Has The River Lost Its Thing?

Maybe it is time to go back to the drawing table.

By  | Oct 08, 2022, 12:31 PM  | Drama

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The River has been a television gem since it first premiered on Mzansi 1Magic over five years ago. It was the bar that many other telenovelas in South Africa aimed to emulate. Moreover, it was responsive to the criticism by fans as seen with the exit of Lunga Shabalala as Lindani Mkhize and Larona Moagi as Tumi.

Read more: The River Finally Scores A Win

While it was easy to get rid of its subpar actors, it seems that behind the scenes is a different story altogether. This as season five of the telenovela has seemingly gone from bad, to worse and is seemingly continuing down the spiral. Fans of the telenovela are currently up in arms as the recent storylines of the series are all confusing with no motivation behind them. 

Has The River lost its thing?

Let’s get down to all the different grievances which fans are currently complaining about. 
 
  1. The Thumbezas
 
When it was announced that The River was set to introduce a new family which would shake things up, fans were excited for the introduction of this new family. Their introduction did not disappoint as they arrived with a bang during their explosive bank robbery. But that bang quickly turned into a house full of loud voices which made it hard to understand why the show even introduced this new family to begin with. 
 
A fact which has become even worse as it seems that their storylines have run thin. From the Nomafu and Gugu storyline which ended haphazardly with no resolution, to the fact that Thumbeza barely has any lines but to grunt and make funny noises every time the camera is on him. The family is not giving anything. 
 
  1. Khwezi
 
While we are all for nepotism in the workplace when it is related to promoting black people. Tina Dlathu as Khwezi is another Thumbeza family member that is not giving. From her first time making her cameo and her love triangle storyline that did not give because she does not kiss onscreen like her sister Sindi Dlathu. It is her monotone acting which has been driving people up the wall asking themselves, “Why did she return?”

More so as it seems that the writers are trying to recycle the storyline of her love triangle with Zolani and Emma. Again, why do this when she does not believe in kissing her male co-actors? 
 
  1. The overall storylines
 
The biggest criticism for season five of The River is the overall lacklustre storylines of this season. From the killing of Vero only to introduce yet another sister that nobody knew about who is also looking to profit from Lindiwe’s hard work.
 
Or the still ongoing storyline between Angelina, Paulina, Thuso and the baby that Angelina swapped. It seems that the inevitable, The Mokeona’s finding out the truth about the baby, the telenovela is intent on dragging this storyline for as long as possible. 
 
It might be time for The River to take a break or risk running the same fate as The Queen did as the Connie Fergusion fronted telenovela was cancelled as viewing numbers dropped when it failed to listen to the pleas of their viewers about the direction it was taking. 

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