TYPE OF REVIEW 
: HINDSIGHT REVIEW
No Spoilers.
GMA Network raised plenty of eyebrows with their groundbreaking, but controversial drama My Husband’s Lover. Having wrapped up its much talked about run last week, the series’ influence and impact may not yet be truly felt. That’s because its biggest and maybe most important accomplishment will be how it opened the door to countless possibilities in Philippine entertainment and the greater Filipino culture.
I pointed out in my First Impression Review of the soap opera that the Philippines is an odd one when it comes to its media and personal perceptions of the LGBT community. While the country is devoutly religious with a self-perceived conservative society, it also happily enjoys watching gruesome, violent and adulterous media, while relishing in the gossip culture that permeates even politics.
So too is the Filipino’s oddly varied and cherry-picked opinions on gay media personalities. While many Filipinos enjoy and are fans of openly gay and lesbian celebrities, God forbid one of their own family members is gay. At the same time, if one of their favorite matinee idols or talented divas is rumored to be gay, it is the worst thing evah!!11!. Or that questioning someone’s sexuality is the best and ultimate jab to make fun of someone or to put one down.
Which is why My Husband’s Lover, in a social context, helped broaden the discussion and highlight the country’s sometimes hypocritical views. The show is not going to get the Philippines to allow same sex marriage any time soon. And it certainly didn’t set out to. But at the very least, it used a very common teleserye plot to give a face and a voice to a segment of the Filipino population that has long been depicted as comic relief or jokes, especially in television and film.
The series opened up the possibility for future content creators to also be brave enough to tell stories that before would be unheard of on television. For example, any meaningful story about an LGBT character had always been reserved for independent films. And half of those films are merely gay soft-core movies.
But now, maybe Philippine television networks will be more open to including a gay or lesbian character that isn’t relegated to being the flamboyant or overly butch sidekick and comic relief (or punching bag). And in turn, networks can be more open to trying new things; fresher concepts, out of the box stories and characters instead of the usual teleserye tropes.
As for its cast, Carla Abellana has long deserved a role that would allow her to truly breakout and this was it. Tom Rodriguez was long relegated to typical rich boy, third wheel roles on other networks and this finally gave him an opportunity to do more. And Dennis Trillo has already proven what kind of an actor he is and in all of Philippine showbiz, of his position in the industry and his long career, he may have been the only actor, not only fit for the role, but willing to actually take it on. The three of them led a solid cast that thankfully never detracted from the equally solid writing.
My Husband’s Lover also used true high definition cameras to their fullest potential. While other Filipino dramas purport to be filmed in HD, My Husband’s Lover actually maintained that crisper quality even when downconverting. At the same time, the directors used those HD cameras to present modern cinematography not seen anywhere else on Philippine primetime.
For all its groundbreaking themes, My Husband’s Lover was still a typical Filipino soap opera at its core; contrived misunderstandings, overly violent villains and an extension that maybe didn’t need to happen.
But the fact that it was a typical Filipino soap showed that even the most stereotypical setups can still be fresh and exciting. At the very least, My Husband’s Lover opened the door to an opportunity for a deeper national discussion and for Filipino creatives to not be afraid to take chances on storytelling.
TYPE OF REVIEW : HINDSIGHT REVIEW
One spoiler, but it doesn’t really matter.
Carmela and Rhodora X premiered at the end of January. While I was lukewarm with Carmela, I saw a lot of potential in Rhodora X.
Color me not surprised that not one, but two Filipino drama series end up having disappointing runs. This is definitely nothing new with Filipino soap operas. But going into new shows, of course, you’re very hopeful. It is unfortunate, but never unexpected that they end up completely dropping their balls multiple times before they bid farewell.
Stunning Visuals Not Enough
Carmela was pretty much a story of nothing. After starting out with a pretty uninteresting first week, I hoped the series would pick up steam, that it was a slowburn. But my baseless anticipation of some kind of high definition revenge story only raised my expectations too high.
The great cinematic visuals and the start of the Vhong Navarro-Deniece Cornejo nonsense helped boost the show’s slow first week.
When both novelties quickly faded, the show needed to stand on its own with a good story. Unfortunately, the story was worse than just bad. It was nonexistent.
Carmela and Yago’s love story was a bore. Roi Vinzon’s asshole/son of a bitch routine was already old on My Husband’s Lover. And Jaclyn Jose’s over/underacting is not enjoyable on any series.
So of course, a show with no story goes out with a whimper. 83 episodes of back and forth with absolutely no depth.
Just an incredible disappointment from a team that had brought to life such shows as My Husband’s Lover and Amaya. And a total waste of time for Marian Rivera as a follow-up after her successful run on Temptation of Wife.
It was the series that had the dissociative identity disorder
Rhodora X was the more promising of the two series. So its collapse is much more disappointing.
It wasn’t the psychological thriller it was being promoted to be. While Jennylyn Mercado gave an inspired performance as Rhodora, Roxanne and Rowena, the three personalities her character was struggling with, the series went off the rails (in a bad way) when it became obvious that Rhodora’s disorder was merely being used as an excuse to use the usual Filipino soap opera tropes.
The typical kidnappan and barilan would’ve been okay if they had actually put more effort into developing Rhodora’s mental illness and its effects. Instead, after some exposition in the first few weeks, her suffering from the disorder was pretty much glossed over the rest of the way and came across as a mere gimmick instead of major plot driver to the point that it didn’t matter anymore.
