PASCUAL. Intensely demanding emotional scenes.
Before “Hawak-kamay” ended its run on ABS-CBN last Friday, we made it a point to catch its final week of telecasts on a nightly basis, the better to second-guess how it would actually end.
We were frankly worried that the lead protagonist played by Piolo Pascual wouldn’t “go the distance,” because the show kept “hinting” to this effect in some past telecasts, with characters sharing sundry thoughts about the briefness and unpredictability of life, etc.
True enough, Piolo’s character’s grave liver illness soon grew worse despite a liver transplant—in fact, last Monday, he was in pain and felt so bad that he lost consciousness—resulting in the abduction of his and Iza Calzado’s baby!
You can imagine how guilty Piolo felt—and how mad Iza was at him!—so, he lost no time in looking for his missing child. Trouble is, he did it mostly on his own (because he was the show’s bida), by way of an unrealistically fortuitous turn of events, so viewers watched his series of lucky streaks unfold with raised eyebrows—and dropped jaws.
Amazingly, he did penetrate the kidnappers’ lair and rescued, not just his baby, but some other young kidnap victims, for good measure!
With their baby now out of harm’s way, love and peace returned to the highly stressed lead couple’s household—but only all too briefly.
Last Tuesday, Piolo got the chilling confirmation from his doctor (Teresa Loyzaga) that he had cancer—and, worse, that it had metastasized throughout his body!
What a shocker—and it confirmed our fear that Piolo’s character’s illness could be terminal, and the series could end with him no longer around! If that tragic denouement did come to pass, it would be a teleserye first, since TV drama heroes, like old soldiers, “never die.”
On second thought, that dire ending might not eventuate, because Piolo forcefully swore last Tuesday that he would fight off his illness with all the energy and will power (and additional rounds of chemo) he could summon up and resort to. So, with three telecasts left, the series’ actual denouement was—still up in the air!
Incidentally, the series’ final Monday and Tuesday telecasts were a thespic high for Piolo, who most believably broke down when he rescued his baby, and brought the child back to their very worried family.
In the past, the actor would shirk away from such intensely demanding emotional moments, but we’re happy to note that he now meets them “head-on.”
A valuable lesson has been learned, and we trust that Piolo will play his future roles with similar honesty, pain and commitment.
As for last Wednesday’s telecast, it wasn’t as stormy as what preceded it, but Piolo both touched and confounded viewers by videotaping “advance” messages to his kids, to be viewed after his (dreaded) demise—! Would the show indeed “dare” to opt for a truly tragic ending for its main protagonist and thus potentially tick off some viewers?—Inabangan ng maraming viewer (as the series ended last night) ang panghuling kabanata!