After months of waiting, the powerhouse teleserye of ABS-CBN Studios and Dreamscape Entertainment this 2024 – “Lavender Fields” – has finally begun. And just on its pilot week, it has already delivered remarkable scenes and exceptional acting performances that totally astounded viewers and got them immediately hooked.
The first week of the new primetime series commenced by showing the simple and peaceful life of the lead protagonist, Jasmin Flores, outstandingly portrayed by award-winning actress Jodi Sta. Maria, at a flower farm in the town of San Remo, where she lived with her beloved mother, Rosita (Lotlot de Leon).
But that took a thrilling turn with the arrival of a mysterious man, who introduced himself as Arthur (Jericho Rosales), a certified public accountant of a hotel located in another town of Belmonte. She saw him lying on the ground unconscious with a gash on his head and unhesitatingly helped him even though he was a stranger. He came back the following day to give her a box of chocolates as his way of expressing his gratitude, as well as buy a pot of carnation flowers, which he said was for his mother.
Arthur tried to win the hearts of Jasmin and of her mom by going back the following days to simply pay a visit, give Jasmin gifts, help them with the chores on the farm, and buy flowers from their shop. Being pure and innocent that she was, Jasmin easily felt comfortable and eventually fell deeply in love with him. Thus, just after 64 days, they professed their love for one another and shared an intimate moment one evening.
Rosita caught them and reprimanded Jasmin for giving herself to him so soon and letting him take advantage of her naivety. The latter tried to convince the former to give her blessing to them, but Rosita couldn’t find it herself to trust Arthur and reminded Jasmin to be careful. And her ill feelings toward Arthur were actually valid, as he was exposed to be living a double life.
From San Remo, he drove straight to an inn and spent the night there. As he checked out the following day, he transferred to a different car, and another life of his character was revealed. He’s actually Tyrone de Vera, who has been married for two years with Iris Buenavidez, the character captivatingly portrayed by Janine Gutierrez.
When he arrived home, he was surprised by his family, friends, and colleagues with a birthday party, while his wife came from her business meeting totally drunk. According to the conversations of her friends and colleagues, Iris did it on purpose to get attention since Tyrone has been begging her to agree with the annulment of their marriage.
Months have passed, and Jasmin hasn’t heard from Arthur since he left San Remo that unforgettable night. Unbeknownst to her, he was busy covering up the financial woe that he and his accomplices had caused Buenavidez Steel Masters. Inc., the company owned by his father-in-law Vittorio Buenavidez (Edu Manzano), in which he’s the Chief Finance Officer.
This further inflicted tension between Tyrone and Iris, whose marriage was already on the rocks. His indifference toward her prompted Iris to bring up their marital issues, such as her inability to give him a child and his alleged insecurity since she’s the CEO of the company. Tyrone disproved them and reiterated his request for her to sign their annulment papers, which Iris angrily declined and told him they would rather die than let him end up with someone else.
While coping with Arthur’s sudden disappearance, Jasmin received the startling news that she was actually three months pregnant when she was rushed to the hospital after experiencing a sharp pain in her abdomen. Afterwards, she received a text message from Arthur requesting for them to meet since he needed to tell her something important.
Just when she probably thought that it would be an opportunity for her to tell him that she’s pregnant with their child, he had her heart broken instead after he showed apathy toward him. He told her that they weren’t officially together and he only had sex with her because he was sad and couldn’t think straight during that time. So, for him, what happened between them meant nothing to him, and he would not take responsibility for it.
He came back to San Remo just to notify her that he would no longer return, so she better not hope for, find, or love him anymore. But it seemed that Tyrone didn’t mean everything he said, as he was visibly hurt by what he did to her. Jasmin went home that night distraught, but her Nanay Rosita vowed to remain by her side as she joins her and her upcoming child in their fight.
As she was throwing away everything that he had given her and that would remind her of him, Jasmin was shocked to find a bag in front of their house that contained bundles of cash and a note that read, “ETONG PERA, KALIMUTAN MO NA ‘KO,” which they presumed came from Arthur.
It was revealed that Tyrone and his colleagues and accomplices Freddie (Markus Paterson) and Stephanie (Marela Torre) teamed up to embezzle money in their common pursuit of breaking away from the company due to its illegal activities and of compensating those who were hurt. Besides, he also planned to use some of the money they would get to start afresh in life, which was something he’d been asking for from Iris since he didn’t want to be involved in their illegal gun trade, yet she did not agree.
Tyrone found hope in having that wish fulfilled in Jasmin. Fortunately, Freddie was there to help him out in taking the whopping amount of money they needed and in getting a new passport for him using the pseudonym “Arthur Pelaez” and Freddie’s face. However, their plans didn’t push through, as the Buenavidezes were quick enough to stop whoever was involved in the crime.
The prime suspect, Stephanie, had no choice but to finally come forward to confess to Iris and Vittorio that Tyrone was actually the mastermind and that she was only an accomplice. At the same time, Freddie was also forced to tell the Buenavidezes everything, which led to the intense confrontation between Tyrone and Vittorio and a nail-biting fisticuff between Max (Victor Neri) and Tyrone.
He might be able to knock Max down, but the latter immediately regained his composure and was able to fatally shoot Tyrone and Freddie as they drove away from Vittorio’s henchmen. Freddie died on the spot, while Tyrone apparently passed out due to the serious shots he sustained.
