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“Dirty Linen” leaves viewers with explosive, satisfying finale

“Dirty Linen” leaves viewers with explosive, satisfying finale

Mary Ann Bardinas

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Updated Aug 26, 2023 09:31 AM PHT

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In the past seven months, our primetime viewing has absolutely gone more thrilling and extraordinary because of the hit revenge drama Dirty Linen, which never failed to rake in billions of views online and trend on social media throughout its remarkable run. And it indeed kept up to its reputation until the very end as it delivered a totally explosive and dumbfounding finale that would surely leave an indelible mark in our minds (and even hearts!) for a long time.

Review: Dirty Linen explosive finale

The finale week commenced with the Fiero mansion shrouded with grief due to the horrific death of its mighty matriarch Doña Cielo (Tessie Tomas). Among the family, it’s her son Carlos (John Arcilla) who got devastated the most, knowing how much devoted he was to her. Being next in line to the throne, he made sure to not only keep his family intact by tightening his grip on them, but to also make Abe (Joel Torre) and his accomplices Alexa (Janine Gutierrez), Lala (Jennica Garcia), and Max (Christian Bables) suffer and die after the chaos that they inflicted to their family.

So, in order to exterminate his enemies, he took advantage of Alexa and his son Aidan’s (Zanjoe Marudo) weakness with Chiara, since he and Leona (Janice de Belen) knew all too well that the two would go to great lengths to take their sister away from them. They locked her up in her room with no phone in order to compel Alexa and Aidan to personally come and get her in the mansion.

Little they did know that Chiara’s cousins Tonet (Xyriel Manabat) and Clint (Raven Rigor), along with their mom Feliz (Angel Aquino), were helping Aidan take Chiara out of the mansion. For Chiara to be able to communicate with her Kuya Aidan, the siblings sneakily snuck a phone into the sandwich that Marisol (Tart Carlos) delivered to her room without her or one of the bodyguards assigned to look over Chiara knowing.

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Aidan had managed to get Chiara out of the Fiero mansion, unaware that Alexa, along with other members of Team Resbak, was also on a dangerous quest to rescue her sister. While she was sneaking inside, the lives of Lala and Abe were put in danger as Carlos’ minions tried to catch them. Fortunately, they were not found and were able to escape, with SP/Insp. Lemuel M. Onore (JC Santos) following them in order to make sure that they’re all safe.

As Alexa reached Chiara’s room, it was Carlos who welcomed her. Since she was unarmed, she wasn’t able to retaliate and just had to bank on her own strength and agility. Unfortunately, it had no match against the ruthless tandem of Carlos and Leona, who subsequently held her hostage in one of the secret structures in the mansion’s premises. Carlos was really eager to finish off Alexa, but Leona stopped him and reminded him of their plan of making her suffer first.

Even though he was not in service anymore, Lemuel was still keen in seeking justice not just for the death of his brother many years ago, but for the other people who became collateral damage to the crimes of his former superior P/Chief Alejandro Isidro (Soliman Cruz). Thus, when he spotted him, he really made sure that he would finally be incarcerated and pay for the cruel things that he did.

Aidan tried to persuade his mom to tell him where they’re hiding Alexa, but his plea fell on deaf ears as Leona refused and reminded him instead of the sacrifices she did in order to keep their family. His beloved unico hijo’s unconditional love for Alexa further provoked her anger towards her, especially when Alexa implied that she actually doesn’t care about the love that Aidan had been offering to her since he’s the one who ended her mom’s life. This resulted in a heated altercation between them, which made Leona confess that she’s actually the real culprit behind the tragic demise of Olivia.

Leona recounted that Olivia was still alive after Aidan accidentally shot her while hiding inside a cabinet. She was really willing to help her and rush her to the hospital, but had a change of heart when she found out that Olivia was pregnant and Carlos is the father. Stirred by shock and fury, Leona killed her by pressing a pillow on her head until she lost her breath.

This revelation, of course, enraged Alexa, especially when Leona pinned the blame on them, saying that the enormous mayhem was caused by their refusal to move on from the bloody events that happened many years ago. Thus, she vowed to make her and her entire family pay for all the evil things they did.

