KIM Chiu
We were in Iloilo City last January 20 when “My Binondo Girl” aired its final telecast, but we still made it a point to catch the show, even as the rest of the city’s denizens caroused at the Dinagyang Festival.
With Jolo Revilla’s character out of the picture (he had died saving Kim Chiu’s character’s life), it was likely that Xian Lim would finally get the girl. But would Matteo Guidicelli have a big surprise in store for viewers at the very end?
No such switcheroo at the altar happened, so Xian was indeed “it.” But, before that must-have wedding scene, he did shake up the big finale somewhat when he pleaded for more time to get over the week’s traumatic events (after all, his dad had been unmasked as the mastermind of the fatal encounter in which Jolo’s character had perished).
But that turned out to be a temporary glitch, as Xian’s mom pushed him back into Kim’s aching arms, in time for them to pledge their troth and bring the whole shebang to a big-bang conclusion.
Disappointing
Looking back, “My Binondo Girl” started months ago with a lot of promise—intimating that, among other themes, it would push a female empowerment agenda, with Kim rising to the top of the Chinoy business world and running her father’s empire in which she had first paid her dues by working as a mere functionary and bathroom janitress.
The series did end with Kim ensconced at the top, but the focus on the empowerment theme was frittered away and upstaged by too many melodramatic plot upheavals during the series’ final chapter.
Also disappointing was the fact that although Kim worked hard throughout the series, her performance still didn’t come through as a major success. She was in fact patently weak and insufficient as the company’s big boss.
The series was kinder to Xian, who broke through as a genuine find, emerging as a certified star due to his good showing in “My Binondo Girl.”
Also on the up-and-up were the performances of the show’s other Chinoy players, who more than held their own in the company of their more experienced Pinoy counterparts in the series’ stellar cast.
Another standout was Ricardo Cepeda, who shone through on the show’s final week, when he believably emerged as the story’s prime evildoer.
He ended up doing better than the show’s other principal villain, Cherry Pie Picache, who was too in-your-face mean and nasty for comfort.
Jolo also benefited from his participation in the show, but Matteo was too frisky and yet unfocused and thus came off, uh, not so well.
All told, the series’ best suit was its sometimes deft, believably detailed depiction of Chinoy life, particularly in its business and tradition-related aspects.
But the teleserye would have ended up as a more significant success if it had held its focus more rigorously on its female empowerment theme. Unfortunately, despite her best efforts, Kim Chiu wasn’t up to the vital and challenging task at hand.