Brandt – Hero or Villain?
I just can’t figure out Brandt van den Bergh, the acting editor of the Hillside Times. Ever since he came into Hillside or even before that when he was applying for the job, we just knew there was something iffy about this guy.
We found out that his name wasn’t really Brandt but actually Gideon and if he told Paula the truth about his surname, then he’s really Gideon Malan. I don’t buy that *bleep!* story he gave Paula about being adopted and all that other crap about his mother naming him at birth and his adoptive parents renaming him. I can’t believe Paula, a so called journalist actually fell for that story but I suppose if you’re hopelessly in love like Paula is, then you’re a sucker for anything.
The other mystery about Brandt is his refusal to let Mandla write an article about the hijacking syndicate. He wants all the information that Mandla gathered and even though there are people being hijacked for their Geronimos, Brandt is stubborn and will not let Mandla publish anything. Poor Mandla is so frustrated and puzzled by his boss’ attitude, he reckons Brandt wants the story for himself. Could Mandla be onto something?
At first we were led to believe that Brandt was a bad guy, the mystery phone calls, the phony name, meeting with strangers and lying about it, it could only mean that Brandt was somehow involved in the hijacking scam hence his interest in Mandla’s story. He’s been meeting with a certain man and all they can talk about is the deal and Brandt is very keen to meet the main man behind this operation. He even made the guy an offer on certain high priced vehicles and with Paula and Aggie hot on his trail about finding out who and what he is, time seems to be running out for Brandt.
I am certainly having my doubts about the man, yes he does appear to be scaly and ruthless but just what if he is the good guy in all of this? What if he is an undercover cop trying to expose the hijacking syndicate and the only way to do that is to get to the mastermind behind the whole thing? I am certain Brandt will turn out to be the hero and blow the syndicate operation wide open, at least I’m hoping.
Meanwhile Aggie and Paula have joined forces trying to expose the man. At first Paula was very reluctant because she was hopelessly, insanely, madly , stupidly crazy about the guy, he made her calves turn into frikkadels, her knees to jelly, her mouth goes dry at the mere sight of him and when he gets into her personal space, then its tickets for Paula, she totally cannot resist his kisses. When she saw him meeting with the stranger at O’malleys and heard him speaking about the deal, her reporter instincts knew something was not right, the man had to be a crook.
Aggie on the other hand is trying her best to decipher the secret codes on the page that was sent to Brandt from Gabarone. Slowly but surely Aggie was making her progress and eventually she figured out that the secret codes were actually bank account numbers, seven different bank accounts at seven different banks, way to go Aggie!
I am so proud of Aggie, she’s come a long way from the sweeping and dusting she used to do before, she has more sense than Paula and I like the way they’ve developed her character. She’s such a dear friend as well, the way she’s always covering up for Paula, I had to giggle when she told Paula that she’ll never get to heaven with all the lies Paula made her tell.
So now Paula and Aggie are trying to find out who Brandt is and they’ve gotten a hold of his CV, tried checking on all his references and previous employment but nobody has ever heard of the man. Everything on his CV is a lie, his home address, telephone numbers, references, etc.
Brandt on the other hand is so onto them, he’s aware that Paula knows something about him yet she’s not willing to say what and she tries to avoid him at all costs. Last night we saw him going to her flat demanding to know what is going on and when he took her roughly by the arm and saw her reaction, he seemed confused as to why she was scared of him. He assured her over and over that she need not be afraid, he will never hurt her, he would protect her with his life if he had to.
What could all of this mean? What is Brandt’s plans with Paula, if she was just a piece of fluff like he told the stranger, then why is he so interested in her wellbeing, whether she’s safe and what she gets up to. He nearly went out of his mind when Paula did a disappearing act in trying to avoid him, what is really going on here?
What do you think about Brandt and this whole hijacking syndicate story?
Ending Family Feuds
Matrone and Ester
We all thought that when Matrone found out about her half-sister, the two will meet, hug and become BFF, how wrong we all were.
Things did not exactly pan out as we all expected, in fact that’s happening a lot lately with 7de Laan. A soap is supposed to have these sucky, predictable storylines, with terrible acting but not our 7de Laan, class all the way! Great acting, great storylines (lately that is), we will forgive all the unnecessary break ups like George and Karien, Xander and Felicity and Emma and Ryno because lately the soap has given us some great television viewing like the story of Matrone and her sister.
