Series finale stridently goes for the jugular

(FROM LEFT) SALVADOR, CHIU AND DE BELEN. “Operatically” over-the-top ending.

Last Friday, June 14, “Ina, Kapatid, Anak” unleashed its series finale—and it was so unrelievedly strident that it ended up as the season’s most “operatically” over-the-top ending.

Why it had to end so turgidly was a puzzlement, since other series have concluded their runs with less hyper-brio—but, there it is. Maybe the series’ overlong, extended storytelling had left so many loose ends that had to be hastily and super-melodramadically tied up, hence all the self-serving shrieking and screaming?

—Whatever the most operative reason was, the “sibling-rivalry” drama’s ending was a full-throttle, full-volume extravaganza of aural and visual excesses, with the famously over-the-top John Regala, complete with hideous “scarring” prosthetics to make his portrayal even more gruesome, leading and “orchestrating” all the screaming—to which all of the show’s principal players contributed with relish!

Loud, livid recriminations

They were being held hostage by Regala and another rogue relative, but instead of trying to escape, they hurled loud and livid recriminations at each other for minutes on end, not wanting to be upstaged by all the other screaming characters.

The worst offenders were Regala and Cherry Pie Picache (who should definitely have known better), but the others weren’t far off, either—except for Janice de Belen and Ronaldo Valdez, who thankfully assaulted our eardrums with less frequency and volume.

For her part, Kim Chiu may not have chewed up the scenery as often—but, when she opened her pretty mouth to plead or protest, she did so in an irritatingly high and squeaky shriek, like somebody had set off a siren—or had stepped on a sleeping cat!

Unrelieved ululation

Some viewers may find all that unrelieved ululation the height of super-intense “drama,” but it struck us as a new low in overloud and overlong melo-drama, where “deep” emotions are indulged in for shallow purposes.

Aside from our eardrums, the shrieking finale’s collateral damage included the reputation of the police forces that “rushed” to rescue the hostages—in slow motion!

They “politely” kept out of sight during the final square-off, to give the leads all the time they needed to scream and thrash and dash around—but, so much for the believability of the Keystone Cops’ “rescue” attempt.

The lead characters’ credibility also suffered after Regala had cornered Picache. Kim, Maja Salvador and the rest could have escaped, but they didn’t! They stayed close enough to the action in order to rejoin it at its “final-final” surge.

Combative characters

Before the drama really ended, however, heretofore nasty and combative characters had to be given time to reform and repent, and the presumably by now “dead” Regala naturally had to twitch back to life to shoot Picache!

—But, not to worry: The series still ended on a forcedly “upbeat” and even comedic note, with Maja and Kim screaming again—only this time, it was because they were “jointly” delivering babies!

Only on Philippine TV can you hope to see a dismal drama instantly end up as a slap-happy delivery-room romp! Enjoy.