RECAP: The Republic Season 2 – Episode 1

Mzansi Magic debuted season 2 of its highly charged political drama, The Republic, this past Sunday.

This article contains spoilers from episode 1 of the second season of The Republic

It was a risk taken, given many felt it would have made for a perfect limited series. After all, it had ended with Warren Masemola’s very compelling Thabang dying.

Tshedza Pictures and the suits at Mzansi Magic thought otherwise.

The first episode is, well, both enthralling and yet slightly underwhelming. Ultimately it works. It is a well-wrapped Rashomonic episode.

President Mulaudzi (Florence Masebe) can’t catch a break. Thabang’s ex-wife Bridget (Masasa Mbangeni) is in the throes again, returning as the president’s confidante.

Crime and protests are rocking South Africa again and, she has to find a way to douse the flames with a cabinet she chides by saying, “You’re like children”.

The episode starts with two police officers on the road. They come across a place where it seems as if there is a work gang attending to an electrical fault. Then boom, they are criminals stealing cables, and the two amiable sounding cops are soon dead.

We meet our protagonists Thina (Noxolo Dhlamini) and Sizwe (Lemogang Tsipa). We see their home environments, and the now-familiar trope of fathers as deadbeats and mothers sweet hits us fair and square.

Sizwe and Thina are regular people who do not even know their destinies are intertwined.

At Cabinet, if Mulaudzi had a dodgy scheming miscreant for her last deputy, the new one harks back to the old horses who fall asleep during important meetings.

The Minister of Infrastructure Lizzie Mdoda-Masemola (Tsholo Mashishi) tells the president that power has been restored to Tembisa. She places the blame for the unrest squarely at the door of Minister of Police Mthembu (Bongile Mantsai). She accuses him of doing nothing to deal with the spate of thefts of cables. He says it is down to the fact that infrastructure is not being updated to which she retorts that the budget mostly goes to the police.

Bridget stands up and says the people are ‘calling us out’ because of the promises made and not kept. The power must be restored to Tembisa or else the anger will become something ‘we simply can’t quell’.

Bridget, the conscience, is on call folks.

Oh, the call with Biden is postponed.

Meanwhile, Judge Ndlovu (Jerry Mofokeng) has the report complete and he says that all those who engaged in state capture have nowhere to hide.

But yikes, there are a couple of goons listening outside.

Thina arrives at work, in a supermarket but soon her boss orders a shut-down on account of the protestors being out of hand. As they lock important things in the safe, protestors break through.

Bridget seems hesitant or uncomfortable with going to the anniversary of Thabang’s death but Mulaudzi encourages her to go at least in respect of the sacrifice made by her ex-husband.

The ransackers drag Thina and threaten to kill her. Sizwe, as one of the accidental looters, flies to her rescue. She shoots him accidentally in the kerfuffle and then we find out she is a nurse. Yikes.

She stitches him up and we think they have gotten off free.

Meanwhile, we find out that Mdoda-Masemola holds the Mpumalanga voting bloc. Mulaudzi says it is her last term and she can do as she pleases but the Minister threatens a recall.

What is with Mdoda-Masemola smiling because of the government troubles? We soon find out as she offers Shakes a deal should Mulaudzi fall. She brings in Mpumalanga for his ascendancy and he gives the deputy presidency. This is after Mulaudzi deploys the army and Mdoda-Masemola says there would be bloodshed.

Mthembu accuses Lizzie of being the dark force behind the whole protests, saying they are too organised.

And the president suddenly realizes that this is all about the report. Goodness. It happens.

As for Thina and Sizwe, their life just got really complicated.

We won’t tell you what happens at the end but this episode moves really fast. There are a lot of revelations when it comes to the nefarious intent of the characters in the series. A lot of people have shown us their hand which means even deeper conspiracies lie ahead.

What we enjoyed watching was the intimacy of the protestors and the looting. It was peak awesome and amazing cinematography.

We are also curious about the choice of dark clothes for quite a few of the cast. Is it something to do with the state of the country? Shakes and his browns is easy to understand though.

The underwhelming bit is some of the setups, do not have the pay-off in that you almost expect what will happen to happen.

With 12 episodes to go, we will be entertained. Gripping.

The Republic is on Mzansi Magic, DStv Channel 161 every Sunday at 20.00hrs. Also available on DStv Catch Up.