The Gift

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.

I really liked the first two seasons but it went downhill very quickly after. Season 3 makes no sense, the plot is disjointed and some of the characters have been changed to unrecognisable from their original selves. This show could have been so much better.

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..

I didn't keep my expectations very high after the series Hakan: Muhafiz. I ran into a series above my expectations. Although some of the scenes were ridiculous, I found the series successful in general. At least the dialogues were not like translation. The acting was not similarly bad. The use of visual effects was more successful. I watched it and never got bored. Atiye has been a series above country standards.

One of Hakan: Muhafiz positive sides was the steps it took to promote Istanbul well. Atiye does the same for Göbeklitepe and Nemrut. If we look at the script in general, let's not use the word cliche, but I can say classic. But the places used in the series were good. Instead of creating a special universe for itself, the story takes place in today's modern Istanbul. Later, the inclusion of Göbeklitepe and Nemrut adds a mystical feeling to the story. Each series has a color. The selection of light cold and pastel colors was very pleasant. The music selection of the series was also good. Tense music in the tension scenes and the fact that Eastern melodies appear in the background during Göbeklitepe images further connects the viewer to the screen. One of the things I liked about the series was the importance to detail.

Of course, the characters had good and bad sides. The bad character image of Serdar was not as good as I wanted. I found it a bit simple and artificial. Hannah was obvious, too. Some things to improve the mystery of the season seemed a bit unnecessary. There were a few scenes I found extremely bad, but I want to forget them. That's why I won't mention it. It was inadequate for me that the answers of some mysteries were left to the next season and were not explained. I wish the first scene was answered in the season finale, but it didn't. For instance, it would be nice to see what Atiye's powers were. First season was like preparing for the new season. I hope the unexplained things in the next season are explained with a good script. We'il see it next season. 8/10

I have noticed many have complained about the acting and dubbing. To solve the issue you should see the drama in its original Turkish audio because the English dubbing is really horrible and destroys the acting of such a good cast. Please see with original Turkish audio and respective subtitles.