10 shows to binge this weekend
Looking for what to watch this weekend? We’ve got you covered with 10 South African shows worth locking into, from catching up on Spinners Season 1 while it airs weekly on Mzansi Magic and makes its free-to-air debut on e.tv ahead of Season 2 on 25 October, to revisiting Blood Legacy Season 1 before Season 2 arrives on Netflix on 25 September, and getting up to speed with Reënboogrant now that Season 2 is already underway on kykNET. Whether you missed these hits the first time around or simply need a refresher before the next chapter, these are the shows to have on your weekend watchlist.
Sometimes the best way to prepare for a new season is to go right back to the beginning. You get to meet the characters before the new twists arrive, remember the betrayals everyone else has been debating, pick up on the little clues you might have missed the first time around and, most importantly, arrive at the new season knowing exactly what is going on. That makes this weekend the perfect time to lock in. The beauty of a weekend binge is that you don’t necessarily need to spend weeks catching up. Some of these shows are short, sharp and built for a binge. Others have more episodes, but once you are hooked, the hours disappear.
And let’s be honest: if South Africans could sit down and tear through 22 episodes of The Polygamist in one sitting, there is absolutely no reason why you can’t lock in with a few of these. So, popcorn ready. Phone on silent. Let’s get into it.
1. Spinners S1
If you haven’t watched Spinners yet, this is the perfect weekend to get behind the wheel. At the centre of the Cape Flats-set drama is Ethan, a talented 17-year-old driver trying to look after his younger brother Byron while navigating a difficult home life and the dangerous world that surrounds him. His talent behind the wheel catches the attention of Shane, who introduces him to spinning and a possible way of turning his natural ability into something more, but Ethan soon discovers that finding a way out of one world isn’t quite as easy as getting into another. His friendship and rivalry with Amber, his complicated relationship with his mother Kayla, and the continued pull of gang boss Damien all add layers to Ethan’s journey. Now, with Season 1 airing weekly on Mzansi Magic and making its free-to-air debut on e.tv, there is even more reason to catch up before Season 2 arrives on Mzansi Magic on 25 October, when Ethan’s spinning career has taken him to Johannesburg but his past and the powerful people connected to it come looking for him.
Why watch now: Get to know Ethan, Shane, Amber and Damien before Season 2 raises the stakes even higher.
2. Blood Legacy
If Blood Legacy passed you by the first time around, now is the time to fix that. The Netflix drama puts Khanyi Adesina at the centre of a powerful family battle after she returns home following years away and finds herself pulled into the affairs of the wealthy Ndlovu family. What should be a homecoming quickly becomes a fight for control, with family relationships, business interests, old wounds and dangerous secrets all getting tangled together. Khanyi isn’t simply fighting to protect her family’s legacy, she is forced to navigate the people closest to her while trying to understand who she can actually trust. With the next chapter on the way, Season 1 becomes even more worthwhile because every relationship, revelation and betrayal suddenly matters that much more.
Why watch now: Season 2 arrives on Netflix on 25 September, so you have the perfect window to binge Season 1 and remind yourself exactly how the Ndlovu family got here.
3. Reënboogrant
The Brink family is back, and if you’ve fallen behind on Reënboogrant, there’s no better time to catch up. Set around the Brink family’s wine farm, the series follows Johan Brink and the people closest to him as family, love, business and personal ambition repeatedly collide. With Season 2 already underway on kykNET, viewers are once again being drawn into the complicated lives and relationships of the Brink family as new challenges and difficult choices threaten to change the future.
Why watch now: Season 2 is already here, so catching up means you can stop watching from the sidelines and join the latest Brink family drama as it unfolds.
4. Koek Season 2
Koek is exactly the kind of show that can turn a quiet Saturday afternoon into a full-day binge. The series mixes crime, complicated relationships, secrets and characters who constantly find themselves making decisions that come back to haunt them. A bored housewife is forced into organ trafficking after the stripper she suspected of having an affair with her husband is killed accidentally by the hitman she hired to scare her into staying away from her husband. Season 2 continues to build on the tangled relationships and dangerous situations that make the series so easy to fall into, and unlike shows that leave you waiting for another episode each week, all of Season 2 is already available to watch. That makes this one particularly dangerous for anyone who says they are only going to watch one episode before dinner.
Why watch now: All the episodes are ready, so you can start at the beginning of Season 2 and binge your way through without having to wait for the next instalment.
