There is too much going on to the point that it is hard to follow and all these storylines do not all tie together in the end which can be a good thing if the other characters were that significant in the show but they were not.
There is a supernatural storyline which feels like a gimmick the entire show until the last scene. The very last scene of the show gives this storyline the weight it did not have the entire show. There is a love story between Mo and the girl. That storyline had the most potential and it is painful to watch its greatest twists be " well, I didn't see that coming" kind of twists instead of " OH MY GOD, I DIDNT SEE THAT COMING!!!!". Due to the excessive amount of story in the show, it does not get enough time to breathe and let our minds wander. There is not enough tension build-up to make the resolution have weight and meaning. The last scene of the last episode was supposed to be shocking and powerful and thought-provoking but it fails to achieve that. You will end up saying its a nice twist but it's supposed to be a powerful scene.
The story fails because of not understanding what its central conflict is and prioritising it. Is it the conflict between two brothers or is it the conflict between the lead character and the supernatural being or is it the conflict between the lead character and his work subordinates? Its okay to have them all as long as we know what the main dish is. In the end, it seems very clear where they are going but the is little influence from the other storylines, so when something major happens we don't truly know how it's going to affect other characters and storylines. If a show is going to be that busy, something must come out of it for us who are paying attention to every detail. Basically its storylines from a soap opera that were squished into six episodes so everything is everywhere.
Some characters feel like plot movement and exposition tools especially the character of Simon Masire's sister. The secret family characters are also a plot moving device. then there is a lot of characters being brought but they don't add much and they fall into the plot-moving-device rabbit hole, characters like the American assassin dude, the Nigerian convict dude as well as the Tsholofelo Mashaba character. She was a character so much potential considering the backstory they hinted at but she gets sacrificed for the development of the Mo character which does not do much. The daughter storyline serves that purpose.
There are many other problems in the show like how a person has to say f$%k every five minutes which makes the word lose the emphasis it is supposed to add, the tone of the show which was clashing with its cinematography, the English in the show, the acting on Shona Ferguson's part which made me feel like either he was directing himself poorly or the directors were afraid of him and many more.
What kills me is that Kings of Jo'burg had the potential to be the greatest show to ever come out of South Africa. It could have become South Africa's own Breaking bad but it suffers from not having clear themes within its storylines and straight forward direction and producers with a bigger budget better show mentality.
