All hail Cesar
A dangerous man from Grace’s past uncovers a deeply held secret and uses it to control her.
Scandal! Weekdays e.tv (*194) 19:30
As the owner and manager of The Newtonian Hotel, glamorous and elegant Grace Medupe (Bathabile Mashigo) looks like the ultimate success story. News of her excellence has reached far and wide… all the way back into her past and to a man she’d rather forget: Cesar (Mpho Molepo – Mthunzi in Zabalaza, 20132016). Grace is forced to meet Cesar face-to-face again on Wednesday 19 July. But what does he want and why is he raising his head now after nearly 20 years?
HONEY WITH MONEY
Years ago Cesar was a man on the rise and Grace was a young woman with big dreams. “She was at school and needed support. And Cesar was there for her in the beginning – and also as a lover,” explains Mpho. “Cesar believes that Grace owes him now. His life didn’t turn out to be what he thought it was going to be. And now he has read a newspaper and realised that she has made it. His approach is: can you pay me back?”
A GREATER DEBT
Grace doesn’t feel the same sense of obligation to Cesar though, not after what happened on the night of her graduation. Mpho hints that from Cesar’s perspective, he had every right to do what he did. But his actions lead to Grace carrying the experience as lifelong scar. “She is very angry at Cesar. She really didn’t want to see this man again in her life because she still holds that pain,” explains Mpho. And it’s because Cesar doesn’t see what happened in the same light as Grace does that he’s here now. “He has made up things in his mind about the possibility of them getting back together. He sees himself having shares in The Newtonian hotel. He is looking forward to getting everything that he wants from her.”
LEVERAGE
Grace has every intention of sending cocky Cesar packing until he uncovers her most desperately kept secret on Friday 21 July. And when he uses it to stick around, the other men in Grace’s life – Neo (Jerry Mofokeng Wa Makhetha), Romeo (Hungani Ndlovu) Siseko (Hlomla Dandala) – are going to have a lot say.