Spinners S2 thrills Silwerskerm

The blue carpet for the world premiere of Spinners S2 was buzzing, the Rotunda was packed, and by the time the lights went down, Silwerskermfees audiences were strapped in for another high-octane ride. The world premiere of Spinners Season 2 delivered exactly what fans had been waiting for and then some more.

The arrival of the Spinners cast turned the area outside the venue into a hive of activity, with cameras flashing, interviews happening from every direction and members of the media eager to get a moment with the stars before they headed inside. Cantona James, Braedon Buys, Dillon Windvogel, Nahum Hughes, Chelsea Thomas, Clementine Mosimane, Aphiwe Mkefe, Luyanda Zwane, Mondli Makhoba, and Siyamthanda Bangani were among the cast members in attendance, alongside director Jaco Bouwer and members of the creative team. But once the photographs were taken and the interviews wrapped, everyone moved into the theatre for what was arguably one of the most anticipated television moments of the 14th kykNET Silwerskerm Film Festival, the world premiere of Spinners Season 2.

The first episode screened to a sold-out audience, with the room erupting into applause as the credits rolled. It was a fitting response for a series that has already established itself as one of South Africa’s most distinctive television dramas.

If you thought the first season of Spinners was intense, Season 2 makes it clear that the story is nowhere near finished with Ethan. Directed by Jaco Bouwer, whose credits include the SAFTA Best TV Drama winner 4 Mure and the award-winning Gaia, the new season once again combines the adrenaline of spinning with a much larger story about ambition, loyalty, family, crime and the consequences of trying to escape your past.

Spinners is co-created by Joachim Landau and Benjamin Hoffman, with Hoffman returning as showrunner. Season 2 is written by Matthew Jankes and Sean Steinberg, with Landau and Ramadan Suleman among the producers. The series is a co-production involving MultiChoice, a CANAL+ company, and CANAL+, with local co-production company Natives at Large, led by Suleman. And judging by the reaction at Silwerskermfees, the return has been worth the wait.

What happens in Spinners S2?

Season 2 picks up with the Underdogs having transformed their lives. Ethan and his friends have become successful spinning stars and are now living a very different life in Johannesburg. On paper, it is everything Ethan wanted: a new identity, new opportunities and a chance to leave the violence and chaos of his past behind. But Spinners has never been a story about escaping consequences that easily.

Ethan soon discovers that his past still has a hold on him when Hercules, played by Brendon Daniels, needs him for one final job. And that is where the new season starts to tighten its grip. Because Ethan isn’t simply dealing with the ghosts of the life he left behind. He is entering a completely new world, one where the stakes are bigger and the people around him are considerably more dangerous.

The season’s official synopsis sets up another major conflict when Ethan comes up against the Maseko crime family in Soweto, whose troubled son Sayi, played by Aphiwe Mkefe, becomes his main spinning rival. And from the beginning, Sayi feels like trouble. There is an immediate sense that this is not going to be a simple rivalry between two young men competing for the same spotlight. Sayi carries his own complicated relationship with his family and the world around him, making him one of the most intriguing new forces in Ethan’s story. If Ethan thought he had finally found his way out, Sayi may be the person who makes him question just how far he has really come.

If Season 1 was intense, Season 2 turns it up

One of the biggest takeaways from the Silwerskermfees screening is that Spinners hasn’t abandoned what made the first season work. The spinning, the action, the friendships and the tension are all still there, but Season 2 feels like it is operating on a bigger canvas. The series is no longer simply about Ethan trying to find a way out. Now, he has something to lose. That makes the dynamic between Ethan, Shane and the rest of the Underdogs particularly interesting. The friendship that helped carry them through the first season is tested by their new circumstances, their growing success and the trouble that continues to follow Ethan.

The result is a season that feels more ambitious while remaining rooted in the characters that audiences connected with in the first place. And importantly, you don’t need to wait long for the tension to arrive. The first episode wastes little time establishing that Ethan’s new life is fragile. Just when it seems that the Underdogs have finally made it, the past comes knocking.

Sayi changes the equation

Sayi (played by Aphiwe Mkefe) is the son of the Maseko family and quickly becomes Ethan’s main spinning rival. That setup alone makes him an important character to watch, but what makes the introduction more interesting is the sense that Sayi isn’t simply being brought into the story to give Ethan someone to compete against.

He represents an entirely different world. The Maseko family brings a new dimension to the series, moving the story further into Johannesburg and into a world of family power, loyalty and conflict. It also gives Ethan an opponent who can challenge him both on and off the spinning circuit. And if the opening episode is anything to go by, Sayi is going to be a problem. A big one.

Jaco Bouwer returns behind the camera

Jaco Bouwer returns to direct Season 2, bringing with him an impressive track record that includes 4 Mure, which won the SAFTA for Best TV Drama, and Gaia, which won the SXSW Cinematography award. His approach to Spinners is particularly important because the series has always needed to balance its action with the emotional lives of its characters. The result is a show that can move quickly without losing sight of the people at the centre of the story. And Season 2 looks set to take that balance even further.

The Friday night screening at Silwerskermfees gave the festival audience an exclusive first look at what is coming. But South African viewers won’t have to wait too much longer.

** Spinners Season 2 premieres on Mzansi Magic (DStv Channel 161) on 25 October 2026. For those who watched Season 1, the message from the Season 2 premiere is simple: whatever you thought Spinners was going to become, it is getting bigger, more ambitious and more intense.