Lessons from my short-lived episode recap blog

From March to April 2016, I established my first episode recap blog of a local series titled "Ang Probinsyano".

Yet the project was short-lived. I lost interest in the show after they killed one character I was invested in.

As I look back, I tried to glean the lessons the brief project had in my life.

1. The Law of Equivalent Exchange. This is what Edward a & Alphonse Elric forgot when they tried to revive their deceased mom in Full Metal Alchemist. This is the foundation of alchemy. This is an important food for thought in life. Anything worthwhile doing has a cost. In my case, the cost of creating and updating my recap blog was my time, sweat, concentration, effort,  hours of sleep and skipping other projects.


2. It’s fun when you people support your project. I found myself a Facebook group who were fans of the Coco Martin and Bela Padilla tandem. Some were pretty supportive of my project to document the episodes (because they could not tolerate what was happening to Carmen’s character at that time). Yep, it feels wonderful to have feedback. There was this guy who always commented on my post on that facebook page. I greatly appreciated his inputs. I also received a bunch of comments on the blog. It’s nice to hear feedback. It’s validation that there are people out there who like what I’m doing.

3. You will constantly question if it is worth it. Honestly, when you obsess about the pageviews, you will start to question if it’s worth it. This is the same trap I fell into, when I was in the webcomic scene. I stopped drawing because I found pageviews to be more important. During moments like these, it’s important to remind yourself what’s important and follow it. Page views, or a body of work? I also questioned whether someone would take time and read what I wrote. There's Iwantv.com, or some site where they can stream the shows for free. Then I recall the many recaps of Korean Drama, and latin telenovelas. Yes. There’s a market for this. And I would be the first one to cater to it.

4. It’s alright to have a crappy first draft. It was hard. Seriously. It was shit. But It had to be shit. Or else, I would have nothing to edit. I was furiously encoding while watching. I had never utilize as hard as ever, my hand-eye coordination. I was typing a mix of English, tagalog and bisaya… just to get the point across. And I did. I typed. I allowed my writing to look bad. Because I knew I would edit it later. Just like other projects, if I allowed myself to be stuck--- this needs to be perfect, then I would have never gotten the episode recap done.

5. Improvement follows after a repetition of actions. My writing improved after a week of recap. I could type quickly. I could edit quickly. My vocabulary got better. My command of verbs got better. I even had to creatively think of alternatives to "he said/she said".

6. Commitment is a choice. The first day I started, I promised myself I would post the recap blog within 2 hours after writing the draft/ watching the show. Like what? Could I really do this? I was a problematic minute-taker during the first two years of my job as an administrative assistant. Could I really do something this… outrageous? What about my grammar? Seriously, I was afraid of looking bad. But then again, I could always go back and edit it (which I never did, btw). But I told myself, I can commit at least 2 hours a night. (1 hour to watch/draft, 1-1.5hrs to improve the draft, then hit publish, come what may). The result? Yes,  before the clock hit 11pm, 98% would the entry be posted.

7. It's okay to say goodbye when you feel it's enough. I had it. The death of Bela Padilla's character also killed my interest in the show. I knew Coco Martin was going to be pushed into Maja Salvador's arms. It wasn't worth it anymore. I was skipping 8 hours of sleep a datly, hoping Bela and Coco's tandem would push through. It didn't and I quit. Time is a precious commodity. If it no longer interests you, switch to something different.

3 Reasons why Dreamscape is pushing Joaquin X Carmen in Ang Probinsyano

"Even typing Joaquin's name makes me sick." 

After watching half-way the infamous March 1, 2016 episode, "#FPJAPPagnanasa", I decided to take a break. I will watch this show after it has end (Iwantv, anyone?)

It is too much, that's all I can say.
My sanity cannot handle it-- I cannot handle what the writers are doing to Bela Padilla's character, "Carmen".

For the uninitiated, I'm talking about a popular ABS-CBN Telerserye titled, "FPJ's Ang Probinsyano". The main premise of the story is that the estranged twin "Cardo" assumes the role of his twin brother, Police Senior Inspector Dominador "Ador" De Leon who was killed in action. Coco Martin plays the role of both twins.

Ador was killed in cold blood by his fellow Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) "bok", Police Inspector Joaquin Tuazon, played by Arjo Atayde.

Ador is survived by his widow and young son, Carmen and Junior, respectively played by Bela Padilla and Lei Andrei Navarro.

To make the long story short, after a series of misunderstandings, fights and kidnappings, Carmen grows to love Cardo, but it is unrequited.

Unfortunately for her, her husband's killer falls in love and becomes obsessed with her.

While it is an interesting story event, not all CarCar "Cardo-Carmen" fans are pleased.

Here are some thoughts on why the writers are pushing Carmen away from Cardo.

1. It's an interesting plot device. 

The villain kills the hero...only to fall in love with the hero's wife. 

Ah, this is what makes bodice-ripper readers from the 70s-80s swoon. Some heroes from that time can be such anti-heroes, or villains who parade as heroes. But this is not that era anymore,  and this show is not a bodice-ripper. This is a story about a young policeman living his dream to serve his country, and search for his twin's killer.

