Please note: SPOILERS GALORE!
No matter what we’re watching, many of us love a good twist. From “I am your father” and “I see dead people” in the movies to years of following shows like Lost and Game of Thrones, we’ve become increasingly obsessed with those OMG, mouth-on-the-floor, I-didn’t-see-that-coming moments that make weeks and sometimes months’ worth of suspense worth it.
With M-Net’s shows serving up drama, romance, reality, crime, and action in 2021, it was inevitable that there’d be a twist or two or twenty-one. So, we thought: why not present them to you, as the year draws to a close, in a twisty trip down memory lane?
Here, in no particular order, are our top 21 twists of 2021. Which one shook you the most?
Keelan and Dylan bow out
The Bachelorette SA season 1
You’d think after watching ladies walk off both seasons of The Bachelor SA that we’d be used to the shock. But we weren’t and we were left with mouths open when first Keelan and then Dylan voluntarily chose to leave the mansion in the very first season of The Bachelorette SA, cutting short their romantic journeys with Qiniso. Needless to say, Keelan’s was certainly the more dramatic of the two.
Two teams go home
My Kitchen Rules SA season 3
It was finally time for the challenge phase! It started with several shots of Nespresso, as the top eight teams were tasked to cook with coffee. Not only were the teams split into sweet and savoury groups, but when a group was not cooking they had to score the teams in the other group, alongside judges David Higgs and J’Something. To keep it (ahem!) non-strategic, the teams had to taste blind! We couldn’t wait to see (pardon the pun!) what the teams had to offer outside of the Instant Restaurant setting. Eliminations were inevitable, but we were taken aback that not only one, but two teams had to leave. It was made all the more difficult when those two teams were fan favourites Brett and Aidan and Stella and Jeff.
Sudden death challenge
My Kitchen Rules SA season 3
After the intense Nespresso challenge, we thought things would slow down a bit. Perhaps not in the kitchen – this is a competition, after all – but at least in the rate at which teams were eliminated. But it was not to be, and the episode saw three teams eliminated. Making it even twistier, instead of being eliminated based solely on scores, it was to be a sudden death challenge: meaning you’re only as good as your last cook. Tasked with cooking a starter, main, and dessert on fire with no electrical equipment, the first course saw Nevi and Craig fall out, followed by KB and Nadia with the mains. Despite their exemplary performance with the first two courses, their dessert let them down, and Bernadette and Shaleeni were the third team sent packing.
Nandi dies
Reyka
Game of Thrones taught us the cardinal rule of television: don’t get attached to your favourite characters. Lesson not learnt! We were devastated when Nandi Cele, friend and colleague to our intrepid title character, was killed by the show’s mysterious serial killer. And the fact that she came so close to revealing the guilty culprit made it all the more agonising. RIP Nandi. You were the best of them.
A reality favourite returns
MasterChef South Africa season 4
After six years, the local version of the ever-popular reality cooking show is back! The last time it was on our screens was for the Celebrity edition, which saw comedian Chris Forrest take the winning title. What can you expect from the fourth season? Watch this space.
Lucy is real
Reyka
Throughout Reyka’s eight episodes, no matter how much murder and mystery we saw, the one thing we kept circling back to was the question: is Lucy real? Was she a victim like Reyka, held captive by Angus Speelman? Or just a figment of Reyka’s imagination? Was she Portia, indulging Speelman’s disturbed proclivities by pretending to be a young girl? When it was finally revealed that Lucy was real, that wasn’t so shocking in and of itself: after all, we’d been asking ourselves that the whole time. The real shocker was that we’d met Lucy long ago: as the au pair, Nina, looking after Reyka’s daughter. They were one and the same person! We. Did. Not. See. That. Coming.
Short term love
Love Island South Africa season 1
After Chris was voted out, his bae Kitty decided to follow him out of the villa. “We wanted to work on something together on the outside,” she said, and we were eagerly waiting to watch a love story unfold. However, her act of love was thwarted because the pair broke up mere days later. Talk about happily never after.
Shock, horror
Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island
Chappies, the viewers' overwhelming favourite Castaway, failed during the final Immunity Challenge and was booted off the Island. Having won five individual Immunity challenges in a row – and seven in total – made his elimination even more devastating to watch.
