How the ‘teleserye’ cookie crumbles

RAMOS AND DANTES. Picayune dramatic and familial conflicts.

On our teleserye watch this week, the most striking realization is that the “apocalyptic” series, “Genesis,” which started out proficiently enough some weeks ago, has unfortunately not been able to keep up with the major visualization demands and challenges of its end-of-the-world scenario.

Last Monday, for instance, a huge “killer” tsunami wave hit a Philippine shore and the digitized wave was awesome enough, but its aftermath was positively phlegmatic.

The weakness and lack of dramatic unction of the scene’s staging was underscored by the fact that all of the leads survived, apparently none the worse for wear, and that they “found” each other with amazing ease.

Another section of the telecast was similarly insufficient: The scene in which the Philippine president, played by Lorna Tolentino, finally addressed the nation and revealed that the world was going to end.

The scene set in what was supposed to be Malacañang looked thin and lacked visual import—and, even more phlegmatically, viewers’ reaction to the president’s grim “doomsday” announcement was dramatically insipid.

It also continues to rankle that, even with the world about to self-destruct, the series’ lead players still concern themselves with their picayune romantic and familial conflicts, as if they mattered one whit in the context of the impending apocalyptic denouement!

The series has strong players in Lorna, Jackielou Blanco and Snooky Serna, but its younger leads (Dingdong Dantes, Rhian Ramos) lack the thespic substance to do justice to the drama’s “Genetic” material.

Kudos to the show for its over-arching ambition, but it looks like it has bitten off more than it can chew…

Danger looms

Elsewhere on the tube, Daniel Padilla has finally gotten over his thespic stupor on “Got to Believe,” but danger looms when, during a basketball game, his head is hit by a rival player and death or at least paralysis threatens.

On “Honesto,” the bad guys (Joel Torre and avaricious company) are threatening to use all of their dishonestly acquired billions to buy votes in the next elections—but, fear not, the good people in the story (Eddie Garcia, Spanky Manikan) appear to be ready to form an “honest” coalition to foil their evil and nefarious plans, and to protect and defend the little boy (Raikko Mateo) who is the virtuous bone of everyone’s contention.

Eddie and Joel act up an entertaining storm, but we wish that the show will quickly resolve their particular conflict, so that it can serially focus on other problematic situations and deepen the series’ “inspirational” reach.

Finally, on the concluding series, “Kahit Nasaan Ka Man,” Eula Valdez has been charged with the attempt to kill Michael de Mesa’s character, thus souring the romance between her adoptive son (Kristoffer Martin) and his daughter (Julie Anne San Jose). Kristoffer begs the aggrieved parties to forgive his mother, but his pleas fall on deaf ears—possibly because the tyro actor’s protestations are so nominal and weak.

Despite everything, however, a happy ending for the show is still a distinct possibility because—well, that’s how the teleserye cookie traditionally crumbles!