Netflix's 'Queen Sono' takes place in a woman's world with all the elements of the good, the bad and the ugly

Spoiler alert for 'Queen Sono' Season 1

It is clear from the trailer for Netflix's first African original series, 'Queen Sono', that the program was going to be quite the feminist show. Pearl Thusi's titular role of 'Queen Sono' is a top spy for a South African agency and she's not the only woman on the team.

Then there is the main villain of Season 1, Ekaterina Gromova (Kate Liquorish), a Russian heiress and high-level military contractor. Ekaterina is suave, confident and even sexy if you can look past the fact that she is a cold-blooded killer.

Queen is a field agent of the Special Operations Group (SOG), a spy agency that was earlier the Die Koperasie during the Apartheid period. Queen's mother, Safiya was a revolutionary who was killed during the anti-Apartheid struggle and when the series begins, there is a celebration of Safiya Sono.

Chi Mhende plays Miri, the Director-General of the SOG — she grew up with Queen, although there seems to be some bad blood between them — who has a lot of say in what the SOG deals with.

Then there is Mazet (Abigail Kubeka), Queen's grandmother, and Nova (Enhle Maphumulo), Queen's best friend William's girlfriend. Though not in the spy line of business, both Mazet and Nova are strong women who hold their own.

There is a lot of pressure when one is the first of anything, and though those hiccups can be seen in 'Queen Sono', it cannot be faulted for its women. Queen is quite simply a badass. She fights hard and is a little bit cocky, quite the female, black James Bond.

Ekaterina is not the main villain in the first couple of episodes, but when her brother, Vitaly is killed, something prompts her to kill her sick father whose patriarchal tendencies would never allow Ekaterina to come to power.

In grabbing power, Ekaterina clearly has more control than her late brother and convinces Shandu and the Watu Wema to work for her -- so well that Shandu even goes along with her nefarious plans that result in the loss of innocent lives.

It is Sono's and Ekaterina's rivalry that looms large amidst all the other plots. Ekaterina holds Sono responsible for her brother's death and though the former tries to capture Sono multiple times, Sono evades every single time. This leads to Ekaterina to go after someone Sono loves: her grandmother.

'Queen Sono' tells a complicated story — one that can be and is hard to tell. But the way the show covers women needs to be applauded — 'Queen Sono' strikes a balance that Hollywood has not been able to, despite peddling a number of "feminist" stories.

All episodes of Season 1 of 'Queen Sono' are now streaming on Netflix.