Intelligence is in the heart

After an extended run on TV, “Budoy” finally went on take-no-prisoners finale mode last week, shocking viewers with the twin deaths by gunfire of the title character’s half-brother and the girl they both loved.

Why did they have to exit from the series in such a violent way? So it could peak a paroxysm of in-your-face shockeroos; in terms of visuals and emotions, to end the whole melodramatic shebang with a great, big bang!

It was important that, at the final fade, Budoy was left standing alone, symbolically taking care of the slain couple’s child—even if, psychologically and mentally, he himself would remain a child, possibly forever. Thus did the concluding series dramatize the insight that, when it matters most, intelligence is not found in the mind, but in the heart.

The insight is appreciated, but it is unfortunate that the show’s final week was so ritually staged, with the same old kidnap, hostage, violence and vitriol-laced denouement that appears to complicate or conclude every other drama series on the tube. Surely, there is more to life’s possibilities than reliable but predictable cliffhangers and potboilers guaranteed to give televiewers a regulation series of concluding chills and thrills?

On the other hand, the show’s final telecast was different, on point of decidedly welcome contrast. After the previous nights’ stereotypical Sturm und Drang, it chose to be uncharacteristically quiet and thoughtful, focusing not on the violent deeds that had just transpired, but on how Budoy would move on and live out the rest of his life, loving the orphan that his best and best-loved friends had left behind.

Yes, Budoy (Gerald Anderson) cried a veritable river of tears, but they were more enlightened than tormented. The key shift in tone made up the final telecast easier to take than the souped-up, melodramatic shockeroos that had just ensued.

On point of rising action, however, it did end up as an anticlimax, a protracted coda that concluded the extended series in a decidedly muted mode. We trust that viewers didn’t feel deprived of that last, cathartic squeeze that would have concluded the entire “Budoy” viewing experience with an exclamation point, instead of a slow, ruminative fade to black.

Viewing the “Budoy” series as a whole, we can conclude that the actors who benefited most from it were Gerald, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Janice de Belen, and Tirso Cruz III. On the other hand, villainess Mylene Dizon had too much of a monstrous visage, especially towards the end, and the other principal players turned in portrayals that were less than memorable, and not truly moving.

On point of theme, “Budoy” made viewers more aware about the lives and needs of the mentally challenged. But it also worried some experts due to its occasionally facile view of some possible “solutions” to the “problem.” Happy endings are wonderful, but they have to be earned and deserved, not just to be devoutly wished and hoped for.