Sumith Prasad
Created by Paul Buys and Annemarie van Basten, Netflix’s crime series ‘Ludik’ follows Daan Ludik, a furniture company owner based in Pretoria, South Africa, who smuggles diamonds using his company’s consignment trucks. Daan’s life changes when Arend Brown, a firearms trafficker kidnaps the former’s brother-in-law to force him to smuggle guns. Starring Arnold Vosloo as Daan, the South African series progresses through the consequences of the same as “the furniture man” becomes involved in international firearms trafficking. The engrossing crime drama ends with several ambiguous developments that affect Daan’s ambitions and future. If you wish to dive into the same, let us be your ally! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Ludik Recap
‘Ludik’ begins with Arend Brown kidnapping Daan’s brother-in-law Swys De Villiers. To free Swys, Arend asks Daan to smuggle some guns for him. Daan agrees and assigns his trustworthy right-hand man Charles Dzike to smuggle Arend’s firearms. Charles drives a truck full of guns, hidden in furniture products, to fulfill the mission but gets attacked by a group. Albert Nkala, a Zimbabwean gangster, meets Daan about the missing guns, only for the latter to promise that he will find and deliver the guns. Through Albert, Daan aspires to broaden his empire by stepping into the illegal firearms trade. Meanwhile, police officers start investigating the truck and the “stolen furniture.”
Since Brigadier Davies keeps an eye on him, Daan fails to move forward with his diamond smuggling affairs, infuriating his client Farhad. He eventually finds out that the missing weapons are with Arend as he is trying to sell them to another buyer. Daan strikes a deal with Arend’s right-hand man Bells by promising him an opportunity to run the firearms trafficking on his behalf when he establishes himself in the trade, overthrowing Arend. Daan gives Bells a pouch of diamonds to plant at Arend’s house to divert the brigadier to him. Brigadier Davies discovers that Ludik’s trucks have been taking a detour from the mainline in a region known for a diamond mine.
Brigadier Davies deduces that Daan is a diamond smuggler. Meanwhile, Swys and Daan’s nephew Markus Ludik team up to abduct Bells for kidnapping the former. Markus finds the diamond pouch and takes it. Daan’s involvement in the smuggling affairs creates distance between him and his wife Anet Ludkin. Daan’s daughter Louise Ludik dates Pieter Davies, son of Brigadier Davies. Hein Ludik, Daan’s brother who passes as straight, dates DJ Jakes and tries to elope from the country with him. Jakes sends a video of Hein to Louise for blackmailing Daan to acquire the necessary money to elope. However, Daan beats up Jakes, making the latter break up with Hein.
Daan finds out that Rina, his secretary, is leaking information about him to Arend to acquire enough money to discover her missing husband Nick. Both Arend and Daan tell her that Nick is dead but Rina doesn’t accept the same since they haven’t found his dead body. Rina apologizes to Daan and reassures her allegiance to him. Arend, upon realizing that Daan has become his enemy pays a visit to Lil, Daan’s ever-reliable “general.” When Daan calls her, her son answers the call and informs him that she is killed. Swys arrives at Arend’s house and kills him for using him to get to his brother-in-law.
Ludik Ending: Who Seizes the Guns? Are Charles and Bells Dead?
Through Bells, Daan procures guns to trade with Albert Nkala. He smuggles the same using Charles and Bells, only for a group to ambush them before the guns reach Albert. The Zimbabwean gangster can be behind the group to send a message to Daan. Before sending the guns, Daan lets Albert knows that he is only sending half of what he had promised to the gangster since the latter hasn’t paid for his previous consignment. When Daan makes it clear that he is running the trade on his own terms, Albert reminds him about the “personal costs” of the same. The ambush can be the cost Albert has meant to make Daan realize that Albert is in the controlling position in the trade and not him.
If it is not Albert, it can be Farhad. By killing Farhad’s right-hand man, Daan makes it clear to him that their relationship has changed. Daan doesn’t want to get stuck in his diamond smuggling affairs with Farhad as he wants to achieve higher with firearms trafficking. Farhad may have come to know about the same and can be exacting his vengeance on Daan by seizing the guns. Farhad may even know that if the guns don’t reach Albert on time, the latter most likely will kill Daan. If that’s not the case, even Arend can be behind the ambush. He must have planned the attack before his death to compensate for the loss he incurred due to the “furniture man.”
The possibility of an unrevealed gang, likely the enemies of the Nkala family, cannot be ruled out as well. From Arend, we know that Albert has increased the number of his family’s enemies after the death of his father. One of them can be coming in the way of Albert and his guns by ambushing and seizing the consignment. Whoever it is, they may not treat Bells and Charles well. The off-screen gunshot most likely indicates that they have killed Bells. They may free or kill Charles to send a message to Daan and Albert if they are new players getting involved in firearms trafficking.
Will Daan Ludik Get Arrested?
When Brigadier Davies starts to keep an eye on Daan, the latter realizes that he should divert the investigation to Arend so that his coast will be clear for him to smuggle firearms. Even though he hasn’t planned the same, Officer Moyo’s decision to leave behind the diamonds at Arend’s house may turn out to be beneficial for Daan. While inspecting Arend’s dead body, Brigadier Davies finds diamonds near Arend’s piano. He may think that Arend is the one involved with the diamond smuggling and not Daan, as the latter wanted to establish using Bells.
Since the non-existing person who oversees the diamond mine in Limpopo is an associate of Arend, Davies may fall into Daan’s trap and believe that Arend is involved in the smuggling and he had been using Daan’s trucks to smuggle the diamonds by threatening the latter. If that’s the case, Daan may escape from Davies and avoids an arrest. But if Davies is still convinced that Daan is involved in the diamond smuggling, the latter may need to use the video clip Rina has recorded using a toy. He may blackmail Davies by threatening to release the video clip involving him and his colleague.
Considering that Officer Moyo cannot reveal the source of the diamonds that are found in Arend’s house, since he has been working for the dead man, Daan seems to be safe. The lack of physical evidence against him also indicates that Davies may not be able to arrest Daan right away.
Does Anet Break Up with Daan? Will She End Up Together with Dr. Swanepoel?
Ever since Daan’s focus has shifted to Arend, he starts to distance himself from his wife Anet. His ambition to expand his empire by stepping into the troubled waters of firearms trafficking keeps him away from home as well. In addition, Daan starts to lie to his wife about the illegal affairs he has been a part of. All these factors affect Anet and gradually kill her love for her husband. When Danie beats up a bully, she loses all her hope. She realizes that her son is being like his father. Danie has been the link between Anet and Daan, even when several troubles test their relationship.
When Danie starts to be like Daan, she stoops to despair. She also seeks comfort in Dr. Swanepoel and they start to share intimacy. Daan and Anet’s relationship has been lacking intimacy and understanding, indicating that Anet may choose to be with Dr. Swanepoel rather than with Daan. In one of their meetings, Dr. Swanepoel makes her understand that she is not at all happy with her husband, which can be the guiding light that will motivate her to leave Daan to be with the psychiatrist.
However, Anet is yet to make a decision concerning the same. She may decide to continue being Daan’s wife for the sake of keeping their familial structure intact so that Danie will not be affected by their possible separation. If that’s the case, she may keep seeing Dr. Swanepoel without Daan knowing about the same. Even if Daan comes to know about his wife’s relationship with the psychiatrist, he may want to protect his reputation by trying to keep it a secret as he does with his brother Hein’s relationship with DJ Jakes.
Read More: Is Netflix’s Ludik Based on a True Story?
