'Atiye'/'The Gift' Season 2 Preview: Here's all you need to remember from Season 1 of Turkish drama on Netflix
Netflix is pretty great at producing international dramas, with some countries producing exceptional content. 'Atiye' aka 'The Gift' is Netflix's second Turkish original drama which debuted in December 2019. The first season of the supernatural drama was an international hit. The series centers on Atiye (Beren Saat), a painter in Istanbul who pains one specific symbol in multiple styles. When the same symbol is discovered in a cave in Gobekli Tepe — believed to be the oldest temple in the world and dates back to 7000 BC — Atiye embarks on a journey that includes Erhan (Mehmet Günsür), an archaeologist working on Gobekli Tepe.
Soon, Atiye discovers that she has some incredible powers, but before she can take on those, she goes on an emotional and personal journey that sees her life uprooted. Season 1 of 'The Gift' introduced us to some beloved and well-rounded characters that are set to come back with 'The Gift' returning to Netflix with its second season shortly.
Let us take a look at all the events of Season 1 and what it means for Season 2.
Atiye's gift
When Atiye begins spending more time with Erhan, her parents, especially her mother, Serap (Başak Köklükaya), and her fiance, Ozan (Metin Akdülger) are concerned. Atiye hallucinates an old woman whom she learns later is her grandmother, but Serap continues to insist that her grandmother, Zuhre (Meral Çetinkaya), is dead, going so far as to convince Atiye that she is mentally ill. However, with Erhan's help, Atiye is able to find her grandmother and learn that she comes from a line of women who are somehow linked to the mysteries at Gobekli Tepe. It also turns out that a girl she was hallucinating was her mother's sister, who was killed when she was young.
As Atiye learns more about her magical connection, she becomes closer to Erhan and learns that her relationship with Ozan was built on lies. While Ozan is persistent in making Atiye marry him (more on that later) even when she ran away from their wedding, Atiye breaks up with him. Atiye also learns that her adopted sister, Cansu (Melisa Senolsun), is actually Erhan's sister, Elif who was believed to have died in a car crash that killed his parents. When Zuhre dies, all her powers are transferred to Atiye. After Cansu dies, Atiye is desperate to bring her back and this leads her to Gobekli Tepe where she sees a vision of Cansu telling her that everything happened as it should have. Atiye says she wants Cansu alive again and hugs her. Then, Atiye and Cansu are suddenly transported back to Istanbul, where Atiye is still hugging her sister. However, Cansu pulls back and tells Atiye that she is mistaken and that her name is Elif.
Erhan's past
It is not just Atiye who goes on a journey to learn more about herself. In an odd moment with Zuhre, the latter shows him a vision that revealed the truth about his parents' deaths. His father was also an archaeologist who worked on Gobekli Tepe. When his father discovered a cave, Zuhre appeared to him and showed everything that would come to pass in the future to tell him that it was Erhan's fate to discover the cave. His father and mother were then killed by a mysterious assassin when his father refused to divulge the secrets of Gobekli Tepe. Atiye's father, who was a police officer and was at the scene of the crime, discovered baby Elif and rescued her, hiding the truth about her existence.
Erhan also learns that his colleague with whom he hs occasional "benefits", Hannah (Hazal Türesan), is actually working for the people responsible for his parents' death. When Hannah's boss needs to find the hidden cave — the map to which was drawn by Erhan's father and was hidden for Erhan to find —, Hannah threatens Atiye's life to get Erhan to cooperate.
Serdar and Ozan
This is something we do not know yet but it is almost midway through the first season that we learn that Serdar (Tim Seyfi) is more invested in Atiye than his son, Ozan. We see early on that Serdar is pretty uncaring for his son and belittles him. He also pressures his son to work out things with Atiye.
When Atiye runs away with Erhan after the wedding, Ozan goes to Cansu, whom he's been seeking advice about Atiye from for years. However, Cansu is tired of it all and we learn that she may have fallen in love with Ozan. The two sleep with each other, but when Atiye goes missing, Cansu wants to come clean. Later, when Cansu and Ozan fight about the same, Ozan pushes her in frustration and she hits her head against a nail on the wall. He rushes to his father to send an ambulance for Cansu, but Serdar instead kills Cansu to keep Ozan's secret and frames Atiye.
Ozan goes into hiding at his father's cabin when Cansu's death and Atiye's subsequent arrest is publicized. At the cabin, Ozan is depressed and suicidal. At one point, he tries to hang himself but falls to the floor, where he discovers the flooring is hollow. On further investigation, he is led to a secret room where surveillance photos of him and Atiye, as well as Atiye as a child, are found. All this further adds to the mystery surrounding Serdar, whom we see through the season speaking with a disembodied voice through technology. This disembodied voice wants Atiye to open the supernatural door in Gobekli Tepe at a particular time.
What it means for Season 2
Whether Cansu's death was premeditated and what the disembodied voice intended all along is something we do not know. We also don't know the identity of the disembodied voice, but given that it sounds like Serdar, it may be a Serdar from a different universe. This universe could be the one where Atiye finds herself when Season 1 ends — where the Gobekli Tepe does not exist. Viewers can potentially expect the revelation of the true identity of the disembodied voice.
We also learn from the trailer that Atiye is completely unknown in this new world. Here, Cansu was never separated from her family and grew up as Elif. This could mean we get some quality scenes with Erhan and Cansu as the siblings they are. Another thing we look forward to is how Cansu aka Elif and Ozan will be in the new world. We know that she was possibly in love with Ozan, and we wonder if Ozan might have had feelings for her had his father's influence not been there on him. We also see that Atiye's mother, Serap is in an asylum in the new world and that Erhan is engaged to be married to Hannah. When Atiye shows up, his life gets disrupted — which is a cool mirroring of the events of Season 1.
Serdar still looks to be the bad guy of Season 2. There are some additional complications in this new world. With the Gobekli Tepe being absent, it seems that pregnant women are being affected and dying. It is up to Atiye to figure out what is going on and help restore the natural order.
'Atiye'/'The Gift' Season 2 will premiere on Netflix on Thursday, September 10, at 12 am PST.