The Boy and the Pine Cone
Episode 1 of Atiye (The Gift) Season 3 starts with Erhan and Atiye together, still trying to find their daughter Aden. Cut just before this however, is an ominous sequence involving a boy out in the woods with a pine cone. Hold that thought because we’ll be returning to him shortly! In the morning, Atiye symbolically lets the note holding her wish go. She watches as it falls lazily down the stream while Erhan leaves. Atiye eventually arrives at the clinic, where she learns there’s a new student called Arda that’s arrived. After a brief chat, Atiye sees a familiar face – Cansu. It’s been three or four months since they saw each other, but the sisters embrace warmly now. Arda hands over a pine cone to Atiye when he sees her next. He points to the forest where this is located – the same forest that seems to be from the opening shot of the season. Atiye decides against going but instead heads home for the family meal. Something is not right. She hears fire crackling but tries to put it to the back of her mind. Cansu meanwhile, meets up with Ozan later that evening and the pair start dancing. It’s clear they’re back together but for now are keeping it a secret. Elsewhere, Erhan expresses concerns over Atiye spacing out at dinner. She claims to still feel their daughter’s presence, prompting a hug from Erhan as he reinforces the arduous ordeal she’s been through all this time. That night, Atiye’s fears manifest in a strange dream. Aden stands with pine cones all around, lighting them up and burning alive. Atiye’s screams bolt her awake. Erhan isn’t there though, given he’s with Serdar in his apartment. The pair start sifting through various documents, figuring out that these symbols date back to the time of Alexander The Great which could well be the origin. These two working together however is a secret; Atiye doesn’t know they’ve teamed up. As they continue searching, Serdar uncovers a strange prophetic message reading “Birth begins with death, and our last day is the beginning of the first” It’s still unclear what this means – or how it ties with the shadowy organization – but it is something to chew over for the opening of the season. When Erhan leaves, Serdar continues to dig and believes this could well link to the secret of Gobeklitepe, given it’s directly linked to the life cycle of the human race. The theory that time isn’t linear comes into play here too, which I guess is significant to the symbol as well given its spirals. Atiye heads back to school and speaks to Arda again, who once more points to the trees. This time our heroine heads in to explore. Eventually she heads through to a large, open area with charred pine cones on the floor. As she clears the leaves from the ground, they reveal our familiar symbol. However, that same symbol is on the beach with Atiye’s daughter Aden too, who’s watched from afar by…Ozan!
The Episode Review
Atiye returns for its third season, and wastes absolutely no time getting into the heart of our big mystery. After last season’s alternate reality take and revealing glimpses of this shadowy organization, season 3 looks like it’s getting down to brass tacks as Erhan and Atiye hunt for Aden. As we’ve seen from the ending, she is very much alive but whether she’s actually leaving these messages for Atiye or if they’ve been intentionally left by someone to follow this breadcrumb trail, remains to be seen. The reveal that Ozan is behind her capture is certainly an unexpected one, and it’ll be interesting to see what his stake in all this is going forward. What is clear however, is that this Turkish series doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon. It looks like we’ve got quite the dramatic season ahead!