Indignant and puzzled after receiving a huge amount of money from Arthur, Jasmin searched for him to return them, but to no avail since the police found it impossible to look for someone who’s hiding, using a different name, and no pictures. That was until one night when Jasmin and Rosita finally discovered the real identity of Arthur through a news report that his lifeless body was recovered at the pier, which left both of them confounded, especially Jasmin.
Jasmin, along with Nanay Rosita, came into the wake of Tyrone to pay her last respects. To avoid commotion, she didn’t attempt to come inside the church and simply asked someone to take the basket of flowers she brought. Iris found out about it and was keen to see her face-to-face, especially when she figured out through the CCTV that the mysterious woman who gave the basket of flowers was pregnant.
The investigations regarding Tyrone’s case have started, with NLEA-CIU Chief Investigator Zandro Fernandez (Albert Martinez) being the one assigned to lead. While his character is already interesting enough, it was exposed that he bears a secret grudge against Tyrone, which we are excited to know more about in the upcoming episodes.
As the authorities began their search for Tyrone’s killer, Vitto’s right-hand man is on the lookout for the woman, whom Iris suspected was her husband’s mistress and accomplice. For sure, many viewers were annoyed at Jasmin’s admirer Jethro (Thou Reyes) after he helped Max find Jasmin, even though we knew that he had no idea what was going on.
Jasmin and Rosita attempted to escape after their encounter with Max’s group at their farm earlier that day, but they failed as Jethro suddenly came and revealed their identities. While the hooligans were busy searching for the money around the house, Jasmin came up with the idea of using boiling oil and a pan as weapons against them. As the two women tried to flee again, Max fatally shot Rosita and took Jasmin away with him before their house was engulfed by fire.
Max brought her to a lodge where he tortured her to compel her to speak up about Tyrone, but Jasmin was adamant. Despite being severely wounded, Jasmin was able to escape from Max and Vittorio, but Iris was able to catch her. An intense altercation ensued between them, wherein Jasmin was able to shoot Iris and then ran away.
In spite of her condition, Jasmin was still able to attend the funeral of Rosita, although she just had to do it by watching the ceremony from one of the doors of the church. While she was outside, Berting (Eric Nicolas), one of their neighbors in San Remo, found her and took her away in his vehicle.
Rave feedbacks from netizens
It was indeed an action-packed, nerve-wracking, and exhilarating pilot week for everyone who got to watch the pilot week of “Lavender Fields.” We indeed found ourselves taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions as we found ourselves delighted, then kilig, then sad, then upset, then anxious in every episode.
Just on the opening scene, we were instantly captivated by the beauty of the farm where Jasmin and Rosita lived and where everything started for our beloved bida. The cinematography, musical scoring, and stitching of the sequences were flawless, which greatly contributed to the exquisiteness of the narrative. But what really captured us the most are the visuals and performances of the actors, especially the lead stars, which got us hooked right on the first week.
Jodi Sta. Maria, although she was already in her 40s, indeed did justice to the first persona of her character, which is Jasmin Flores, not only with the way she looked like an innocent, young woman probably in her 20s, but with the way that she exuded her emotions regardless if she had lines or none. A true award-winning actress and Silent Superstar!
Silent Superstar, Asian Drama King
The same goes with Janine, who depicts a kontrabida for the first time through Iris Buenavidez. She was able to make us feel the intensity of her character either through her delivery of lines or actions or both, leaving us torn whether to adore her and be annoyed at her. We can’t wait to see what more she has to offer as a villain in the upcoming episodes.
Of course, we cannot miss their leading man, whose character, Tyrone de Vera or Arthur Pelaez, started it all. Even though he took a break in acting for a few years, the Asian Drama King definitely still got it, as he was able to rivet us with his portrayal of his two-faced character. As much as we empathize for him for being locked up in a dysfunctional marriage and love him for his charms, we still couldn’t help but be upset Tyrone him for involving the innocent Jasmin in his family’s mess.
Veteran actors Edu Manzano and Albert Martinez have already enticed us or made us curious with their characters on their first few exposures, especially the latter, who plays Chief Investigator Zandro Fernandez. Similar with the other cast members who made remarkable entrances to the show, such as Jolina Magdangal, Victor Neri, Soliman Cruz, Bernard Palanca, Thou Reyes, Eric Nicolas, Biboy Ramirez, Pamu Pamorada, Marela Torre, and Justine Luzares, as they all piqued our interests about their respective characters.
Although their stints on the show were just very brief, Lotlot de Leon and Markus Paterson both didn’t fall short in exerting their best in portraying their characters. We certainly felt the genuine motherly love of Lotlot’s Rosita in fostering, protecting, and empathizing with her daughter, while we’re impressed by Markus’ ability to keep pace with top-caliber actors as he played Jericho’s dependable friend Freddie.
The Week 1 of “Lavender Fields”” was truly filled with thrilling scenes, but we presume that many would agree if we would say that its top highlight would be the nail-biting first-ever encounter of Jasmin and Iris. Jodi and Janine demonstrated not just strength and ferocity, but that women can do fight scenes, too, more than the usual sampalan and sabunutan!
Aside from the performances of the actors, the its fast-paced narration and spicy linyahans cannot be overlooked as well. So, kudos to its brilliant pool of writers and topnotch directors Emmanuel Quindo Palo and Jojo Saguin for the impressive work!
Here are some rave feedbacks from Kapamilya netizens on X (formerly Twitter), who got to watch the first five episodes:
Are you as excited as us to see what are going to happen next in “Lavender Fields”? Well, you better not miss an episode, weeknights after “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and TV5.