Kim Chiu (left) and Gerald Anderson
Now that the Kim Chiu-Gerald Anderson love team is making a big comeback on TV by way of the new drama series, “Ikaw Lang ang Iibigin,” viewers are antsy to see if the hit tandem still has screen “chemistry” despite the passage of many years.
To provide a preview of their new costarring prospects, “Maalaala Mo Kaya” recently came up with a new anthology episode for them.
We caught the special telecast and found it to be a creditable showcase for their current thespic skills, but felt that the episode’s script prevented the lead players from scoring a direct hit on viewers’ empathetic emotions.
The plot and character development wanted us to implicitly believe that the longtime lovers Kim and Gerald portrayed absolutely loved each other, through thick or thin.
But, Gerald’s character kept Kim in the dark for years about his whereabouts when he was studying in the United States.
Kim remained loyal and hopeful, but after a very long time of absolutely no communication, she could hardly be faulted for finally giving up and opting to get pregnant by and marrying another man!
When Gerald finally came back to Manila, he had to manfully accept Kim’s married status, but his character’s new maturity didn’t placate viewers, because his failure to get in touch with her for so long made them give up on him.
It was inexplicable and unbelievable that a supposedly loyal lover would fail to get in touch with his alleged beloved, especially in this easily connected age of social and new media.
If it was absolutely essential for Gerald’s character to “disappear” for years, other scripting options should have been resorted to, so that he wouldn’t have ended up looking and acting like an insensitive cad.
Since this wasn’t done, despite Gerald’s best thespic efforts to “redeem” his character, he couldn’t get back into viewers’ good graces, and his performance was consequently compromised.
For her part, Kim wasn’t similarly encumbered, so her portrayal came off better and more of an organic whole.
But, it was ironic that her character appeared to have the bad habit of choosing to love disloyal men, since her “rebound lover” turned out to be similarly faithless and unreliable.
For the record, however, the episode still had a happy ending, because her husband was conveniently disposed of by way of an annulment, so that Gerald could end up in Kim’s arms again—
this time, for keeps!
The “convenient” denouement also distracted from the love drama’s believability, but the special showcase did
show that the Kim-Gerald love tandem can still generate
thespic heat and bite.
But, their new drama series can’t afford to be encumbered by scripting cul-de-sacs that put their characters in a bad and compromising light.
Viewers have to be clearly and strongly on their side so they can root for them—and the success of their returning love team.
They may no longer be personally involved and in love, but their hit tandem, if savvily revived and reinvigorated, could have a new life of its own!