Atiye: Die Gabe

Season one was very promising, however I cant really say the same for the second season... It really examined my patience to watch or quit..

By now you have noticed that most streaming series are strong out of the gate but lose their power with each new season. This one is typical --the first two seasons were a treat, almost hypnotic in their ability to hold audience attention. Season 3 is an afterthought, lacking in all the qualities which made the first two so appealing. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

When I came into this show, I wasnt expecting much, as my experiance with Turkish cinema is only through cheesy Turkish soaps. Boy this is so far from it... From episode 1 I got hucked in to the story, and it didnt let go until the end. Really good job! Usually stories coming from Turkey are depicting traditional, conservative parts of society and struggles that come with them. Here, we have a strong, modern woman going on a mistical jorney to place in history that not many know off. Also, its really good tourist marketing campagne for Göbekli Tepe and Nemrut.

This is one of my favourite Netflix series. It held my attention from the first episode to the last. The English subtitles were the only distraction. I like watching films in their native language to hear the actors' real voices, but I felt like I was missing out on dialogue because of the poor subtitling. The subtitles were often late, weren't on the screen long enough to read or didn't appear at all.

The Gift is a made for Netflix Turkish fantasy drama about an artist named Atiye, who discovers that she has a much bigger connection to the world at large.

We start with the opening of her first art show where every painting is a variation of a symbol that she has been drawing since she was eight years old. Atiye keeps thinking she is seeing an elderly woman with facial tattoos...to the consternation of her family. One night Atiye sees a news story about a new discovery at the on-going archaeological dig at the ruins of Göbekli Tepe. The news story depicts hieroglyphs of the same symbol that she has used since she was eight. This prompts Atiye to travel to Göbekli Tepe to see it in person. On the way, she meets a young girl with the mark of a star on her forehead. At the dig she meets the discovering professor/archaeologist, Erhan, who was following in the footsteps of his deceased father. Erhan prevents Atiye from getting anywhere near the new discovery, but at night our mysterious star girl leads Atiye into the dig. This one trip in doesn't answer Atiye's questions and she eventually gets found and tossed out. Back at home her family and fiancé all convince Atiye that she is seeing things, needs to be seeing a psychiatrist and be taking medication...until on the verge of her wedding Erhan shows up with the elderly woman with the facial tattoos, who not only really exists but is Atiye's supposedly dead grandmother. Together they go on an adventure working on unraveling many mysteries and discovering that they and their families are intertwined.

There is mystery, intrigue, pursuit by individuals with their own agendas...and a twist for season two.

I highly recommend season one. It was interesting, has beautiful shots of Istanbul, Göbekli Tepe, and Mount Nemrut, and had an interesting story to tell.

Season two was also interesting, although not quite as good as season one...it was like season one with a twist, which added kind of an interesting element to the show in general. The added location of Cappadocia, showcased why it is on my list of must sees in Turkey!

I have been learning to speak Turkish and often watch Turkish tv to help with vocabulary and pronunciation. I mention this because I have read some criticism of the English translation on this series on Netflix. My Turkish is still not good enough to thoroughly comment on this, but even I know enough Turkish to know that "Kizim" is "my daughter" not "sweetheart".

I am looking forward to season three and I am hoping that it will have a happier ending than season two.