YOU MUST know what it’s like: you have a favourite dish at a restaurant and keep going back to it only to, one day, find there’s a new chef and the dish no longer tastes the same.
Well, that’s kind of what the first episode of the new season of Mistresses felt like. It lacks the raciness that it used to have. The drama has become pedestrian as the characters settle into a rather routine existence.
The storyline picks up a year on from the third season. Following her rather steamy two-year polyamorous relationship with Dr Alec Adams and the late Vivian Adams, Dr Karen Kim is now the proud mother of a baby girl, whom she named after Vivian. However, that relationship is over and, following the very cathartic experience of penning Unleashed, she is now healing from her heartbreak.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have Robert (Jerry O’Donnell), a very chiselled actor-cum-nanny, in her employ. That he is attracted to her does boost the ego somewhat because her new wardrobe and hairstyle are not doing her any favours.
Meanwhile, April resumes her duties as the overprotective mother of her teenage daughter. When she isn’t stalking her on Instagram while on a school trip, she is trying to find some sort of equilibrium in her romance with Marc, an aspiring musician. She is also looking to revisiting her artistic roots.
Then there is the gorgeous Joss, who is now a high-flying event planner. Her scars from last season, when she was imprisoned for the murder of Calista Raine’s husband, were a huge emotional setback for her. Despite the real perpetrator eventually being incarcerated, she remains haunted by the events, but puts on a brave front.
And Harry, the new hotshot celebrity TV chef, is back. And he has big plans, one of which involves walking down the aisle with Joss. Everything seems to be hunky-dory. And that’s my biggest gripe with the series now.
There’s no bubbling tension, no new faces that stir the drama and not enough sexcapades to ensure the series lives up to its title and legacy. Sigh, if only the writers would bring back Savi back instead of having her continue to remain a haunting presence in the lives of the three friends. In the interim, fans are going to have to settle for Tabrett Bethell filling the void of Savi and Calista as Kate Davis (Harry’s sister). And we can await Joss’s meltdown and Karen eventually giving in to the attraction to her nanny. Hopefully, as the season progresses, it will regain its appeal.
Mistresses 4 airs on Wednesday on Vuzu Amp (DStv channel 103) at 9.30pm.