Ester came to Hillside determined to expose Matrone and Ryno for the crooks that they are trying to get their dirty paws on the farm her father left her. She called them out on all their scandalous, dirty untruths they claimed about her precious pappa. There’s no way in hell that her daddy had another family, another daughter, are they frikken out of their minds, her daddy would never ever do that, not to her or her mom, she claimed.
Matrone produced all the evidence that she really was the daughter of Marius Voges, she had photos to prove it. All Ester was worried about was that Matrone not get her grubby hands on the farm so she called up her lawyer and told him to check the archives and find her father’s will, she wanted to know exactly what the wording was relating to her getting the farm. When she found out, she went boasting to Matrone that her daddy left the farm to her since her name was mentioned, weh weh weh weh weh!
Poor Matrone, we have never seen her like this, she’s speechless at what this woman is suggesting that she’s out for the farm, she mopes around all day, very quiet and she regrets ever having opened this can of worms. Ester is vicious to Matrone, she’s rude, aggressive and she treats Matrone like dirt.
We later find out that the reason Ester is so aggressive is because she has a drinking problem. All over where she goes, she carries her flask with her booze in it and when she thinks nobody is looking, she throws booze into her coffee.
I know that one shouldn’t make fun of alcoholism, it’s a serious disease that destroys families but I have to say, watching Trudie Taljaard playing drunk Ester was quite funny to watch. The expression on the faces of the Hillsiders was priceless, you will swear they’ve never seen a drunk person before.
Things, however, got quite serious when it became clear that Ester’s drinking was destroying her and her potential relationship with Matrone. When she found out that her father didn’t die when she thought he had, it all became too much for her.
When Ryno questioned Ester about her dad’s death, it came out that her father’s body went missing when he went out swimming one day while they were on holiday. Ester was only twelve yet Matrone lost her dad to a heart attack when she was in her twenties. The truth was that Marius actually went back to Matone’s mother and lived out the rest of his days with them giving up on his life with Ester and her mom.
This was too much for Ester to handle. She literally became a drunk fishwife, lashing out at everybody who dare cross her path, some of her victims besides Matrone were Tessa, Karien, Diederik and off course Ryno. In all her drunken talk, she spoke about Matrone relishing the fact that she was destroyed by the news of her dad, laughing behind her back, enjoying the misery that was her life, etc.
Things came to a head when one day a drunk Ester popped in at the Deli and found Matrone there. In front of Xanessa and Vince, Ester was at her worst when she shouted at Matrone, pointing at her, literally making Matrone quiver in her boots, she even threw money at Matrone.
When she stepped out of the Deli, she lost her footing, stumbled and fell right there on the pavement. She was too drunk to get up and slept the whole night right there on the pavement. The next morning, Kabelo, Danny and San Mari found her and Kabelo helped her up, took her to the Deli to get some water and took her home.
After that nasty incident, Ester was clearly embarrassed since she was the talk of the town and Matrone was embarrassed for her. When Ryno went to speak to Matrone about Ester’s drinking problem, Matrone knew she had to help her sister.
She went over to Ester and invited her to supper which she eventually agreed to. The moment we’ve all been waiting for finally happened at that supper. Ester told Matrone that not only was she dealing with her father’s deception but her husband had also left her for another woman. She told Matrone that she now knows that her mother knew of her dad’s other family because all her comments and remarks make more sense now.
Ester confided to Matrone that her mother spent the rest of her days drinking her life away because of her dad. It was the exact same path that she was heading for and at that moment Matrone said it need not be this way, she Matrone will help her. So Ester asks her why she would want to do that and the best line that brought tears to my eyes was when Matrone said “Because that’s what sisters do” and the two embraced, finally!
The next day the two sisters looking happy and relaxed went over to Ryno and bid him farewell. Matrone was going with Ester to book her into rehabilitation and to help her get back on her feet again.
Ain’t that sweet, that was definitely Matrone’s best storyline ever and I’m glad that they decided to show us a different side to the character and it was great to see Annelise van der Ryst’s acting skills.
