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The feature length pilot is behind us, the 1-hour series is now underway. Although the show still has the same temperament as the pilot and more or less the same cast, the shortened running time does an injustice to the show 'cause everything feels slightly rushed but none-the-less Episode 2 still delivered on a so-so mystery stories, humour and character developments.

The story of episode 2 was titled “the big bonanza” and it saw Mma Ramotswe investigating a temperamental dentist ( with a dark secret ), a missing dog (yes it's that hard to start an agency in Botswana; no one takes you seriously, Mma Ramotswe has to look for dogs to make ends meet) and the case of the missing man ( who may or may not be part of a religious cult).

Poor Nigerians seem to be the Nazi’s of Africa , if you want a bad guy in an African story make him a Nigerian, just like the Nazi were bad guys in most American movies after WW2, the bad guys these days are Nigerian. At least this one is a dentist and not drug dealer. The problem with our dentist is that, one day he is good professional, the next he has no clue what he is doing.

Thanks to Dr.Komoti, we discover that Mma Ramotswe, like many little girls and boys, is afraid of dentists. Mma Ramotswe conquered her fears and cracked the case of why the Dr. acts so strange and she found a very simple answer to everything.

This gave an opportunity for JLB and BK to have some screen time and to show off their comedic timing as pretend police officers. I liked how they played with BK’s sexuality. Since it’s still illegal in Botswana to have sex with another man, you can be a homosexual, but if you are caught having sex, you’ll be convicted of sodomy. So those with an ear into that countries sex politics might have found the running gag funnier than others.

The guys also showed they can pull off great special effects with the case of the missing man, a realistic animated crocodile was at the heart of the mystery. It’s pity due to the one hour duration, not enough time was spent with on this story.

Although the guys were able to how off some of the quirks of various African religious grouos, the story was never fairly treated due to the short duration. Actually the entire show felt as if it needed an extra 30 minutes just to do the different stories justice.

Yet the show was able to build on our understanding of our characters, for example with Mma Makutsi we were able to learn more about her life. Her brother/lover is withering away from some dreaded disease, probably HIV.

Unfortunately due to time again, one could not really tell the true nature of the relationship or the sickness. The series so far has been able to weave in these serious heavy issues without loosing any of it’s innocence, optimism, humour or light hearted feel. Which is remarkable in this day and age to have a series as light hearted as this which still manages to touch on thorny issues without bringing it’s tone down.

In conclusion, episode two was a mixed bag, that could have been nicer with more time. But one is getting used to the accents, the acting gets better and better, we are seeing more and more of Botswana and the humour is still there. So I‘m still booked in for Episode 3.

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