Destined to be yours Episode 10 #DTBYBuking
Wednesday, 29 March 2017 11:28![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catatonic_17Recap
Benjie and Sinag continue to slow dance, and seem to get lost in the moment (or maybe that’s just Alden and Maine being off-character and going off in their own world captured onscreen).
Meanwhile, Teddy receives bad news when a neighbor tells him that they are planning to sell their property. He says that he was being practical, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to earn that kind of money even if he stayed in Pelangi and worked all his life. A valid point but one that solely benefits his own family and not the rest of the community (and by community, that also includes the indigenous animals living in their town who will also lose their homes when construction starts in their town.)
Teddy turns his attention on Sinag and Benjie who are still dancing, close by. Sally assures him that if they go too far, she can easily stop them. Their moment is abruptly interrupted when overhead moon and stars prop-designs fall on Benjie and Sinag’s heads. Teddy immediately grabs her daughter away from Benjie while Sally tries to calm him down.
Marjorie gets Jason to talk by getting him drink. Good job Jason. Now Marjorie has ammunition to humiliate Sinag in front of a ton of people.
Back at the events place, Sally subtly reminds Sinag about what she said about the moon and stars falling from the sky. At a far corner, Benjie stands by himself, looking at Sinag. Eboy approaches him and asks if Sinag was okay. He tells the boy that no matter what happened between them, she was still his first love and thus she is still important to him. Benjie starts to feel a tiny teeny bit of guilt when Eboy starts talking about feeling at ease that Sinag has finally found the one who’ll love her. To deal with the uncomfortable feels, he goes and looks for bestfriend Jason (who looks more stoned than drunk, sitting alone outside). That’s when he finds out that his bestfriend told Marjorie about their pretend relationship.
Like any second-rate kontrabida, Marjorie immediately uses the information to humiliate Sinag in front of the Indakan peeps (instead of storing that information for future use, like what a classy kontrabida like Catalina would do). So Eboy asks Sinag straight up if what Marjorie announced was true and she lets out her feels and ends up punching him in the face. This rouses a cheer from the crowd for Sinag, a complete opposite from what Marjorie intended.
When Marjorie (still on the mic) tells Benjie to stop faking it with Sinag, he publicly declares that though they were not in a real relationship, he was courting SInag and was just waiting for her “matamis na oo.” As the crowd cheers for her to say “yes” to Benjie’s courtship, Sinag internally muses whether or not she is ready to give her heart to someone else (looks at Benjie).
The mayor’s staff abruptly interrupts the cheers to turn their attention to the mayor (who has been standing in front for a while now, before his daughter made a scene). Mayor makes an announcement regarding free scholarship for children of the families who would choose to sell their land to the Rosaleses, as well as free medicines for the elderly. As the Mayor does his sales pitch on behalf of the Rosaleses, Benjie tries to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. Tatay Teddy interjects and calls out on the mayor’s attempt to bribe them into selling. He then tells his fellow citizens to not be swayed. But unfortunately, practicality wins. The Obispos and some allies leave.
Benjie recounts to the drunk Jason (as they walk back to Bahay Pag-ibig) what happened earlier, when Sinag punched Eboy. Meanwhile, another bestfriend pair also have a talk, as Ninay tries to convince Sinag to say yes to Benjie. While Benjie denies feeling anything but pity for Sinag, the latter keeps mum about her real feelings.
At Bahay Obispo, Tatay Teddy is enraged at how the Mayor used Indakan in his political agenda. Sol tells his dad that if he gets the scholarship, his dream of studying in Manila could come true, so why can’t they consider the offer. His father again goes for the “lupa” card, and Sol walks out, feeling that his family gives no care about his dream or his education. Sinag volunteers to talk to her brother. Sally asks her husband if what they’re fighting for is still worth it if it means putting their children’s future on the line.
Sol steps out the house to cool off, and Sinag follows him to try to talk to him. Sol asks her “Am I selfish for wanting to study in Manila?” Sinag explains that she would also want that but at the same time, they can’t give up the land their grandfather worked so hard to buy and develop for his family. Then she goes all “sage mode” dishing wise words about how life works. For some reason, the conversation shifts to Eboy and Benjie and Sol tells his sister that he was rooting for Benjie.
The next morning, Sinag greets Benjie’s mural a “colorful morning,” as well as the townsfolk she meets on her way (channeling serious Belle vibes). She is delighted to see the ice scramble peddler pass by their house and buys a cup of the icy treat (for breakfast). Surprise, surprise! Benjie also calls out to the peddler, running after him, to buy a cup as well.
While they wait for the peddler to serve them their cups of ice scramble, Benjie shares his childhood memory of helping a lost little girl and buying her ice scramble to get her to stop crying and panicking. Sinag recognizes the tale and hooray! Instant connection. *fist bump*
While Sinag is amazed about their childhood meeting, Benjie asserts “Sinag, this is destiny.” He adds that if they had met as kids and it was destiny that brought him to her, that means that they have to end up together.
