Elementary Season Six

In this era of binging, where series are often released in a binge-package, having to wait for a weekly episode of something can be painful. So the best solution is to save things up and indulge when time allows. The sixth season of Elementary is at that stage where it’s time for a binge.

If you’re not familiar with the show and you can’t guess from the title, it’s a modern take on Sherlock Holmes. Watson is a woman and Sherlock lives in America. Played by the charismatic Jonny Lee Miller, who makes the show, this season of Elementary deals with Sherlock’s inner struggles of identity, longing for Moriarty (she’s a woman, too) and makes you wonder how an American show can possibly go this long without Sherlock and Watson having a snog.

It’s a bit dumbed down at times with very obvious theories being explained for seemingly no reason, but Miller’s performance and the jokes written for him makes this a light-hearted delight.

Boere op die Aardsdrempel

Also known as The Boers at the End of the World, this SAFTA Award-winning documentary tells the extraordinary tale of a generation of Afrikaans speakers who somehow ended up in Argentina.

More than a century ago, after the Anglo Boer War, a group of Afrikaners fled South Africa. The story goes that back in the early 1900s, Argentina started coveting immigrants, luring them with the promise of land. The only problem is that the land they were given wasn’t exactly ideal for farming. The groups of Afrikaners settled on Patagonia’s east coast – a desolate landscape not too dissimilar to the Karoo. The Argentinian government at the time, under General Julio A Roca, offered up the land, hoping the hardy Afrikaners would be able to make something of it.

They arrived to no houses, infrastructure or drinking water. While many returned with whatever the 1900s equivalent of fok die kak was, a few remained.

This documentary tells their story. It’s a bizarre time warp with an almost unrecognisable dialect of Afrikaans being spoken, a combination of speaking it with a Spanish accent and not having been around for the language’s evolution.

The featured families try desperately to cling on to whatever traditions they believe truly represents being an Afrikaner, but as they learn with their “homecoming”, those notions are far from reality.

Available on Showmax.

The Good Man

If you, like most other people, have started to avoid the Sunday night movie that’s being dictated to you, here’s a suggestion. First released in 2012 and not to be confused with a Steven Segal film of a similar name, The Good Man is a story of two people’s lives who collide unexpectedly. Michael is an Irishman whose live starts falling apart after causing the death of a stranger. Sifiso is a South African teenager with big dreams.

For much of the film, it feels like you are watching two completely disconnected plots. And, if you’ve been fooled by M Night Shyamalan movies before, you might start coming up with bizarre theories of your own.

But, in the end, it’ll all make sense and the irony will hit you like a ton of bricks. It runs for little over an hour, so stick with it.

Available on Showmax

Video of the Week: Heathrow Airport Baggage Handlers Tribute to Freddie Mercury

Before Freddie Mercury was Freddie Mercury, he was a baggage handler at Heathrow International. On the anniversary of the world’s greatest singer, his successors at the carousel paid homage to Queen’s vocal genius.

Quick Hits

Rugby Championship, AFCON qualifiers and the US Open finals is all on for your sporting viewing pleasure. DM