Summary
What’s most impressive about Blood & Water is its vibe – the way the characters interact with each other is consistent and cool. By staying on-beat and providing a cast that’s sold on the story, you feel its culture shine through.
I don’t know if it’s because Netflix has high self-esteem, but the streaming giant has a way with YA series, from 13 Reasons Why to Outer Banks and even to the highly controversial Insatiable, the platform lands new obsessions with ease. Next in line amongst their dense catalog of teen dramas is Blood & Water, a series that will no doubt be markedly commented on for its South African roots, especially with its evident casting.
For all the groans that the streaming platform produces too much content in such a small space of time, shows like this signify that more is better – diversity casts a wide net, so it’s only ironic that more content is necessary.
The story of Blood & Water is set primarily in a high school, with drama unfolding and clans forming. It’s like any other teen drama in that sense, but the characters wedge into the environment with ease.
The lead character, Puleng, played marvelously by Ama Qamata, is a cool and collected person. Puleng’s story brings forth a family dealing with complex grief; her sister was kidnapped as part of a human trafficking network when she was younger, and for 17 years, the family has continued with the birthdays in the hope they will one day find her. The opening episode captures that grief with a particular atmosphere – you can tell Puleng’s family is disjointed.
The African series combines coming-of-age with investigative work as Puleng navigates high school while uncovering her family’s secret past. Teen dramas have the tendency to apply social issues all at once, bringing the ‘big bang effect’ for dramatic purposes to try and suit the teen genre, but Blood & Water stays clear of fogging its audience’s minds with convoluted and baseless plot points just to tick boxes. The series stays on message; a teen story fuelled by family problems with a deep and dark past.
It’s flagrantly apparent that the story stays on its path with a surprising 6 episodes. I cannot express my frustration at the number of shows Netflix releases, which bestows us with 10-12 episode series, each with 60-minute chapters, providing us with teen problems that we’ve already seen countless times. The series has the right number of episodes for the story it is, and it manages to sell the audience a prospective second season.
What’s most impressive about Season 1 is its vibe – the way the characters interact with each other is consistent and cool. By staying on-beat and providing a cast that’s sold on the story, you feel its culture shine through – with its vibrant nature, while inflicting South African politics and social issues, it feels like an authentic teen series.
And as a final note, as I scour the internet for other reactions, according to one source, Blood & Water is Gossip Girl meets Elite meets Riverdale but in South Africa – I haven’t seen either mentioned show, but I can only gather that as to be a good thing.
Read More: Blood & Water Season 1 Ending Explained
