Courting and Coupling in the Karoo
RECIPES FOR LOVE AND MURDER – Season 2 Episodes 5 & 6 – (speculative recap) ⁓
Bronwyn comes out to her mother
Nurse Christine (Melissa de Vries) writes to Maria (Maria Doyle Kennedy) asking for a recipe that will allow her to sleep. She has inherited a house from her great aunt and wonders how she can make the place her own, while at the same time preserving her great aunt’s memory. Maria decides to prepare Kudu (Antelope) Wellington. Maria inherited the land she lives on, and that land seems to be attracting a great deal of interest.
Melisssa de Vries as Nurse Christine seen here in her great aunt’s kitchen — De Vries was a sniper in the Doctor Who episode SPYFALL.
Gordon McClintock (Richard Wright-Firth) is trying to take it over though legal technicalities. Marcus Rabie (Grant Swanby) burned down part of the town including a property of the Adventist Church and two other properties designated as historical sites, none of which could easily be developed prior to the fires. Frank’s dead body was found on the church property after the fire. and it seems likely Frank was involved in something dodgy that got him killed.
Detective Khaya interviews Leonard at the scene of Marius Rabie’s death
Rabie, who was also the attorney for Gordon in his action against Maria, is found dead. His car missed a sharp turn on the way out of town and he was thrown from the vehicle. Leonard (Charles Tertiens), the mortuary assistant, found the body and called the police. The death appears accidental but Rabie’s watch and wallet are missing, and Leonard points out that Rabie’s face is discoloured indicating that the lawyer might have been poisoned.
One of the first things that Ricus (Gérard Rudolf) did on arriving in Eden was to ingratiate himself with Maria, perhaps in hopes of eventually becoming part owner of that land. Ricus might be involved in a land development scheme, or he might be an undercover cop investigating the goings on in Eden. It’s hard to tell which at this point.
OSTRICH BEARNAISE
Nigel and Gideon
Gideon (Stian Bam), who raises ostriches, writes to Maria saying he is having trouble getting his family to accept his relationship with Nigel (Pierre Malherbe), a retired pathologist now working as a veterinarian. Maria’s cake helped the couple get together in “Sex Cake” (episode 1.2). Maria decides to prepare Ostrich Bearnaise to address the problem, perhaps to get Nigel’s family to stop burying their heads in the sand. (Ostriches do not actually bury their heads in the sand, a behaviour commonly credited to them.)
Temporarily forced from her own kitchen by the presence of the McClintocks, Maria visits the Septembers and uses their facilities to prepare the dish. Jessie’s younger sister Bronwyn (Donnay Arendse) but her coming out announcement is delayed by Jessie’s inability to accept their mother’s relationship with Craig (Raffaele Sabatini). Eventually, with Maria’s help, Bronwyn gets to make her announcement and her family is very accepting.
After spending a night with Jayco (Wynand Ferreira), Jessie (Kylie Fisher) breaks up with his brother Regardt (Arno Greeff), but doesn’t mention her night with Jayco.
Constable Klaasen speaks with Georgie while toying with a green slinky.
Investigation of the local dating app reveals that Georgie’s late husband Frank was having an affair with Jackie (Hlubi Mboya), which (Jackie says) she broke off long before he died. Detective Khaya (Tony Kgoroge) who has suspended his relationship with Maria due to Gordon’s accusations, must now consider putting his relationship with Jackie on hold for similar reasons.
Maria breaks into the Marius’ office hoping to discover how far Gordon’s attempt to take her house away from her has progressed. She is caught and arrested, but Aileen (Robyn Scott) bails her out, and does not tell her husband Gordon she did that. Aileen settles the bail with Constable Klaasen (Megan Alexander). “So you’re Mrs. McClintock, huh?” Klaasen says. “McClintock. Been looking at this name all morning. It’s not one you hear everyday.” Klaassen says this while examining a file. Aileen points to a place in that file and says: “Yes, that me, right there.” Klaassen immediately closes the file so Aileen can’t read it.
Only two mayoral candidates, Hattie Wilson (Jennifer Steyn) and Chantal Simpson (Casey B Dolan), remain. Hattie stops campaigning after Rabie’s death because she thinks it’s tacky. Chantal continues as before, and goes after the support of those who planned to vote for Mr. Rabie.
Doep and Sarel
Hattie’s campaign manager, Doep (Terrence Bridgett) introduces Maria to Sarel (Jaco Nothnagel), his husband of ten years, who tells a slightly exaggerated version of Jaco’s altercation with a drunken Rabie the night Rabie died. After chasing Jayco through town with an ATV, Jayco explains that it was he who pulled Frank out of the pool the night of the fire, but that Frank was already dead. After Jayco admits to several robberies, Regardt is forced to arrest him for possession of stolen goods against the wishes of their mother (Ira Blanckenberg) who suggested Regardt should ‘turn a blind eye’.