Big, bad Jack

Moeniel Jacobs unmasks Melody’s sinister “nice guy” Jack and reveals what makes him tick.

- GENEVIEVE TERBLANCHE

Jack (main) walks a line between helping his community and destroying it for the people like Melody (inset).

Melody Season 1 Tuesdays SABC2 (*192) 19:30

Jack is the Big Man in the Athlone neighbourhood setting of drama series Melody (2020). At his charity Jack’s Heaven, anyone in need can get some bread and milk to tide them over until that social welfare payment arrives. If a dad blows his money, he can turn to Jack for a little cash loan to keep the lights on at home for the kids. Jack has his eye out for enterprising young men and offers them work, with the possibility of climbing the ladder.

It would be the story of an ex-con who turned his life around to become a small town hero – except for one thing: every cent Jack makes comes from the human misery and addiction of his community. And those jobs he offers are sending people on a downward path into crime and violence. Jack is like a spider, offering a tired fly the chance to hang out on his web and rest their feet for a bit. Stand-up comedian Moeniel Jacobs isn’t laughing for once, turning from “nice guy” Jack into intimidating druglord Jack in the blink of an eye onscreen.

A LOVE-HATE THING