Today Yesterday was catch-up day! And I finally caught up with iRokoTV’s new series “Desperate Housegirls”. The series is produced by Uduak Isong and stars Ini Edo, Belinda Effah, Ime Bishop Umoh, Ufuoma McDermott, Uzor O. Osimkpa, Kenneth Okolie, Okey Uzoeshi and many others.
After watching the 13 episodes of season 1 in under 24 hours, like the lifeless goat I am, I was feeling pretty good about it. Until I read a comment that stated and I shall paraphrase “that is why women need to stop doing all this work work and stay at home and do their duties and stop inviting devils into their homes”.
[pullquote_left]Are the alarms going off in anyone else’s head?[/pullquote_left]
Whaaaattt? Are the alarms going off in anyone else’s head? Any guys’ heads too please? Thankfully, that’s not what we’re talking about today. Today we’re talking about the series as a whole. Be warned, everything beneath this point is basically a SPOILER!
The show begins in a house-maid renting/borrowing/leasing agency run by a certain Madam Amber. According to madam Amber, she did not come to Lagos to be counting other people’s houses. Hence, for that reason, whenever she sends a help to someone’s house, she soon recalls the help so that the employers have to come back to her for new help and then pay a new ‘initiation’ fee. This sets up the atmosphere for what is about to become 13 episodes of slander, slew, eyes rolling, WTF moments and OMG-I-Can’t-Believe-That-Just-Happened scenes.
[pullquote_right]she did not come to Lagos to be counting other people’s houses[/pullquote_right]
The first episode commits the viewer. The households are set up and all the key players are introduced. The second and third episodes, however, spend a little too much time on the househelps & sex angle that I was about to lose hope. By the way, if you did give up, I’m here to tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
The househelps-for-sex angle doesn’t last too long. Soon enough we are introduced to Ime Bishop’s character and for me this is when the show truly begins. Bishop brings his own dose of “comedic constipation” and I have never been so happy to find comedic relief. As the show progresses, a lot of issues are touched upon subliminally and not so subliminally. The writer is able to bring up issues of illiteracy, child labor, wife abuse (by mother-in-laws), societies stigmatization of childless women, misogynistic men, the perils of being a successful Nigerian woman, cancer, and many other issues.
[pullquote_left]Bishop brings his own dose of “comedic constipation”[/pullquote_left]
Let’s briefly touch on the three families of the show.
First of all there is the Elliots consisting of Mr. Elliot, Mrs. Elliot and their daughter, Angel. Mr. Elliot a misogynistic man in his late 40s that might have a drinking problem, might not have a well-tuned business acumen but definitely has a problem where he thinks his is the greater sex. The family’s initial help is Koyinsola – a not so polished Yoruba girl, God bless her soul. This shows forth when she chases the dog around with a stick trying to kill it because her oga wants to eat hot dog for breakfast.
After Koyinsola, the next help is determined to seduce Mr. Elliot until his wife finds out. After this help we meet Magdalene who has taken it upon herself to be the family adviser and character trainer of their daughter, Angel. After Magdalene and a series of other debacles involving witches and witches-for-Jesus, Mrs. Elliot has had it and decides to bring in a child, who is basically the same age as her daughter, as the new help. It is at this moment that Mr. Elliot’s brain works for the only time during the entire series as he correctly points out that this is nothing short of child abuse. Their domestic misfortunes continue until Mr. Elliot lands himself in a bit of a financial tightspot and this is where their story ends for the season.
[pullquote_right]Mr. Elliot’s brain works for the only time during the entire series[/pullquote_right]
The second family is Rebecca’s. Rebecca is a divorcee with a grown son. She is also an immensely wealthy, very successful and highly influential business woman. She hires Imabong, played by Belinda Effah, to be her help in her house where she lives with her son, Shawn. Shawn is a non-well-to-do big baby in a grown man’s body who believes that it is his mother’s responsibility to dote on his every need and desire. When Imabong arrives home, he is determined to have her in his bed and almost goes to the point of raping her until Erumo shows up. Erumo is Rebecca’s “one time boyfriend?”/now-friend that occasionally pops in and out of her life like holiday seasons. Erumo eventually falls for Imabong and then we find out that Rebecca is struggling through some personal issues.
[pullquote_left]and almost goes to the point of raping her[/pullquote_left]
The third family is that of Ada and Femi, played by Uzor O. Osimkpa and Kenneth Okolie. Thus far, I haven’t mentioned performances because everyone was on it. However, after Uzor’s monologue-like spoken-word piece in the last episode, I just have to take a moment and clap for this lady’s performance in this show – I have found a new addiction. Ada and Femi have been married for about two years and are without a child. Femi might be suffering from the same disease as Mr. Elliott because in one scene in the beginning when his wife complains of being overwhelmed, he does not suggest helping but instead suggests that she quits her job (It’s a good thing his character’s name is Femi because this is such an igbo man move – *runs and hides*).
They get help in the form of Nkechi, played by Ini Edo. Nkechi comes in, however, with her own agenda because she also, like madam Amber, did not come Lagos to count bridges. She is set on seducing Femi and she quickly succeeds (…aah, now I believe that he is a Yoruba man *I’m just kidding o*). Things soon escalate when she stands in front of the dinner table one day and pronounces that she is pregnant for Femi. Drama begets drama begets drama begets drama in this household as things soon take a “Mrs. Somebody” twist when Ada decides to keep the baby as her own.
[pullquote_right]Drama begets drama begets drama begets drama in this household[/pullquote_right]
Desperate Housegirls is a load of drama and not a single moment of bore. It keeps coming at a comfortable pace. It doesn’t feel like a series, because those have highs and lows, it feels like a movie that fortunately doesn’t end… until it does! The show has nothing to do with the movie of similar name and are two different entities.
What are we looking forward to in season 2? Does Mr. Elliot recover financially? Does Ada find out that Nkechi is not really pregnant? Does Shawn kill Imabong for inheriting his mother’s property? Do Erumo and Imabong finally get together? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Sore Heart
Fine Wine
