Netflix has done amazing things to the South African film industry, from creating top quality content to introducing us to great new talent, the streaming giant has done a lot. GO! Is a continuation of that great service to the industry but it’s not perfect.

GO! Is a 2025 Netflix series starring Thandolwethu Zondi, Wiseman Mncube, Dawn Thandeka King, Brendon Daniels and many more. The series follows a young sprinter as he tries to overcome trauma from his past while he attends a prestigious school in Johannesburg on scholarship.

In this review I’ll be telling you what I liked and didn’t like about this series and at the end give you my rating out of 10 so without wasting anymore time let’s GO! (it’s the last one, I think)

What I Liked

The Cinematography

I feel like I’ve said this about almost all the Netflix SA movies or Series and it’s been true every time. GO! Captures Jozi really really well showing us the gritty, hard and chaotic CBD that our main character grew up in and then the clean and safe side of Jozi when he relocates. The series basically shows us Johannesburg in 2 ways, the Jozi that you and I know (and fear) and Jo’burg, a peaceful side with those with deep enough wallets. I liked that.

The Cast

The cast is not huge or anything but it’s kind of young and new and I appreciate that, Thandolwethu Zondi makes his acting debut and it looks like if he continues going he could become a familiar face on screens. The rest of the cast are faces we’ve seen and probably loved for some time now and I also liked that.

Unfortunately that’s all I liked in this series.

What I Didn’t Like

The Story

Okay so is the story bad? Not really it just one problem, it needs more. You see the first episode is great, hooks the viewer and gives you a good reason to keep watching but after that it sort of spirals out of control. The series wants to be a murder thriller and a school teen drama and it kind of fails at being both, the death is such an important point in the movie but it gets brushed off and sidelined quickly and is left waiting for it’s moment in the flashlight again but at the same time there is not enough school drama for it to be a school teen drama like your Blood And Water’s of the world. The problem? The series is trying to wrap up very quickly.

I’m gonna have to suggest what should’ve happened in this series and stop me if I get too good. The first episode was fine as it was but the next 1 and a half episodes should’ve been a chance for us to see the Khumalo family (Family of the boy that gets hit in the accident) and see them get hurt by the loss of their child, it would sort of help us build a connection with them and build them instead of having them be pop up characters that look like they weren’t affected by the death of their child. Moving the story to the Khumalo family and telling the story before the child gets hit would have also shown the viewer how extremely different the lives of these 2 people are and would’ve made the fish out of water plot mean more later on.

In the series it’s revealed that the Khumalo sister goes to the same school as bolt and this could have been an opportunity to show us that the passing of the young boy did not just effect him but the people at his school (specifically the racing team) this would’ve further cemented the whole thing of “can he outrun his past” part and could have been a reason why RJ does not like him and tries to get rid of him that one time, the series tries to glide past the accident and puts different issues at the forefront when the accident should have been the main cause of all his problems in the new world, it’s cheesy that he goes to live with the family of the person he killed but it could’ve worked to give the series more substance if it was done right.

Another thing the series doesn’t do is actually build the relationships between bolt and his friend and girlfriend, we get a glimpse of the recording and producing they do in that one episode and we see bolt’s friend showing him constant love but it’s not enough, I feel like we should’ve seen a more solid indication of how strong their bond is. What we see in the series does not make the betrayal that deep, it just looks like “oh okay, then that happened” because we see his friend being shown as just a superfan of bolt and bolt just sort of brushes him off like he is one so when the betrayal happens it’s not as hard hitting.

It’s also shown that Bolt’s brother is involved in some criminal activities and I think that could’ve been used better, he could’ve been the reason why we see the Khumalo boy(A rich well off kid) in the CBD at night, I feel like that would’ve expanded the story better and would’ve given a better reason for why his brother couldn’t come to help and not just “He’s with his gangster friends” have him laying low after robbing a rich kid and ditching him in the city late at night.

Anyway, that’s some of what I think should’ve happened. The story is not bad or awful it just leaves a lot to be desired and it’s not even because of the episode count, they could have achieved that same story I’m saying with the same amount of episodes.

The Characters

Now I’m not saying the characters are bad, the characters are not fleshed out. Whether it’s Bolt’s brother, his friends or even the Khumalo family, all these characters are just empty vessels that you can’t really form a connection with. These characters are written to be plot devices and I should highlight that that’s what they kind of should be but here it’s done to a point that it looks like the characters objective is just to drive the plot like the characters don’t have more than that, they don’t have life or emotion, just drive this plot forward and leave.

It’s fishing for a second season

Now with everything I’ve said so far it’s kind of crazy the series ends on a cliffhanger. 6 episodes of characters that have no depth and a story that loses itself after the first episode and the series does not conclude but just winks at you and leaves. When I saw the episodes list I thought this would be a short drama series that’s looking to deliver a good story and just leave but this doesn’t do that, it tells a story and refuses to conclude with hopes of a second season and honestly no.

When your writing is that poor and the character development is non-existent I don’t think you have the right to give your viewers a “Wait until the second season” ending, it just does not work like that.

My Rating

Netflix’s GO! Had do much potential, the story could’ve been deeper, characters more compelling and story more dramatic but it isn’t, it’s a beautifully shot series with really no substance, it’s beautiful and flashy on the outside but dull and empty on the inside.

I’m giving GO! a 2/10. The series feels like it could’ve been so much more but became lost in more than what it is (A short thriller) and trying to fish for a second season. I think the first episode was great but the momentum from that episode from lost in everything else.

You can watch GO! on Netflix today and tell me your opinion on the drama series.

While you’re at it check out my review of The Electric State Starring Milley Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, see you on the next post.