Blood & Water SA Tourism

Ama Qamata plays the lead, Puleng in Blood and Water. Photo: Netflix / Twitter

Blood and Water: SA Netflix drama hits top spot in the US

Blood & Water is only Netflix’ second South African original, and has turned out to be a smash hit.

Blood & Water SA Tourism

Ama Qamata plays the lead, Puleng in Blood and Water. Photo: Netflix / Twitter

Blood & Water, the teen drama series that’s been trending in South Africa over the past week on Netflix has turned out to be a hit in the United States as well.

The series is the second South African original on Netflix, following the success of spy drama Queen Sono, which debuted earlier in the year.

Blood and Water makes solid US debut 

The first season hit the streaming service on Wednesday and, by Friday, it briefly hit number one in the US, ahead of Sweet Magnolias and White Lines, and was also ahead of hit thriller, Ozark.

Blood & Water, written and directed by Nosipho Dumisa, is set in Cape Town and follows pupils at Parkhust College – a prestigious school in the inner-city.

Central to the story is 16-year-old Puleng – played by Ama Qamata – who engineers her transfer to the school in search of her sister, who was abducted at birth.

This is after meeting Fikile “Fiks” Bhele (Khosi Ngema), who she quickly suspects could be her sister.

The meeting with Fiks is what drives her to infiltrate the school’s in-crowd, and the six episodes in the first season explore the topsy-turvy relationship between the two, with Ngema’s character mostly oblivious to the reasons behind Puleng’s obsession with her.

Also in the mix are the two teenage’s girls’ friends, who play their part both offsetting and aiding Puleng’s mission, with the respective parents and teachers also having a significant hand in the plot.

Watch Blood and Water trailer here:

While the central characters are played by relatively new faces such as Qamata and Puleng’s love interest KB and school heartthrob – played by Thabang Molaba – there are some veteran actors in the mix, such as Sello Maake ka Ncube and Xolile Tshabalala, who play KB’s father and Fiks’ mom respectively.

Other major characters include Puleng’s best friend Zama (Cindy Mahlangu), Wendy (Natasha Thahane) – who comes off as a clear antagonist in the first season – as well as Wade, who is Puleng’s co-investigator with a secret crush on her, played by Dillon Windvogel.