Barking up the wrong thematic trees

“FOREVERMORE.” New focus on financial hi-jinks and contretemps

Some ongoing TV series appear to be in the unhappy process of diluting their initial dramatic advantage by barking up the wrong scripting trees.

First off, “Forevermore” seems to have painted itself into a dramatically unproductive corner, by way of its current focus on its “financial” subplot: Its resident farmers’ land is being usurped by a ruthless developer to force Enrique Gil to give Liza Soberano up, in favor of his “ex,” Sofia Andres.

This new focus on financial hi-jinks and contretemps is welcome, because it educates viewers about land issues—but, the extended information feels misplaced in a romantic drama series, where the leads are supposed to be more important than supporting characters and their subplots.

In addition, the financial contretemps come off as rather overwrought, because the size and extent of Enrique’s family’s hotel business doesn’t seem to be all that huge—so, why is his lola (Marissa Delgado) acting like she’s a dowager empress who owns all of Makati and Ayala Alabang, combined?

Yes, the show’s scripting says that the family is a major financial force, but the evidence that the production presents isn’t convincing, so the whole shebang is ending up looking like a teapot tempest. Lesson learned: Don’t just say it, prove it.

Progression

For its part, “Two Wives” is working really hard to heat up its own melodramatic progression—but, its problem is still the fact that past series like “Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real” and “Legal Wife” have already gone through pretty much the same territory. Lesson learned: Despite new additions like amnesia and stuff, second-hand themes still feel merely warmed up, so they should be given a long rest before being dramatized anew.

Also much too similar are the developments on two other shows, “Dream Dad” and “Bagito.” In both series, mother characters run away from their responsibilities—only to reenter the picture to complicate things, even as the children they initially abandoned are now doing much better.

In “Bagito,” the runaway birth mother comes back sooner, while her counterpart on “Dream Dad” takes five years before she makes her guilt-stricken reappearance!

With so many possible plot developments to choose from, why would two popular, primetime drama series opt to take pretty much the same tack? What makes the situation even more disappointing is the fact that the shows are produced by the same TV network.

It is hoped, therefore, that new conflicts are soon thought up to get the shows out of the “been there, seen that” fix they’re in. Lesson learned: TV networks’ production groups should talk to each other.