'Queen Sono': Postcolonial and post-apartheid trauma guide the characters in Netflix's first African original
Spoiler alert for 'Queen Sono'
With 'Queen Sono', Netflix released its first African original series. Starring Pearl Thusi in the titular role, the show follows Queen Sono, a covert operative for South Africa's Special Operations Group (SOG) who uncovers terrorist plots and threats while solving the mystery behind her mother's murder.
South Africa has a bloody colonial history, bouncing between Dutch and British controls before finally becoming a British colony again in the early 20th century. Though South Africa became independent in 1961, the country then went through another dark period - the apartheid era.
Though 'Queen Sono' is set in 2020 (and partly in 2015 through a flashback episode), it is clear that South Africa's colonial and apartheid history plays a big role in each character's motivation for what they do.
Take Queen, whose mother was killed 25 years prior to the setting of the show. Safiya Sono was a revolutionary whose murder was presumed to be done by a racist white man -- only for Queen to learn later her mother was killed by inside sources, including those her mother fought alongside. Queen works for the SOG and she is a good spy, she does what she does for her country, though she does not equate herself as a hero, the way her mother was.
Then there is Shandu (Vuyo Dabula), Queen's former boyfriend who was formerly a spy with the SOG then quit and formed the Watu Wema, a militant organization that wants to free Africa from her imperial oppression, including worship of the "white man's God." He quit the SOG because he felt that the organization was not doing enough to right the wrongs of society.
Shandu later teams up with Ekaterina Gromova (Kate Liquorish), who heads Superior Solutions and promises him a stronger Africa where he is an "emperor." What motivates Shandu is the empowerment of his people, however, by the end of the season he seems to go along helplessly with Ekaterina's plans which leads to the deaths of many innocent Africans - something his Watu Wema junior points out and disagrees with.
Even most of the struggles and corruption that we see on the show are clearly remnants of the country's dark history. The current president of South Africa on the show is known for taking bribes, yet was one of the freedom fighters during South Africa's anti-apartheid struggle.
When Queen confronts Sid Isaacs (Sechaba Morojele), her boss at the SOG and an old friend of her mother's, about what really happened to her mother, he tells her that people on every side agreed Safiya's influence would lead South Africa into militancy. Given his reluctance to take down the president, Queen distrusts him.
But as Sid says, when they fought against the apartheid regime, they never expected to pass the fight on to their sons and daughters. However, that is what has happened as South Africa continues to struggle with greed and corruption.
There is also the use of the k-word, a highly derogatory term that was used increasingly during the apartheid system. When Shandu uses the word in the final episode in his plea to Ekaterina, the pain and anguish in the history of that word are evident in what he says.
If one thing is clear, it is that the makers of 'Queen Sono' have a very complicated story to tell and they have just started doing so with Season 1. It is always difficult to reconcile with one's thorny past, but 'Queen Sono' does so while acknowledging the country's struggles in the present.
All episodes of Season 1 of 'Queen Sono' are now streaming on Netflix.
