And our vote for Best South African TV Show of 2023 goes to... Shaka iLembe!
May we hear this announcement ring out at future award ceremonies because it deserves a cacophony of wins and international acclaim for Best Actors, Best Wardrobe, Best Production Design, Best Scriptwriting and Best Directing.
We loved it from start to finish and found it to be unforgettable and next level.
The only criticism we have was the music and soundtrack - too many violins! As we mentioned in our
review of Episode 1, the music was too "epic" and overly sentimentalised and needed more earthy African rhythms throughout.
It created moments that felt too much like a soapie, especially in the early story between Nandi and Senzangakhona, which could have been avoided if the music had a gritty, lionhearted feel.
That was our only gripe and we didn't allow it to distract us from what blew our hair back: the expertly crafted characters, the sincerity of the acting, the fascinating story and the deeply moving, thought provoking meaning and themes.
We could go into detail of how these were personified through each of the many distinct characters but that would take until 2025 for so here's a wrap of our favourite three:
Dingiswayo
Played by Thembinkosi Mthembu
Talk about Getting Your Mind Right in the face of extreme trauma.
It's impossible to fully comprehend the suffering Dingiswayo endured when you consider what he went through - his brothers murdered in front of him by his own father, the knowledge that his father wanted his life too, exiled from his own people, physically assaulted and left for dead.
How do you come out of that and stay sane? Yet he endured and beat it to become an empowered king and Shaka's number one fan.
Complicated by the relationship he had with his son Somveli, who he essentially rejected - and you could understand why because Sulky needed a massive smack. But Dingiswayo should have tried more with him, just like Senzangakhona should never have rejected Shaka.
A conflicting, mind-bending exploration of fatherhood and the atomic influence fathers have over their children.
Dingiswayo's story also stabbed us with the horrors of slavery, human trafficking and the depraved evil of the people who perpetrated it.
It's beyond insane that anyone could do this and yet the same cruelty persists today in a world that needs another Dingiswayo.
Baleka
Played by Hope Mbhele
Ah... gorgeous spiritual Baleka. The only lead character in the series who was fictional and didn't exist in Shaka's world.
What we valued about her most: yes, her love for Dingiswayo was other worldly, but more than that, she epitomised the mysticism of Africa and a natural way of life in touch with the earth, plants, animals and ancestors.
And look at how radiant everyone looked! No man-made pharmaceuticals anywhere and yet they were splendid.
Okay, so the actors obviously beefed up for the series - Shaka might not have been that buff considering there were no gyms, but we're convinced that the people of that time were much healthier than we are now.
Healed by people like Baleka who understood that nature has given us what we need to make it through.
Gendeyana
Played by Mduduzi Mabaso
Just looking at him brings on the waterworks again. The ultimate stepfather you need and want.
His unconditional love for another man's biological son and his warrior essence made his death too much to cope with. Our grief went on for dayz.
It was extremely difficult to process because of why it happened - Shaka's refusal to listen to him. How could Shaka live with himself afterwards? Especially when he saw his mother Nandi's anguish and her gutwrenching disappointment in him for the first time.
Maybe the only way was to push on as he did and to become the warrior Gendeyana believed him to be.
Such a dramatic, cathartic tale that proves we need more series inspired by real life stories of South Africans. There must be an avalanche of them and yet we we don't see them on TV. Why?
Bring them on!
If you haven't watched Shaka yet, it started a run on Mzansi Wethu on Friday (15 December) and it's on Catch Up.
Which brings us to the final curtain: which series gets your vote for Best South African Show of 2023?