# The Gift (Turkish TV series)

The Gift (Turkish: Atiye) is a Turkish drama fantasy Netflix series starring Beren Saat. It was written by Jason George and Nuran Evren Şit. The first season consists of 8 episodes and became available for streaming on Netflix on December 27, 2019. The series is an adaptation of the novel Dünyanın Uyanışı (The World's Awakening) by Şengül Boybaş. The second season was released on September 10, 2020. The series was renewed for a third and final season, which premiered on June 17, 2021.

## Plot

Atiye is a young woman who has been drawing a fertility symbol since her childhood, without knowing the meaning attached to it. She is a part-time teacher as well as an abstract painter. She has always drawn that symbol, but never saw it anywhere other than in her own art. She is in a relationship with a man named Ozan, the son of a very wealthy businessman named Serdar, although Atiye does not find peace in her relationship. She hosts her first exhibition which showcases the same symbol she has been drawing since her childhood in different colours and sizes. All her paintings are loved by people and hence her exhibition is a success. On the same day, an archeologist named Erhan discovers something strange in Göbekli Tepe: an unusual artifact which has laid buried for millennia. Atiye recognises that it is the same symbol that she has been attached to since childhood. She makes an immediate decision to go see the symbol the next day herself. On her way there, she sees a girl with a star mark on her forehead with some cattle on the road. She asks the child for directions but she can not understand her language.
Upon hearing Göbekli Tepe, the girl understands and leads her to the site. There she meets Erhan and tells him about her association with the symbol, but he thinks either she is making up the story to get fame or has lost her mind altogether. She asks him to let her see it but he refuses, saying that it is not open for public. After her failed attempt to see the symbol, she checks in to a hotel. The girl with the star mark comes knocking on her hotel room door. She leads her to the cave and she sees purple stones; that is when Erhan and one of his crew men pull her out of the site and ask her to leave. Atiye tells Erhan that a little girl with a star mark is still inside and that there are purple stones. He does not believe her and again asks her to leave.
On the next day Erhan and his crew go further inside and sees the purple stones and a drawing of a girl with a star mark on her forehead. Erhan later contacts Atiye. Upon her return, Ozan proposes to her and she accepts. Atiye frequently sees an old woman approaching her and that scares Atiye a lot. Erhan and Atiye's fates are connected by some mysterious duty that they have towards the world, and it is up to them to find out what their purpose is meant to be... They try to find out what this is all about. That's when Erhan's father's old colleague gives him the diary and some documents that belonged to his father since he recalled the symbol Erhan discovered from his father's notes. Erhan's father left many messages for Atiye and Erhan many years ago, before the birth of Atiye, and the messages too have to be found and solved like riddles. Ozan's father Serdar Yılmaz and Erhan's ex-girlfriend Hannah work for some mysterious mafia that needs Atiye.
Season 3
Atiye and Erhan continue to search for their daughter. Seeking to reach her daughter Aden, Atiye faces a wrenching dilemma as dark forces attempt to harness Aden's cosmic powers to bring about destruction.

## Cast

| Actor | Character |
| Beren Saat | Atiye Özgürsoy |
| Mehmet Günsür | Erhan Kurtiz |
| Metin Akdülger | Ozan Yılmaz |
| Melisa Şenolsun | Cansu Özgürsoy - Elif Kurtiz |
| Başak Köklükaya | Serap Özgürsoy |
| Civan Canova | Mustafa Özgürsoy |
| Tim Seyfi | Serdar Yılmaz |
| Meral Çetinkaya | Zühre Altın |
| Lara Tonka | Aden |
| Selma Ergeç | Umut |
| Fatih Al | Nazım Kurtiz |
| Hazal Türesan | Hannah |
| Selen Öztürk - Sibel Melek Arat | Seher Altın |
| Senan Kara | Melek Yılmaz |
| Cezmi Baskın | Öner |

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released |
| 1 | 8 | 8 | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| 2 | 8 | 8 | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| 3 | 8 | 8 | June 17, 2021 (2021-06-17) | June 17, 2021 (2021-06-17) |

