Adulting Season 2 episode 8 recap: Burying father

Adulting Season 2 episode 8 has our four gents ‒ Bonga (Thembinkosi Mthembu), Vuyani (Luthando ‘BU’ Mthembu), Mpho (Thabiso Rammusi) and Eric (Nhlanhla Kunene) ‒ facing death and mourning. And Bonga gets his nose rubbed in the fact that money isn’t everything, because his dad’s funeral doesn’t revolve around what he wants.  

Watch Adulting S2 now. New episodes every Monday. 

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What happened in Adulting Season 2 episode 7? 

Eric had a heart to heart and the most mature, touching breakup ever with his ex-girlfriend Minki (Samkelo Ndlovu) after he bailed her out of jail. But his daughter Ncumisa (Siphesihle Khanyile) became the new drama diva in his life when she got cheeky with MaGetty (Nandi Nyembe). Nkanyezi (Londeka Sishi) met Bonga’s family during a happy moment before his dad (Bongani Gumede) was rushed to hospital and died of cancer. Mpho’s wife Zithulele (Lungile Duma) confronted him with the (literal) receipts about his cheating with babymama Palesa (Diddy Padi). And everyone looked away when Vuyani declared that he was leaving his bachelor days behind to marry his sugar baby lawyer girlfriend, Zelda (Obakeng Kgwedi).  

And now, in Adulting episode 8… 

We’re off to the Tembe homestead for the duration of the episode as Bonga’s family, including his dad’s brother Bab’Manyosi (Dumisani Dlamini), his mother (Deli Malinga), and his brother (Brian Nkosi), go into mourning and arrange the funeral and burial rites. Bonga’s chief elder in the process is meant to be Manyosi. But in front of the whole family, Manyosi calls his duty to the family a burden, accuses Bonga’s mother of witchcraft, and Bonga of killing his father to get rich. Oh, so we’re going to fight then? 

A feud at a funeral 

When Bonga complains to Eric about how much he despises Bab’Manyosi and his father’s side of the family, Eric reminds him that his father’s burial rites aren’t just about him, so he’ll need to suck it up – he can’t just take the cow and the goat to the butchers! And Bonga’s mom tries to show him the difference between hating someone, and being angry and upset with them over the things they do.  

Throughout his father’s funeral days, Bonga tries to dance to Bab’Manyosi’s tune. But he’s too used to splashing money around to solve problems, and he treads on toes left and right because he wants everything new and fancy, while his family wants everything correct, familiar and meaningful, even if it’s as shabby as his father’s churchgoing suit.  

Even the day of the burial sees Bonga fighting with Bab’Manyosi about money. And when the man bringing his father’s body is late and breaks down outside the gates, Bonga (the same man who buys a fridge for R30 000) accuses his uncle of ripping him off by overcharging him for everything. But it’s not just Bonga throwing around Johannesburg attitude. At his most furious, Bonga confronts Bab’Manyosi about the real issues – the fact that he let his brother’s family starve so he could get drunk and do nothing while Bonga’s dad was in Johannesburg.  

Only one thing can end Bonga’s furious tantrum… Nkanyezi. 

A time for honesty 

During the night vigil for Bonga’s dad, Vuyani tries to make Bonga see how much like his father he has become. Vuyani has a point, because earlier in the episode, we see Bonga and his brother bonding until the guys arrive and Bonga immediately goes off with them, leaving his brother in the dust with the same sting of abandonment that his father gave him. And Bonga admits that his father’s friends have been coming to him all day to tell him how much he loved people, and how much they loved him, and wonders why he didn’t show his family the same love … or why he rejected Bonga specifically.  

Mpho squirms when Bonga tells him what it was like for his mother to become the laughing stock of the village because his father left her for another woman, and asks why men marry women if they’re just going to cheat on them.  

And later Bonga tries to comfort and uplift his brother by acknowledging the role he held in the family by staying home. Bonga acknowledges that his brother sacrificed his own future to try to do their father’s job and that he suffered hardship, starvation and poverty because of it.  

The tree remembers but the axe forgets 

Zithulelele comes for the funeral with Zelda. And while she’s talking to Bonga’s mother she confirms that she has twins.. . but adds that her husband has three children. Bonga’s mom sends Mpho out of the room so that she can have a heart to heart with Zithulele, as an elder, and one who’s been in her shoes, about acceptance of the things she can’t change, if she wants to hold her family together.  

But forgiveness takes time and while Zithulele is still at the don’t-touch-me stage of anger towards Mpho, he doesn’t give her space and acts as if her feelings of betrayal are inconvenient to him. 

PS: Speaking of the elders, shout out to the energy that Dumisani Dlamini and Deli Malinga brought to this episode.  

Burying your resentment 

At the burial, Bonga speaks for his father, acknowledging his faults and mistakes, but also breaking down in tears when he admits that he wanted more time with him, both to enjoy his company, and to learn from him. And he and his brother cry on each other’s shoulders.  

As the episode ends, Bonga’s tears have just dried and he thinks he’s over the hurdle, when he realises that Nkanyezi didn’t come to the funeral alone. She brought her partner, Thabiso (Tlholo Tseole). 

Oh, so we’re going to fight then? 

Who’s who in Adulting: the Big Four 

30 (ish), flirty and still raising hell, Adulting’s four big boys – Bonga, Eric, Vuyani and Mpho – have been inseparable since they were at university together.  

• Thembinkosi Mthembu plays Bonga: The Alpha. Hot bod. Daddy issues. Single, rich, ambitious and catnip to women. Bonga is a construction and development project manager. 
• Luthando ‘BU’ Mthembu plays Vuyani: Madlisa. Joker. Fashionista. The former escort is back on the game, using his money from “personal training sessions” to act like a sugar daddy to his girlfriend. 
• Thabiso Rammusi plays Mpho: The Family Man and father to two young boys. Traditional husband. Mpho is an electrical engineer whose money stretches to comfort, but not luxury. And now he has a mistress and baby to support. 
• Nhlanhla Kunene plays Eric: Gintsa. Loving dad. Great friend. Hair trigger temper. Now that he’s done his time for hijacking crimes, he’s determined to rebuild himself as a father. But when it comes to women, he can’t resist a baddie. 

Watch Adulting Season 2 now. New episodes every Monday. 

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