Nollywood Reinvented: Review of Ndani TV’s Gidi Up Season II

Last week was huge for the internet world!

Okay, maybe I exaggerate just a little bit, but after more than a month of waiting, Ndani TV finally released the final episodes of the second season of Gidi up.Commence binging

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For those who don’t know, Gidi Up is a short series by Ndani TV that follows the life of four friends living in Lagos and their “pursuit of happiness, success and independence”. So are you thinking flashy cars, flashy clothes, sugar mummies, sugar daddies, hot babes, and even hotter guys? Well, then correct! But more than that, Gidi Up is more than a superficial drama because laced within all the Lagos heat (temperature-wise and drama-wise) it also brings to the surface relevant societal issues.

Before I go any further let me warn you that this review may contain significant season spoilers.

For those who watched the first season you will notice that a lot has changed from season 1 to season two. {Watch Season 1 here} The changes were in cast, the changes were in length, the changes were in content and the changes were in quality.

Personally, I did not feel much of a pull towards season 1. It was neither spectacularly entertaining nor fascinating. It lacked that pull that shows like Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Scandal or whatever your specific brand of poison is that keeps the audience coming back. Most of the appeal of season one was in the presentation. It was the hype, the looks, the cast, the colors and, for those of us in diaspora, the nostalgia.

The second season, however, improves on the first. The presentation is better than ever and the photography is nearly impeccable. There is immense thought and coordination in every scene from the color coordination between the costumes and the sets to the angles of the camera shot. O boy, you do not need a degree in filmmaking to appreciate this art.