Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Savage Beauty’ Season 2 On Netflix, Where Zinhle Is On The Run, While Don Tries To Keep Control Of Bhengu Beauty

In 2022, the South African drama Savage Beauty premiered, basically as a cross between a soapy show like Revenge and a family-succession drama like Succession. But it also explored issues of classism and colorism that made the pulpy story deeper. Season 2 starts with all of that still intact, but will it continue with this deep-but-soapy story?

SAVAGE BEAUTY SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: After supposedly being dead in the trunk of his car, we see Don Bhengu (Dumisani Mbebe) open his eyes.

The Gist: Don is now well aware of just what Zinhle (Rosemary Zimu) is up to; being selected as the “Face of Bhengu Beauty” was part of a revenge plot she and her brother planned. Their idea was to ruin both Don and Grace Bhengu (Nthati Moshesh) for the skin-lightening cream that disfigured both of them and killed many of their friends and family in Soweto. Now that her brother is dead, though, Zinhle is exacting this plan on her own.

He gets out of the trunk and finds the gun he has hidden in the car, goes into his mansion, and we hear shots fired. Inside we see Don holding a gun, Zinhle holding a gun, and Don’s son Ndu (Oros Mampofu) bleeding out on the floor. Zinhle runs as Ndu lies dying in his father’s arms. When EMT’s get there and tell Don that Ndu is gone, he holds them at gunpoint and orders them to save his son.

In the meantime, Grace is meeting with Bhengu Beauty’s board of directors; she shows them evidence that Don isn’t fit to continue running the company — her evidence was his desire to marry Zinhle — and she feels the CEO position should be hers. She seems to have her son Phila (Jesse Suntele) in her corner. The vote is derailed when Grace gets the news about Ndu.

Don tells the police that Zinhle is the killer, but Grace berates Don for even getting personally involved with Zinhle to begin with. Word spreads quickly in the media, with a reward posted for information leading to her arrest. In the meantime, Zinhle runs to Soweto; she asks a cousin to find a video on a broken laptop that would implicate Don and Grace, and ends up sleeping on the streets for a night. Even though she has a hat on, her face is so well-known that someone sleeping near her that night reports her, but she runs before the police detective in Don’s pocket arrives.

Ndu’s funeral is eventful, mainly because Grace’s pursuit of the CEO position is still in the front of her mind, but she’s also courted by a financier named Richard Moloto (Tony Kgoroge), and Phila meets a woman named Charlie (Lebogang Fisher), who saves him from an awkward situation. Later, Don’s former second wife Thando (Angela Sithole), who is now in a relationship with Don and Grace’s daughter Linda (Nambitha Ben-Mazwi), asks Linda to marry her. Don berates the board for voting to put Grace in the CEO chair.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? If Revenge and Succession were combined, you’d get Savage Beauty.

Our Take: While Season 1 of Savage Beauty, created by Lebogang Mogashoa, weaved in South Africa’s class issues among its soapy plots, Season 2 feels more purely soapy. Sure, there’s still the big reason why Zinhle is still determined to execute her revenge plot against the Bhengus, despite the fact that her brother is dead and she’s on the run.

In fact, there’s a very good chance that Zinhle’s part of the story will shrink this season, and we see how the fallout of her evidence about the skin-lightening cream affects the Bhengus and their family business. There will be lots of jockeying for position between Grace, Don, Linda and Phila, and there’s no doubt that both Michael and Charlie have ulterior motives behind their overtures to various members of the Bhengu family.

Does it make the show less entertaining? No, but we’re still a little disappointed that the depth that Season 1 had might not be there this season. Perhaps what’s going on with Linda and Thando will add some depth, as same-sex marriages are likely still a new and raw topic in South Africa, and the fact that Don’s former wife wants to marry his daughter will make things even more complicated. But there’s just something about Zinhle’s story that made the show be about more than just rich people being jerks.

Sex and Skin: Phila and Charlie have sex, but no naughty bits are seen.

Parting Shot: Zinhle goes to Ndu’s grave with his favorite flower, a lily. Despite what happened (which we’re not even sure of), she still loves Ndu. Grace, who noticed her as she drove away from Ndu’s grave, returns, grabs her by the shoulders, and makes like she’s going to bash Zinhle’s head into the marble.

Sleeper Star: Lebogang Fisher is quite charming as Charlie, whose character might be a good influence on Phila, but we’re still not sure about what her actual motives are.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I was the only one when I started, and I will be the last one standing when you are all gone! Fucking traitors!” Don bellows to the board as he tries to tell them that Grace is lying about his fitness to be CEO.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Savage Beauty continues to be an enjoyable, pulpy series, even if there might not be as much of material about classism and colorism that was in Season 1.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.