Adulting Season 1 episode 6 recap: It's ladies night

In episode 6 of Adulting Season 1, Beth catches Vuyani with his pants down, Phindile exposes Mpho’s away game to Zithulele, and Eric says goodbye to Natasha and Ncumisa.

This week, Adulting Showmax starts with our four bros in black for Natasha’s funeral, and ends in tears between Bonga and Eric. But in between it delivers shock after shock as Beth crashes the party, Vuyani does the stride of pride through a shopping mall in his undies, Eric gets the devil kicked out of him and throws his gun away, and Mpho’s mistress sets up an extra special meet-n-greet with his wife. You have to see it to believe it.

What happened in Adulting episode 5?

Thirty-somethings Bonga (Thembinkosi Mthembu) the success story, toyboy Vuyani (Luthando ‘BU’ Mthembu), cheating suburban dad Mpho (Thabiso Rammusi) and carjacker Eric (Nhanhla Kunene) have been ride-or-die friends since their university days studying engineering. Now, in their 30s, they’re having to face the mistakes they’ve made.

In episode 5 Mpho’s mistress Phindile (Seipati Mahamu) followed his wife Zithulele (Lungile Duma) on Instagram, reminded him of her birthday, suggested that he throw a party, and even gave him a gift for her – the handbag she’d just bought – before lurking outside their house. Nkanyezi (Londeka Shishi) took Bonga as her plus-one to an important work party, but left him in a corner while her overfamiliar boss Mike (Seokate Tsubane) took her off to network. Vuyani rebelled against his sugar mama Beth’s (Winnie Ntshaba) emotional and physical abuse by seducing a university student named Amahle (Sibongile Gungu). And Eric went through the wringer after he accidentally hijacked his babymama Natasha’s (Sikelelwa Vuyeleni) fiance Cyril (Fezile Mkhize) while his daughter Ncumisa (Siphesihle Khanyile) was in the back of the car. A fiery discussion with Natasha led to passionate sex before Natasha drove away and was murdered by a different hijacker.

Read more about episode 5

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And now, in episode 6 …

Happy birthday, you’re busted!

Vuyani finds out that it’s Amahle’s birthday and promises to throw her a big bash, but where to get the money? His cunning plan is to tell Beth that he wants to host an event for an influencer on a budget that he hopes will attract the attention of all her rich friends. When she asks him how much he’ll need, he tells her R500k. 500 000?! Yes, half a million Rand. While we’re asking how much an oxygen tank costs, Beth just says okay. But as she’s snuggled down in her 600th bubble bath of the series, she phones Vuyani for a status update and hears Amahle making kissy noises to him. Beth doesn’t waste a second. With her hair in a towel and wearing nothing but a fluffy white gown and slippers, she crashes the party with her bodyguards, like a bad fairy at a spa, just as Amahle is blowing out her candles. Amahle thinks that Vuyani has invited his mom to the party until Beth has her head of security take Vuyani by the arm and drag him out of the party. And don’t miss the look that Nkanyezi gives Bonga just then, because she has something to say…

My opinions are facts

Bonga and Nkanyezi hit a serious dealbreaker in their relationship this episode. Bonga’s friends are going through the wringer, and he has to sit in silence while Nkanyezi sounds off after Natasha’s funeral about hijackers and rapists being equally evil.

Later Nkanyezi pushes Bonga to include her in activities with his besties until he gives in and takes her to Amahle’s birthday party, where she gets to witness Vuyani’s disgrace first hand. Over breakfast the next day, Nkanyezi starts trying to put her foot down. When Bonga points out that she’s being a bit judgemental about one of his best friends, she claims, “I’m not judging him, I’m just speaking the truth.” Insert your eyeroll here.

Nkanyezi tells Bonga that as someone who’s going to be the next big thing in business, he can’t hang around with the likes of Vuyani because those friends will hold him back. They’ll have to put a pin in this discussion, because Bonga has an emergency call from Eric, and he doesn’t hesitate to leave.

Red flag factory!