Forget the fact that they could have easily used simple video editing tools to make Rhodora and Roxanne’s conversations more interesting and visually appealing.
Maybe the only two interesting and memorable moments from the entire series were the mental hospital breakout (which was hilarious and completely played that way) and the final scene of Rhodora’s daughter Jenna exhibiting signs that she too may be suffering from DID.
Otherwise, the story itself was an incredible disappointment since an excellent premise was completely wasted. Not to mention the waste of Jennylyn Mercado’s excellent performance that elevated otherwise subpar material.
Nothing new
But again, dropping the ball is the norm on Philippine television. GMA isn’t the only network guilty of that. Unfortunately for Carmela and Rhodora X, they just became two more of “those” shows. All too typical Filipino soap opera. Which is why when a show actually gets through its run (hopefully, not overextended) and keeps its dignity intact, it already deserves applause. These two? Not so much.
TYPE OF REVIEW : HINDSIGHT REVIEW
No spoilers! Click here for my First Impression Review and click here for my Check-In Review.
I have no reservations with my proclamation in that headline. I absolutely believe TV5’s Beki Boxer is one of the best, most enjoyable and most creative scripted Filipino series, drama or comedy, in years.
Most Filipino dramas struggle with just one genre. Beki Boxer, on the other hand, effortlessly blended drama and comedy every day while infusing some exciting sports action, kilig romance and all-out fabulous~ musical numbers.
Alwyn Uytingco was the perfect actor to and maybe the only one who could, not only carry the series, but completely own the character of Rocky “Tsunami Punch” Ponciano. Name any other young actor today who could make you laugh and cry by being a tough boxer in the ring and a flamboyant sirena outside of it. It’s been a long time coming, but Alwyn Uytingco finally got the lead role he’s long deserved. And he absolutely knocked it out of the park.
The series probably would not have worked with any other actor in the title role. Alwyn’s experience in dozens of varied roles, including gay characters, since he first started in the business allowed him to be comfortable and natural in the role.
The writing and directing played just as big a part as well. Throughout the series, we laughed and we cried with Rocky. Many times, those tears were actually from laughing too hard. Other times, they were tears from sincerely heartbreaking and/or touching emotional moments.
Beki Boxer being able to seamlessly flow from one emotion to the next, no matter how far apart on the spectrum they could be, many times in the same exact scene is a major accomplishment and one of the biggest reasons the series is a creative success.
While most of Philippine primetime is riddled with the same stories and concepts, Beki Boxer managed to break new ground. And it didn’t even have to try hard.
It was a series centered around a flamboyant and effeminate young gay man as the title character. It was a sports drama about an incredibly talented young boxer. And it took typical Pinoy suds and injected plenty of humor and heart.
The idea that a young 20-something gay man who is more than comfortable dressing in drag and performing on a gay bar stage can win a championship boxing belt is inspired and was handled perfectly throughout the series. Rocky’s mission to regain his family’s honor while still being true to himself is a universal story, relatable anyone, gay or straight.
Many Filipinos equate television quality with heavy dramas and how long you can be extended by. But Beki Boxer disproves both of those misguided standards.
Beki Boxer ran for 13 (and a half) weeks, like most of TV5’s daily and weekly dramas. It wasn’t extended for three more months or two years. And it didn’t need to be. Now that’s it’s over, anyone who has watched the series can see the story was easily planned out for a 13 week run. Story beats being hit at just the right times and the pacing quick. They knew exactly where they were going and how to get there.
Beki Boxer is not heavy drama. Sure, there were heavy moments, usually broken by perfectly timed silliness. But a television series does not need to feature nonstop screaming or crying or barilan and kidnappan and api-apihan to be considered good.
Beki Boxer‘s excellent writing provided a fun and enjoyable viewing experience without resorting to lowest common denominator stunts or have the need to dumb down the audience to gain a reaction.
And that the performances of Alwyn Uytingco and the rest of the talented cast may go unnoticed is a crime.
Whether it’s Vin Abrenica’s continued growth as TV5’s leading man. Or Candy Pangilinan’s excellent comedic timing. Or Joross Gamboa’s surefire scene stealing. Or John Regala absolutely relishing his moustache-twirling villainy. Christian Vasquez, Onyok Velasco, Claire Hartell, Cholo Baretto, Kristel Moreno, Rain Prince Allan Quite, Bekimon. The guy who played Dedz!
The entire cast and the amazing line-up of real-life professional boxers all contributed to the show’s ultimate success.
It was fresh, creative and fun. That a series with such a simple premise can be enjoyable, hilarious and exciting is a huge accomplishment. And best of all, it had plenty of sincerity and heart that made the 68 episodes all worth watching.
It is a shame that the greater Filipino population is still so averse to changing their channels because Beki Boxer deserved to be the biggest show on Philippine TV today. It accomplished much more in quality and entertainment with its sincere simplicity and abundance of heart than any of the other options out there. TV5 and everyone at Beki Boxer deserve a big standing ovation for an incredible accomplishment. TV5 and any Philippine network will be hard pressed to find another series that has the same perfect combination of punches like Beki Boxer was able to land on a regular basis.
And because of it, Beki Boxer deserves to be called one of the very best Filipino dramas in years.
Watch the entire series here:
Be sure to start at Episode 1 of course. =]
