Last week on die laan:
Monday 7 August:
Stefan confesses that he is the one that switched off Aubrey’s machines. He relates to Charmaine the story of his other son having the disease and what devastation the family went through as a result before his son eventually succumbed and died suffering terrible pain.
Marko goes to the girls’ flat to confront Vanessa about her mom taking the fall for her. At first Vanessa is confused but it dawns on her that her mom confessed to protect her. She tells Marko that she did not kill her son and the two realize that the culprit is neither her nor her mom.
Vanessa speedily makes her way to her mother’s house to apologise for putting her mother through hell, you’ve got that right Vanessa, and Charmaine finally tells her about Stefan being the guilty one.
What is Hilda doing in the deli at six in the morning, scrubbing floors? She gives Vince some pathetic excuse about never having the time to clean the deli and he smells a rat right away. Eventually Hilda tells him about the health inspector coming around the previous day and confiscating her specials. Vince senses that something does’nt add up, why only her specials and the inspector did’nt even go into the kitchen?
Matrone gloats when showing Oom Francois the news article about Hilda’s specials being under investigation. As we all know by now, Oom Francois has an urgent appointment to get to as he makes his way to the deli, spies around and spreads some exaggerated news about the deli closing its doors.
Hilda overhears, confronts him and he sheepishly tells her about what Matrone said. Hilda tells Paula there’s no time to waste, they have to eliminate Matrone from the competition. You go Hilda!
While Paula and Aggie are sitting in Oppiekoffie, Katinka walks in, is somewhat perturbed by the vibrations in the air. They seem to be coming from Paula as Katinka tells her that her soulmate is near, literally under her fingers. Paula is quite positive about this news and tells Aggie it’s a sign that Boerbul is the one.
Meanwhile, Altus is sitting just outside Oppiekoffie, in the arcade and when Katinka walks by, she is totally overwhelmed by her senses. She sees Altus, realizes he is Paula’s love and gives him some mixture to drink.
Jan Hendrik points out a news article to his mother, one of her old flames Nicholas Scott, will be returning to South Africa to settle down it seems. Madel seems indifferent to this bit of news but when left alone, she looks longingly at the picture of Nicholas Scott.
Hey hey, it seems the old bird is gonna get some action after all this time and rightly so too. It’s high time she has a life of her own and hopefully she will leave Dezi and Jan Hendrik in peace.
Charmaine drops by the Hillside Times Offices, tells Neville about Stefan confessing to Aubrey’s murder and thanks him for supporting her even when he thought she was guilty.
Thank you Charmaine, at least you spared us the old excuse Neville loves using about being the last one to find out. This way, he’s the first.
The Beukes family are having supper when Stefan comes knocking. Things are abit tense as Vanessa asks Stefan about Aubrey’s last night. He finally tells them in detail what exactly happened as we are shown the nature of events the night that Aubrey died. Vanessa leaves the room grief-stricken.
Little Aubrey can now finally rest in peace.
Tuesday 8 August:
The Beukes household is having a discussion about Stefan and all the obvious signs pointing to him being the one who switched off the machines. Vanessa is angry and although Felicity and Charmaine both understand about why Stefan did it, Charmaine says it best when she states that it’s in nobody’s hands to decide about life and death.
Dezi gets it into her head to throw a party to thank all her friends for being so understanding and supportive during the time she was blind and going into hospital for her operation. Madel thinks it’s a splendid idea.
Vanessa fetches her things at the flat and tells Paula and Karien about Stefan being the one who switched off Aubrey’s machines.
Karien confronts Xander at Oppiekoffie about keeping silent about Stefan, he denies knowing about this and she eventually tells him the latest with regards to Aubrey’s death. Zinzi’s ears can’t help overhearing this deliciously juicy bit of news, Karien warns her not to breathe a word to anybody, but we know better.
Charmaine phones Francois to let him know that she will be back at work the next day, knowing what a skinderbek (gossiper) he is, she fails to let him know of her latest developments.
Francois is dying to know and Zinzi is dying to tell and so it happens that they both get what they want as Zinzi tells Francois about Stefan.
There and then he makes his way over to Ryno and Emma to let them know the latest regarding Charmaine, adding an extra massive tail to the story. Ou Krokodil will just never change, will he?
Dezi orders platters from Vince and invites everybody to her party. She’s off to the beauty salon for a mini makeover.
Boerbul and Mata Hari exchange e-mail addresses and Mata Hari send a very seductive message to Boerbul.
Matrone and Mandla discuss getting the better of Hilda and are already preparing themselves for victory. Matrone overhears Katinka speaking to Tannie Rademan on the phone and is quite jealous to hear the old tannie is so active in her community.
Charmaine tells Vanessa they cannot judge Stefan for something they both thought of doing themselves, it will take time to process the events of the last few weeks. The phone rings and its Notnagel to say that the charges against Charmaine have been withdrawn. The two embrace.
Its Dezi’s party and when she comes down the stairs, everyone is blown away by the new look Dezi, she’s looking all glam and sophisticated with her new short hairdo.
