Will third time be the charm for Liza?

SOBERANO. Makes good first impression.

The new drama series, “Forevermore,” is a visually lovely show set in the cool and scenic Cordilleras. It stars Enrique Gil as a spoiled and surly scion, and Liza Soberano as his exact opposite, a hardworking farm girl who sells everything she owns to help her parents pay their debts.

Trouble is, the thoughtless and irresponsible scion inadvertently ruins their harvest and damages their all-important delivery vehicle, making their recovery prospects even worse—unless he pays for the damage he’s caused, which he absolutely refuses to do.

What is poor, lovely Liza to do? Being the plucky girl she is, she confronts his parents, but his dad refuses to solve Enrique’s problems to make a man out of him.

Finally, after a long and scary impasse, Liza’s farm is saved by Enrique’s last-minute change of heart, and he accepts a loan from his dad, which is used to come to Liza’s financial rescue.

Enrique even agrees to work on the farm to pay off his dad’s loan—and all is finally well in the young leads’ world!

—For now, of course, since the new series has a long way to go, so who knows what other challenges and stresses will assault them along the way, before the show finally write Finis?

Since the show has just concluded its “Prologue” portion, we can come up with a capsule evaluation of its progression thus far:

Right off the bat, Liza makes a better impression than Enrique, because her performance is relatively fresh, while his can be described as “slick.”

However, Liza still has accent-related problems that she should iron out right away, before they inordinately compromise the effectivity of her portrayal.

Aside from the series’ lovely visuals, it also benefits from the “textured” quality of the ensemble performances of the people who play the small farm’s workers.

Less than felicitous, however, is Zoren Legaspi’s being cast as Enrique’s dad, since he isn’t convincing as a wealthy and powerful businessman. Marissa Delgado does better as Enrique’s grand dame grandmother.

Finally, back to Liza Soberano: This is by no means her first “introducing” TV-film performance, having been less than successfully launched in at least a couple of productions.

Still, some important people must believe in her stellar promise, so she’s back for another crack at the jackpot, this time as the star of her very own teleserye! Will third time be the charm for never-say-die Liza? Let’s hope so!