JANINE Gutierrez (left) and Aljur Abrenica
On May 2, the latest local drama series about reincarnation, “Once Again,” started telecasting on GMA 7, with Janine Gutierrez and Aljur Abrenica portraying its resident “star-crossed” lovers.
The “love beyond death” romantic-fantasy storytelling type is popular in these parts due to its absolute assurance that love can be “forever”—perhaps not in one lifetime, but certainly in two!
Janine and Aljur play two characters apiece. In that episode, they portrayed “rich” Reign and “poor” Edgar, respectively. You know the drill: They were oh, so in love despite their coming from widely and wildly different worlds—but, Reign’s insufferably “dictatorial” dad (Christopher de Leon) absolutely didn’t want them to end up together!
Not at all surprisingly, he planned to get her married off to similarly rich Lukas (Phytos Ramirez), forcing Reign to beg Edgar to elope with her.
Alas, Phytos got wind of the secret scheme, moved to nip it in the bud, and the first episode ended with chilling “anticipatory” images of violence, drowning—and worse.
The best thing about the new series’ first telecast was its visuals. It was set and shot in Talisay, overlooking Taal volcano, so there were some stunning shots that made our viewing day.
Even less bucolic and interior scenes were similarly enhanced by creative camerawork—congratulations all around for the extra effort and inventiveness.
Unfortunately, other aspects and factors were predictable and underwhelming.
In general, the characters were too pat—rich-poor, good-evil, etc.—to be worth empathizing with, or even against.
Christopher de Leon’s stern and even cruel paterfamilias persona was particularly stereotypical and off-putting: He announced his daughter’s engagement to the rich young man of his choice—without even telling her in advance that he was going to do so!
As for the series’ leads, Janine is more natural and “accessible” than usual, but Aljur still acts “by the numbers” and according to type, rather than his assigned character’s unique essence.
Also less than relatable is Phytos Ramirez’s portrayal of the series’ resident young villain, Lukas.
He’s all sneering lips and flashing eyes—do villains have to be such kneejerk jerks and so lacking in interiority?
It’s a good thing that Bembol Roco is on hand as Aljur’s dad. We hope that he’ll be given enough opportunities to help boost the show’s thespic worth.
The new series’ creative visualizations thus far encourage us to hope that when the show gets to its reincarnation scenes, they will be effectively evocative of a mysterious and mystifying world beyond this one.
Many other series about romantic destiny falter and fail in this key regard, with their “one step beyond” scenes either looking too reality-leaden and laden, or too magically, ethereally fantastic to be believed.
We’re hopeful that, in the light of this new show’s demonstrated ability to believably vivify life and love after death, it’ll fare better in this important area.
As ever, and “Once Again,” hope springs!