“Shanty Town”: This Miniseries Teeters Due to Over-Ambition and a Lack of Story Focus

Imagine you’re strolling on the street and you spot a guy selling gold necklaces on the road, offering it to you for 10k. You pause, inquire, and confirm if it’s genuine gold, ensuring it won’t ‘wash’ after 2 weeks, as the offer seems too good to be true.

You make the purchase, take it home, and 2 years later, it’s still gleaming. Now, that’s a good deal. But, if you bought it and within the first week, it starts to bleach, well, you’ve acquired a necklace, but you were definitely scammed.

That’s Shanty Town: shiny but fake.

Set in the sprawling Lagos slum, Shanty Town revolves around a group of female sex workers striving to escape the clutches of Scar (Chidi Mokeme), a menacing kingpin. Shalewa (Nancy Isime), one of the protagonists, embarks on a  journey toward freedom, aided by her  friend Jackie (Mercy Eke). However, the weight of Shalewa’s debts within the town becomes apparent as Scar reminds her of the  costs of her many debts since she has been under his care, from STI treatments to feeding, and spiritual protection by the priestess, Mama T (Sola Sobowale).

Amidst these struggles for freedom, Inem, an undercover agent, returns from prison with a hidden agenda to overthrow Scar. The power dynamics within the town are further complicated by the rivalry between the reigning queen bee, Ene (Nse Ikpe-Etim), and the ambitious Inem.

Meanwhile, Scar finds himself entangled in a web of complications as he navigates the demands of the wealthy politician Chief Fernandez (Richard Mofe-Damijo), whose political ambitions clash with Scar’s illicit activities. Adding to Scar’s woes, Dame Dakota (Shaffy Bello) emerges as a contender for the governor’s seat, coercing Scar to aid in her bid to dismantle Chief Fernandez’s campaign, using the chief’s son, Femi, as a pawn in their power play.

If you have a difficult time keeping up with the synopsis, I apologise, but that’s pretty much the reality of Shanty Town – abrupt!

At face value, Shanty Town promised to be an explosive noir drama but ultimately left viewers yearning for a more cohesive and immersive experience. Despite its notable ensemble of talented actors from veterans like Chidi Mokeme, RMD, Ini Edo and, Nse Ikpe-Etim, the series suffered from a story that felt disjointed and a pacing that lacked consistency.

Shanty Town undoubtedly shines with its ambitious narrative approach, echoing the sentiment that ambition can pave the way for success, as Bill Bradley aptly noted. However, the series grapples with the consequence of unchecked and unrefined ambition, mirroring Frank Tyger‘s insight that ambition only thrives when driven by a clear purpose. This is precisely where Shanty Town stumbles—the lack of a discernible purpose. In this miniseries, things keep happening for happening sake. There’s no connection to most of them whatsoever. Inem, the supposed undercover agent, resorts to stealing money from Scar, triggering a chaotic pursuit that ultimately leads to a narrative dead-end, rendering her undercover discoveries seemingly useless by the series’ end. Shalewa’s internal conflict was left hanging without resolution. The scene featuring a character forced into drug use is an element that unfortunately fails to find its place in the overall plot.  The prolonged emphasis on minor characters in irrelevant fight scenes in the last episode contributes to a sense of narrative stagnation, diluting the significance of the central character arcs.

The constant violence within Shanty Town appears gratuitous, devoid of a meaningful narrative progression or character development. While the series aims for a dark and gritty tone, the excessive bloodshed fails to evoke genuine emotional engagement or a sense of genuine fear for the characters’ fates. Instead, it often devolves into a spectacle that provokes unintended amusement rather than the intended fear or concern.

For example, the heavy reliance on tropes or violence for violence sake in this show becomes apparent in the sequences where Dame Dakota’s men pursuit of Scar culminates in a bus-flipping, gunfire-laden chase, leading to Scar’s kidnapping and subsequent recruitment by Dame Dakota. This shows how the series ambition sometimes overshadows coherent storytelling.

Ironically, the six-part miniseries initially enticed the audience with a gripping opening sequence, hinting at the potential for a compelling and immersive outing.  But, this initial promise is like a fake gold necklace as it quickly dissipated as the plot unfolded, leaving behind a sense of confusion and disorientation.

The major question at the end of the series is: Whose story are we telling in Shanty Town? The lack of a clear direction, along with the absence of well-defined rules and guidelines within the story world, created a sense of disconnect and skepticism among viewers. While the series boasted impressive art direction, visually appealing aesthetics, and trickles of well-crafted dialogues, these elements alone are not sufficient to salvage the disjointed storytelling.

In contrast to Shanty Town, other masterpiece TV shows stood out for their seamless storytelling and the emotional depth they brought to their characters. These shows successfully managed to establish an intimate connection between the audience and the characters, allowing viewers to be fully immersed in their journeys. On the other hand, Shanty Town struggled to establish the necessary emotional resonance, leaving its characters feeling like mere plot devices rather than individuals with complex motivations and inner conflicts.

The true essence of any narrative lies in its ability to weave an engaging and captivating story arc. Shanty Town suffered from a failure to deliver a compelling and immersive experience.

Overall this show aspires to be everything, everywhere, all at once, yet this over-ambitiousness marred a story that could have been a defining point for crime drama in Nollywood. Rather than seizing the reins from some of the shows that have tackled this narrative in the past, it will merely take a backseat, as it falls short of surpassing any of them.

Ultimately, the only positive takeaway from this miniseries, apart from the technical advancement in Nollywood, is that Chidi Mokeme is back, as though he never left, and eager for more.