By Jennifer Ochieng
Published August 31, 2023
Kenyan Showmax Original telenovela, Second Family, is coming back for a fiery second season on September 14, 2023, with new episodes releasing every Thursday and Friday.
Picking up from where Season 1 left off, the cutthroat struggle for the control of the lucrative milling company, EAGC, continues, with the stakes even higher after an old patriarch rises from the dead. Meanwhile, the Syndicate, made up of businessmen who run the country, make even more bold moves to secure their interests.
RELATED: East Africa Wins Its Second FESPACO Award for a Full Feature Film
Leo’s absence has wreaked unimaginable havoc on his family and friends. His eldest son, Tehi, fresh out of jail, contemplates his next step as the head of the Gatehi-Langat family after walking his sister Gigi down the aisle. Gigi, having just pledged her life to her father’s protege, Cyrus, hides a scandalous secret.
RELATED: Why Popular Novel is No Pop Literature
Shei, now aware of her heritage, looks to hide the truth from her family, while Sinde, now at the helm of EAGC, is ready to unleash her wrath on the Gatehi-Langats, whom she blames for her misfortunes.When tragedy strikes, Leo, the man who set off this chain of events, returns from the ‘dead’. Soon, his family and friends realise that they are not dealing with the man they once knew, and they must navigate new family dynamics and vicious succession battles, where victory belongs to those willing to get their hands dirty, and when needed, bloody.
RELATED: Ghost Intervenes as Kenyan Thespians Fight
Dora Nyaboke returns as the ever-devilish Evangeline, Nick Ndeda as the Gatehi-Langat black sheep, Tehi, Brian Ogola as Evangeline’s ambitious partner in crime, Cyrus, and Vanessa Okeyo as Leo’s once-likely successor, Sinde. Also making a comeback in Season 2 are Mumbi Maina as Katherine, Stephanie Muchiri as Gigi, Brain Abajah as Joel, Serah Wanjiru as Shei, Lewis Leshan as Bett, Florence Nduta as Dora, Derek Bbanga as Kiilu, Joyce Musoke as Lizzy, Sheila Ndanu as Dr Masinde and Mary Mwikali as Carole Marie.
RELATED: Kenyan Novelist Speaks on Language and Liberation of the African Inventive Imagination
The most exciting thing about developing the story for the second season of Second Family has been the “sharp change of direction,” from Season 1, says Season 2 showrunner, Mkamzee Mwatela. “We’re throwing challenges at the characters and watching them respond. They’re real people to us now, and all of them are struggling so hard just to get through life, sometimes just to get through the day. It’s exciting coming up with solutions to seemingly impossible problems ranging from love, business and family to the characters’ inner worlds. It’s amazing how you can write characters that can endure things you can’t in ways that you wish you could.
RELATED: Kenyan Screen Dance Film Shortlisted for International Contemporary Dance Contest
“I think at some point viewers will be screaming at their TV ‘What is wrong with you?’ because the characters are making so many questionable decisions,” Mkamzee adds. “Also, some interesting characters will be ‘rising’ and we’ll be introducing some new characters just to stir the pot a little. We hope to leave a trail of fire this season.”
Second Family S2 is produced by Live Eye TV, and directed by Edwin Kamau (Crime and Justice) and King Muriuki (Igiza, Faithless).
