— This article contains spoilers for season one of ‘Reyka’. If you haven’t watched that yet, we suggest heading straight to to dive into those episodes before reading on —
There are a lot of investigators out there haunted by their grim past. South African criminal profiler Reyka Gama (Kim Engelbrecht) has a past more grim than most.
Back in 1994, when apartheid was being dismantled and she was just 12 years old, she was kidnapped by white settler Angus Speelman (Iain Glen from Game of Thrones). For the next four years he abused her; when she finally escaped he was arrested, though that was far from the end of the hold he had over her.
Kim Engelbrecht returns as profiler Reyka Gama. Credit: Studio Toselli
At the end of season one of Reykait looked as if she was finally free. Speelman was back behind bars, seemingly for good; she’d been able to channel her trauma into her job as a detective and use her insights to catch a serial killer haunting the local sugarcane fields. So season two is eight episodes of Reyka relaxing at the beach? Not exactly.
The beach part is right: she’s now working with the Durban Harbour Police and there’s plenty of sun and sand to enjoy – though it’s hard to unwind when a dripping ice cream looks like blood in the water. But no sooner is she’s saying goodbye to her daughter Thuli (Rashaan Stackling) as she heads off to boarding school then she’s saying hello to a new case – one that doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.
Denise Hartzenberg (Kay Smith) was making out with her boyfriend Michael at the local lover’s lane (with a great view of the port) when a mystery man stepped out of the shadows and shot Michael dead. He took her to a nearby tunnel at gunpoint, said “Don’t worry, I saved you – he’s not going to do that to you again”, and gave her money for a taxi home. Then he said they’d meet again… so he could buy her some crispy chicken.
Ayanda Jali (Samkelo Ndlovu). Credit: Studio Toselli
Reyka and fellow detectives Tanner (Gerald Steyn) and Ayanda (Samkelo Ndlovu) are stumped. Robbery seems a logical motive – the killer took Michael’s shoes – but plenty of more valuable items were left behind. Was the killer a local dockworker? Is he still lurking in the maze of tunnels that service the port? And with the lovers’ lane a favourite haunt for local sex workers, they need to catch him fast. If he decides to strike again he’ll have no shortage of victims.
For many crime series that’d be plenty to work with, but Reyka is just getting started. No sooner does her professional life stall than her fragile personal life falls apart when a television interview goes wrong. It was meant to show how she’s been able to move on from her notorious past; it ends in her having a panic attack live on air. Her attempts to assert some agency at home are coming undone, her daughter’s being bullied at school – the last thing she needs is an investigation where every lead is a dead end.
You know who is having a good run? Speelman. Which might be bad news for Reyka, but it’s great news for everyone watching. As a bad guy who combined creepy and sleazy with a side serve of arrogance, Glen’s performance kept him just charming enough to make sure you couldn’t look away. And now he’s putting that charm to good (as in evil) use.
Angus Speelman (Iain Glen). Credit: Studio Toselli
Speelman’s now been transferred to a low security prison (ironically named Paradise Valley), the kind of place where they don’t lock the doors on sex offenders. For the last six months he’s been showing great progress, so much so that the head of the program wants to use him as an advertisement for the system’s success. What could possibly go wrong? (to be fair, pretty much everyone who hears about this idea thinks it’s a bad one).
So Speelman’s edging ever-so-slowly towards the exit just as her personal life is coming apart and she’s investigating a serial killer who’s leaving clues that don’t make any sense. It’s hard to think of a way things could get any worse for Reyka. Oh wait, here’s one:
She wasn’t the only child Speelman and his wife Portia (Nokuthula Ledwaba) kidnapped. Now it seems another one of their victims is out there – and if what Reyka went through messed her up, who knows what evil it might have left him capable of.
Both seasons of Reyka are streaming at SBS On Demand.
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