Farewell Kaige
Love Island South Africa season 1
Another shocking exit from the villa came from Kaige. In a touching and frank chat with the rest of the Islanders, he explained: “Meeting you all has been an experience I will never ever forget. It is a moment in my life and experience that I will always treasure.” His fellow contestants lauded his courage in making the difficult decision to leave.
On home ground
Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island
Twenty Castaways from across South Africa were brought together in a Survivor South Africa first: the chance to compete for the title of Sole Survivor on South African soil for the first time in the show’s eight-season history. Due to the pandemic, Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island was kept local, shooting at the Wild Coast. The location presented many challenges for the Castaways and made for breath-taking and dramatic viewing.
Did that really happen?
Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island
When Tyson gifted the Idol to Chappies, it was a big surprise because they weren't getting along and even became sworn enemies soon after. Meanwhile, Nicole begged Renier for an Idol she didn't need and didn’t seem to care that it was hidden in his undies. Check out more surprises in this video:
Reversing up the aisle
Legacy
Moments after walking down the aisle, Petra was about to say “I do” to Jonno. In stepped SJ Price to confess his love. Petra quickly reversed up the aisle with SJ on her arm. Oh, and if that wasn’t dramatic enough: the baby also turned out to be SJ’s, not Jonno’s. It was the fairy tale ending everyone wanted for the star-crossed lovers. Askies, Jonno.
Not me
Reyka
When Mbali Msomi was brutally murdered, it was initially tied to the serial killer’s spree. However, forensics found that Mbali was actually pregnant and that Vikash, a supposed family man, was the father of the child. He copied the method of the murders to hide his ugly truth, but the truth always surfaces. The baddies always seem to think they’ll get away with their heinous actions. Will they never learn?
She returns
Legacy
As part of the Legacy board in days past, Nirvana was always the straight arrow, doing things by the book. That didn’t get her very far though and she was forced out of the company. But a good woman never stays down long. She returned to Legacy, this time as part of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to investigate the company for fraud and other illegal activities.
Adrian is alive
Lioness
After confronting Sifiso about what really happened at Adrian’s firm, Samantha finally learnt the truth about why her husband faked his death. Sifiso told her everything he knew, including how the corruption in the firm started and that Adrian had mentioned running away to Botswana.
Sam’s affair
Lioness
It didn’t take long for Samantha to realise that her house was being monitored by an outsider. Being the lioness she is, she befriended the investigator…but then fell in love. Sam and Anton continued on a rollercoaster affair which ultimately ended in Anton confessing to the fraud he committed to frame her.
Jason was the mastermind
Lioness
Jason confessed to Megan that he was behind Adrian’s disappearance. Despite his legal background, Jason couldn’t help Adrian get out of the mess he made. His only solution was to help him fake his death.
Yvette frames Sam
Lioness
We discovered that Yvette was in love with Adrian, which gave her a reason as old as time to frame Sam and get her out of the picture. Thinking she would be able to effortlessly move into Adrian’s life if she could just get rid of Sam, Yvette made the transactions from Sam’s computer that set it up to look like she was involved, ultimately sending her to jail.
Who shot Adrian?
Lioness
Adrian was caught in Botswana and brought back to Jozi to face the music. He managed to run away from Sam, but then got trapped on a rooftop with Liam and Yvette. Both of them had guns pointed at him when Jason showed up, also holding a gun. After Liam confronted his father about what he had done, a shot went off, killing Adrian. To this day we are unsure which one of the three guns on that rooftop dealt the fatal blow.
Felicity marries James
Legacy
Even after James confessed to kidnapping Charlie, Felicity still agreed to marry him. James told her and the other Prices how love made him do crazy things and that he would have done anything to be back with her.
Jayden and Matilda’s twisted plot
Zuba season 3
If you didn’t live for the drama of Dr Jayden and Phingiwe’s wedding, what were you doing? Novela Magic fans waited through multiple episodes in anticipation of the wedding, as Jayden and his lover Matilda plotted against his fiancée, the wealthy matriarch of the Sosala family, Phingiwe. They went as far as planting an impostor son, who actually happened to be a twin to Phingiwe’s son, who was now kidnapped. Talk about a twisted twist! The wedding was set to be a cocktail of deception, uncovered secrets, and sheer violence!
Which twist shook you the most? Did we miss a twist? Share your thoughts on social media using #MNet101 and #BestOf21.