Go!, the six-episode Netflix series, is the story of an underdog who has no clue about the kind of talent he has and what it could do for him. The series makes a promising start, and we get to witness the two different worlds people occupy in South Africa. Often, when tourism advertisements are created, only the glossy side of a country is shown, and for obvious reasons. And then there’s the areas that governments want to hide from public purview, but those places, the people living there, are also citizens of the country who do not deserve to live in such hardships. It is not their fault that they live in shabby neighborhoods that are not so aesthetic. They too want a life of privilege, but the capitalist setup just does not give them the means to change their destiny. In such situations, it becomes essential to capture the class disparity through a critical lens, and I must say that director Tristan Holmes, together with the cinematography team, has done an amazing job. The shots where the building where Siya lived was captured in a way that made you realize the deplorable conditions a chunk of the population was forced to live in. More than that, the dirty roads and the unkempt houses with not-so-elegant interiors added to the essence.
Go! is the story of a boy who decided to sprint out of his miserable life and create a new world for himself. It is the story of a boy whose family members knew that that was their only shot at having a good life. It was a lot of weight to put on those young shoulders, but Siya Gumede never felt that it was too much for him to handle. Siya was spotted by a coach of a prestigious school, and that changed his life forever. Siya started attending that school, but he wasn’t able to focus properly since an incident happened in his personal life that made him feel extremely guilty. Siya was driving his car, with his drunk friend Mandla at his side, when a boy came in front of his vehicle out of nowhere. Siya met with an accident, and he believed that Mandla had succumbed to his injuries too. Siya gave a call to his brother, Shuffle, who was well aware of the legal ramifications that he could face. Shuffle told him that he needed to first put Mandla in the driver’s seat and then escape from there. Siya didn’t like the fact that he was running from the crime scene like a coward, but he also knew that he didn’t have any other option. Also, he believed that Mandla had died, so even if the authorities believed that he was the one who’d hit the boy, it didn’t matter that much. But then came a twist. Mandla was alive. He had been taken to the nearest hospital by the authorities, and after he came to his senses, he was told that he was being charged with the crime of drunken driving and manslaughter. Now, the moral dilemma, the internal conflict that Siya faced, forms the crux of the narrative. There was a lot of potential in this conflict, and I believe the makers were not able to totally capitalize on it. The reason I say so is because the quality of the execution, especially in the second half, and the kind of convenient plot twists that were incorporated made everything look a little specious. The makers actually had an opportunity to explore Siya’s guilt, which I believe they missed out on.
As far as acting is concerned, I believe the entire cast has done an amazing job. But to a certain extent, I was not able to understand why certain characters were there in the first place, and why they acted the way they did. In my personal opinion. Gabisile’s character was just not needed. She was used by the writers to incorporate a plot twist, though where they faltered was that they didn’t give us insight about what motivated her actions. Gabisile was shown to be this temperamental, sassy girl who got what she wanted without caring about the morality of things.
A lot of African series that I have watched on Netflix in the recent past often opt for these unprecedented plot twists that at times make the entire narrative look a bit unrealistic. The ending of Go! made us realize that the makers wanted to do something similar there too. Instead of these unexpected twists, I would love it if the makers took a deep dive into the psyche of their characters, showcasing what they had been going through and the kind of moral conflicts they were facing. For season 2, I believe that if the makers are authentic in their approach and deal with the subject matter maturely, then I believe there is a potential to harness.
