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The Reel: At last, an original crime series from Kenya 

Crime and Justice stars Sarah Hassan (Plan B, Just In Time) and Alfred Munyua (Poacher, The First Grader) as Makena and Silas. 

Photo credit: Courtesy

What you need to know:

  • Crime and Justice, probably Kenya's first crime anthology series currently showing on Showmax, is a cold reminder that the world isn't safe and crimes often go unpunished.
  • Set in the capital, Nairobi, Crime and Justice is an intense, horrific reflection of our society's changes from the streets to the court corridors. 

If you have had any experience as a victim of robbery with violence, then you must know that there are unwritten rules involved.

The moment a thug in a ski mask barges through your gate wielding a pistol, you drop to the ground and do as ordered.

It is a standard procedure like queuing at a Catholic mass, waiting for your turn to receive the Holy sacrament.

In such horrifying incidents, if you are disciplined enough to remain unheroic, then you might be able to save the most precious thing to you: Your life.

Only in extreme circumstances will the hoodlum want to rob you of everything, including your soul.

Crime and Justice, probably Kenya's first crime anthology series currently showing on Showmax, is a cold reminder that the world isn't safe and crimes often go unpunished.

Set in the capital, Nairobi, Crime and Justice is an intense, horrific reflection of our society's changes from the streets to the court corridors. 

Yet, despite how flawed and skewed our justice system has become, the series reminds us that a few people amidst the system will stop at nothing to get justice.

This is where Sarah Hassan, playing lead detective Makena alongside detective Silas portrayed by Alfred Munyu, comes in.

The two lead detectives from the Nairobi Metropol task force tasked with responsibility of safeguarding the city.

Dealing with all manner of crimes, Makena and Silas are forced to trust each other's instincts in their pursuit to ensure justice is served accordingly.

Each of the eight episodes in Season one breathes life into real crimes that have taken place in Kenya but were never solved. This rage from rape, femicide, Gender-based violence, politics and so on.

That's what I like about the series: originality and authenticity.

The cases are heart-rending, with each victim trapped in their personalized hell. The detectives take charge, although they often land in cul-de-sacs.

As you binge, it's hard not to fall in love with Makena's searing passion for her job. She is such an intriguing character, probably because no one truly knows how she wound up married to the law.

Unlike partner Silas, Makena believes that justice is attainable even with the skewed system despite the powerful forces sometimes at play. She embodies a small feeble flame of hope that we could all use. With season two already commissioned to air this year, I cannot wait to see her turn into an inferno.

Besides being originally Kenyan, the series is immensely entertaining, intriguing, and relatable, although some action sequences aren't so convincing.

The bloody violent scenes are a doozy to watch, the stunts dazzling, and the video quality alluring.

I mean, we have come a long way since Cobra Squad.