LOCAL POWER
Africa’s superheroes and other TV shows to catch
ANEW South African TV production that isn’t a reality show! Who’d have thought it possible? Yet behold: to our screens comes Jongo , which is being hailed as Africa’s first superhero TV show. Johannesburg, this is your moment to shine!
We meet Benjamin in the opening sequence. He is essentially Christian Grey from 50 Shades of Grey without the sex stuff. He lives in a penthouse apartment and listens to classical music, which in TV-land means that someone is posh and evil. They’re not subtle about this stuff. Benjamin’s surname is Abaddon, which sounds a lot like “a bad ’un”.
Benjamin’s ancient father is also a bad ’un. He summons Benjamin for a chat about the fact that the family owns a cave in the Cradle of Mankind. To forestall your inevitable question — “How we came to own the cave is not important now,” the father croaks. Typical colonialist. The cave is significant, however, because it contains crystals which bestow supernatural powers. Benjamin’s crystal gives you mind control. He spent a lot of time thoughtfully examining the stone before driving away from his dad’s place.
“Do you know where the term ‘checkmate’ comes from?” he asked his driver, and proceeded to give him a short lecture on Persian etymology. If he tried that kind of small-talk in an Uber, I’m betting his customer rating would go right down.
Every baddie needs a superhero nemesis, and this is where Eli King comes in. Many of the black characters in Jongo seem to have awfully Westernised names. Eli’s sidekick, who in real life is an actor by the name of Katlego Baaitse, is called Kay Brennan in the series. I understand the commercial imperative at stake here, to appeal to an international audience, but I must report that personally I have never met a black South African called Kay Brennan.
I found the first episode’s plot slightly confusing, but basically it’s all about the crystals. When Benjamin clutches his crystal his eyes glow red, like that time Marlena was possessed by a demon in Days Of Our Lives. When Eli clutches his crystal, his eyes glow blue, like someone wearing coloured contact lenses to a trance party in the early 2000s. Benjamin’s superpower seems to be different to Eli’s, but then there’s also the fact that Benjamin uses his powers for evil. At the end of the first episode Eli realised he could jump buildings, and soon explored the opportunities for parkour-style high jinks.
I found the pacing of the first episode a bit slow, with moments of pure cheese, but it’s all great fun. Watch a local TV show: it’s the right thing to do.