Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold
Why does Don want to marry Zinhle?
Episode 6 of Savage Beauty starts this finale with Don Bhengu unhappy with the way the news have turned him weak. “I’ve lost my touch,” He rasps. In order to get around that, he decides to wed Zinhle. What better way to claw back to the top than to marry the face of the company.
That way, they can spin the story into focusing on the wedding rather than all those scandals Bhengu Beauty have dealt with. Between the illegal skin products and the horrific bleach issue in the past, this company’s way has been paved in blood.
Of course, for Zinhle her end-goal is to get revenge for her family’s troubled past – and Amahle’s death. Zinhle suggests postponing the marriage for 3 months but Don refuses, not wanting to wait that long to sleep with her. Instead, she’s going to do a wedding announcement shoot.
What is Zinhle’s big idea?
This only speeds up her plans to get back at Don, as Zinhle speaks to Bonga in private. He urges her to focus as they’re losing themselves in this case. While talking, Zinhle has an idea. “Cleansing.” She says, hanging up and working on her latest plan.
While at dinner, Zinhle spins this story to her future husband, claiming she’s still scared after Grace tried to kill her. So naturally, she wants to do a spiritual cleansing. That way it would feel like a fresh start; “a cleansing before a new beginning will make me feel protected.” Don smiles weakly, agreeing to her terms.
What does Grace do?
News of this wedding spreads across to the rest of the family, with Linda convinced that Zinhle is behind the troubles befalling them all. Grace begrudgingly appears and apologizes for what happened between them earlier in the season. Specifically, how she was responsible for Thanda losing her child. It wasn’t a miscarriage, as she was led to be believed, she put a pill in her drink. Linda is livid and eventually forces Grace out.
Grace decides to try and make the most of this volatile situation, positioning herself into becoming the new CEO of Bhengu Beauty. With Phila by her side, she makes a play to the board of directors, telling them she’s going to run the company properly, “the way it should be.”
What happens with the spiritualist?
This ties in nicely with Don and Zinhle visiting the aforementioned spiritualist. Zinhle is asked to leave, and in her absence the spiritualist claims that the ancestors are showing his path. One path leads to even more power and wealth but the other leads to something else entirely. With a phone planted by Zinhle in the room, recording everything, the spiritualist hands it over to Zinhle after the session and tells her not to make her lie about the ancestors again.
Don seems to believe what he has been told and visits another spiritualist after, who tells him that the “Spirit of Vengeance” is coming after him. Zinhle happens to be listening from outside the room.
Does Don kill Bonga?
Bonga meets with Detective Selekane but things go awry quickly. He’s told to take a few days off, prompting him to ring Zinhle and tell her he needs to disappear for a while. However, he needs to see her before he leaves. That’s problematic though, given she’s in the process of trying on her wedding dress and misses this call. When Don leaves on urgent business, Zinhle asks the worker for a charger.
Bonga shows up back home but he’s nervous and worried, arming himself with a handgun as he heads inside. Unfortunately, Don is onto him and happens to be waiting in the house already. With the false pretenses gone, Bonga admits that he doesn’t want money, he wants to see Don and Grace in prison for what they’ve done. Specifically, the horrors of using Bonga and Zinhle as test subjects for their illegal bleach.
With a gun drawn, Bonga looks set to shoot as Don apologizes and tries to weasel his way out of this. He promises to repent and take his punishment, but as the pair wrestle with the gun, we cut to the exterior of the house as a gunshot sounds. When we cut back again, Don leaves with blood on his shirt. Bonga is not dead but he’s bleeding out.
What pushes Zinhle over the edge?
Don leaves, Zinhle rushes over and calls an ambulance. As he bleeds out, Bonga apologizes for what happened, including how the detective ratted them out to Don. When she learns that Don is responsible for what happened, she’s livid. She scoops up her brother and starts driving to the hospital… but he unfortunately dies on the way.
When Don returns home, Linda shows up and warns him that Zinhle is working with Bonga to take the family down. She knows that someone has been working to take out Bhengu Beauty and she’s figured out that she’s the missing puzzle piece. Don though is blinded by his own greed and selfishness, refusing to believe this is true. So instead, he kicks Linda out and tells her to go home.
Does Don confess to his crimes?
With Bonga dead, Zinhle returns with a vengeance. After sending all the hired help home, Zinhle returns to Don, encouraging him to drink. Only, she’s actually spiked the drink. She promises to phone him an ambulance but only if he confesses to how Bhengu Beauty really started, including the bleach tests. She promises to make him pay, loading up the laptop and determined to get a confession.
Don tries to save his own skin, blaming Grace for everything and how it was all her idea, including burning the house down. However, he does record the confession eventually, with it recorded on his laptop.
It’s also revealed that Don hasn’t actually been poisoned, he’s been spiked with drugs to make him high. Zinhle tricked him.
How does Savage Beauty Season 1 end?
When Don stands up to charge at Zinhle, he bashes his head on the side of the cabinet and appears to be dead. Zinhle moves him to the trunk of her car, begins to drive away but then is stopped by Phila returning to the house. In the wake of all this drama, Don opens his eyes. Oh no!
The Episode Review
So Savage Beauty bows out with a big old cliffhanger, leaving the door wide open for a possible sequel after Zinhle’s revenge mission goes completely awry. Although this has been the glue to tie everything together, the show has equally been about the family drama, with hints of Dynasty and Succession rippling through the tone and narrative feel of this series.
This has very much been a soapy melodrama for large swathes of the run-time and this final episode is no exception. Grace is now the CEO of Bhengu Beauty, which will make for an interesting dynamic change going forward, while Don’s confession could amount to nothing, especially if Zinhle is caught moving Don who, as it appears, is actually still alive.
I’m still not quite sure why Zinhle did all this, when a toxicology report would confirm that he was high on drugs and bashed his head naturally. Zinhle could have just collected her gear and left, then it could have been made out to be an accident – especially with the stress he’s been under with the company.
The rest of the characters get a suitable enough ending, although Thanda and Linda don’t quite get the perfect send-off, given their last scene involves Don.
For now though everything is left wide open for a possible sequel, with plenty of unanswered questions to chew over.
Read More: Savage Beauty Season 1 Review
Thanks for reading our Ending Explained article! What did you think of Savage Beauty Season 1’s ending? Do you think Zinhle made the right choice? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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Episode Rating
(3.5)