5. Umthetho
With only seven episodes, Umthetho is perhaps the easiest recommendation on this list for anyone who wants to start and finish a series in one weekend. The Netflix drama follows Mbali, a young prosecutor whose professional commitment to justice becomes increasingly complicated when her own family enters the picture. Her brother Moses and the choices surrounding him force Mbali to confront the uncomfortable reality that doing her job and protecting the people she loves may not always be compatible. Sphelele and the other characters around her add further complications as Mbali’s professional and personal worlds begin to collide. The result is a compact drama where the stakes rise quickly and every episode pushes the story forward.
Why watch now: Seven episodes, one weekend and a storyline that gives you very little reason to stop at “just one more.”
6. Bad Influencer
Bad Influencer takes viewers into the glamorous and sometimes messy world of social media, ambition and the pursuit of online success. At the centre is BK, a single mother and luxury bag counterfeiter finds herself teaming up with a self-obsessed influencer to sell her bags and scrape her way out of debt. Caught between criminals and cops, the unlikely duo must outfox both to stay out of jail, survive and thrive. The bright lights of social media collide with the shadows of desperation in Bad Influencer, which blends crime drama with social commentary as the seven-part series balances high-stakes survival with the glossy illusions of influencer culture.
Why watch now: It is a fast-moving local story about influence, ambition and the messy reality behind the perfect social-media image.
7. Law, Love and Betrayal
As the title promises, Law, Love and Betrayal brings professional ambition and complicated relationships into one increasingly tangled story. The series follows the powerful Gumede family as their feud threatens the future of Gumede & Associates. Beneath the polished and high-end exterior of Gumede & Associates lie deep family secrets, intense power struggles, ruthless ambition, and betrayal. Both Season 1 and 2 is available to binge-watch on DStv Stream.
Why watch now: If you like your weekend viewing with romance, secrets, professional drama and betrayals that keep changing the game, this one belongs in the queue.
8. The Polygamist
If there is one show that proves South Africans are capable of turning a “quick binge” into an entire day’s viewing, it is The Polygamist. At the centre of The Polygamist is Jonasi Gomora, a self-made CEO who has built a thriving business empire and an equally complex personal life. His world is one defined by ambition, success, and control but beneath the surface lies a fragile structure built on emotional compromise and hidden truths. As Jonasi’s relationships with multiple wives and mistresses deepen, the boundaries between love, loyalty, and power begin to blur. Each woman in his life becomes a mirror reflecting different aspects of his decisions, exposing the emotional cost of his choices. And there are those 22 episodes which might sound like a lot until you remember how quickly viewers managed to get through the entire thing when it was the show everyone was talking about.
Why watch now: Whether you missed it or simply want to relive the drama, this is your reminder that 22 episodes is apparently no match for a determined binge-watcher.
9. Inimba
If you are looking for a drama built around family, secrets and a mother’s determination, Inimba deserves a place on the weekend watchlist. Mzansi Magic‘s drama puts a mother’s love and the lengths she is prepared to go to for her family at the heart of the story, while the characters around her become caught up in conflicts that refuse to stay buried. As relationships are tested and revelations change the dynamics between the people involved, Inimba keeps finding new ways to complicate matters. The September developments make it an especially good time to catch up because the story is moving into another phase, with new challenges and consequences waiting for the characters.
Why watch now: Inimba is on fire right now, so catching up means you can follow the current drama instead of trying to piece together what everyone is talking about.
10. The Four of Us
The Four of Us throws the Dhlomo family into a battle where inheritance, power, love and family loyalty are all up for grabs. At the heart of the story are Busani, Bobbi, and Banzi, whose lives become increasingly intertwined as the family is forced to confront questions of legacy, belonging and who really has a place at the table. What begins as a family story quickly becomes much messier as relationships are tested, ambitions clash and old tensions refuse to stay hidden. And because this is a family drama, you already know that money and power are rarely the only things at stake.
Why watch now: If you enjoy big family dramas where everybody has something to lose and nobody’s loyalties are completely straightforward, The Four of Us is a serious weekend commitment.
Your weekend starts here
The point of this list isn’t simply to tell you what’s available. It’s about getting ahead. If a new season is coming, catch up before it arrives. If a new season has already started, get yourself back in the conversation. If you missed a show when everyone else was watching it, there’s no rule saying you can’t discover it now. And if you loved it the first time, sometimes the best way to prepare for what’s next is to watch it all over again.
So this weekend, pick your poison: Spinners, Blood Legacy, Reënboogrant, Koek, Inimba, Umthetho, The Four of Us, The Polygamist, Bad Influencer or Law, Love and Betrayal.
Some will take you a few hours. Some will take considerably longer. But that’s the beauty of the weekend. Lock in. Get the popcorn ready. And by Monday, you might have an entirely new favourite show.
