Acutely believable ‘change agents’ on ‘Ningning’

JANA Agoncillo stars in the “eventful” kiddie soap.

Don’t look now, but the most eventful drama series on the tube these days isn’t a big, complex, turbulent, epic teleserye like “Pangako sa ’Yo” or “Pasion de Amor,” but the late-morning “kiddie” soap, “Ningning.”

What makes it such an appealingly “happening” show is its enlightened and perceptive scripting. Not only do its child characters speak naturally, but other aspects of the series are reflective of   reality, rather than the usual escapism, fantasy or over-the-top theatrics, dramatic and televised “operatics!”

Its plotline initially situated its action in a small seaside town in the province, showing how bucolic life there could be for its young and loving resident family.

After a while, however, it became clear that the place, no matter how lambent and peaceful, was too poor to enable many of its residents to make enough money to pay for their expenses today, let alone plan and save for the future. So Ningning (Jana Agoncillo) and her parents were forced to move to the big, polluted and cruel city.

Urban travails

Expectedly, however, their problems weren’t solved; they were merely replaced by other travails, some of them more difficult and terrible than the ones they had left behind!

Ningning’s father (Ketchup Eusebio) had to work at several jobs that left him utterly exhausted at night, while Ningning had her own problems with bullies at her school.

Well-meaning

As the series’ “urban” chapter continues to unfold, it has introduced other new characters, like a well-meaning teacher, a nasty landlady who turns out to have a good side to her, and a carinderia owner who has a big chip on his shoulder at first, but is now also “softening up” and even appears to have romantic intentions in relation to Ningning’s grandmother!

In most of these instructive changes, Ningning and her father figure act as “change agents,” just because they’re such good souls and are thus able to wear down even lousy people’s best resolve to remain mean and bad!

But, the character changes are believably effected and thus earned, unlike other drama series’ incredibly “miraculous” or “magical” upbeat denouements.

Ningning’s most telling relationship to date has been with the boy, MacMac (John Steven de Guzman), who used to bully her at school, but is now becoming her best friend.

She senses that he has an unhappy homelife, and she’s right—he is neglected by his dad (Nyoy Volante)—but all is definitely not lost, because even as MacMac “improves,” his dad also tries  to be a better father to him.

Goodness can be “infectious.” Now, that’s a novel theme for a local TV soap, especially because the way that it’s made to play out on “Ningning” is rigorously merited.

So, what are you waiting for? Watch “Ningning” more regularly and you can be “infected” by its firm belief in people’s goodness—and in the richness of real situations and characters as material for—the most admirably eventful TV series on TV this season!