Madel and Jan Hendrik
Madel has become such a bitch since she got back from China and found out that JH had left her in the dark about her financial status and that her shop was on the verge of closing down. Never mind the fact that her son was trying to protect her since there was nothing she could in any case and never mind that he did everything in his power to save the shop, she was out for blood and was on the warpath with all those near and dear to her.
The only ones really near and dear to her was off course Dezi and Jan Hendrik. Christelle made sure there was thousands of miles between them and Tiaan couldn’t care less about his mamma and her well being.
We all thought that Madel was close to a nervous breakdown, things were very tense between her and JH and no matter how Dezi tried to make the two of them see reason, they were both too stubborn to listen to her. Shame even Felicity couldn’t handle the tension in the house any longer and promptly moved out.
JH started looking for another job, Madel put all JHs’ plans to open a gym and to sell the semis on hold. She was the boss and she made sure everyone knew that. Lukas and San Mari didn’t know what was going on, they weren’t sure if their jobs were safe, they were being shunted around and they were being snapped at every so often.
When JH got confirmation that the job at Camper’s Universe was his if he agreed to their package deal, Madel knew that she had to take action, there’s no way she could be a stubborn old fool any longer, she needed her son to help her run her business so she quickly made an appointment with the yet to be seen Notnagel and arranged a meeting with both Dezi and JH for six that evening.
At the meeting, Madel seemed quite happy and relaxed when she casually announced that she was retiring from business and that JH will now be in charge of T&T without her interference. She further delighted them with the news that she would like to move into the cottage so that they can live in the house, all of it will belong to JH in any case when she dies so why not? Dezi and JH were shocked by Madel’s sudden announcement but one could see they were pleased.
Once JH had time to digest the news, he accepted his mother’s generous offer and told her that she will always be a part of T&T. The two finally made peace and were back to being a happy family again.
The next day Madel arranged for a cocktail evening to announce to the Hillsiders and the press of the latest developments at T&T. Everyone was thrilled for JH but no-one more so than Dezi who couldn’t help beaming from ear to ear.
Since Madel’s announcement she has gone from being on a low to being on a complete high, one will swear she’s been smoking something. She’s too nice nowadays, with Dezi, JH everybody really, so nice that she invited a complete stranger, the mystery woman who suddenly waltzed into 7de laan and was attacked, well Madel invited her to stay with them for awhile.
The Mystery Woman
Two weeks ago, the mystery woman who was attacked and fell bleeding and unconscious into JH’s arms is still just that, a mystery. We still have no idea who she is, where she comes from and what she’s doing in 7de laan in the first place. There are a few clues to go on but right now, its mere speculation.
JH and Dezi were the only ones visiting her and Nurse Bettie gave JH a piece of paper which she found in the woman’s coat pocket. It had the name of the person she was probably coming to see.
That person turned out to be none other than our famous Afrikaans writer, Ryno Lategan. Ryno seemed confused about the woman and Dezi urged him to go see her to establish if he knows her but when Ryno saw her, there was a quick flicker of recognition which quickly disappeared.
He told the nurse, Dezi and JH that he’s never seen her before in his life, he thought he recognized her for a very brief moment but it soon passed. Is Ryno lying, he’s adamant that he’s never met the woman yet she had his name and address in her pocket on her way to see him. Ryno and JH put it down to a fan or an aspiring writer who wanted advice.
Other clues to the woman’s identity were the labels on her clothing which was all in Spanish right down to her underwear, Nurse Betty was really digging deep. The designer’s name on her clothing was Livia and the nurses quickly named the mystery woman, Livia as they had no other clues to her identitiy.
When Livia eventually awoke from her coma, she started speaking in Spanish and Ryno was right there trying to answer all her questions in Spanish. She eventually mumbled words in English and Afrikaans as well and when Ryno asked why she had his name with her, she seemed confused and asked him “who is he, who is she”?
So it came to light that Livia had no idea who she was, she was suffering from amnesia and remembered absolutely nothing, frightening really. Can you imagine waking up in hospital not having any idea who you are, if you had any family, if you were married or had any kids, it’s a scary thought.