As Team Resbak once again attempted to rescue Alexa, they were joined by Aidan, to whom Max and Lala were initially not in favor for as they were dubious about his loyalty. But Aidan assured them that he shares the same goal as them, which is to also save his wife from his distraught father. Since he’s the only one who could freely roam around the mansion, he attempted to lure Carlos and his minions, but he failed. Two of his henchmen also came to notify him that there were intruders who broke into the mansion, which made Carlos run immediately going to Alexa.

Carlos ordered his two underlings to beat Aidan up, but Leona was able to stop them and tried to convince her son anew to come with her. But her request fell on deaf ears as Aidan rushed outside to chase his dad. Unbeknown to them, she and Olga (Andrea Del Rosario) were already planning to elope, with Leona bringing some of the jewelries and luxury bags of her late mother-in-law with her.

Chiara was taken away by her dad’s minions from her condominium where she sought refuge. Nico, despite being injured, quickly came over after receiving a text message from her, but he was already too late. Thus, he went straight to the Fiero mansion for he sensed that she was taken by her dad’s lackeys. Max tried to stop him upon seeing him on the hidden camera that he installed at the gate, but to no avail as he was really keen to save her despite his condition.

Meanwhile, Abe had an intense skirmish with Carlos as he also attempted to save Alexa. But that, sadly, ended to his heartbreaking, unexpected demise as he caught the bullets fired by Carlos supposedly intended for her. Aidan came, but his dad didn’t hesitate to point the gun at him as he expressed his frustration towards him for helping the person who killed Doña Cielo.

Lala arrived and was truly crestfallen upon seeing Alexa wailing over the lifeless bloody of Abe, who they affectionately called “tatay.” The same thing happened when Max and Nico reached the scene along with Chiara, who they were able to rescue from her kidnappers.

An altercation ensued anew between Carlos and Aidan, wherein the latter mustered the courage to tell the former that he’s actually the one who the real weakest and the biggest disappointment in their family.

Carlos was able to catch Leona as she ran away from the mansion and told her that he’s aware of her and Olga’s plans to run away and to take away some of their wealth by being the secret partners of Mr. Perez. Aidan might be able to save Leona from being assaulted by his dad, but she wasn’t able to escape from Alexa, who violently beat her up as she threatened to kill her and told Aidan the truth about the death of her mother. This four-way face-off resulted in drama, to which Carlos guffawed and subsequently revealed that there’s a bomb inside the tower.

As Alexa quickly ran back to the tower to save her friends, Carlos brought Leona to the underground hideout that his dad and grandfather had constructed during the war where he kept some of the prized possessions of their clan in its single room, such as items made of real gold and paintings. Leona tried to stop Carlos from detonating the bomb inside the tower, but to no avail as he’s stronger than her.

Fortunately, Lala, Max, Nico, and Chiara managed to go out of the tower with Abe’s lifeless body, but Alexa was nowhere to be found.

Precious finally mustered the courage to tell the authorities about everything she knew regarding the crimes of Fieros through the years. Alejandro, on the other hand, ‘fessed up that he only agreed to connive with them in order to protect his family.

Due to his determination in upholding truth and justice, Lemuel wasn’t only given the opportunity to return to service, but was also received an award for his outstanding performance. Meanwhile, Feliz got arrested and was given a two-year jail time, while the authorities were still looking for Carlos and Leona.

After visiting the graves of Team Resbak’s loved ones, as well as of Abe and Alexa, Aidan and Chiara went straight to the hideout of Lala, Max, and Nico to give them instructions regarding their exodus to Hong Kong. Nico and Chiara promised to continue loving each other despite having to part ways.

Just when we thought that Alexa was already dead, she suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was revealed that she was able to survive the explosion, with Aidan being the one to personally take her out of the rubble. Aidan didn’t only arrange their escape, but also gave them a whopping amount of money that they could use in living a brand-new life. But instead of keeping all of them, they agreed to giving some of it away to other victims of the Fieros.