### Season 1 (2019)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Ozan Açıktan | Jason George | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| Abstract painter Atiye crosses paths with Erhan, an archaeologist who discovered a mysterious symbol at the Göbeklitepe excavation site. ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Ozan Açıktan | Nuran Evren Şit | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| A haunting vision torments Atiye amid wedding preparations. Erhan retrieves a clue leading to the woman who keeps appearing before Atiye. ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Ozan Açıktan | Ayşin Akbulut | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| As Zühre's identity comes to light, Atiye suspects a deliberate cover-up. Erhan hears about a blind woman who had visited his father at Göbeklitepe. ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Gönenç Uyanık | Cansu Çoban | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| Serdar scrambles to find Atiye, Erhan sees a vision of his family, and Zühre reveals to Atiye her calling -- and their shared mystical lineage. ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Gönenç Uyanık | Nuran Evren Şit | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| Inside the cave, Atiye comes to terms with her past and faces her fears. Erhan rushes to find the tunnel entrance as Atiye's fate hangs by a thread. ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Gönenç Uyanık | Cansu Çoban and Merih Aslan | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| A picture of Shahmaran confirms Erhan's suspicions. Atiye stumbles upon a shocking truth while investigating the Kurtiz family deaths. ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Gönenç Uyanık | Atasay Koç | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| Bristling under pressure from Serdar, Ozan confronts Cansu about her attempts to confess to Atiye. A betrayal threatens to seal Atiye's fate. ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Gönenç Uyanık | Nuran Evren Şit and Nergis Otluoğlu Akoğlu | December 27, 2019 (2019-12-27) |
| In a flashback, Zühre shares with Nazim her premonitions about Atiye and Erhan. Atiye makes a fateful decision that inevitably alters reality. ||||||

### Season 2 (2020)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 9 | 1 | "Episode 1" | Ali Taner Baltacı | Nuran Evren Şit | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| Thrust into an unsettling new reality in which her existence is void, Atiye encounters a familiar face at the place where it all began. ||||||
| 10 | 2 | "Episode 2" | Ali Taner Baltacı | Nuran Evren Şit and Ayşin Akbulut | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| Serdar orders Hannah to keep a close watch on Atiye, who soon discovers Serdar's link to Erhan's mining operation and meets a man from Erhan's past. ||||||
| 11 | 3 | "Episode 3" | Ali Taner Baltacı | Nuran Evren Şit and Ali Ercivan | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| Atiye shows Nazim's notebook to Erhan and encounters the fertility symbol. Mustafa investigates Serap's past, and Atiye has a shocking realization. ||||||
| 12 | 4 | "Episode 4" | Burcu Alptekin | Nergis Otluoğlu Akoğlu | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| As Ozan's fate hangs by a thread, Serdar scrambles to locate Atiye, who learns that she carries the world's only hope for a future. ||||||
| 13 | 5 | "Episode 5" | Burcu Alptekin | Nuran Evren Şit and Merih Aslan | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| Melek begins to connect the dots, Hannah coerces Nazim into helping her find Erhan and a benevolent figure awaits Erhan and Atiye at Cappadocia. ||||||
| 14 | 6 | "Episode 6" | Burcu Alptekin | Pelin Karamehmetoğlu | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| Serap sends Melek a signal. Seher points Atiye to the stone inscriptions that would help Erhan remember her, but Atiye's journey hits a snag. ||||||
| 15 | 7 | "Episode 7" | Gökhan Tiryaki | Atasay Koç and Nuran Evren Şit | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| As Elif's time runs out, Serdar reveals his dark, tragic beginnings and forces Atiye to lead him to the cave's entrance. ||||||
| 16 | 8 | "Episode 8" | Gökhan Tiryaki | Nuran Evren Şit | September 10, 2020 (2020-09-10) |
| The truth behind the deaths of pregnant women comes to light. Two parallel realities intersect as Atiye fulfills her quest - at a price. ||||||

## Production

Filming took place in Istanbul, Göbekli Tepe, Adıyaman, Mount Nemrut, Cappadocia, Mardin, and Bursa, among other locations in Turkey.

## Reception

Pop culture site Decider.com's review column Stream It Or Skip It recommended The Gift as "stream it", calling the show "a good-looking series about a human’s connection to the mystical" and "ground[ed] in reality, [not] hokey or overly precious."