The newest teleserye offering of ABS-CBN, Love Thy Woman, indeed had a great and impressive run on its pilot week. As we look forward on its highly anticipated second week, let’s enumerate the reasons why it completely won our hearts.
Gripping, exciting first five episodes
Just on the very first week of Love Thy Woman, we found ourselves immediately hooked with its initial episodes because of the riveting scenes and the exciting developments in the narrative.
The afternoon soap opera commenced by unraveling to the audiences the cause of everything that’s going to happen in the Wong family – from the terrible curse Lucy’s (Eula Valdes) father uttered before he died in 1992, her post-partum depression that put her marriage with husband Adam (Christopher de Leon) on the rocks, and his involvement in an illicit affair with Kai (Sunshine Cruz).
Doomed by the consecutive deaths of her father and their then-upcoming baby, Lucy suffered from severe post-partum depression that indeed took a toll on her relationship with Adam. Their marital woes seemingly urged Adam to seek affection from another woman, which he found in lounge singer Kai who showered her with the attention he’d been yearning for. Lucy initially got enraged by their forbidden romance, but later on coldly accepted Adam’s decision to take his second family in and support them.
Fast-forward to the present, the tension among the two families of Adam got more intense as they work in their family’s real estate company, where Adam is the President and CEO, Lucy is a top official, while his daughter to Kai, Jia (Kim Chiu), is one of their diligent employees. On the pilot episode, we witnessed the intense argument between Lucy and Jia during the latter’s presentation, which signifies how she still harbors ill feelings towards her and her mom despite claiming that she’s already forgiven and accepted them.
On the second episode, we saw how their unica hija Dana (Yam Concepcion) tried to please, and at the same, to win her freedom to choose the man she’s going to be with in spite of Lucy’s insinuations and snide remarks against her fiancé David (Xian Lim). Upon knowing that Dana’s already pregnant and their plans of moving to Singapore once they got the permission of Adam and Lucy for them to get married, this infuriated her parents so much out of frustration that compelled Dana to beg off from her agreement with David and heed to Adam and Lucy’s demands.
Upset with their father’s unfair treatment to her and her half-sister, Jia mustered the courage to accept the job being offered to her in Singapore despite knowing how Adam would violently react, as seen in the third episode. She flew there for the final interview and practical test, and literally bumped into David, who’s working as an architect there. Meanwhile, Lucy and Kai had a scorching clash when their paths once again crossed and they exchanged disparaging statements against each other. The characters of Zsa Zsa Padilla (as David’s mom Helen) and Turs Daza (as David’s best friend and colleague Patrick) were also introduced.
It was during Jia one-day sojourn in Singapore that she’s able to get closer with David as they talked about his relationship with Dana and her plan to resign from their family-owned company. Upon finding out that Dana was in the hospital, they immediately went back to Manila to check on her. David also used that as an opportunity to persuade Adam and Lucy again to allow him to marry their daughter by handing them a pre-nuptial agreement, which truly impressed them. In return, Adam was able to convince David to work in their company and warned him, at the same time, of what he could do once he dared mistreat Dana. Meanwhile, because of the dubious chance meetings of Jia and David, Dana couldn’t help herself but asked her sister if she likes him, to which Jia retorted by saying that she indeed liked him, but for her. It was also on the fourth episode when it was found out that the curse uttered by Lucy’s late father indeed took effect as it’s about to spoil the upcoming nuptials of David and Dana.
And on the fifth episode, we were all shocked to witness the explosive and tragic end to the supposed happy and lovely day for newlyweds after they figured in an accident that left David wounded and Dana unconscious for weeks in the hospital and the demise of their baby. They did everything to counter the curse as advised, but the last scene of the said episode suggests that it will seem not to work the way they wish it to be.
Beyond impressive overall production
The members of the ensemble indeed did a great job in portraying their respective characters as they amazingly executed what their brilliant writers Arlene Tamayo and Jayson Mondragon wrote on the script and what their exceptional, seasoned directors Jeffrey Jeturian, Jerry Lopez-Sineneng, and Andoy Ranay wanted to happen in every scene.
Eula and Yam undeniably immediately fascinated us with their acting prowess as bida-kontrabidas, who still have a heart despite the ill feelings their characters harbor. On the other hand, Kim and Sunshine succeeded in showcasing the new image of protagonists who now know how to fight for themselves and for what they believe in is right and just. Of course, Christopher didn’t fail to astound us with his portrayal of the stern yet still admirable patriarch, Adam. While we’re all waiting for the story arcs of Xian and Zsa Zsa’s characters to unfold, their remarkable performances were definitely laudable
The other supporting cast members’ performances also did great in portraying their respective roles as well. The fascinating cinematography is notable as well.
Viewers’ rave reviews
With Love Thy Woman’s exceptional pilot week run, netizens who were able to catch the first five episodes couldn’t help but express their praises for our newest siesta viewing habit. Here are some of their comments:
Stay tuned on Love Thy Woman, weekdays on Kapamilya Gold!