though she knew all about his corrupt practices. On the day of the trial, Nil showed Cem and Defne’s wedding video to Leyla. She was in a short white dress just like the one Leyla thought she would wear for her wedding. Leyla knew that Cem was doing it all to protect himself and to also make her feel envious. Defne refused to be a witness, and so did Tuba, his ex, who’d withdrawn from the case. Leyla suffered an intense panic attack, but she refused to back out. She managed to make it to the courthouse, and she fought the case just as she’d intended. Yon Richards showed up, and that made their case strong. Beliz was Cem’s legal representative, and we can only expect her enmity with Leyla to get worse.
Will There Be A Season 3?
Thank You, Next season 2’s ending hints at the possibility of a third season because the case was still ongoing. Hopefully Cem will finally pay the price for tormenting all the women in his life. Love will continue to be an important angle in season 3 as well. Leyla is single once again, and who knows, maybe there will be a romantic spark between her and the new character (her neighbor and documentary filmmaker), Ali. Season 2 ended on a happy note, with Leyla and Omer celebrating the birth of Buddy’s (their dog) puppies—they happily declared that they are grandparents now!
