Detective Reyka

Refreshing to see something from South Africa. For myself that knows next to nothing of the Peoples and Customs it was an informative change from the usual UK fare. The story is a look at what might happen when a young girl is abducted by an extremely twisted couple who want a "Family" with benefits. The trauma that affects the characters involved is very real if not often misunderstood. Added to this is a number of other stories including the hunt for a gruesome serial killer, murders and chaos, Tribal politics and land reformation. Pay close attention to the characters who are very complex and can confuse you at times.

I just finished watching this show tonight, and first off I want to note that I LOVED the soundtrack. I need to find out what tracks are on the soundtrack but can't seem to find any info about it anywhere. Hopefully I'll figure it out eventually!

Secondly, the show itself was mesmerising - with an intriguing, harrowing series of storylines running parallel to each other. The landscapes of South Africa (a place I haven't visited yet) were stunning, but the main setting for the drama (the cane fields) was haunting, mysterious, and hid plenty of dark secrets.

The story of Reyka and Angus was a perfect example of that of a master manipulator attempting to pull his victim back into his web, even though years have passed since they last saw each other. He was trying until the very end, but him involving her daughter in the whole mess didn't go the way he'd thought it would.

I felt that all the actors did amazing jobs, the cinematography was breathtaking, each episode ended with a cliffhanger that kept me eager to watch more, and as I mentioned, the soundtrack was perfect. I'm still left with some questions, but that could be because I missed obvious things that would have given me answers. For instance, was the Lucy we met in the flesh actually Lucy, or was she a faux Lucy? How was Angus planning to take Reyka along for the ride?

If you are a fan of creepy murder mysteries/other mysteries, then I recommend this show for sure.

107 out of the 124 ratings are from single use accounts whos sole IMDB activity is uprating this series with a ten.

Four of the five reviews are clearly from a single individual giving this a ten and a gushing similar wording.

So the legit rating for this series is more on the order of 3.5

Now to the review. A fair amount of good entertainment production is coming out of south Africa. Certainly "Troy: fall of a city" was well done, and had some very talented acting. And the lead of this, Ian Glenn, is a good actor.

That said this series is stunningly cliche filled and predictable. It is also preachy. I give it a 3/10/

I'm not sure why this series got so many poor reviews. It was suspenseful, unique, disturbing and overwhelming throughout. I felt like the only thing I felt was missing was her connect to her kidnapper that would make her a good detective or ask him about cases. I guess I missed that or they didn't tell it otherwise I enjoyed it. I loved seeing many of the African actors from other shows, I believe the acting was very good. The blending of tribal language and ways were easy to follow and place at the times if felt genuine. I'm not sure if they plan a series 2 but a show from this writer is one I would watch again.

This was an interesting and entertaining show but judge for yourself. Don't let a trolls negativity stop or rob you of determining for yourself what's is good or not. Just remember there's always someone whose negativity for shows other people like ( and they probably never watched) is doing it for a very specific reason.