Nevertheless Livia was getting full support from Ryno and Dezi, they visited all the time and told her not to worry about a thing. Easy for them to say, she was frantic, anxious, at her wits end, what was she gonna do when she’s discharged, where is she gonna live, she was completely helpless, homeless, nameless and everything else less. Lucky for Livia, Madel was in a good mood when she visited her with Dezi and before you can say Evelina’s kidneys, Madel was offering her a place to stay until she can find her feet again, never mind finding her feet, she needed to find her identity.
So now Livia is living in the Terreblanche house in a sunny room overlooking the garden and the pool, wish I was homeless. What does the writers have in store for this lady?
Other Developments
- Charmaine’s back from her honeymoon and she has a new lease on life, she’s happy and glowing, only thing is that she still has to come face to face with sour Vanessa.
- Remember Sue from Vision Advertising? Well she was planning on taking Bruynwaves for a ride using Marko. She wanted him to use Sky High for their hang gliding function but they were ridiculously expensive and it affected the budget. Not knowing what to do, Marko was forced to go to Altie with the problem. Quickly Altus found out that Sue was using her position in the company to get work for her brother inlaw’s company. He found her out and threatened to report her to her boss. Needless to say she wasn’t very happy and the function went off without a hitch. Marko felt like a fool and went to Altus to ask his forgiveness, Altus gave him another chance warning him not to mess up again.
- Felicity’s design for Miss South Africa was a huge success, it had tongues wagging about the designer. Things are going very well at the boutique, so well in fact that Dezi was able to pay JH the first instalment on the loan he made them. They also gave the boutique a mini makeover, the place was repainted and they finally got rid of that awful curtain that serves as the dressing room. They have a new one now, one I hope will not stay too long either.
-When Ryno got back from Spain, he told Karien that Emma had decided to divorce him because she had fallen for Tonie, her ex boyfriend. The two had started sending each other emails and before Emma knew what was happening, Tonie made his way to Spain to be with her. She has told Ryno that Tonie is now the man for her so they've decided to get a divorce. What is it with Ryno and his relationships with women?
- Things are going very well for Bruynwaves, they are getting contract after contract and JH also asked them to handle the opening of the gym. Meanwhile Altus got another contract for the opening of a lodge at the same time as T&T’s fitness centre. He went to Karien to ask her to do the graphic designing on the the lodge project. After much persuasion from Altie’s side, Karien eventually said yes. They make such a cute couple dontcha think? It’s been six months now since George left, ample time for Karien to grieve the relationship but its time to move on now and who better than cute Altus, the mover and shaker of Bruynwaves? I just don’t see Altie and Paula getting together anytime soon so why not Karien and Altus?
- Kabelo is the man of the moment right now. All eyes are on him, the ladies eyes that is. He gave up on getting anywhere with uppity Ms Alyce Morapedi and he’s moved on to gossip queen Zinzi. No matter how Kabelo tries to catch Zinzi’s eye, she just does not see him. Hilda even tried to give him some tips using suitable body language but things are just not working out for Kabelo. Meanwhile San Mari has made it known to Danny that Kabelo is not getting anywhere with Zinzi, why doesn’t she try to catch his eye?
At the same time, Alyce has been looking at Kabelo with new eyes, she’s been checking him out a lot lately. But it’s Danny who takes the initiative and invites Kabelo out for coffee which he took for a joke but later when Maria points out to him that Danny is really interested, does he agree to go out on the date with her but they choose to keep it quiet before everyone gets ahead of themselves.
The coffee date is a success and the next day, Kabelo and Danny cannot stop smiling. In fact Kabelo is so chuffed with himself that Hilda notices his positive body language. Without thinking twice she approaches Zinzi and tells her that she’s glad things worked out because Kabelo looks like a confident young man who knows what he wants now. This made Zinzi look at Kabelo with new eyes.
Are you thinking what I’m thinking, with all the ladies hot on Kabelo’s trail will he be able to keep up? When all this is over I’m sure Kabelo will wish he stayed friends with the ladies instead of attempting to date anyone. But let me not get ahead of myself, perhaps it will end beautifully with Kabelo and Danny hooking up for real, they make such a cute pair.
7de Laan
Mondays – Fridays
SABC 2
18:30