Netflix’s The Gift, based on a Turkish novel, was a show of ups and downs. When it was up, it was an engaging and mysterious archeological adventure that combined symbols and secrets to genre-splicing effect; when it was down, it was a tedious family drama that really tested the limits. Nevertheless, the show established its fans, with a greenlit second season, it was content to cut things off after a pretty major last-minute development. Well, The Gift season 2 is here now, and it’s immediately much more engaging, in part because it’s building on what we already know about this world and these characters, and also because its hook is that Atiye (Beren Saat) has been thrust into a different reality populated by slightly warped versions of the existing characters. For all intents and purposes, she has never existed here. Her father Mustafa (Civan Canova) is still a cop but never married or had children; he becomes something of a sympathetic ally to Atiye as she begins to piece together this new normal, which includes getting a job as a helper to Cansu (Melisa Senolsun), now calling herself Elif, who is in a secret relationship with Ozan (Metin Akdülger) despite being his adopted sister. It’s well-shot, full of picturesque landscapes that make the setting and show feel richer. It’s always easy to scoff at international Netflix series’ making a triumphant return after basically refusing to end in the first place, but The Gift at least justifies its return.