All that matters to Esosa Essien (Bikiya Graham-Douglas) is bearing a child of her own. For seven years, she has tried to conceive, and for those exact number of years, she has failed in her quest. Now she is 41 and doubts her chances of ever getting pregnant, so she resorts to any possible means availed to her.
The new series ‘Baby Drama’, which premiered Wednesday night on Africa Magic Showcase on the DStv platform, opens to an introspective Esosa soliloquising, pretending to speak with her yet-to-be-born baby.
Although saddened by her state of childlessness, she reveals, without knowing, the enormous expectations placed on married women to produce offspring in their marriages if they had to earn any value in their homes. Essien personalised these societal tenets laid before her. It also influences her commitment to following her prescriptions made by the doctor to a T.
Subsequently, husband Oscar Essien (Joseph Benjamin) gets frustrated and grows apart from her emotionally. Seeking assistance, she unloads all her burdens on Iye Adeyemi (Anee Icha), a supportive friend who always joins her on her trips to the fertility clinic. Iye is the exact opposite of Esosa. Unbothered about having children, she places her career on centre stage. She is ruthless at her workplace, winning the heart of her boss.
While Esosa struggles with her bad fate that involves dragging Iye to a fertility clinic she’d rather not be at, a potential love story brews at the hospital. Enter Kese Ajayi (Nengi Adoki), a fierce go-getter in her 30’s.
Kese, on her quest for a baby, stumbles upon the well-groomed doctor, Wale, and gives in to her infatuations, and also her desire to get any man who can help her conceive. Daydreaming about Wale, she disrupts her work and social life.
Circling back to Esosa, she allows a spiritualist into her home to help her find solutions to her childlessness. Before then, she had almost resorted to trying out alternative medicine but was warned by Iye to steer clear. By the end of episode one, Esosa is left embarrassed standing in front of her husband. On the other hand, Iye continues neglecting her husband, who put in extra work in the relationship, while Kese stays planning on her next moves. However, the show ends with a massive cliffhanger hinged on Oscar, leaving the audience salivating.
For a first episode, ‘Baby Drama’ does come with a fair amount of drama. How it carries its viewers along the story’s plot is brilliant, revealing each character at a good pace. It is a great launchpad for the series.
