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All good things come to an end and unfortunately last night was the very last episode of DOAQ. I was hoping for at least one more episode, but 15 minutes into the finale I could see there won’t be one last savouring. DOAQ ended last night.Giving way to a second season of Thisa , on the same timeslot next week. So what does this mean, the King came, he saw and he was conquered by the young Punie (hehehehe).Poor Grace final bites the dust, but I felt there was an over whelming sense of emptiness to last night episode. I felt that too much was happening at the same time, from the death of Grace to the final mutiny, to Maloro’s death and we won’t given enough time to absorb everything in. The epic-ness and grandeur of the story was somehow short changed so as to make the story fit into the predetermined running time and budget, the final battle defineatly needed more extras and clashing of spears.
The dethroning of Maloro needed a huge battle of some sorts not a wimp out stabbing of Kgosi senase pula by a feeble old lady.With a gigantic sword that she could’nt even hold it up herself. Maloro deserved some great amano- amano battle ala Tony Mantana in Scareface. He needed to go down with all gun blazing.He deserved what Spartans in 300 call a “glorius death”. Maloro was too much of a bad-a$$ just to be killed so easily. Or is this a case of me liking the man too much, I don’t know?
But last night episode was not all bad though, Shoki as usual delivered with her final breakdown of Grace. I can’t remember the last time I saw such convincing “zombie” acting than when poor Grace was spewing her truth to the astonished Dr. and nurse. She deserves an oscar for her little monologue, as we saw the two shades of the old vile Grace being intersected with the new feeble and worn out Grace.Drama students,eat yor heart out. It was a stunning performance and a bit sad, cause it just showed how much the character had weakened. If theres any justice in this JZ world please give Shoki the SAFTA for best leading lady in the drama. Other than that I thought her death really needed more screen time, or even more mourning from Maloro. Cause the man lost his child and wife all in one episode, that’s quite a lot but it was just handled as a single beat and the story continued.
Then there was Maloro who continued to be the one and only bad-a$$ to the end, since Grace had wimped out from the strain of a guilty conscious and too much blood. King Maloro seemed to thrive on the anarchy, even when everyone was deserting him. He never decided to call it quits, and cash in on the badness and at least try to be nice so he may receive some mercy. No,not Maloro, instead he kills off his one and only minion,who choose to stand by him. Slaps around a man whose old enough to be his father. Plays dodge the bullet with the nurse. How bada$$ is that, you got to love the guy. But I loved how the actor handled Maloro’s desperation and unflenching resolve that nothing is going to happen to him, he was a proof that people actually go drunk on power. They can’t even see the writing when it’s on the wall.
I found it interesting that the writers decided to reveal that poor Maloro is not actually of the royal bloodline. This made his poor hold on power and need of it, a sign of corruption within the man and not just the ancestors being spiteful towards him. The man never had no right to be a king but he longed for it nonetheless. So being a king turned into a curse than a blessing for him. But I liked how poor Puno at the end seemed to be a merger of the two dynasties of kings and queens by swallowing both the black and the white stone. The reign, of just the dynasty of the Kings or Queens seems to be at an end. Puno seems to work as the messianic figure who reconciles both the two different lineages that has been at war looking for supremacy. She is starting a new dynasty and lineage,I hope that it will become a sequel,won’t that be cool ( hey a man can dream, can’t he?)
Overall DOAQ will sadly be missed, I think the series can stand shoulder to shoulder with some of the best South African shows we’ve seen such as Yizo Yizo, the first Season of the Lab, HardCopy and Tsha tsha. As a testimony that South Africans can tell good local stories with local talent and that there is more to our stories than just the kasi gangster genre ( and I am not dissing the genre at all). I think some will remember DOAQ for being a pioneer in the sense that ,it took of our own modes, beliefs and superstition and used them to a kick-s story with epic and mythical qualities. Dikgoshi dina dia busha ko motseng wa Mallowmetseng
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