I sat on a sofa with my wife who was fully immersed into the old formulaic Filipino soap. If this was 10 years ago, I would have mocked her life choices. But as a mature Filipino husband who sat through countless of soap episodes in the 90's, I had to give this Filipino's favourite past time another chance. Boy, was I wrong? The same old tired story line of betrayal, revenge, meandering love interests were scattered through out all episodes.
Paulo Avelino as 'Bangis' looked as confused as his character. Driven by revenge upon finding out that he was betrayed by his wife, the latter role played by similarly less convincing Kim Chu, he tried to investigate by contriving with shoddy characters only to find out that he was not the 'man'. The plot and subplots were at times fillers of the episodes. Countless visits to gynaecologist, press conferences and physical altercations are vomit inducing scenes.
Do not expect a character study here. The characters changed aims and goals in almost every episode. I must say though, if the poor story and direction of this series are to be ignored, Kaila Estrada is a promising actress. She was good in it. Her delivery and depth overshadowed the cheap story telling.
The directors, Reyes and Saquin, stayed true to their background with this farce. A YouTube creator could do a better job of reflecting a Filipino societal realism, if not make it more of a film making rather than a series oratorical declamation. This series is neither a statement nor an art form. Be ready to endure a never-ending musical score whether a character is aimlessly opening a taxi door or answering a phone call. I must say Erik Santos provided a beautiful theme song.
After a long weekly two-episode installments in Prime Video UK, I retreated to a corner of that little shanty like a 13-year-old boy who wanted to mock the folks of their life choices. But this was now, the same old telenovela devoid of a total sense of an artform. I sat through it. I respected my wife's choice; after all it is the Filipino's favourite past time.
Paulo Avelino as 'Bangis' looked as confused as his character. Driven by revenge upon finding out that he was betrayed by his wife, the latter role played by similarly less convincing Kim Chu, he tried to investigate by contriving with shoddy characters only to find out that he was not the 'man'. The plot and subplots were at times fillers of the episodes. Countless visits to gynaecologist, press conferences and physical altercations are vomit inducing scenes.
Do not expect a character study here. The characters changed aims and goals in almost every episode. I must say though, if the poor story and direction of this series are to be ignored, Kaila Estrada is a promising actress. She was good in it. Her delivery and depth overshadowed the cheap story telling.
The directors, Reyes and Saquin, stayed true to their background with this farce. A YouTube creator could do a better job of reflecting a Filipino societal realism, if not make it more of a film making rather than a series oratorical declamation. This series is neither a statement nor an art form. Be ready to endure a never-ending musical score whether a character is aimlessly opening a taxi door or answering a phone call. I must say Erik Santos provided a beautiful theme song.
After a long weekly two-episode installments in Prime Video UK, I retreated to a corner of that little shanty like a 13-year-old boy who wanted to mock the folks of their life choices. But this was now, the same old telenovela devoid of a total sense of an artform. I sat through it. I respected my wife's choice; after all it is the Filipino's favourite past time.