Destined to be yours Episode 17 #DTBYSampal
Wednesday, 29 March 2017 11:44![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catatonic_17Recap
Teddy rips apart the contract he just signed with the mayor and takes back their land property title. Meanwhile at the hospital, Sinag and Benjie have a moment. The mayor of course gives Benjie an earful over the phone, not knowing how accurate he was in blaming Benjie for the foiled attempt to get the Obispo property.
Tala has successfully been transferred to Manila where Teddy and Sally are watching over her, reading the letter Amanda wrote them. (I love that lone tear that falls from Teddy’s eye as Sally side hugs him. And I’m relieved that at least we’re saved from the cold/unaccepting mother-in-law-to-be cliché.)
Marjorie is incensed at the idea that Benjie helped the Obispos so they didn’t have to sell their property and gets even more riled up by the possibility that the boy may have genuinely fallen for the simple barrio lass. (Remember my theory about Marjorie’s back story? That has to be the reason why she won’t let Sinag be. This isn’t about Benjie and the fact that he chose Sinag over her. This is about Sinag’s happiness and her being miserable about it). Her yaya advices her to finally use what she knows about Benjie to destroy Sinag.
Apparently the operation was a success and Tala is already conscious and awake. Tatay Teddy informs Sinag that they’re heading back to Pelangi that day. Tala talks to Sinag, excited to play with her. I love that Sinag asks if their father was there, as if she hasn’t just talked to him a few seconds ago. Teddy tells Sinag to pass a message to Benjie.
At Rosales Development, Don Vicente and Catalina are outraged that the Obispos didn’t go through with the contract signing because someone helped them (I can only shake my head at how ridiculous this is. They’re mad that someone else helped this family to keep their child alive and keep them from being homeless, and these millionaires feel like they’re the aggrieved party). Don Vicente orders Catalina to go to Pelangi personally to talk to Benjie about this matter. (Feels like Catalina’s plan to make Benjie fail in Pelangi blows up on her face even though she succeeded. She just can’t win.)
At Bahay Pag-ibig, Jason asks Benjie how he’s going to explain to Don Vicente what he did (not only did he fail to do the one task his grandfather personally asked him to do, he directly went against it by helping the family avoid committing to the sale). Benjie clarifies that he will not run away from the consequences of his actions but he wants to come clean to Sinag first.
Sinag’s friends (well at Ninay and Badong, at least) muse over how Benjie’s so in love with her, convinced that he must really be her destiny. Ninay urges Sinag to finally make their relationship official.
While Sinag is on her radio show, Benjie arives at the radio tower. Sol, totally rooting for Benjie, asks him if he was taking his courtship to the next level (his wide-eyed eagerness wedging the guilt further in Benjie’s heart). Benjie asks Sol to tell her sister to meet him at the aviary after the program.
Since he is such a negligible character, we’re treated to a shirtless Badong (it’s such a blatant unsolicited fan service. I mean, who in their right mind would go shirtless when it’s friggin raining in a mountainous province, where it’s cold???) Arman informs him about what he discovered about Benjie: he is not what he says he is. His blog does not exist and the social media account under Benjie Romero is a different person. So Arman convinces Badong to save Sinag from Benjie’s deception, while hiding the fact from his girlfriend that the information came from him.
Meanwhile, at the radio station, Sinag is happy and sunshiny in her radio booth, the bitter DJ Sunshine long gone. Sol goes to inform Sinag about Benjie’s invitation, and Lolo Elvis and Lola Delia are beside themselves with joy and kilig at how her lovelife is turning out. Sinag tells them that she’ll just answer one last radio call before she goes off to find Benjie.
Of course, that last call will turn out to be Marjorie who callously spills the beans (in an outfit that just leaves me flabbergasted), in her effort to make Sinag miserable. (I am kinda relieved that the population of their town and the size of the radio audience has dwindled so less people heard what she said.) Although Sinag vainly attempts to defend Benjie, the truth is out in the open.
So yes, even before Benjie gets to tell Sinag the truth, she’s been slapped in the face with it.
Ninay finds put that Arman knows something about it, and Marjorie also makes sure that Benjie will also be miserable by telling Catalina that Benjie paid for the hospital bills. And of course, we’ll have the scene with the random gossipers who talk $h!t about Sinag. Of course, Ninay comes to the rescue. Badong overhears random townsfolk talking about it as well.
At the radio booth, Sol, Lola Delia and Lolo Elvis are trying to placate Sinag. Meanwhile, Benjie is alone in the aviary, ignoring calls from Jason (who could’ve told him that Marjorie has broadcasted the truth). He’s practicing how he’ll confess the truth, unaware that Sinag was behind him.
