Perplexing moves and counter-moves heat up ‘teleseryes’

SANTOS. Braces for her drama series’ eventful finale.

As Judy Ann Santos’ comeback drama series, “Huwag Ka Lang Mawawala,” went on finale mode last Monday, its signature brisk storytelling became even more eventful than usual: Judy Ann’s character had finally gotten her son back; Sam Milby had belatedly discovered that it was his ultra-evil father, played by Tirso Cruz III, who had shot and almost killed Judy Ann years before, and Gretchen Barretto’s “secret instigator” character was finally about to avenge herself on Tirso for his past depradations.

What else—and more—could happen before the series’ final fade next week? As cliffhanger finales go, we expect a principal nemesis (Sam? Tirso?) to get his dastardly desserts, Judy Ann’s son to learn to love his heretofore estranged mother, and (worry, worry) something really bad to happen to KC Concepcion’s character, because she’s long been set up as the tragic “villain-victim” in this melodramatic roundelay.

On “My Husband’s Lover,” events have been unraveling at a similarly hectic pace, even if the series is not yet about to fold its tent. The good news is that, after being clueless and on reactive mode for months, Carla Abellana’s submissive character is finally putting her pretty foot down, insisting that her husband own up to his gay affair!

However, this more active thrust is contradicted by hubby’s plea for “space,” his still  “twitching” love for his ex-lover—and the wife’s being caught getting kissed by a male friend and confidant!

She protests that the kiss was not her idea, but her in-laws peremptorily kick her out of their mansion, effectively separating her from her beloved children!

Quixotically, or too loyally, she doesn’t seize the opportunity to reveal to her in-laws that the crux of the matter is her husband’s gayness and not her imagined infidelity—so, the pressure is now on him.

—However, other recent events have shown that her hubby is weak, scared and vacillating, so that key revelation and confession is still a decidedly iffy preposition.

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For his part, hubby’s ex-lover has hooked up with a new flame, thanks to a lot of rather unseemly “matchmaking” on his liberated mother’s part. The former lover has also bounced back from a suicide attempt—and the past and present men in his life have gotten into a very public fistfight that has flattered him no end—but hasn’t yet prompted him to resume their decidedly tumultuous romance!

It’s the contradictory, urong-sulong nature of some of these events that discomfits viewers, so we trust that her hubby finally grows the spine for him to ‘fess up and live up to his many responsibilities!

Finally, on “Muling Bukan Ang Puso,” the current focus is on Agot Isidro and Cherie Gil’s characters’ fight for the affection of their “shared” children, played by Julia Montes and Enrique Gil. Frankly, the focus has become too intense and unrelenting, so we hope that the show finds other melodramatic rows to hoe—real soon!

We’re also perplexed by the upper hand that Cherie’s character “psychologically” holds in the ongoing struggle, and why she’s been so hastily  forgiven for “switching” their babies around when they were born.

True, the series needs a major villain, but why it should be Cherie’s character is confounding, because she has no financial clout, so it’s a puzzlement that she’s able to run circles around the all-powerful clan matriarch played by Susan Roces!

Another problem is emerging now that Julia Montes’ character is being fought over by the mothers and the brothers portrayed by Gil and Enchong Dee: The intense focus on her has brought out her limitations as an actress, especially because this series follows hot on the heels of her last show, “Walang Hanggan.” That much stellar exposure requires versatility-plus—which Montes is finding it hard to deliver.