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.

Why I quit my AP episode recap blog

I never meant that Episode recap blog to exist.

It was an accident.

You see, I was a big fan of the Coco Martin and Bela Padilla tandem. It hurt me that the writers thought of the Anne Curtis plot device to drive Padilla's character to Arjo Atayde's hands.

Unfortunately, I found the inspiration to desensitize the hurt feelings by documenting it.

It had a two-fold purpose:

1. I would improve my documentation skills (which is highly valuable in my field of work)

2. I would be the first Ang Probinsyano episode recap blogger.

I rummaged through the world wide web for AP episode recaps. Nada. Zero.

I do not have the patience to spend 30 minutes watching a show, when I could read the plot in 5 minutes.

So I did just that. I did it for myself, and for other Filipinos who shared my sentiments.

And boy, it was fun!

English isn't my native language, and I struggled in the documentation process.

I disciplined myself to edit my draft once the episode was over. I added memes. The editing process would take me almost an hour. Once I was happy, I would post it on the Cocobel Fansite at facebook, ot through my twitter account.

Majority of the traffic for that recap blog came from facebook, and I'm grateful. I also received a couple of positive feedbacks.

...until when Bela Padilla's character was killed on the April 6, 2016 episode.

I was documenting the episode on paper when she was gunned down.

Shit.

I stopped watching after that. I didn't bother to update the recap blog, nor did I leave a comment why I suddenly stopped documenting. Ack.

Though I did mean to write about it. Took me 2 months to write though!

I quit documenting because the couple I shipped.... well, they could never be. The woman was dead. The writers are now pushing the man to go after his bestfriend, who's being courted by another guy.

Yeah. It's a shallow and pathetic. If I really loved the show, then I would have kept on documenting. Ah, no.

It's not worth it anymore.

Theories on the development of Anne Curtis' story arc in FPJ's Ang Probinsyano

That was a long title, wasn't it?

Now that Mr. Philip Tang and Diego were killed in action in last week's episode, the writers of FPJ;s Ang Probinsyano introduces a new set of characters to extend the show time of ABS-CBN’s hit telerserye. Allow me to introduce them:

 Anne Curtis aka "Trina Trinidad" 

The Bitch Damsel in Distress

Anne Curtis plays the role of a popular model/fashion designer/fashion model, socialite who, while is despicably & horribly mean to her staff & stepdad, shows a softer side when it comes to her late mother's memories.

A perfectionist, she oozes with appeal and easily plants a smile when it comes to her fans (plastic lang ang peg?). She is horribly mean to the people around her, especially those who fail to meet her standards. She has fired a security guard and a driver just because they failed to meet her expectations.

She is kidnapped by Nonie Buencamino, hence, De Leon seeks the PNP's aid for a VIP Security. This is how she crosses path with Coco Martin, aka "Cardo". 

I'm sensing something tragic happened to her character as a young child. This tragic event could explain why she has issues in trusting and attachment with people (such as telling Ogie Diaz that people stay with her just for her money and downplays Cardo's commitment to protecting her). Can't wait how her story will unfold!

So far, Anne is giving justice  to her scenes, especially with Coco Martin!  I couldn't have imagined another actress playing Trina's character. I certain had a good time when she made fun of Coco's lisp.

Christopher De Leon aka "Michael Alonzo"

 the DOD’s unflinchingly kind stepdad

Christopher De Leon plays Mike, Trina’s stepfather whom she addresses as "uncle". Much is yet to be revealed about his character, but you can see how kind and tolerant he is of Anne's character.Albert Martinez mentioned in Feb 18's episode that they became acquainted with each other during a business convention. (what kind of business convention, I suppose?)

 Ogie Diaz aka "Fritz"

The DOD’s faithful personal assistant

Ogie Diaz plays the ever loyal personal assistant to Anne Curtis' character.

 Surprisingly, he can withstand and diffuse Trina’s acid remarks, and is her longest staying personnel (given the nature of Anne's character who loves to fire people when they don't meet her expectations).

Ogie is a natural this role! He looks and feels like your office mate bullied by their plastic supervisor. He definitely provides a great comic relief to Anne Curtis' sarcastic jokes and quips.

  Nonie Buencamino aka "Scarface"

The Scarred Villain 

Obsessed with kidnapping Trina

The villain for this story arc. He kidnapped Trina, who fortunately, was able to escape because of the mighty Pepper Spray (ladies, always bring one!). 

Not much is yet to be revealed about his character, except thathe is doing this for his fallen comrades. Feb 18's episode shows a flashback how he survived a car crash. Realizing his friend was still in the car, he rushes to save him only to be burned in the face when the car explodes.

What could be this man’s motivation?

***

Given how February 18, 2016’s  episode unfolded, here are my possible theories how the story might progress:

1. 1Nonie Buencamino could possibly have a vendetta against Christopher De Leon
2. Christopher could also be a former syndicate who turned back his ways to be reformed
3. Anne Curtis blames Christopher De Leon for her mother’s death.
4. Nonie could actually be Anne’s dad.
5. Bella will be jealous of Anne
6.  Anne will become Closer to Cardo, much to Carmen’s chagrin
7. There will be a stand off between Nonie, Christopher and Anne on how their past is interconnected, especially with Anne’s mom.
8. Nonie could be formerly employed under Christopher.
9. Anne could have begged for help as a child, but received none. Hence her vehemence against someone helping her.
10. Anne might have overheard  that Christopher might have married her mom for the money.

Anyways, I look forward how my theories will be proved or disproved. 

Asides from this story arc, the series is also starting to deepen the love triangle between Coco, Bella and Arjo's characters. Can't way to see how it will turn out (and I can't wait to give my thoughts and theories about it!)

Ahhhhh, It has been such a great joy watching this series!

You see, I'm not an "Iwantv" subscriber. This means I heavily rely on every night's episode and Cinemo's sunday afternoon Marathon. 

After the "Paloma" arc, I'm definitely interested how the writers will plot this one, and how they plan to end this.