Adulting Season 1 episode 4 recap: Four guys down to clown

As the guys kick around and catch up throughout this episode of Adulting on Showmax it looks like the friendship is as strong as ever, although there are still raw patches between Bonga and Vuyani.

Vuyani’s life might be in the dumpster, but he’s still going to hug Eric and give that little bit of comfort he can when Eric expresses his fears about not seeing Ncumisa again. And when Bonga brings up his conviction that he’s going to marry Nkanyezi (Londeka Shishi), Mpho immediately trashes marriage as a scam so the guys let him rant about his “sexless” marriage and blow off some steam. But the guys are leaving all sorts of juicy details out of the stories they tell about women and their lives – we get to see what’s really going on…

What happened in Adulting episode 3?

Thirty-somethings Bonga (Thembinkosi Mthembu) the success story, toyboy Vuyani (Luthando ‘BU’ Mthembu), suburban dad Mpho (Thabiso Rammusi) and carjacker Eric (Nhanhla Kunene) have been ride-or-die friends since their university days studying engineering.

In episode 3 the guys went to Sun City together to celebrate Eric’s birthday, and hooked up with a group of four female BFFs who were their perfect counterparts. Bonga and Vuyani came to blows during a game drive when Vuyani revealed that he’d had sex with Bonga’s first serious girlfriend at university. And the guys found out that Mpho knew and didn’t tell Bonga, which led to Bonga ditching Mpho and Vuyani on the side of the road and driving off, until Eric talked him round. Eric’s daughter Ncumisa (Siphesihle Khanyile) broke her mom Natasha’s (Sikelelwa Vuyeleni) rules to phone Eric to wish him happy birthday. And Mpho exchanged numbers with his weekend hookup, Phindile (Seipati Mahamu).

You’re a joke

Beth (Winnie Ntshaba) asks Vuyani to clear out for a little while because her daughter’s coming to stay and she doesn’t want to compromise her ongoing divorce process. And when Bonga refuses to let Vuyani crash with him, Vuyani heads back home, where his little sister (Lihle Hadebe) excitedly begs him for lobster and champagne tales. Vuyani gaily chatters until his father (Lindani Nkosi) snaps, and his mom (Nomsa Sonquishe) bows her head over dinner as dad reveals that Vuyani’s life as a blesser’s toyboy is no secret.

Dad joins the chorus of people telling Vuyani to get a real job or get out, because time’s running out. Added to this, his sister later tells him that Beth’s social media accounts show that she’s been in Dubai, not home with her daughter. And when Vuyani goes to confront her about it, he finds her throwing a massive fetish orgy at her mansion without him, her bunny-bunny! Eyes wide open, Vuyani starts trying to pick up the threads of the business that he’s been telling everyone he’s started, only for all his exasperated contacts to hang up on him. He’s starting to sweat when Beth stops by with a new car for him and bribes him back into her cosy sex nest.

Playing stupid

Mpho is in bed with his wife Zithulele in Adulting Season 1

Every episode, we watch Mpho and Zithulele’s marriage being dragged down by unmet expectations and unspoken resentments. Zithulele desperately wants to sleep in, but drags herself out of bed to escape Mpho’s persistent nagging for sex (he later explains to his friends that they’re down to twice a week, maximum, doled out like medicine). Seeing his frustration, Zithulele tries to explain the extent of the mental load that she’s carrying to run the household and how it grinds down her libido, but Mpho doesn’t seem to grasp that sex is becoming yet another item on the unrelenting list of work she has to do, 24/7.

Later Mpho visibly sulks when Zithulele goes for a rare night out. As she runs through the list of everything she’s done so that he can take care of their sons for a few short hours, it’s as if she’s talking to a 12-year-old babysitter. Later, a brief promise of sex fizzles when she returns because their sons interrupt sexy time calling for their mommy. So when Phindile finally returns Mpho’s call and arranges a hookup, he bolts out the door like a cheetah.

For my next trick…

Eric’s grandmother who raised him, MaGetty (Mam’Nandi Nyembe), arranges for her pastor (Gabriel Mini) to negotiate a meeting between herself and Eric, and Natasha and her mother (Busiswa Mambi). MaGetty and the pastor coach Eric on remaining calm for the discussion, but while the pastor, Eric, MaGetty and Natasha’s mother sit down with tea and cake, and Jesus in their hearts, Natasha’s sly expression hints that she’s not onboard (props to Sikelelwa Vuyeleni for playing a real menace!).

As the meeting goes on, she purposefully needles and belittles Eric until he explodes after she reveals that she’s now engaged to her bougie boyfriend Cyril Nyathi (Fezile Mkhize) and taunts him about not being man enough to provide for their daughter. Later MaGetty carefully explains to Eric that what Natasha did was deliberate. Then Eric’s impulsivity sets up more chaos. The cop who’s been hassling him brings Ncumisa to his house after he finds the kid standing around a taxi rank on her own. Despite Bonga’s savvy warning to call Natasha immediately, Eric takes Ncumisa for a day of fun at Gold Reef City, and ignores Natasha’s phone calls. He confesses to Ncumisa that it might be the last time he gets to see her because “daddy has made a lot of mistakes”. As always, Nhanhla Kunene’s performance brings heartrending humanity to Eric’s story.

Fool for love

Londeka Shishi and Thembinkosi Mthembu as Nkanyezi and Bonga in Adulting

Bonga gets the go-ahead from his tenderpreneur business partner Sello (Isaac Gampu) to try dating Sello’s sister Nkanyezi, the woman Bonga is convinced he wants to marry. Bonga’s undaunted by Sello’s warning that he’s asking for trouble, and he tracks down Nkanyezi to convince her to go to dinner with him. When Nkanyezi sticks to her guns about not wanting a relationship, Bonga agrees to a friends with benefits situation, hoping to slowly change her mind. The two go hiking together and continue to connect, sharing personal stories. And as Bonga looks into her eyes, we get to hear what’s in his head: Bonga is for real, he wants to climb all of life’s mountain’s with this woman.

From mountain highs to lows we go, though. At the end of the episode Natasha is waiting outside her mom’s house with the cops when Eric pulls up (still wearing a face full of clown paint from Gold Reef City) with Ncumisa. Cyril is there, too, and while Natasha leads Ncumisa away, Cyril squares off and tells Eric that he’ll never see his daughter again, and that he has failed as a father. Eric takes the blow with his hands behind his back, emotions locked behind the clown paint as he waves goodbye to his little mosquito. Is this Erik’s Joker snapped moment? We’ll find out on Monday, 17 April.

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.

Watch Adulting Season 1 on Showmax.

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