A new Turkish drama takes place during two time periods: the present and 2003. The 2003 timeline dominates the first episode, but feels like it should have been minimized, given how confusing and toxic it is. Read on to find out exactly why we think that.
Opening Shot: “If I had a second chance, if I could go back to that morning, would I still read the letter? Yes, I would.” We see a red envelope.
The Gist: Elif Ayar (Günes Sensoy) has been taking care of her mother Fatma (Ipek Türktan) as her cognitive skills go into steep decline. One of the things Elif finds as she packs up and goes through her mother’s belongings is a journal full of highlighted reminders, as well as a red envelope addressed to Elif herself. In that envelope is an ultrasound photo and a plea for forgiveness from a teenager who turns out to be Elif’s birth mother.
Of course, this comes as a shock, as Elif has always known Fatma to be her mother. As Fatma sinks into a coma, though, Elif is determined to figure out who her birth parents are.
We flash back to 2003, at a high school in Istanbul where Fatma is a well-regarded literature teacher. Her memory is already failing her, as she has to write reminders to herself in a journal. She gives her class an assignment to write letters to someone in the future, but for the six members of her Literature Club — Mert (Can Bartu Arslan), Murat (Kerem Alp Kabul), Zuhal (Deniz Bakacak), Banu (Nilufer Bayraktutan), Seda (Cagil Aydiner) and Ahmet (Berk Ozgur) — they have to write the letters to themselves or they fail the assignment.
There are a lot of entanglements with this group. They seem to be friends, but most of them make fun of Banu for her weight. Murat is besties with Banu but likes Zuhal, who seems to like Mert. Banu also likes Mert. Seda teases Ahmet, and is besties with Banu, as well. She’s also throwing up a lot and implies that she might be pregnant.
Meanwhile, Elif goes back to her mother’s old school to see if she can figure out who was in her class. There, she meets the grown-up Zuhal (Gokce Bahadir), there to get an award. Helping to organize the presentation is Badu (Selin Yeninci), the wife of a wealthy benefactor. Murat (Erdem Senocak) works for Badu as her driver.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Letters From The Past, created by Rana Denizer, has a similar “past affects the present” vibe as a show like Yellowjackets, albeit not nearly as violent.
Our Take: To say that all the relationships and entanglements in Letters From The Past are confusing is an understatement. It doesn’t help that two of the boys — Mert and Murat — have similar names. What we couldn’t discern while we were watching the first episode is if the show is a teen drama, a drama about a young woman trying to figure out who she is, or something inbtween.
So with this whole Gordian Knot of relationships in place among a group of teens who seem to barely like each other but get together like they’re all best friends, Elif is going to have to navigate all of this 20 years later to find out exactly who her birth parents are. It makes us wonder why the story of Elif’s quest to find out the truth is being wrapped up in all of this aughties teen drama.
In fact, the story we really want to see is how Fatma started losing her cognitive faculties at a relatively young age, creatively covered up for it, and how she became Elif’s mother. How did she manage to raise Elif for twenty years while her memory was failing her? Did she ever try to get in touch with the former student who was Elif’s birth mother? It’s strange how the connection between the two time periods is Fatma, but after a couple of scenes in 2003 we don’t even see her.
What gives us pause is the lack of cohesion between the time periods, and how the letters conceit fits into the narrative. To be honest, we felt like we were watching two distinct shows during the first episode, with neither of them giving us a story that we were satisfied with.
Sex and Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Elif sneaks into a party, where she confronts who she thinks is the adult Seda. She holds a 20-year-old letter addressed to her.
Sleeper Star: We’ll give this to Nilufer Bayraktutan as the young Banu, who has to put up with being bullied by just about everyone she hangs out with.
Most Pilot-y Line: Adult Zuhal is trying to take a selfie outside the high school, and keeps telling Elif, sitting on a bench outside, to “skooch” and get out of the background. Her assistant comes out and says “Zuhal,” but for some reason Elif doesn’t make the connection, despite being told by the principal that she was there to get an award.
Our Call: SKIP IT. Letters From The Past is confusing, with characters that aren’t just unlikable, but who all seem to be surrounded by toxic friends and other relationships.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.