The goal of this story is to have rightful justice for Ador's death.

Now that Diego is killed, what wonderful way to make the story go forward to reach its goal?

Let Joaquin fall in love with Carmen.

This plot device is a predictable one, but interesting. It was very obvious-- the moment Joaquin pestered Carmen to discover "Ador's Secret", I told myself: This man will fall in love with her: either he will redeem himself, or he will go to hell.

True enough, he does fall in love become obsessed with her.

I don't know about you, but for me, when the heroes discover that it was Joaquin who killed Ador, it's the start of "Game Over". The story will commence its last phase.

Now, I mentioned that this device is interesting. How so?

Because of the conflict it creates for Joaquin! 

Make the villain fall madly and deeply in love with the woman ,whose husband he killed in cold blood.

Now, watch what happens when this woman discovers the truth.

Watch how will this man try to placate the aggrieved woman. 

"Hell hath no fury for a woman scorned."

Say hello to Beast Mode Carmen, Joaquin!

2. It is the beginning of Joaquin's Road to redemption

Road to Hell.

In some romance novels, the villanous hero falls in love with the heroine, and through this love,  changes him.  Depending on how good the writer is, the reader will start to root for the anti-hero and to hope he gets his "happily ever after".

In this story, that isn't the case... is it?

Joaquin was created to be Cardo/Ador's antithesis. He was created to kill Ador, and Carmen was created to kill him as well. Kill him how, exactly?

In the most excruciating way, especially as how the story is unfolding now... it involves, Carmen's affections.

As of the last episode I watched, Joaquin's character development is now tied to Carmen. (Ugh!). It is the beginning of the road to his personal hell. Now that he has fallen in love with her and is vying for her affection, it will certainly affect his character once Carmen discovers the truth.

A. He dies and Carmen does not forgive him.

Either he is killed in action, or he sacrifices himself to protect Carmen from death. (This is a probable scenario). This is a sweet ending for those who hate his character. He dies without being forgiven by the woman he loves. 

B. He dies and Carmen forgives him. 

This is a half-hearted ending. Why does she have to forgive him anyway? Because it's the Christian thing to do?

C. He doesn't die and Carmen doesn't forgive him.

The Road to Joaquin's Personal Hell. How does one go on living, knowing that the person you loved knew what you did wrong, and will never forgive you for it? Not even his death could atone his guilt for it.

D. He doesn't die and Carmen forgives him.

No, just no. Don't do this, Dreamscape, please.

The big question is.... will he still end up with her? This is the multi-million question that CarCar fans (such as I) would vehemently answer answer NO.

Should the writers decide to redeem his character in the end (God know how the writers will pull this off. Maybe the option B choice?), this is still the first step for Joaquin to take.

Depending on them, Carmen will EVENTUALLY discover that he killed Ador in cold blood, and drugged her. This is an ending I anticipate, especially after that blasted March 1 episode.

And I'm excited for Beast Mode Carmen, whoo!

3. Make way, make way for CarGlen!

Before Ang Probinsyano was shown, I learned Angeline Quinto was pulled out, and Maja Salvador replaced her. Apparently, Maja was going to be his leading lady. Well, the Bela is the love team of the deceased twin. and it's all about Cardo-Glen, right?

I was "meh" about them. They were paired in "Minsan Lang kita Iibigin", and some people actually liked their tandem. I didn't, but hey, that's just my opinion.

I was ready to embrace Cocojam....until I saw Bela Padilla act with Coco Martin-- and it took my breath away!

 I remember telling myself, It's too bad they aren't the love team, they have wonderful chemistry!

After the March 1 episode, it's probable that Carmen will distance herself from Cardo, thinking and feeling she is unworthy of him after Joaquin date-raped her.

Now that the coast is clear, Glen finally has a shot a Cardo.. but does she?

You can feel the anger and hatred of the CarCar fans online after happened to Bela's character.

Fans shout that it was a bad way to write her off from having something wonderful with Cardo. Some fans claim it's bias and black propaganda, painting the one black to make the other white.

I'm not sure if this work, or if this is the plan. This is just the perspective of emotionally affected viewers who have grown to love Carmen.

Either way, the writers are pushing Carmen to Joaquin, and Joaquin to Carmen.
There's nothing we can do but watch.

And I choose to watch when Carmen will finally discover the truth.

I wonder when that will happen though. It's 115 episodes so far. This is a popular teleserye and ABS might milk it for all its worth.

I guess it will last from 150-200 episodes.

Let's see. Only time will tell.

****

*I made an episode recap blog for Ang Probinsyano

But kudos to Arjo Atayde! My disguist with him reflects his skill as an actor. He gives justice to his role!

Kudos to the writers, for making me care for Carmen (whom I believed they intended to be a side-character).

Kudos to ABS-CBN for producing a wonderful story.

Now, please,... just please, GIVE CARMEN BACK TO CARDO!

*pictures taken from test.entertainment.abs-cbn.com


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