"Blood Legacy": "Succession" in South Africa, with rich people, dark secrets, a downlow gay romance, and n*de Zulu guys

 

After the South African tease of Honest Men, I wanted some real South African tv, so I turned on Blood Legacy (2024), a Netflix series about siblings fighting for control of Daddy's empire (sounds familiar).

Scene 1: Establishing shot of the docks.  A man being beat up.  He won't sign the paper, so they call in a White-Haired Man, Bheki, while a Bearded Man and a Pink-Haired Woman watch. 

 But "I cannot be broken, because I come from the struggle, a struggled you and I once shared. But you left me behind." Tired of listening to the speech, Pink-Hair shoots him.

Cut to the funeral, with the White-Haired Man delivering the eulogy.  Widow and adult children, two men and a woman, hold hands. 

Scene 2: Establishing shot of Durban.  White-Haired Man in a helicopter watches an interview program with economics journalist Khanyi.   "We need transparency and accountability." 

 "But doesn't your family own Spear, the most corrupt company in Africa?"    

When the broadcast ends, Khanyi yells "Don't ever ask about my f*king family again!" and stomps off.

Scene 3: At work in Cape Town. Sean (Michael Everson) tells Khanyi that the Scene 1 murder has been linked to White Haired Man, her estranged father.  

She tells him to "F*k off!" and stomps away.

Scene 4: Akin (Anthony Oseyemi), a poor immigrant, wants to bail out his daughter, but the corrupt cops won't let him, not even when he tries to speak Xhosa.  Khanyi shows up and threatens to do a news story on how corrupt they are, and they agree to let the daughter go.  Then she tells Akin how sexy he is and kisses him.  Presumably they've met before.

Daughter trashed her teacher's classroom because he made a bigoted comment.  Dad and Khanyi tell her to not make waves.

Scene 5: White Haired Guy's wife complains that he hasn't been eating or sleeping since he was connected with that murder.  Gee, I wonder why.

Cut to Khanyi and boyfriend and daughter discussing whether she should go see White-Haired Man  She hates him, but he sounds sick over the telephone, sothis may be her last chance. "Plus you can see your brother and Njabulo," Boyfriend's Daughter points out.

Meanwhile, Older Brother Mandla (Buyile Mdladla) complains to White Haired Guy that the company is going under because of him. Their contractors are cancelling.  They can't start the Very Important Project. "Tough.  I hate you. Get out!"

Old Brother storms out and calls his daughter to make sure the private jet is ready for his flight to Cape Town.  "Nope, White-Haired Guy reserved it for your sister Khanyi. She's flying in today."

"F*k!" he yells.  He hates flying commercial, and he hates Khanyi!

Scene 6: Khanyi arrives in the private jet. Older Brother calls: "Why the heck are you here!  You hate the family, and we hate you!" 

"Dad called.  He sounded sick, so this might be the last time I can see him."

"He's fine.  Besides, you hate him."

Scene 7: Younger Brother Siya (Mike Ndlangamandla) has his hair stroked by his wife while telling his son (Unathi Mkizhe) that he forgives him for flying the drone in the house, "Just don't do it again."  And they got him a diamond status credit card.  Some punishment.  

More after the break

Dad leaves.  Cut to a shirtless man (Wizeman Zitha) watching a commercial about the Spear Company's values: effort, dedication, family.  His boyfriend, one of the actors, comes out shirtless.  It's their anniversary -- they hug but don't kiss -- ok, now they do.  Just a peck, but better than nothing. 

Wiseman Zitha has dated men and women. 

Wait -- the boyfriend is Younger Brother Siya, who was getting his hair stroked by his wife earlier!  He must be having a downlow affair!

Scene 8: New characters, an old man and a middle-aged woman, with kids and servants in the background, discuss how much they need the White-Haired Man to get their shipment through. "So here's what we're going to do..." Bzz bzz bzz

Old Man approaches a workman in a cemetery with a six-pack of beer and a job offer.  Cut to Khanyi still on the way to the estate, and Older Brother and his daughter looking for something nefarious in her background.  

Daughter: "Looks like she's clean." 

Older Brother: "She can't be.  Everybody has secrets.  We need to look harder."

Scene 9: Khani finally arrives, and is greeted by Grandma and Njabulo, who turns out to be the Platinum-Card-Punishment Guy.   Wait -- he calls her Mom.  I thought he was the son of Younger Brother Siya and his Hair-Stroking Wife. 

Njabulo and Daughter, who is apparently his sister, go off to the stables.  Khanyi has an interview with her Dad, the White-Haired Guy.

While waiting, she wanders around the house where she grew up, giving us a grand tour of the parlor, kitchen, study, patio, and sculpture garden.   She sees herself as a child walking into Dad's study, and is almost overcome with terror.  Uh-oh, Dad was an abuser.

A man in a suit, carrying file folders, approaches.  They greet each other in Zulu.  They are old friends -- probably with a romantic history -- and now he's the CFO for Spear.  "I'm not staying long, but we should catch up and sleep together."  No names are ever given on this show, except for Njabulo, and for 15 minutes I thought he was Khanyi's brother, not her nephew or son.

Scene 10: Finally time to meet with White-Haired Guy.  He is delighted to see Khanyi.  Turns out he's not sick; he was just pretending to be, so she would visit.  

His real reason requires them to take a walk into the veldt: This land belonged to their clan for generations, but he hasn't been able to share the wealth with the people because he's so evil.  He knows that Khanyi is a good person, so he's going to retire give Spear to her. 

"What about Older Brother Mandla?  He should inherit the company."

"Nope, he's consumed by his own greed, and just as evil as I am, so he won't work.  The company goes to you."

Before Khanyi can answer, they're called away.  One of the workers found a sign in Zulu: "Remember who your friends are." And under it, the coffin of the guy that was murdered in Scene 1, decomposing in his coffin!  The end.

Beefcake: Younger Brother Siya and his Boyfriend shirtless.  

Other Sights: Some exteriors, but no street scenes. Mostly rich people's houses and offices.

Gay Characters: Younger Brother Siya and his Boyfriend. I don't know how the downlow affair will play out.

Heterosexism: Khanyi and her Boyfriend kiss.

My Grade:  It's Succession in South Africa, but other than some phrases in Zulu and Xhosa and random African art on the walls, it could be anywhere.  Rich people are rich people. B.

See also:

"Honest Men": South Africa-teasing, porn-teasing, claustrophobic, confusing...but at least there are a lot of gay guys.

Gemstones Episode 1.6 Continued: Scotty flirts, BJ is spanked, and Kelvin says "Let's hook up." With bonus Kenya c*ck

"Blood and Water": Two Guys Kissing in Cape Town