Haunted by a tragic loss, an ex-cop with a rare inability to feel pain strikes out on his own to catch offenders who’ve eluded Johannesburg police.

It could have been such a cool show. A boy struck by lightning who subsequently does not feel pain? That boy grows up, becomes a cop, loses his wife and daughter and then goes rogue! In Joburg! I signed up immediately.

At least, I got to see some cool shots of Joburg, because the rest of show feels totally American – from the dialogue to the wardrobe and baseball balls (I ask you) lying around.

Two episodes in, the women are damsels in distress. They are weak, but pretty, standing on the periphery while the macho men save the day. Shadow (Pallance Dladla) actually opens a bottle of beer with his teeth. I shit you not. He also dishes out death to the crooks and guns to the helpless girls. His ‘don’t care attitude’ reads as misogyny. He derides his male cop buddy with sentences like, That’s cute, sweetheart, or Wanna cuddle? He does not come across as troubled or sick, but suave and irreverent. You’re going to have to like his muscles, which is on display quite a bit, and his considerable smile to finish watching this.

Shadow is well-shot and the music is cool, but the wobbly shifting of gears between boring action, macho antics and sappy drama, kills it.

Here’s hoping that the new KykNET offering, Spreeus, is going to be gritty, real and mind-blowing.