At the start of the episode Bonga and Vuyani warn Mpho that Phindile isn’t just throwing up red flags, she’s pulling strings of red flags out of her pockets like a magician! But Mpho, who’s just ripped into Natasha’s family being evil and boasted, “That’s why I do a background check before I tap that,” insists that they don’t know Phindile.

Ding dong, you’re wrong.

While Mpho’s sleeping during a stolen weekend away with Phindile for “work training”, Phindile slips out of bed, slips into his work shirt, and goes for a drive in his car. Her destination? Mpho’s house. Zithulele is outside watering the daisies when Phindile rolls up slowly. Once she’s caught Zithuele’s attention, she rolls down her window. Zithulele is shocked into silence as Phindile greets her with, “Oh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? I'm Phindi. I just came here to tell you that I'm f*****g your husband. Anyway, bye."

And off she drives. So when Mpho comes home in a fabulous mood, Zithulele wipes his kiss off her mouth behind his back. 

Long night, first light

Eric is still reeling from Natasha’s death when he walks into her funeral and isn’t allowed to comfort Ncumisa, even though she’s just lost her mother. So he’s not in the mood when Amahle’s party rolls round. Bonga and Vuyani realise that he needs a shoulder to lean on but Nkanyezi and Amahle both subtly block their boyfriends’ offers to go sit and talk with Eric, and he brushes them off. Outside it seems Eric was dressed for business, not pleasure, as rolls down his beret, which is really a balaclava, and sets about stealing one of the cars.But when he takes the stolen car to his fence, Olympio (Ndumisoyomhlaba Mona Mthombeni), he spots a familiar car in the chop shop. It’s Natasha’s and her blood is still soaked into the little puff of fluff dangling from her rear view mirror. Eric loses it, hauls his gun out and starts demanding to know who brought the car in. But Olympio’s guys beat the devil out of Eric until Olympio lets him leave. For Eric, it’s the last straw. As the sun rises, he throws his gun in a lake in a moment that feels like a baptism, then goes home to MaGetty (Mam’Nandi Nyembe) and tells her that his old life is over. He’s going to go to church, get a job and be a good father, so money will be tight. But when he arrives at Natasha’s mother’s (Busiswa Mambi) house he  finds her packing to move. Eric is forced to say goodbye to Ncumisa because her granny is taking her to live back home in the Eastern Cape.

Breakthroughs

Beth doesn’t just shame Vuyani publicly, when they get home she belittles and beats him, savaging his ego and bruising his face. The next morning she’s all smiles again, and when Vuyani flinches from her touch, she tries to “fix” everything the way she normally does – with promises never to hurt him again, and a shopping spree so he can rebuild his image with fancy clothes. Vuyani seems to be onboard, but as he stands trying on clothes, he feels none of his usual joy. This is the moment that Vuyani tells Beth that he’s done being her punching bag and calls her out for being controlling and abusive. And when Beth tells Vuyani that she owns him, he strips off the only things she really owns – the clothes she bought him. With his head raised high, he walks out of the designer clothes shop into the fancy mall in a stride of pride, as shocked shoppers take snaps of him in his tighty-whiteys.

The end of the episode is also a breakthrough for Eric, who cries in Bonga’s arms in an outpouring of grief after opening up about what really happened with Natasha and wailing that he’s cursed.

Just try to get between them now, Nkanyezi. We’ll be watching on Monday, 1 May.

Watch the trailer for Adulting

Who’s who in Adulting: Meet 4 ride-or-die BFFs

• Thembinkosi Mthembu plays Bonga: The Alpha. Hot bod. Daddy issues. R80 million tender burning a hole in his pocket.

• Luthando ‘BU’ Mthembu plays Vuyani: Madlisa. Joker. Professional escort with expensive tastes. But check the sell-by date before buying.

• Thabiso Rammusi plays Mpho: The Family Man. Traditional husband. Father of two. But a dead bedroom has him on the prowl.

• Nhlanhla Kunene plays Eric: Gintsa. Loving dad. Great friend. Crazy ex-boyfriend. Carjacker, and off the rails gangster.

All episodes of Adulting are ready to binge on Showmax.