Is ‘The Wife’ losing its edge?

When The Wife first debuted, it had social media in a chokehold, trending every week as new episodes went live on Showmax, and now, it can’t seem to keep up the momentum it initially built. 

Most Thursdays, the hashtag #TheWifeShowmax maintained its spot at the top of the Twitter trends list, no matter what happened throughout the day and now, the hashtag seems to fizzle out faster than a wet firecracker. 

A quick glance at the hashtag in order to glean what the sentiment is among fans seems to show that people are somewhat bored by the events of the new season. 

Season three of ‘The Wife‘

Season three of The Wife picked up where the season two cliffhanger left off after Qhawe’s (Kwenzo Ngcobo) new love, Naledi (Gaisang K Noge) was kidnapped.

The third season was set to focus on her as she captures the heart of the most popular Zulu brother and though Qhawe remains the most popular brother – even trending after this week’s trio of episodes – their love story doesn’t seem to be capturing fans the way the past two seasons have. 

Episodes 13 to 15 of season three showed us how things went down as Qhawe attempted to pay lobola for Naledi to a family that holds on to the hope that she will instead marry the suitor they have picked for her. 

Naledi later threw a spanner in the works by asking Qhawe to pump the brakes and allow them to just be in a relationship before rushing down the aisle.

Viewers of The Wife also watched as the family figured out what to do with Nqoba’s tavern now that his entire family (his child and his wife) are dead. 

‘The Woolworths of amadoda’

It has almost become a tradition for viewers to show different cast members their love each week and this week, Qhawe was the object of their affection. 

Dubbed “the Woolworths of amadoda”, the actor behind the role was praised for staying true to the book’s version of Qhawe – a gentle-natured and romantic lover. 

Though Qhawe and Naledi often butt heads over the issues that plague their relationship, they are quick to make up without Qhawe ever feeling the need to beat her the way his on-screen brother, Mqhele, does with his wife. 

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