Sleeping with the enemy [The Queen Recap]

A relationship between direct rivals makes for a heart-warming Romeo and Juliet tale, but you only have to remember  from the oldest such romance — Samson and Delilah — that sleeping with the enemy always ends in tears. The new, black-clad Shaka Khoza came back to The Queen with a woollen hat and reading glasses. You would think the new glasses have given him clarity of vision. Instead he is blinded by love.

Thato’s business struggle

The return of Thato’s dead beat dad has turned his otherwise peaceful world upside down. Absentee father, Jackal, thought he had friends, only to find that he was in fact sleeping with the enemy. His fake friends cleaned out The Corner House and escaped with the entire stock and the contents of the cash register. CCTV footage showed them drugging Jackal before robbing the place.

Trying to save the business, Thato went to the bank and applied for a loan. His application was turned down. If he went to that other bank, they must have been busy trying to sort out internal problems. Thato has already planned a grand reopening which only added to his disappointment. He shut himself in his room leaving Vuyiswa haunted by the fear of her nephew backsliding to his former life of drug abuse. She thought her fears were vindicated when she discovered an empty bottle of pills next to his bed with Thato in apparent coma. But it turned out these were painkillers for his recent gunshot wound and Thato was only sleeping.

Jackal cleans up his mess

Finding Thato seemingly passed out next to an empty pill bottle also frightened Jackal. The Corner House was all that Thato had to live for, so said Vuyiswa. Trying to make up for years of absence from his son’s life, Jackal acted swiftly. He located the fongkong friends who had robbed the corner house and beat them up before recovering Thato’s goods. For the first time since his father came back into his life, Thato was genuinely pleased with the man. But as I said before, Jackal was truly sleeping with the enemy. Rather than being remorseful, his “friends” filed an assault complaint and, despite Tembisa Police being in possession of video footage of them robbing the Corner House, Vuyiswa threw Jackal in jail. His bail was set at R5000. Thato too felt betrayed by Vuyiswa — sleeping with the enemy— when she would not contribute towards Jackal’s bail. After being released on bail, Jackal did what all deadbeat dads do. He left.

Sebata discovers Thando’s secret

 

Thando had been sneaking off to meetings with Shaka behind her father’s back for the past couple of weeks. She sensed that Sebata might not approve of his daughter sleeping with the enemy. Until recently, the Khozas were the biggest threat to Sebata’s drug business and, of course, it was he who killed Kea Khoza.

Sebata overheard his daughter talking to Shaka Khoza. Thando was as shocked as everybody to discover that Hector did not mind her seeing Shaka. After all, he had been encouraging her to get a life.

Thando shoots her shot

 

Hector’s discovery of Thando’s relationship only emboldened her to take the next step. Remember that two weeks ago Thando rudely told Shaka to “lear to hit and move on?” Now Thando was absentminded during family time. Although she was physically with Mpho and Hector during meals and family chats, spiritually and emotionally she was absent. Shaka was constantly on her mind. Has Thando, the deadly assassin and supposed man eater met her match in Shaka Khoza?

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Thando barged into the Khoza dining room right in the middle of dinner. When she introduced herself, Brutus immediately gave her his own name, Manyonyobani, on account of the fact that she had snuck in and out of Shaka’s bedroom. When Manyonyobani asked to speak to Shaka in private, Brutus told her to speak in front of the family. She did. As Thando made her public declaration of love, Harriet, who never thinks anybody is worthy of her children, rolled her eyes towards the expensive chandelier. But would Harriet stop the romance?

Dining with the enemy

For once, Harriet was supportive of Shaka’s relationship. She invited Thando to dinner, along with her family, to thank Hector Sebata for catching her daughter’s killer, Jaros. Should we tell Harriet or let her find out on her own?

Initially, Hector’s guilt wouldn’t let him accept the invite, but Thando was insistent, so he went along.

At dinner, Sebata asked about the trucking business. Harriet who never airs her laundry in public gave a glowing report of Khoza Trucking’s financial position. But Brutus cut in and confessed that the business was struggling. Just as well Brutus ran his mouth because Sebata had an offer; a transport tender for the correctional services, where Hector has connections. Harriet was suddenly all smiles. Like Lauryn Hill said, “it’s funny how money changes situations”.

Back in business

Sebata kept his word about the transport deal. But after Harriet had done some number crunching, the deal was barely enough to keep Khoza Trucking afloat. There was only one thing to do. She proposed that the family returns to the drug business. All in favour? The entire family nodded their consent, including Kagiso who, it must be said, did not look entirely happy about it.

Of the Big Five – Mzi Khoza’s clients – only two remain in the picture; Dollar and Jasmine. Only the ancestors know what became of Zack Phiri and Dlamini. Harriet called a meeting with Dollar and Jasmine to tell them she was back in the cocaine trade. She thought they were old friends. Turns out she too was sleeping with the enemy all along. They turned her down, and rudely too. They already have a supplier. Harriet’s potential in-laws, the Sebatas.

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Sleeping with the enemy

It seems that orchestrating romance between people from enemy camps is a storytelling concept that screenwriters Gwydion Beynon and Phathu Makwarela love to employ… almost too much.

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In other telenovelas written by the award winning duo, this theme is repeated. Shaka married Mmabatho after blowing up her mother to kingdom come. Goodness dated Kagiso even though Kagiso killed her father Goldfinger, and Harriet murdered her uncle Diamond. Hector killed Kea Khoza, and now his daughter is sleeping with the enemy.

On The River, Zolani stood and watched as his aunt, Lindiwe Dlamini, drowned Mokoena, whose daughter, Tumi, he would later marry. Months after shooting Mbongeni Ndaba, on Gomora, Ntokozo would be caught by him mum, on the threshold of deflowering Buhle Ndaba, the daughter of the man he killed.

Although Makwarela and Beynon will point to a shelf that is almost collapsing beneath the weight of several glittering awards, some of their ideas have been worn thin. Perhaps it is time the brains behind the story found fresh talent to bring in new, previously unused ideas.

 

Till next week, my pen is capped

 

Jerà

 

The Queen airs weekdays at 9:00pm on Mzansi Magic

 

Images from twitter

 

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