Please note: Contains spoilers for episode 1.
After waiting in eager anticipation, the first episode of Trackers landed on M-Net 101. And it had everything we’d hoped for: thrills, suspense, and drama. Tracking (see what we did there) a host of intriguing characters, it’s been a tough job trying to pick and choose our favourite moments.
Was it the crackling tension between Janina and Quinn, and their turbulent past with the PBI? Or that intense rooftop chase in the Bo-Kaap? And don’t even get us started on the rhinos, who took our breath away at their incredible reveal.
But we’ve done the difficult task of whittling it down to our five top moments. Check them out below and share yours on social media using #TrackersSA.
The Opening Credits
Can we just take a moment to gasp collectively at the opening cedits? The Dali-esque, Inception-vibes of different landscapes and cityscapes folding into each other had us clapping in delight. This is one of those opening titles you just don’t skip through.
Get In, Get Out
Any scene with Thapelo Mokoena as Quinn made us sit up a little straighter, but this one takes the cake, the coffee, and the after dinner mints. Calm under pressure, Quinn nevertheless made our palms sweat during the tense moment he went undercover to install surveillance. Watch it below:
It’s a moment perfectly wrought with tension, making it all the more effective by unexpected moments of levity, courtesy of Adrian Alper’s Baboo. That moment his tannie klaps and scolds him is gold, made funnier and tenser when he flips out at the “bad drivers” blocking his way. The acting and the editing work together seamlessly to deliver an edge-of-your seat moment that will make you laugh and stress out simultaneously.
Loving Lourens
Gerald Steyn just about steals the show with his performance as the awkward, foot-in-my-mouth Lourens Le Riche. Sometimes you need lighter moments in a dark, tense show, and Steyn delivers them with aplomb. Whether it’s making futile conversation with Lemmer or checking his shorts aren’t too tight when he meets Flea, he stole many viewers’ hearts. But it’s not just in the comedic moments that he shines. Ambushed by Inkunzi, his tearful terror is played to a perfect pitch, never veering into melodrama but remaining on a believably terrified course. His performance makes the character’s death all the more difficult. RIP Lourens. You will be missed.
Lemmer Wants Answers
Mysterious. Enigmatic. Inscrutable. We could spend all day with our thesaurus describing Lemmer, because he’s just so darn difficult to pin down. Metaphorically and literally. In the opening scene, he’s making himself scare in Loxton. But his past and reputation soon catch up with him, throwing him into action, danger, and the arms of Flea. But his finest moment comes after Inkunzi’s ambush, when he storms into Diederik Brand’s office, punctuating each demand with a golf club.
The Wool Over our Eyes
There was always something suspicious about Flea. Anyone who could be so cold towards poor Lourens deserves the raise of an eyebrow. And she’s called Flea? Come on! Nevertheless, she had us fooled – especially when she appeared as freaked out by the next guy at Inkunzi’s ambush. But the proverbial next guy was Lourens, and he’s dead and Flea is alive…yet still we didn’t question her. Not until that gasp-inducing phone call, did we realise what Flea was actually all about. Sneaky little minx. What will she get up to next?
Find out what happens next in Trackers, this Sunday 3 November at 20:00 on M-Net channel 101.
Missed the first episode? Watch it on DStv Catch Up or Showmax.