'Queen Sono': Queen's struggle to reconcile with her late mother's image both fuels her and holds her back
The article contains spoilers for 'Queen Sono' on Netflix!
The titular character of 'Queen Sono' is introduced early on. She is a covert operative with the Special Operations Group (SOG) in South Africa. However, she has also got quite the legacy behind her.
In the first episode itself, we learn that Queen Sono's mother, Safiya Sono, was a revolutionary and a freedom fighter during South Africa's anti-apartheid struggles. She was killed 25 years prior to the setting of the show and in flashbacks, we see that a five-year-old Queen was present when Safiya was shot.
Queen's relationship with her late mother is complicated. She largely chooses to ignore the events of the 25th anniversary of her mother's death. She even pretends not to care about the fact that her mother's killer could be released on parole.
However, we see all this is a facade towards the end of the first episode when she sneaks into the prison to confront her mother's killer. She learns that the man convicted is not the real murderer and there begins her search to uncover her mother's true killer.
Through the six episodes, we see Queen investigating — going to the killer's house and swiping his wife's phone. She learns that the SOG has been paying the killer off and later learns that Safiya's death was planned by those close to her.
Queen had a troubled childhood after her mother died. She resorted to petty crimes until Sid Isaacs — her mother's comrade — offered her a job in the SOG. Her trauma is most understood through her hatred of bubbles.
In the fourth episode — a flashback episode to when Queen had just joined the SOG — when a colleague is shot in front of her, Queen freezes and sees bubbles around her. Her PTSD associated the scene with bubbles because in the moments before her mother was shot in front of her, Queen was playing with the bubbles her mother blew.
However, besides her issues with her mother's death, we also see Queen struggling to place herself against the larger-than-life image of her mother. Queen is a good spy — she reacts quickly and is able to defend herself. But she feels herself falling short of what her mother was and could have been.
It is Queen's refusal to accept her PTSD and how much her mother's death has impacted her that holds her back. By constantly keeping herself away from her mother's image, Queen also falls short of the greatness that she is capable of.
Throughout the six episodes, though Safiya is not present in the scenes, her presence is always felt through Queen. Since the mystery is not solved yet, Queen would possibly be continuing to deal with the trauma should Netflix renew the show for a second season.
All episodes of Season 1 of 'Queen Sono' are now streaming on Netflix.