As the death of Yassi Pressman’s character Alyana Arevalo-Dalisay shattered a lot of hearts in the January 25 episode of FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, it also broke the series’ own record on Kapamilya Online Live on YouTube after it reached more than 102 thousand viewers and brought the hashtag #FPJAP5HabangBuhay on the top 2 of Philippine trends on Twitter.
If last Friday’s #FPJAP5Crossfire toyed with our feelings as we witnessed the deadly battle between Task Force Agila and Black Ops, last night’s episode tagged #FPJAPHabangBuhay left us weeping because we got closure to the epic cliffhanger that the show left us.
The January 23 episode ended with Cardo Dalisay (Coco Martin) and Alyana both lying on the ground, drenched in their own blood after sustaining multiple fatal shots, and holding hands before losing consciousness. The audience were left wondering not only about Cardo & Alyana’s survival, but also how Task Force Agila will fight their way out of this mess.
The January 25 episode opened with Lito (Richard Gutierrez) and his men arriving at the crossfire in hopes of rescuing Alyana. They began shooting at the members of the Black Ops which finally evened the odds for Task Force Agila. The tension escalates when Lito saw Alyana on the ground and he proceeded to move towards her leading his heavily armed men to force Black Ops to retreat.
Major Albert De Vela (Geoff Eigenmann) took a shot, possibly from one of Lito’s men, but Captain Natalia Mante (Jane De Leon) was quick to react and pulled him to safety. Just like that, the well-placed positions of the Black Ops squad was broken and their numbers began dwindling by the minutes. This gave Lito and his men a chance to take Alyana away from the battlefield. The remaining members of Task Force Agila, on the other hand, used this same window to escape along with the unconscious Cardo.
Both Task Force Agila and Lito rushed back to group’s headquarters to ensure that Cardo and Alyana would get the immediate medical attention they needed. Lolo Delfin (Jaime Fabregas) was heartbroken and in disbelief to see his grandchildren covered in blood. At this point, he began to give orders to put pressure on both Cardo and Alyana’s bodies to help make the bleeding stop, because this really was all they could do for now.
The room was filled with tears as Task Force Agila began to realize that they were out of options. They began to fight over bringing their wounded to the hospital which, of course, was not an easy decision to make since they barely escaped that shootout and the police were most likely waiting for them there. Lito, who never left his beloved Alyana’s side, commanded his men to fetch a doctor as he continued to apply pressure to her wounds.
On the other hand, the members of the Black Ops found themselves in a heated conversation. Major De Vela even went as far to say that the mission is not a complete loss because he successfully killed Cardo. Captain Mante immediately fired back at him, “Kahit na may nadamay na sibilyan,” pertaining to Alyana’s involvement in the crossfire. In the middle of all this, the squad wondered if they had indeed killed their man target, to which Major De Vela exclaimed that he is sure of it because he was the one who made that shot.
A panicked physician finally arrived at Task Force Agila’s headquarters and attended to Alyana first. Roxanne Opeña (Shaina Magdayao) assisted in stabilizing Alyana, and then Cardo. Seconds later, Lito screamed over Alyana’s shortness of breath. At their second attempt to keep her alive, we witnessed an unwounded Cardo and Alyana – as if in comatose -- making peace with one another in another dimension. Cardo was ready to let go and move on with Alyana but she convinced him to stay as his comrades need him still. In tears, he begged Alyana to fight for her life just as he is fighting for his.
In the end, Alyana bade Cardo goodbye and ensured him that she will forever be in his heart even after she is gone. We were left with a broken-hearted Cardo who cried as her wife vanished before his very eyes. In the real world, Lito desperately tried to bring her back, before taking her into his arms one last time.
Overall, it was a failed mission for Black Ops, but an even bigger loss for Task Force Agila. As audiences, we were taken on a roller coaster ride of emotions. It’s never easy to portray death and grief yet the ensemble of FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano did it so well. As a viewer, you could feel Shaina Magdayao’s pain as she wept for failing to keep Yassi Pressman’s character alive, the same with veteran actor Jaime Fabregas and the rest of the cast who portrayed various members of Task Force Agila who were all at loss for words upon witnessing their friend die in front of them.
Richard Gutierrez’s regret over the death of Yassi’s character was evident as he tried his best to revive her even after the doctor had confirmed her death. Finally, the tension raised by opposing views from the cast of the Black Ops squad was a delight to witness. The look that Jane De Leon gave after every questionable statement that Geoff Eigenmann read did not even need a line accompaniment.
As Yassi officially signs off to the character she impeccably portrayed in the past four years, avid fans of her and of her team-up with Coco were indeed crestfallen to witness Alyana’s demise. Thus, many of them expressed their various reactions on Twitter, not only bringing the hashtag #FPJAP5HabangBuhay on the top 10 Philippine trends, but the words Alyana and Cardo as well.
Here are some of them: