1. The Race Card

The term “immigrant” is fashionably black and illegal, so when Davenport was called one not only at his own party, but at his own fucking party, you could literally hear the crowd jeering.

HIT or MISS?

We think it’s a HIT. The private conversation we have is that, all things considered, european colonisers were immigrants when they landed on African shores with the objective of acquiring – ahem, ‘stealing’ – the land. It is therefore not hard to imagine how good it must have felt for the villified to see the show subvert the stereotype of what qualifies an immigrant and it’s attached entendre of a criminal and violent persona – all of which Davenport was.

2. Bodies in Terror

Typically, journalistic media does not hesitate in grafting terror onto black bodies. It is a commonplace experience to depict black bodies as either proponents of, or victims of violence.

HIT or MISS?

We think it was a HIT. Lediga and the team managed to deal with this subject in a thoughtfully layered manner. The way in which Snow White and Shandu create mass-massacre snuff videos in order to manipulate the political landscape in their favour is an act that Shandu pointedly remarks Snow is taking lightly, because it is executed on African bodies. The news channels in the series showed the Park Station explosion, the xenophobic attacks – the blood shed and the blood shedders – with an unflinching, insensitive camera lense. To be fair, Ekaterina generally has an irreverent attitude towards the lives of others and we see it when she executes her father, the Gupta brothers (cough-cough) – the President’s advisers, and the lovable, acerbic Mazet.

3. Xenophobia

It is an extremely sensitive issue. However, the problem lies not only with murder, but with the divisive nature of the problematic narrative that a skewed news media gives it: which results in an obscene obsession that is depicted in the visceral photography and video footage of Africans killing Africans. Think the Sunday Times’ 2015 choice to give front-page status to the gruesome pictures documenting the brutal murder of a Mozambican migrant taken by photographer, James Oatway. Was Sunday Times thinking sales or spreading awareness? Was a front page publication of those images necessary? And how did Kagiso Lediga’s script weigh in on this issue?

HIT or MISS?

Absolute HIT. The landscape diversity of the series, with it being shot across 37 different locations, indulges the rich, multifaceted reality of Africa. In a move that pays homage to books like The Scramble for Africa, Lediga highlights the shared experience of colonial oppression that African countries share when Queen remarks on how two white people are discussing the fate of Africans – once again. And when a character says, “Where are we now, some fucking shithole in Western Africa?” in the scene of the crisis discussions with the South African president, it is pointedly condescending: in his conversation with TIME, Lediga states that he was communicating the isolating history of apartheid South Africa that gave the country’s modern-day nationals (both African and European South Africans) a European or western notion of Africa and that, “It was important for me to say that we are all on this continent together.”

4. Diversity

In showbiz, it’s hard to talk about African diversity in screenplays without pointing to Black Panther and… right. There isn’t enough of them. So, seeing a legion of different characters on the screen that aren’t the requisite token item (because don’t we all know?) is a factor that is a cause for celebration for its own sake.

HIT or MISS?

HIT – duh. Representation isn’t only about black people, but about how diverse a character is. Queen Sono (I’m talkin’ ‘bout Pearl Thusi) is a character that is also as cosmopolitan as the series is. Her abilitiy to switch between languages is a common experience in South Africa and other African countries. It’s not weird to know more than one language, a factor that was probably ensured by colonisation and the setting of arbitrary borders that resulted in the experience of many tribes being crowded to one country and in close quarters.

5. Role Reversals

In gender politics and power play, role reversals are a poignant celebration of the freedom of expression and an individualism that does not rely on gender-based qualifications in character creation. In racism, the politics of skin and the classicim that comes with them means that melanated skins are conventionally not dressed in prominent roles on screen.

HIT or MISS?

Lukewarm. With Queen, Lediga’s poignant confrontation of gender based violence and entrenched patriarchy delivered to us a woman who embodies the reality that women can fight back – and we agree, it is cool. The damsel in distress trope has long since been demoted to meme status by modern day standards, and so it is eye-roll baffling why Hollywood everyone thinks that it still makes a good story. Oh, and we loved the part where Queen switches channels and there is a black girl super hero cartoon playing. Queen doesn’t even react to it (but we do), because it shouldn’t even be a thing. It should be normal.