Sinag confronts Benjie, gives him a slap and bouquet body lashes. Before he could chase after Sinag, Ninay and Arman arrive just in time to stop him and give him a piece of their mind. (I love Arman’s understated yet intense and truthful acting). Benjie is left alone to deal with the $h!t that has blown up in his face, the first phase of three (or four) pronged blow up. (I get that wordless emotional scenes are Alden’s forte but that scene with his regretful teary face was too long.)
At the company, Catalina informs Don Vicente what Marjorie told her: it was Benjie who helped the Obispos with the bills so they didn’t have to sell their property. Of course, Don Vicente loses it and orders Catalina to call a chopper so they can get to Pelangi ASAP. (Second phase of the blow up)
At Bahay Obispo, Sinag is crying her heart out to Ninay, blaming herself for falling for Benjie’s scheme. “He must’ve been disgusted while he was doing those things with me. I’m so stupid for thinking that a guy like him could like a girl like me.” Ninay comforts her as much as she can.
Nanay Sally, Tatay Teddy and Tala come home from the hospital (and I’m amazed that they have not heard what happened with all the gossipers scattered around town) where they receive the bad news. They immediately go to Sinag where Sally blames herself for pushing the “soul mate” narrative to her daughter. But she’s able to smile because Tala is okay and comforting her.
Random thoughts
* I am really getting worried over Marjorie’s health. It’s a wonder she has not contracted pneumonia despite being always scantily dressed in a cold and humid mountainous province. But to be fair, she looks pretty in pink.
* Slay that black and white OOTD Catalina!
* Benjie may be a conniving jerk but at least he takes the backlash from his jerk-ness head on, whether it’s a slap from an old fling or the scathing rejection from paternal grandfather and aunt or even a heartbreaking slap-and-rejection combo from the one girl that mattered.
* Benjie’s skinny jeans wardrobe has got to be a cruel and unusual punishment. It’s really not flattering, the trend is soooo 2015, and it’s so uncomfortable, even I feel smothered by the tightness of the jeans.
* The confident, breezy, self-assured, smug Benjie we saw in the first few weeks in the series was just a façade. This vulnerable and almost-about-to-cry dude in this episode and those in the last week is the real Benjie. He’s been hiding his pain (from the longing for his dad to the betrayal of his ex girlfriend and ex bestfriend) behind this mask. Not that that excuses his being a jerk.
* Super belated thought. I think Eboy intentionally made Sinag hate him but deep inside he really cares for her. I think he’s the kind of person who believes that pain is needed for a “clean break.” A cliche jerk move that though has good intentions reflects how much they underestimate their relationship partner.
* Aside from the fact that he betrayed the Obispos and played with Sinag’s heart, another reason why Benjie is unforgivable is because he made Sinag doubt herself and her worth, making her think that she is less valuable than she really is. He didn’t only break her heart, he also crushed her spirit. And that is truly unforgivable. I just wish that all “players” out there would get this message loud and clear. Just because you think that playing around with other people’s feelings would make you feel better about yourself and mask a past hurt (which does not), you can’t use another person’s pain and damage to their self-esteem as a salve to your own hurt and lack of self-esteem. You’re just making this world more miserable. (Boldface for emphasis)
* Okay, I get that Marjorie’s character is written as this spoiled rich brat who gets what she wants and will use underhanded schemes to get it (or at least be a thorn in the side for her enemies), but my goodness, does she have to be so needlessly pa-sosyal and pa-sexy? I feel like she’s coming in to Catalina, seducing her like she tried with Benjie. Ilagay sa lugar ang landi, please lang.
* So the recipe for a pre-makeover Sinag is set: she’s been humiliated in public by her arch nemesis, she’s the subject of gossip in town, and (I’m guessing in the next few episodes) they’ll lose their land and the town to the Rosaleses. You can’t be a female driven teleserye without these “heroine rebirth” storylines.
* I know this scene is super serious and intense and pivotal to the whole series, but I cannot get over the fact that Alden looks fat in this scene. And the horizontal black stripes on his beige sweater and light wash skinny jeans don’t help. And he no longer has a jaw.
* What makes Benjie more despicable than Eboy is the damage to Sinag’s perceived self-worth. When Eboy went away, Sinag knew that it was because he needed to move to Manila. She didn’t think “I must’ve been not good enough to make him stay.” She was hurt by his sudden departure and one-sided break up, but at least she didn’t blame herself. But this betrayal is just in a whole different level.
In conclusion
And Maine proves that she can indeed do drama, disproving naysayers which include herself. She only had a few lines in that intense scene, but it’s not what she said that drove the scene, it’s her action. The way she was visibly restraining herself. Very genuine. And I love that she doesn’t look pretty when she’s crying when she was with Ninay. One criticism though, there’s a stark difference between her tears here and her tears in KS (especially the hurt pa more week), making it obvious that this is an act. A good act, but an obvious act.
It would only go downhill for Benjie from here. Not only does Pelangi hate him, so does Rosales Development. Karma is a b!tch Benjie. Deal with it.
