‘Queen Sono’s Secret Agent Brings the Heat in Netflix’s Spy Drama
A secret agent with killer skills and a closet full of personal skeletons brings the heat in this stylish South African espionage drama awash in shades of Alias and Covert Affairs.
Having witnessed the assassination of her mother as a child, Queen Sono (Quantico‘s Pearl Thusi, above) has grown up to become one of the most unorthodox spies working in South Africa’s Special Operations Group. Which doesn’t always thrill her handlers.
“Queen is plagued by real trauma that she has to contend with on the field and in her life, which sometimes threatens to derail her,” explains series creator Kagiso Lediga. “She is often faced with the battle between her self-interest and the greater good.”
That inner clash is only exacerbated when Queen — on the verge of unraveling the truth about who really orchestrated the murder of her mother, a famed anti-apartheid advocate — is recruited for a mission to bring down a powerful terrorist group that will take her all over the continent.
Though some of the dialogue is in English, there are frequent subtitles. But don’t be scared off by that and the series’ international scope. (“As well as shooting in South Africa, we also shot in Zanzibar, Nigeria and Kenya,” notes fellow exec producer Tamsin Andersson.) The high-octane action and bursts of humor lose nothing in translation.
Queen Sono, Series Premiere, Friday, Feb. 28, Netflix