Meanwhile at Radyo Pelangi, Badong gets pissed over what happened last night at the Indakan. Arman assures Badong that Sinag could handle herself very well, which she did. Ninay gushes over Benjie’s public declaration that he was courting Sinag, puzled why her best friend still hasn’t said yes to his suitor despite all the signs that point to him being “the one.”
Now that it’s established that they are childhood friends of sorts, Sinag becomes more warm and friendly towards Benjie. She asks him about his mom as they take a walk and he tells her that he is really close to his mom. She asks about his dad and he tells her that he died when he was young.
Apparently a sudden reunion with a childhood friend forces one to forget her scheduled work, because Sinag’s friends start to wonder where she is (she is running late for her radio broadcast), when her house is literally a few steps away from the radio tower.
So where are Sinag and Benjie? They’re seeking shelter from the rain at the Lovers’ Cave. How they got so far from her house, I have no idea.
Random thoughts
* My eyes hurt during the disco scenes. Either I need a new eye glasses prescription or the camera work is not that good.
* I loved that Sinag was able to handle herself after being humiliated by Marjorie in front of Eboy, his fiancee, and the rest of the town on her own, without needing to rely on Benjie to save the day. Although, the part where Benjie kinda puts Marjorie in her place was kinda awesome.
* Although Mang Teddy’s passion to protect their town is admirable, simply staging protests is not enough to convince people not to sell their land. He must team up with an NGO or any organization that would provide his co-townsfolk an appealing alternative to the mayor’s offer. Because all his protesting is doing is polarize the town, making those who sell feel like they’re the “bad guys” for choosing to think about their families’ welfare. And let’s face it, compared to the others, the Obispos are kinda well-off (not stinking rich, but not dirt poor). They live in a nice house, have their own radio station (which they could profit from through radio commercials), and their kids are healthy and go to school. So compared to them, the common folk are in greater need of the offered money. And you cannot fault them for that.
* What I don’t like about teleseryes tackling political issues like these is that there is no such thing as “compromise” in their vocabulary. Cause rallies are more dramatic and cinematic than civil roundtable talks between parties. (*facepalm*) And Teddy’s arguments are all appeal-to-emotion without substantial meat to drive the point. Instead of repeating over and over again, “what about Pelangi? What about the sceneries, etc?” he and Sinag should elevate the discussion by pointing out (for example) how the destruction of their town would impact the environment or how the proposed infrastructures would erase the town’s cultural heritage. They should get to know exactly what the Rosaleses plans for their town was and counter them, point by point, why that is bad news. Instead of uploading a protest video, they should make these points viral instead to make noise and get picked up by NGOs and partylists which were formed to fight for such causes. THERE IS MORE THAN ONE FORM OF ACTIVISM, PEOPLE!
* I was right about Sol! There is an underlying issue about him feeling neglected.
* Ahhh…classic middle child move: putting on headphones to shut out the world. I feel you Sol. I feel you.
* Both Sinag and Benjie are fighting for the grandfather’s “legacy.” She wants to protect her grandfather’s land and properties while he wants to be acknowledged as rightful heir to his grandfather’s legacy.
* I feel like Sol’s concerns are simply swept under the rug and mislabeled as simply “emoting.” His outburst is not merely about his dream but the enduring feeling that his family pays little attention to him. This is a legit concern that needs to be addressed because it will fester as Sol grows older.
* One sure-fire way to make romantic leads fall in love with one another: finding out that not only have they met before as kids, one of them also “saved” the other in one way or another.
* I am so pissed at Badong’s character too. The nerve of him to think that Sinag was “waiting” for him when he is not even making a move. Normally, I would root for the torpe best friend (especially since the lead guy is turning out to be a jerk), but GAHD! Just because you are loyal and “quietly” loving her from a distance does not mean you deserve her. All talk.
* No Catalina OOTD again. Boo.
In conclusion
It’s easy to see how and why Sinag would let her guard down. Not only was Benjie there for her during an embarrassing moment, she also finds out that he was also there for her even when they were kids. (She has a soft spot for guys helping her out when she gets into a tight spot. Eboy was there to help her when she fell and sprained her ankle, and Benjie was there when she fell and got lost when they were kids) And to be fair, Benjie’s act is really convincing. Will Sinag also have the same effect on his heart as well? We shall see.
Next week, Sinag allows Benjie to come closer and we can look forward to more romantic scenes. Also next week, $h!t will hit the fan. And it’s gonna bring on so much tears because Sinag will have been emotionally invested on this jerk. Ugh, I already feel my heart breaking already.
So is this series still worth watching and recommending: Hell yes! Sinag and Benjie’s kulitan onscreen is kyahhh! Which will make the upcoming hurt-pa-more scenes all the more gut wrenching.
