The Interview 

Episode 2 of Blood and Water begins with Puleng deciding to enroll at Parkhurst and promising the principal she won’t mess this opportunity up. She decides to use her Maiden name Vezi in a bid to give herself a fresh start given the media attention. As she’s shown around by one of the girls Wendy, we learn how prestigious the school is before being introduced to Wendy’s friend Tahira. She greets Puleng warmly and gives her words of advice, “Don’t lose yourself.”

Determined to try and get nearer to Fikile, Puleng follows the girl to the swimming pool but is stopped by the coach arriving and stopping her progressing. Instead, Puleng speaks to Wendy, Wade and the others and puts herself forward to interview Fikile on behalf of the Magazine Society.

At the interview she dives into Fikile’s past, asking her questions about the girl’s upbringing and parenthood. She discusses hating water but growing to love it before disclosing she originally lived in East Cape Town.

Back home things are frosty with her Mother as Puleng secretly looks into the possibility of buying a DNA test to use on Fikile. Stealing her Mum’s credit card she buys the kit and plots her next move. That move comes in the form of KB’s party which Puleng attends that evening. Once there she gets talking to KB about his past, where we learn he and Fikile are close friends.

The two talk about their lives, discussing lyrics and generally connecting together. After impressing his Father, Puleng pulls away from them kissing and texts Wade back and lies, telling him she’s working on an article. Upstairs in the bathroom, Puleng tries to use the DNA test on Fikile but is interrupted midway through and fails to get the results she needs.

In the morning, Puleng tries a different tactic and questions the teachers at school about information recorded on student birth certificates. For now she remains tight-lipped over how she’s going to progress forward but unfortunately Wendy throws a spanner in the works. Despite infiltrating the Royals and getting on well with them, Wendy sabotages Puleng by modifying her article about why Fikile should not be head girl.

As we soon see, Fikile and her swimming coach are hooking up together in private while Fikile’s mother learns her daughter’s case has been re-opened by the police. While she grapples with the ramifications of this, Puleng sneaks into the record room and sifts through the files. Only, as she does Wade suddenly bursts in midway through and confronts her, which is where the episode ends.

With some nice visuals and a decent soundtrack throughout, Blood and Water is let down by its lacklustre storytelling. The plot feels pretty formulaic in the manner this mystery is playing out and it seems likely that Fikile may well be a decoy and not Puleng’s sister. Of course, this is all speculation and there’s at least enough in the mystery to keep you watching through for the truth. Unfortunately the series doesn’t have a lot else going for it and whether Blood and Water can pick up from here and add some more depth to proceedings remains to be seen.