The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi Takes Us Back To School With Its First Episode
The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi Is The Stuff Nigerian Boarding School Nightmares Are Made Of, If you don’t get it, forget about it.
- written by Joy Onu
- 6 min read
- 02 Nov, 2023
The story of Madam Koi-Koi was a legend told to students in boarding schools, it was especially popular in the 90s, all through to current times. It told the tale of a faceless woman with red shoes who would roam the halls at night looking for her next victim, no one can truly say where this story came from but you could tell that she was seeking some sort of revenge.
If you went to a boarding school, full warning, this new Netflix horror series will give you a ton of flashbacks, and nostalgia (the bad kind), or should we just say PTSD.
The first episode of the series follows the new girl, Amanda played by Martha Ehinome, and students at St Augustine Catholic College. As Amanda tries to settle into a new school she didn’t even want to be in, the horrors of Madam Koi-Koi begins. 
Comparisons have been made between this and how Bridgerton, a regency drama set centuries ago makes use of contemporary music renditions. We can’t say it’s the same thing, but we can say the rules apply in the same way.
On a side note, there’s no way on God’s green earth that the picture on Mother Superior’s desk is a picture of her, it looks like a botched photoshop job, but that’s besides the point.
At the beginning of the first episode, I’m not going to lie, I kept checking how much time was left, because I wasn’t seeing any action yet. Twenty minutes in, the action began, in the most horrifying and graphic way possible. ID, Lashe, Tokunbo, and Kayode seemed unproblematic to me as the new girl, Amanda was being warned by her bunk-mate about their history of making girls cry, and sooner rather than later you’ll unfortunately see for yourself just how they do it, what they do to Ibukun is horrifying to say the least, soon enough, ID becomes the first victim of Madam Koi-Koi.
The scare tactics of Madam Koi-Koi are creepy at best, you don’t really get to see her, just a shadow-woman who creeps up on you with a red glow when the full moon is out. As I watched the first episode, I couldn’t help but wonder what the connection between the new girl, Amanda and Madam Koi-Koi was, why she was seemingly the only one having nightmares about her.
Madam Koi-Koi reeks of pedophilia as one of the police officers played by Baaj Adebule showcases his lust for underage students while carrying out investigations at the boarding school in a rather uncouth way. Another thing it reeks of is sexism , at the beginning you’ll wonder why the smartest people in the entire school are a group of boys, well, you’ll know why when they suspiciously and suddenly want to add the first girl, Amanda to the group.
Can we just have moments of silence for Sister Ruth played by Chioma Akpotha , by the end of the first episode it will be clear what role she will play in this twisted story, you can tell that she will do the Lord’s work without saying too much.
The ending of the first episode will either have you connecting the dots or you’ll be left with a ton of questions, or both. Rosemary, played by Omowumi Dada has a story that is beyond sadistic and cruel, you will begin to wonder if the end of her story is the beginning of the story of Madam Koi-Koi, or is it somehow connected.
All in all, The Origin: Madam Koi-Koi is a good watch, from the storyline, the history, myth and legend, all the way to the star studded cast that includes Deyemi Okanlawon, Jude Chukwuka, Baaj Adebule, Ireti Doyle, Iremide Adeoye and so on. Their stellar performances are on par with the creativity and simplicity of the storytelling.
The second episode will be released on 7 November 2023, hopefully the story isn’t drawn out for too long, and we can get to the bottom of who Madam Koi-Koi is, how she can be stopped, and the role Amanda will play in all of it.