The last episode capped off with the Fiero couple still trapped inside the basement after a huge fraction of debris covered the doorway, making it impossible for them to go out. This apparently got Carlos more insane as he kept on reiterating that the Fieros still won since they have lots of money with them, making his late mom surely proud of him. Leona, on the other hand, is definitely not happy with it as she lamented how she doesn’t deserve this kind of punishment in spite of what she’d done in the past.


Scorching feedbacks from viewers

The last five episodes of Dirty Linen absolutely brought us to the edge of our seats as we witnessed a slew of scorching confrontation scenes and shocking plot twists that made the finale week utterly remarkable.

From Day 1 up to the finale, the series has consistently brought us to a rollercoaster ride not only because of its riveting storyline, but of the exceptional performances of its actors as well, which never failed to compel us and make us feel a variety of emotions. As we all know, they are the trailblazers of the “mata-mata” acting, which netizens coined as their way of describing the actors’ ability to convey a range of emotions through their eyes.

Janine Gutierrez has indeed proven how deserving she is to be given the lead role of Alexa (a.k.a. Mila) because of how she effectively led the series through the astounding versatility and exceptional acting prowess that she exhibited. The same with Zanjoe Marudo who amazed us with his performance as Aidan, who the viewers both loved and hated.

This might be Francine and Seth’s first time to be paired with each other, but they’re able to impress us with their chemistry as young lovers Chiara and Nico. They might be quite new to the industry, but they really wowed us with how they could already keep pace with their seasoned and veteran co-stars. Francine has been receiving praises for her astonishing ability to keep up with the award-winning and revered actors surrounding her as part of the Fiero family, while Seth wowed us with how he amazingly delivered particularly in his dramatic scenes.

Similarly, Francine’s onscreen cousins Xyriel Manabat and Raven Rigor were also commended for their impressive portrayals of Tonet and Clint, as well as Team Resbak members Christian Bables and Jennica Garcia, who endeared us with their depictions of Max and Lala, who provided comic relief and kilig in this dark and dramatic narrative. JC Santos and Andrea del Rosario also did great jobs as Lemuel and Olga, respectively.

Speaking of comic relief, it’s also impossible to miss the performances of Rubi Rubi, Tart Carlos, Hazel Orencio, and Apey Obera as the funny and dutiful househelpers of the Fiero family. Rubi Rubi might have amused us as the gossipmonger and domineering Manang Precious, but she’s able to prove that she’s also an effective dramatic actress.

Of course, the discussion of Dirty Linen wouldn’t be complete without recognizing the mind-blowing and incomparable performances of the seasoned and veteran thespians, namely Tessie Tomas, Janice de Belen, Angel Aquino, Epy Quizon, Joel Torre, and John Arcilla. We can all agree that each of them didn’t just nail, but went beyond what are required in their respective characters. It’s as if their roles were really tailored for them with how they seem to effortlessly portray them.

Apart from the topnotch acting of the powerhouse cast, the viewers also have also found it impressive that the creators were also meticulous with the technical side. They would always commend to the color grading, musical scoring, framing and angling of scenes, as well as its well-written script. Indeed, directors Onat Diaz, Andoy Ranay, and Raymund B. Ocampo all did awesome jobs in being on the helm of this now-iconic series.

Throughout its successful run, Dirty Linen has not only offered us quality entertainment, but also inculcated valuable lessons to us. With revenge as its central theme, what happened in the finale reminded us time and time again that vengeance does not necessarily equate with having to personally inflict harm against those who did us wrong. While it’s satisfying to see oppressors suffer, it’s also okay if we would just allow the universe to do it for you because it’s going to be more poetic and gratifying than what we’ve imagined. Let’s just believe in karma and the oft-quoted aphorism “what goes around comes back around.”

Furthermore, we are also pleased that some of the cast members had character development as the series approached the finale, which only proves that some people can really change for the better if they’re given the chance to reflect on their wrongdoings.

And lastly, another thing that we like about this series is how it championed women empowerment by having a female lead protagonist in Alexa and female lead antagonists in Doña Cielo and Leona. They only attest that women have capabilities to speak and fight for themselves and for other people, as well as displayed the unbelievable strength of women.

Here are some of the viewers (aka mga ka-Dirty) had to say about the finale week:

Congratulations on the successful run, Dirty Linen fam!

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