For most of this episode I had to quite literally sit on my hands to prevent myself from throwing a brick at the Television screen. Villains in Pakistani dramas seem generally a little too cartoonish or far removed from the experience of daily life to take seriously but Natasha is pushing me to the limits of exasperation. Mira Sethi take a bow, Saman from Maat come back; all is forgiven.  In this episode Natasha crossed any limits of good manners or good taste she might have had left. She is unforgivably and openly rude to Zaib from morning noon to night, at one point even accusing Bilal of secretly preferring Zaib over her. I don’t know why parents think their children will magically change after marriage . There was a time when past behavior was taken as a  good indicator of future behavior  Most people just carry on the same patterns of behavior they had in their parents home to their married lives, man or woman .

Zaib on the other hand is in some kind of fantasy world in which some how she can undo the mistrust of so many years and improve her relationship with her sister in one short visit. The problem with that scenario is that it requires honest intentions on the part of both parties. At some point I thought both these sisters were slightly crazy but the blame was equal. However, now I think there is a severe fault in Natasha’s character compared to Zaib’s. Zaib for all her mistakes has the right intentions but Natasha’s actions don’t seem to be simply a reaction to Zaib. Meanwhile Bilal is increasingly seeing Natasha for who she really is but is still too besotted to actually put his foot down. Matters come to a head when Zaib again visits Muneeze and  manages to win her over. Natasha rushes over to ,I suppose, prevent this and has a bad confrontation with her sister in law. This whole fight is carried home by Natasha who convinces Bilal to throw Zaib unceremoniously out.

Zaib really should have left,just as Mikaal warned her, she has only making things worse by staying . Natasha’s treatment of her is so beyond the pale, that Rayaan is somehow compelled to declare he wants to marry Zaib in order to make her stay.Excuse me while I pick myself off the floor ad get back on my chair. From the promos we knew there would be a relationship between Rayaan and Zaib but I did not expect this sudden proposal. All those midnight, jet lagged conversations between Zaib and Rayaan definitely left an impression on at least one of them. These poor brothers, couldn’t they find any other women? Rayaan in particular, what are you thinking man? Look at her crazy sister and you just got over one poisonous woman, why complicate your life further? After Rayaan’s shocking declaration, all five of the protagonists are running around like teenagers trying to do damage control. Instead of thinking things through and then making decisions, they are just reacting . Now where is Mikaal in this kichri? Despite all his love, care and attention , Zaib is not making it up with him and it looks as if she too is softening towards the idea of marrying Rayaan despite her overt protestations.

It really was a frantic episode despite most of it being conversations. I simply loved it especially after the surprise proposal. Maheen Rizvi is just too good; I loved the way she finally told Natasha off as Muneeze. Maheen and Adeel where so very believable as confused siblings trying to find a way out of this strange situation, I did not know whether to laugh or feel sorry for them. That had to be my favourite conversation of the episode. Just like Rayaan, I am not entirely sure why, but I think he likes Zaib, The conversation between Rayaan and Zaib was quite funny too , how can they defuse the situation without Zaib’ being rejected twice and Zaib thinks the a son and ex wife hardly count as reasons to reject him because after seeing Dilaver’s life such things are such first world problems.

I don’t know who the actress is who plays Mahjabeen but  in  just a few scenes she manages to convey complete contempt for the entire situation with a few sarcastic comments and bored looks.  Of course she has found a new man and  of course Natasha would just love to come to the wedding …. Priceless really….. I have gotten over feeling sorry for Bilal; he really is the one at fault for allowing Natasha to get away with this kind of behavior. Danyal Raheel has essayed this role really well. I am just waiting for the worm to turn, will Bilal realise what a nasty person he has married or just go on blindly with his life hurting everyone around him just to be with Natasha?

I have a feeling , next week Zaib and Rayaan are going to get married and Natasha’s heart may well stop ticking … hmm perhaps I won’t cry that much….Having said that , the purpose of Zaib’s staying was to make her relationship with Natasha better , if the marriage goes ahead I don’t see that happening . I am excited for next week but I dread Natasha’s sudden rehabilitation at some point in the serial… it just will not be believable for me.

 Written  By -Sadaf