‘Trackers’: Not just another cops-and-robbers tale in sleek and stylish South African crime series

From left: Gerald Steyn, Trix Vivier and Gracie

Human cruelty or cluelessness knows no bounds—as the current global health scourge and the needless death of George Floyd readily prove. But “Trackers” is neither about the coronavirus nor the tragic death of the 46-year-old African American man who died at the hands of four apathetic cops.

The six-part crime series “Trackers,” which kicks off its limited run on Cinemax and HBO Go at 10 a.m. beginning Saturday, is unlike most police procedurals we know so well, having been weaned on Hollywood crime shows that adhere to the cops-and-robbers formula showing the perpetual struggle between good and evil. There are enough gray areas that make its situations harder to predict.

“Trackers” doesn’t just demonstrate the dangers of excessive power or domestic abuse, but also the extent of man’s unmitigated brutality when he’s made to believe that he and his whims are above the law—like using poor rhinos’ horns to hide blood diamonds!

It’s a South African thriller composed of three intersecting tales based on Deon Meyer’s 2011 novel adapted for the small screen by showrunner Robert Thorogood for Cinemax’s first coproduction venture with South African pay-TV channel M-Net and German broadcaster ZDF.

So, if you’re tired of the usual fluff, this humdinger of a show just might whet your appetite.

Scene from “Trackers”

Surprisingly sleek and stylish, it is helmed by Jyri Kahonen and framed by cinematographer Ivan Strasburg’s gloriously photographed sequences, shot alternately in the urban jungles of Cape Town and the dusty suburbs of South Africa and its surrounding criminal-infested borders.

In “Trackers,” the government agency at front and center of the story is the Presidential Bureau of Intelligence (PBI), led by director Janina Mentz (Sandi Schultz) and her ambitious and go-getting subordinate Quinn Makebe (Thapelo Mokoena).

The beleaguered group has to justify its reason for being after getting the ire of a top minister (Jerry Mofokeng), who threatens to shut down PBI’s operations after a huge intelligence blunder that resulted in the last-minute cancellation of a global conference on climate change.

The PBI has bigger fish to fry. For 18 months now, it has been hard on the heels of a small Muslim group, headed by Shaheed Ousman (Brendon Daniels), in cahoots with Suleiman Daoud (Emmanuel Castis), a senior al-Qaida operative linked to different terrorist groups responsible for blowing up the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad in 2003, bombing a crucial pipeline between Egypt and Israel in 2006, and the suicide bombing at a London tube in 2008.

James Gracie

Helping the team track down its elusive targets is 40-year-old shy but sharp new recruit Milla Strachan (Rolanda Marais), a fresh divorcee who left her abusive husband and their only son after 20 years of joyless marriage.

Connected to PBI’s seemingly fruitless pursuit of justice is the story of Lemmer (James Gracie), a former Special Forces member and ministerial bodyguard with anger-management issues, whose distinguished career was cut short after a failed high-profile operation.

Lemmer’s boring life gets more complicated when he’s hired to assist Flea van Jaarsveld (Trix Vivier), a lovely wildlife tracker with a checkered past, and cargo driver Lourens Le Riche (Gerald Steyn), smuggle a pair of dehorned rhinoceros from Zimbabwe.

Thapelo Mokoena

Things go from bad to worse when Milla’s newly developed sleuthing skills get the better of her. Who would have known she’d soon end up finding love on the rebound—and in the arms of smart and sensitive Lucas Becker (Ed Stoppard), the mysterious American businessman she’s investigating?

The intriguing answers come one after the other, disclosed slowly and satisfactorily without dumbing down viewers’ intelligence. This should be reason enough for viewers to patronize the urgently paced show’s six breezy installments. INQ

Rolanda Marais