The Gift

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

This seems like Turkey's answer to the great German series "Dark". Both involve a confounding circumstance where time is warped and multiple timelines get all mashed together and changed. Whereas "Dark" kept itself in a science fiction mode, "The Gift" utilizes Turkish mysticism as the mechanism for the reality upheavals that occur in the series.

The one thing the creators of "Dark" made sure was that there was some overriding structure to the frequently confusing events in the three seasons. So confusing that the creators have a website so you can try to make sense of what happened. It's a dense read but they did figure it out. Unfortunately I can't say that the creators of "The Gift" made the same effort. What was interesting and compelling for the first two seasons, flounders as soon as the third season gets underway. It's so bad that I came here to get reassured that I should stay with the series but unfortunately it seems my suspicions are accurate and it's time to bail. It's unfortunate as the first season was so promising. This is not the first high concept science fiction program to go awry like this. Maybe next time before putting all this effort into a series, the producers will make sure they've got the story arc right.

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.

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..

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.