It seems that the writers have given Paula, Aggie, Altus and Xander the exact same dialogue as we see them both having the same conversation about Boerbul and Mata Hari, respectively.
Madel says a few beautiful words in Dezi’s honour but it’s Dezi’s touching speech about the true meaning of friendship and being grateful for the gift of sight that really brings a tear to the eye.
When Xander gets a call about Charmaine, Jan Hendrik allows him to share the news with the rest of the party guests. Everyone is overjoyed and relieved for Charmaine.
Neville is at Charmaine’s place, she’s feeling sorry for Stefan and Neville tries his best to lift her spirits by making the evening about them, at first Charmaine refuses to budge but eventually she gives in to him.
It’s time for these two to stop stalling and get on with it now.
Wednesday 8 August:
It’s the day of Charmaine’s court appearance and Xander is there to pick her up. Vanessa insists she wants to accompany her mother but when she hears Stefan is gonna be there, she’s abit hesitant but eventually agrees to be there for her mother no matter what.
Oom Oubaas seems a tad frazzled as he relays the dramas of Rondomskrik to Emma and Ryno. It would appear that his dear old mother Moekie has had enough of looking after Hendrienna and Gert’s ten kids, she has reached the end of her tether with the whole situation and demands that Gert return to face his responsibilities.
And just where are Neef Gert and Cheryl, you may ask? Well it seems these two loafers are gallivanting along the West Coast somewhere, living a life of luxury by gambling their days and nights away. I just have to wonder who their latest victim may be.
When Katinka looks into Oom Oubaas’ eyes, she’s shocked by what she sees and whispers that it’s coming from the West.
Oh no, not again! Don’t tell me we are gonna get another dose of those horrible twosome Gert and Cheryl, I can’t bear the thought. Please Danie Odendaal, anybody but those two, pretty please?
Inge and Felicity discuss the financial crisis the boutique is in and both are worried that they’ll be sitting without jobs very soon.
Meanwhile at T&T, Jan Hendrik and Carlos are also discussing the financial problems of the boutique. Carlos feels strongly about closing the boutiques’ doors but Jan Hendrik wants to save his investment and also try to save Inge and Felicity’s jobs. Carlos says he needs time to think.
Neville is having a meeting with Kyriakis De Lange about the Dazzling Dame Competition and Mandla and Paula are all ears. It seems there’s only 10 days before the big announcement.
When Aggie shows the invoice of the t-shirts to Marko, he seems upset by the huge amount that they were charged. Eventually he sees a money making opportunity for him and Aggie in the t-shirt business.
Over pink milkshakes, Mandla and Matrone are discussing ways of bribing, blackmailing, anything really to get through to the panel of judges for the Dazzling Dame Competition. The panel consists of Neville Meintjies, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Dominee Potgieter who Matrone sees as an easy target.
Matrone is willing to do anything to reign supreme over Hilda and tells Mandla to come up with a final project that will make her the undisputed winner of the competition.
Paula is concerned about the competition and tells Aggie that drastic action needs to be taken to get Matrone out of the way. Aggie talks some sense into her and the two starts thinking of ideas for a final project.
Dezi gets a postcard from none other than Wilmien, remember her, and she and Jan Hendrik speculate about what could possibly have gone wrong between Zac and Wilmien, they were so inlove.
I wonder if this means that Wilmien will be returning, why else would they talk about her?
Xander informs Marko that charges against Charmaine have been dropped and that Stefan has been formally charged with murder and granted bail.
Felicity tells Inge that she has been neglecting Vince for far too long and its time to make up. She seems very confident about her relationship with Vince, convinced she’s the only woman for him and nothing can possibly go wrong.
Yeah right Felicity, keep fooling yourself girl!
Vanessa is helping her mother prepare supper (it’s really good to see these two coming together again), when Neville drops by and tells them that they’re going on holiday anywhere in SA, travel and accommodation paid for by him. At first they’re reluctant to accept his generous gift but his persistence makes them finally decide they’re going to Cape Town.
Anywhere in SA and you guys choose Cape Town, you come from Cape Town, why the hell do you want to go on holiday there?
Just by being a good person Charmaine has everyone in the Laan willing to pay for her, Ryno paying her legal bills, Francois willing to pay her full salary for extended leave and Neville paying for a holiday not to mention his willingness to pay for the granny flat, how come these things never happen to me?
Ryno asks Dezi about Kyriakis De Lange doing a book launch about the autobiography of businessman and economist Nicholas Scott, Madel’s beau.
Stefan comes to greet Charmaine, he was off course hoping to see Vanessa but that was not gonna happen. He tells Charmaine he’ll be going to a relative in Kimberly until his next court appearance. Charmaine tells him what a good person he is and wishes him well for the future.
Thursday 9 August:
Charmaine and Vanessa are busy packing for their holiday to Cape Town. Like a typical mother, Charmaine leaves loads of instructions for Felicity and Marko. Katinka and Francois come around to greet them and Katinka can’t help giving them some powders to drink.
