Dönence

Any fan of Turkish dizis is familiar with watching beautiful protagonists falling in love. Donence, however shows the many faces of what love can be. Of course there is a gorgeous couple who are working out their feelings for each other as they bond over similar paths they walk. But examples of love doesn't end here. The pain and sacrifice of parents who love each other and their children unconditionally is presented beautifully. The mother is selflessly caring for her autistic child and the father does everything possible to protect his daughters, tries to understand them and love them in whatever form that must be. The great love of siblings which requires patience, understanding and humility is shown with Gece and Gulce as well as with Ozgur and Ruzgar. And perhaps there is another face of love that should be noted as well. Gulce's friend Alican is showing great empathy, patience and kindness with Gulce. This series has more than once brought me to tears, as I admire the passionate love that these characters portray to one another. It has opened my eyes and my heart more to what it means to love unconditionally, and to appreciate people who are a little different than others. Donence is truly a beautiful series with life lessons that touch the soul.

An Istanbul family moves to the small seaside town of Foça for a better life for their autistic daughter. The father Cem is doing his best to set his family, which consists of his lovely wife Verda and two daughters Gece and Gülce, up so he can have a risky surgery performed on the brain tumor he has kept secret from them. The eldest daughter, Gece, is initially very upset to be leaving Istanbul with her friends and boyfriend Emir...but thinks she will be back to Istanbul soon to attend a music conservatory. She is also somewhat resentful initially of her autistic younger sister Gülce, who is trying to break away from her over protective mom and become a more normal girl...which has her heavily relying on her sister to go out into the public. Gülce attends a sailing school in Foça with other autistic children where they meet the handsome instructor Özgür and his autistic brother Rüzgar. As Gece's relationship with her boyfriend Moro sours a relationship develops between her and özgür, who encourages Gece to be a better sister to Gülce.

There is some interesting intrigue along the way with Miro hurting someone in a pedestrian/motorcycle accident, someone trying to steal Verda away from Cem, and someone trying to convince Özgür to do some illegal smuggling. All of this leads back to the fire that killed Özgür and Rüzgur's parents.

I really enjoyed the beautiful family relationship of the Olgun family and I particularly liked the love shown between Verda and Cem. These two were solid, excellent parents. I also really appreciated the character of Özgür, who came home after his parents die to take care of his severely autistic brother...I particularly liked his positive attitude. Life is hard enough, so it was so sweet to see such a lovely brotherly bond.

There were a few things that frustrated me with the series...like the father would rather be thought to have a gambling problem than admit to having a brain tumor? But these were minor quibbles.

I loved Foça and seeing sights around the city. I liked the small tight knit cast. It was interesting to see some of the struggles faced both as an autistic teenager and as a parent of a bright but autistic daughter.

I think if you are at all interested in or associated with autism that you will enjoy this series.

My review is based on watching the entire series in it's original Turkish language with English subtitles.