Netflix’s Fatma Season 1 premiere recap: Gravity

Netflix recently premiered a Turkish-produced series called Fatma Season 1 about a cleaning lady named Fatma Yilmaz (Burcu Biricik) whose life accidentally takes some dark turns. (NOTE: The credits to Fatma name the actors, but not the characters they play, so it’s difficult for someone unfamiliar with the actors to match them to their characters. In other words, this recap will only be able to list certain actors, based on the names listed on the IMDb website).

The season premiere begins with a scene of her being interrogated by unknown police officers about a man who was killed. We learn that, indeed, Fatma is a cleaner. Then the episode flashes back to before this interrogation where she receives a phone call that she wishes to be from her missing husband, Zafer. For better or worse, the strange call does not seem to be from Zafer.

Fatma Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Fatma looks for answers

Fatma dutifully tries to get fliers hung up about her husband, but there’s a general lack of interest. In fact, people treat her efforts with some disdain. Next, we get another flashback to a young Fatma and Zafer, suggesting the two were close even before marriage. In a more present time, still looking for Zafer, Fatma visits someone named Kadriye (Gulcin Kultur Sahin) at night, only
to be told that he’s not coming back.

Later that night, a bearded shopkeeper (Deniz Sen Hamzaoglu) who she spoke to earlier starts harassing Fatma from outside of her house window, pounding on the building. He leaves after he partially breaks a window, and viewers are left wondering what his motivations are. Things get a little less heavy when Fatma visits an author (Ugur Yücel) she seems to know well, who happens to be watching a talk show segment about a murdered man whose family accuses him now of being violent. Fatma says she thinks the man’s daughter killed him, and the conversation presages the murder themes that will soon ensnare Fatma’s life.

Fatma Season 1, Episode 1 recap: The killing

Next, Fatma asks a man named Mr. Bayram (Mehmet Yilmaz Ak) if Zafer owed him money. We learn that Zafer wanted to solve an issue with someone else named Sevket (Kubilay Tunçer), which thickens the plot even more. It’s strongly implied that Zafer may actually be hiding because he owes Sevket money. So, in her question for answers, Fatma visits Sevket alone, perhaps against her better judgment.

As one might expect, Sevket has a gangster mindset and is no gentlemen, eventually mentioning that he should pimp Fatma out to get the money owed by Zafer. Frightened by the situation and his obvious threatening behavior, Fatma shoots Sevket, almost as a nervous response (yikes!). She leaves the scene and revisits Bayram, who the police are in the middle of investigating as an immediate suspect. Fatma sets a gun down on Bayram’s table, suggesting to him that she’s the one who shot Sevket.

Fatma Season 1, Episode 1 recap: Hiding the crime

Bayram urges Fatma to conceal the gun, preferring Sevket’s death to remain a mystery untraceable to him. Ironically, the police then show up and tell Fatma to leave, assuming she’s just some cleaner. Later, however, Fatma is picked up at the food court where she also cleans, and they ask her questions. That’s perfectly normal in proper investigations, however, when Fatma starts explaining herself to the officer, it becomes obvious he wasn’t paying attention — suggesting that her lower job status makes her less of a suspect.

It is a bit strange, especially when Zafer was in and out of prison, and apparently had assaulted Sevket previously (no specific details are really mentioned in the episode, at least within the English subtitles). It is suggested, however, that Zafer didn’t actually attack Sevket but took the blame for it. Curiously, before leaving the interrogation, Fatma (seemingly intentionally) drops a yellow piece of paper on the floor, which viewers might assume is a confession.

Assassin?

As the episode winds down, we see that a mysterious man (Emre Erçil) took the crumpled-up yellow paper and left it for Fatma to find at work. The two eventually cross paths, and he tells her he has a new job for her, apparently assuming she is actually a skilled assassin!

To add to her motivations, he claims that Zafer also owed him money, so it’s almost like Fatma is either being blackmailed to kill for him. The season premiere leaves plenty of details hidden, and we don’t yet know very much about the characters, but we do have a character put in a very strange and tenuous situation.

What are your thoughts on Fatma Season 1, Episode 1? Let us know in the comments!