Not Your Same Old, Brand New Show

ABS-CBN’s newest primetime offering, the dramatic teleserye “Magpahanggang Wakas”, topbilled by Jericho Rosales and Arci Munoz, premiered last Monday to high ratings and rave reviews from netizens and casual audience. It gave us that “not your same old, brand new” teleserye experience, as I put it.

In a gist, the series’ pilot week told the story of poor but determined lovers from the province Waldo and Aryann (played by Jericho Rosales and Arci Munoz) whose relationship would be challenged after Waldo accidentally killed Aryann’s step father (Justin Cuyugan) after the latter’s attempted rape on her. To raise money for Waldo’s freedom from jail, Aryann was forced to succumb to the world of high end sex trade. Luckily, her first customer Tristan (John Estrada), who was dealing with his own heartbreak after he caught his wife cheating, just let her go and gave her money, enough to pay for Waldo’s new lawyer. It could have led to a happy ever after for the two, as Waldo was proven innocent of the charges pressed against him, and Aryann pursued studying Law in college. But Aryann’s step father’s brother (Allan Paule) took revenge on Waldo by shooting him in a cliff. With Waldo presumed dead, Aryann painfully moved on in life, finishing college while working as Tristan’s secretary, whom she met again by some twist of fate. The week ended with Tristan professing his love for Aryann, while Waldo resurfacing, now looking for Aryann in Manila.

What worked for “Magpahanggang Wakas” is its fast pacing that would leave the viewers eagerly waiting for what’s next to come. You can’t miss an episode, literally. There’s much to look forward to as the story progresses – not everything was given away on the pilot week. It didn’t dwell much on the characters’ back stories, just hinting bits and pieces of them, and most likely would be dealt with in the coming episodes.

Just when you thought the show might not offer anything new to the audience given its sweeping, epic love story approach we might have seen before, “Magpahanggang Wakas” is so far successful in giving a somewhat traditional narrative (think of the original “Pangako Sa ‘Yo”) a modern, relatable touch. The serye offered contemporary yet more grounded take on love, sacrifices, marriage, separation, and even on our country’s justice system.

The series’ biggest scene by far was the opening one, with Jericho Rosales’ Tristan trapped in a vessel with fellow seamen near an a la Scarborough Island. It was executed beautifully, and it gave the series its timely feel. There were even tweets saying, “parang sa totoong buhay lang”, referring to the national issue our country has been dealing with on the West Philippine Sea. It was also foreshadow to how relevant bodies of water are, particularly the seas, in the development of the main characters’ individual and love stories.

Jericho Rosales has proven once again in “Magpahanggang Wakas” that he’s primetime’s leading leading man. 15 years since the first “Pangako Sa ‘Yo” premiere, Rosales is as palpable as ever, and his acting brilliance hasn’t faded at all. Arci Munoz, for her part, is proving through this series that there’s more to the sensuality and sexiness she exuded in her past projects. She can be a good actress, and the first week of “Magpahanggang Wakas” allowed her to showcase that. Her best scene of the week was when she was stripping her dress in front of Tristan half-heartedly, seemingly trying to back out but was forcing herself to go on for Waldo’s sake. John Estrada provided a strong, sympathetic support, you won’t take it against his character when he fell in love with Aryann.

Rosales and Munoz have a surprisingly strong on screen chemistry. The way they looked at and showed affection to each other, and even at how they threw lines at most tensed moments of the series, are affecting and moving. Waldo and Aryann really fitted them.

But aside from the main cast, the show boasted of a solid supporting cast: Rita Avila, playing Aryann’s auntie, was annoyingly good you’d want to slap her on the first episode for making her already hard life with Aryann even harder. Ana Abad Santos as the flighty and flirty Mariposa was too adorable as Aryann’s BFF you’d want to see more of them together in the coming episodes. Gelli De Belen, as Estrada’s ex-wife, had brief but interesting appearances on the pilot week. Her presence was so commanding you’d look forward as to how she would make the lives of everyone, especially of Aryann, miserable in the episodes to come.

Next week, based on teasers, Aryann and Waldo will see each other again after a long time. What’s interesting to find out, is their love that strong enough at this point, they can just walk away from it all and start all over again? Or will they choose to stay with their current situations for the sake of the ones surrounding them, and of one another?

Will “Magpahanggang Wakas” be able to keep up its strong, cutting edge proceedings, and the interest of its growing audience, amidst the tight demands of primetime teleserye production, and the entry of other characters and subplots to further complicate the teleserye? More so, will it be able to live up to its premise and promise of a modern yet sweeping epic story of star-crossed lovers challenged by life’s misfortunes and injustices? “Hubad na katotohanan ng pag-ibig”, as the trailer offers.

“Magpahanggang Wakas”, produced by ABS-CBN’s RSB Drama Unit, airs nightly after “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano”.