Showmax’s original telenovela The Wifewas one of the most anticipated series to come out of the paid-subscription platform since it was announced back in 2021. The reason being due to the fact that the series was a loosely based adaptation of the bestselling books by South African author Dudu Busani-Dube who wrote the series of Hlumo novels.
However, by the second season of the telenovela, avid readers of the book series were already starting to boycott the telenovela. Primarily, the cause was due to the fact that the telenovela had taken so many liberties that were not part of the books despite the characters being based on the characters from the books. Their storylines were nothing like the books.
This can be accredited to the fact that the books are about a love story between the Zulu brothers and the wives they marry. Moreover, the books cover subjects like mental health illness, infidelity and family against the backdrop of the family’s criminal past. The telenovela did the opposite, stripping the reason why the books were so successful.
Imagine booking a lead role ,research about the character,have amazing chemistry with your "co-star",only to read the script and find out you're an extra.#TheWifeShowmax
As such, with season three currently underway, it seems that viewers that are still watching are doing so to see how exactly the story is going to end.
The Wife’s end cannot come soon enough
On Thursday, 30 March 2023, the penultimate three episodes ahead of the series finale were published on ShowMax. As always, the telenovela made the trends list. However, as has been the trend of late, it was not due to rave reviews. Instead, it was the continuation of the critiquing of the telenovela.
This is as some viewers felt the latest three episodes did not do much to propel the story forward toward its finale. Much of what happened in the latest episodes are seen as filler episodes. A fact which was further proved by the little recap that Hlomu gave of the entire three seasons to date as she has turned into a police informant.
Me Me me! It looks like next week is the same. Turns out that title and caption writing intern was doing me a favor by giving the plot away. I have come to appreciate his/her summaries. Save me from wasting my time on this mess. #TheWifeShowmax
Moreover, there were other comments that reiterated that they were currently watching in order to see how the series will end. This is as The Wife is set to conclude with its final three episodes which will be made available on Thursday, 6 April 2023.
While the series might be nearing its natural run on Showmax, wrapping on the show concluded back in February 2023. This is as lead Mbalenhle Mavimbela was the last cast mate to shoot for the show as she took to social media to bid farewell to her beloved character.
Mbalenhle who played Hlomu had been with the show since its inception, but her journey has sadly come to an end. She took to her Instagram page last week to share a video of her last moments on set.
In the video, Mbalenhle can be seen surrounded by the cast and crew while carrying a bouquet of flowers.
She wrote: "It’s a picture wrap for uMahlomu. I walked into this production as a young lady and left as a wise woman. Thank you to everyone who has supported me and has been a part of my journey from the very beginning.
She also expressed her gratitude to Showmax, Stained Glass, and DSTV for the opportunity.