Matrone has a huge clean-up project going on and she literally bullies everyone into helping her.
Hilda is preparing herself for her final project, giving underprivileged juveniles a health pack and taking them on an outing.
Paula is upset that Boerbul seems to be ignoring her and Aggie tells her to stop being so hard up and pushy.
Felicity pops in at the deli to invite Vince to dinner but he makes up some excuse until he hears about her being home alone and changes his mind.
Maria tells Hilda how Matrone is once again manipulating everybody into literally doing her dirty work without compensation. Hilda phones Oubaas to withdraw some cash at the bank, methinks she’s up to no good.
Matrone and Mandla plot to outwit Hilda by giving the kids luxuries instead of the health snacks.
Felicity tells Xander how special the Meintjies men are, yep only two of them Felicity. She puts a spanner in Marko’s works by telling him he can’t have a braai because she’s having Vince over for an intimate dinner, off course this was said in Xander’s presence and he does not look happy.
Matrone is in Oppiekoffie doing what she does best, bossing everyone around. Hilda, Maria and Oubaas watch with interest while drinking tea.
Hilda’s view is blocked as Mandla goes to her baskets and changes all her health packs for unhealthy ones.
Hilda is back from her outing with the kids, she’s tired miserable and needs a strong cup of tea. She complains bitterly about the unruly behaviour of the kids wondering where the junk food came from. She realizes it can only be Mandla and Matrone who sabotaged her.
Altus does not want to appear too desparate for Mata Hari but Xander convinces him to take the plunge and go after her.
Paula feels sorry for herself and Karien tells her to take action and get in contact with Boerbul. If she keeps him dangling, she might lose him forever.
Vince and Felicity are having a fabulous time and Felicity thinks she’s so lucky to deserve a guy like Vince.
Friday 11 August:
Dezi is organizing a band playing at the club, Liasion. When the topic of Nicholas Scott once again comes up, Madel says she can barely remember him yet she goes to her safe and retrieves love letters, apparently from him.
You know the old Afrikaans saying “Ou liefde roes nooit”, well this seems to be a typical case.
Paula is totally smitten with Boerbul, he tells her exactly what she wants to hear and she claims to Karien that her intuition has never failed her, Boerbul is the one.
Oubaas is on the phone with Hendriena and she’s sobbing uncontrollably. It seems Gert refuses to return home and Moekie has now gathered three of her henchmen, got into her bakkie and is off to fetch Gert from the West Coast. Hilda is happy with this news.
She won’t be so happy if Gert makes his way to Hillside again and neither will I.
Marko invites everybody to his braai. Oom Francois tells the waiters there’s stocktaking to be done after work and they cleverly devise a plan to do the stocktaking during working hours while two waiters serve. Oom Francois is none the wiser and is shocked when they tell him it’s all done.
Matrone is gloating over Hilda’s disastrous project as she looks at pictures of Hilda looking rather weary and down with a bunch of unruly kids in the background.
Hilda, on the other hand is rather pleased with her efforts in sabotaging Matrone’s clean-up project as she and Paula look at pictures of rubbish dumped all over a vacant stand.
Paula and Mandla clash over who’s story will appear on the front page and Neville tries to establish what’s going on by telling them he want both their articles on his desk and he will decide which story should be front page news.
Marko and Aggie discuss supplying t-shirts for Kyriakis De Lange’s Liasion function.
Neville decides to publish both articles as one since its clear to him what measures the candidates are prepared to go to and they’re completely missing the point of the competition.
Vince plans to spoil Felicity and he asks Marko and Xander’s assistance.
Boerbul sends a soppy love letter to Mata Hari and the flirting continues between the two.
Jan Hendrik, Inge and Carlos have a meeting regarding the boutique.
Must there always be snacks and wine, its no wonder the place has a cash flow problem.
Carlos decides to get the boutique on its feet again by giving it a cash injection to get things going again.
Careful Carlos, Inge might just mix up invoices again or buy wine and snacks with the cash, better keep a close eye on her because I don’t trust Jan Hendrik around her.
At Marko’s braai, there’s tension between Paula and Altus and Paula can’t believe she fell for Altus because he’s such a dweeb.
That remains to be seen Paula, he’s your BOERBUL and that does’nt sound dweebish to me.
Vince brings Felicity a bunch of flowers and literally sweeps her off her feet. Xander watches from a distance and can clearly not handle seeing his brother with the woman that he loves.
Jan Hendrik and Dezi are back from some or other function and both are in a very playful and seductive mood.
When Madel sees the two of them so young, carefree, happy and inlove, she’s somehow reminded of her own youth as we once again see her making her way to the safe to read her love letters.
Tune in next week to see if Matrone and Hilda will make the cut as Dazzling Dame or if their antics against each other have ruined any chance they had, whether Boerbul and Mata Hari will eventually meet face to face and whether we’ll meet the mysterious lover from Madel’s past.
7de Laan
18:30
Mondays – Fridays
SABC 2