OK, so #OTWOLista ako (see previous post) pero I that doesn’t mean hindi ako aware sa ibang teleserye, particularly ‘yung katapat niya sa kabilang channel.  Eh paano naman ako hindi magiging aware—si Dennis Trillo yata ang bida.

 ‘Nung start, hindi ko masyado binibili ang gimmick nila ni Jennylyn Mercado na they’re back together, but now I don’t care, ang galling nila pareho umarte! But really, no one can top Dennis Trillo—fabulous actor na, super pogi pa.  Kaya medyo weird sa akin ang premise na Jennylyn’s character, Melanie, will be unfaithful to her husband, Emman, sa gwapo at bait naman nito.  Then again, watching the show revealed several points na pwede ngang reason enough for Melanie to stray.

Melanie is a happy-go-lucky kind of chick.  Bata pa lang siya, ganun na siya.  Tapos nabuntis at iniwan ng boyfriend niyang bad boy (Mikael Daez as Dean).  Eto naman si Emman na lonely and super bait and in love kay Melanie na biglang inako ang bata and, in the end, married Melanie.  OMG, may lalaki bang ganyan talaga?  Anyway, here’s the added problem:  they have to live in Emman’s family’s house, with his younger brother and his wife, his younger sister, and his obnoxious mom Mercedes (the former child superstar Snooky Serna).  Many times naisip ko, bakit ba nagtitiyaga si Melanie doon?  Grabe si Mercedes, laging inaapi si Melanie, and makes sure Emman sees it as his responsibility to fend for their whole family.  Only because Emman is the son of a college schoolmate who raped her, and thus put an end to all her dreams.

Masalimuot ba?  Here’s more.  Bumalik si Dean and wants Melanie back.  Melanie, still with feelings for Dean, kind of entertains him.  Wala naming nangyari sa kanila physically, but emotional cheating?  Yeah, that happened.  At this point, Emman had already found out about this, and I should say this is the best part of the show so far.

Napakagaling na actor ni Dennis Trillo.  You won’t miss the change from gentle, loving husband, to one consumed by jealousy and rage.  Ang galling niya, sobra.  Among all the characters, si Emman ang pinaka hindi masyadong believable (dahil sa sobrang bait at mapagmahal) noong una, but compensated for it during this recent turn of events.  At mas mahirap sa lahat is to convey all that—na nagawa ni Dennis, successfully.  Hindi naman ako masyadong fan, ano?

The show has traces of My Husband’s Lover and The Rich Man’s Daughter  (since it was penned by the same writer) in terms of standard characters (bossy dad/mom, societal acceptance/stereotype, chuwariwaps), and to be fair, it happily lacks all of the over-the-top elements that we’ve come to expect from local dramas. OK lang may palit-baby, o may kaliwaan, o may kidnap gang, pero sana ‘yung pagkuwento disente naman at hindi palengke.  This was how MFH did it, typical drama angle (adultery) pero carried out with sanity.  Hindi tayo mapapakamot ng ulo sa pagtataka kung paano nangyari ang mga bagay-bagay.

More, more, more.  More Dennis pati.

How do I even begin?  Let’s just say I’ve been sleeping later than usual, and that’s because I’ve found a new thing to stay up late for: oo na, #OTWOLista na ako!

Before this was shown, I found myself getting a bit too much into Pangako Sa ‘Yo (see my post on it), so much so that kating-kati akong makauwi everyday nang maaga para maabutan sina Amor at Eduardo, plus ang mga shenanigans ni Claudia.  But August came and the hype on OTWOL (yes, yan ang shortened version) made me curious enough to check out the pilot episode.  At ‘yun na.  ‘Yun na talaga.  I’ve been hooked ever since.

First of all, the fresh story angle.  Tama na ang OA plots at saka sexuality issues muna, nakakasawa din. OTWOL brought in the plight of Pinoy OFWs, done with a light tone pero you still won’t miss the serious undertone and homesickness.

Tapos magaling ang direction.  One of the directors is Tonet Jadaone of That Thing Called Tadhana fame.  Winner ang comic timing, at nailabas niya ang acting skills ng lead stars, 'it' loveteam James Reid and Nadine Lustre. Partida na ang fact na may added degree of difficulty ang production, since they shot much of it in San Francisco with no ABS-CBN-style crew.  Sila-sila lang.

Third, kilig factor.  My gosh, ibang klase!  Grabe magtinginan!  Plus yung mga lines nila, trademark kilig talaga.  Can’t blame JaDine (James and Nadine, yeah) fans from getting all worked up every episode.

Fourth, and probably the most surprising (for me, at least), marunong umarte ang mga bida!  To be honest, I didn’t expect much, but they sure proved me wrong.  Lalo na si Nadine, who appears to be on a higher acting level compared to her partner.  OK, OK, binawi naman ni James sa hotness factor.  Nadine has been able to keep up with the ever-changing tone of the show every episode:  from romance to drama to action back to romance, and sometimes even horror!  Kayang-kaya niya.

What else can I say?  Clearly I’m a fan! Like many viewers, I really hope this show keeps its standards and remains consistent—primetime definitely needs something like this to offset all the heavy drama, baby kidnapping, fraudulent identities, and everything else we’ve been used to.