Messy entanglements and secrets in Pieces of Us

Pieces of Us, the Kenyan drama series from Philippe Bresson and Grace Kahaki (the team behind My Two Wives, New Beginnings, Socialites), has just landed on Showmax.

Serah Ndanu plays Joey, a spoilt rich girl who’s used to getting her way except when it comes to matters of the heart, while Brian Ogola plays her equally rich boyfriend Richard, a mama’s boy who finds himself caught up with secrets from his past that could ruin his relationship and his good family name.

It’s been a while since we saw these two actors take up lead roles in a TV show. Even though he’s had numerous lead roles in films like Lusala, 18 Hours, Poacher and the just-released Cheque Mate, Pieces of Us is Ogola’s first lead role in a TV show in seven years. He last played the titular Abel in Dorothy Ghettuba’s Jane and Abel. In 2019, Ogola had supporting roles in the political thriller The System and in the comedy-drama Ma’Empress alongside Neomi Ng’ang’a.

For Ndanu, who’s notable for playing the classy go-getter Mariam in another Dorothy Ghettuba TV show, Sumu la Penzi, Pieces of Us marked her comeback to acting after being absent for almost two years.

On-screen chemistry

As Joey and Richard, Ndanu and Ogola are a match made in heaven – or money – as they struggle to make their not-so-honest relationship work. While Richard grapples with secrets from his past– a one-time hook-up (Gathoni Mutua) who won’t let go and a best friend (Melissa Kiplagat) who might have feelings for him – Joey is caught in a secret entanglement of her own with the tall, dark and mysterious Max (Lucarelli Onyango from Socialites), who’s also in a relationship with her best friend Jamila (Rahma Nawiri from Sumu la Penzi).

It gets more complicated: Richard hires Max as a Deputy Director at his company, not knowing of his clandestine relationship with his wife-to-be, and Max being Max uses this opportunity to sabotage Richard.

Now isn’t that the messiest entanglement of the year?

But one that might not be too much for Richard and Joey’s parents, who are pulling strings and putting pressure on their two children to get married as soon as possible for their own selfish reasons. It’s exciting to see former TV host Regina-Re (Who’s Smarter Now) play Richard’s controlling mother Patricia, an acerbic matriarch who will do anything to give her son the life only she wants, and who, when scorned, is capable of murder.

More like Pieces of Us

On the other side of the tracks, Serah (Riziki Ambrose from Sense 8 and 18 Hours) finds herself in an entanglement of her own when she falls for her best friend’s friend, unaware of his criminal life or the fact that her best friend is in love with her. On top of that, she might or might not be developing feelings for Richard, whom she works for as a housekeeper. There’s potential there for something more in the future for sure, something that we are optimistic that season 3 will explore.