Now that we’ve gotten the warm out the way, time for the luke: which was black people imbibing western narratives into their own. While political espionage, spies, krav maga fighting styles, etc are a staple in every country with a “democratic” government (and otherwise), parts of the series felt like they were taking black people and placing them into white roles. Par exemple: Queen and Frederique escaping on a boat was very Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in The Tourist; Shandu’s performance in re the Wattu Wema group felt very Bane-like, complete with the covering of his face and the manner of his speech; the chronicle of Queen and Shandu working for different spy agencies and the inevitable sex scene (which happened) felt very The Smiths minus the trashing of Queen’s apartment (but she did point a gun at him, so that counts). Perhaps Lediga and the team wanted us to reimagine ourselves in those iconic roles? Regardless, it was quite entertaining.

6. Freedom Fighters to State Secrecy

Deep breath – because this is how it feels when we talk about it; like a huge, complicated mess in a post-apartheid/neo-colonial society. In the not-so distant past, the freedom fighters, who ended up being our leaders today, gave speeches which inspired people to fight to be free. Today’s speeches either still feel like we are fighting, or like flimsy band-aid disguises for bigger issues, like the looting of state resources, corruption, politicians in war amongst themselves for coveted positions, racketeering, and the list goes on.

HIT or MISS?

HIT. Part of the mandate of the new dispensation is that a democratic society values principles of openness and transparency. When ushering in the new era, endeavours like the new voting system and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were effected in order to foster these ideals. Today, we have State Capture reports (we’re looking at you, Malunga), the currently on-going Judicial Commission of Inquiry, and state figures that steal from the covid-19 relief fund. Even without the expositional scene of Queen interviewing the President of Kenya, the series encapsulates this frightening factor of African leaders who’ve “lost their way” in the fight against the oppressors of their people.

7. The Kink In My Hair

Bad adverts aside, isn’t it fun how the characters we love the most all wore their hair natural?

Need we even ask? It was a definite HIT. From Frederique’s HD Mandela line to Nova’s afrocentric ponytails, we were graced by gravity-defying halos. Queen’s bantu knots were gorgeous, and sitting on the floor while our parents carefully parted and braided our hair is a deeply personal experience that most Africans share, one that fills us with warm nostalgia, as Thusi states, “I felt like a child again”. And isn’t Sono’s first name a slogan waiting to happen? Because yaaaas, Queen. Wear your crown Queen. Wear your crown King.

8. Clothing

Definite HIT.

The printed duvet cover. The sumptuous, printed dress she wore as she rode on the boat.
The printed shirts of Frederique. William’s girlfriend who’s style was a very yum afro-chic.
The doeks.

Our screens were sprawling with stunning African textiles.

The local flair of Queen’s bucket hat paired with a spunky Alaska style jumpsuit while she engages in ‘accuse number 1’ behaviour .

On the other end of the spectrum, the series depicted characters who dressed in the more modern clothing of a westernized continent. We loved this inclusivity that is so relevant today: the norm of modern clothes placed next to the formal normalisation of African clothes in corporate spaces. Even the weave gets love: I think most of us fell in love with Miri. And while the weave is a controversial item of expression in hair culture, we love that Lediga agrees that women can do whatever the hell they want to their bodies.

9. Scenery

Everyone is tired of how images of Africa are often dismissive portraits of war and povertystricken irrelevance.

HIT or MISS?

You already know. Queen Sono shows all of that and more: the unbridled, congested markets as seen in Zanzibar (a location in every African country regardless of the level of ‘civilization’ achieved), the silvery metropolis jungle of Jozi, and the arid red sands of the Congo conflict mines were all laid bare for an international audience that may otherwise not be so well-acquainted with the idea of Africa or African countries having both contrasts of civilization and development existing side by side and often entertwined.

10. Jay-Z (a.k.a Jacob Zuma)

We noticed this when the camera man showed a bull’s eye shot of the top of the President’s shiny head. And if President Malunga leading his ministers, advisors and the SOG in prayer wasn’t a pretty obvious testament to the incompetence of not just Africa’s leaders, but most leaders on a global scale, we don’t know what was.

It was a hilarious HIT.

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PS: Anyone ever consider the possibility that William’s girlfriend, Nova, could also be a spy?