REVIEW
“Ang Probinsyano,” the drama series that became a cultural landmark for all of its 1,695 episodes, concluded Friday, Aug. 12, in a breathtaking and, at times, a gory gunfight between the Task Force Agila led by Ricardo Dalisay (Coco Martin) and the henchmen of Renato Hipolito (John Arcilla).
Mr. Hipolito was shot to death by the president, Oscar Hidalgo (Rowell Santiago), after mercilessly ending the lives of all Agilas – a demonstration of the police’s sacrifice in the face of adversaries.
Mr. Dalisay was also thought to be dead after blood burst onto his bulletproof vest. In his arms, legs and chest, terrorists peppered bullets on the series’ protagonist, who survived countless stab wounds and the like.
But, as expected, Coco Martin’s beloved – and reviled – character, once again, brushed off this final death attempt.
After mourning the death of his grandparents – including Lola Flora, played by the late Susan Roces for nearly six years – and accepting an award from the president, Mr. Dalisay returned to the province to continue his improbable and nightmarish journey as a policeman.
Traversing empty highways, he saw a woman alone at the seaside, which happened to be Mara, the president’s long-lost daughter played by Mr. Martin’s real-life and secret partner, Julia Montes. Ms. Montes’s character was killed by her adoptive mother, Lolita Silang (Rosanna Roces), and thrown into the sea. Apparently, being hit by a rock in the head, unconscious for a week and submerged in deep water for hours are still survivable events in this sometimes-illogical teleserye.
There can never be another “Ang Probinsyano,” amidst its overt imperfections. If anything, the late Fernando Poe Jr. would have been honored to see his film being adapted in, by our standards, such an unconventional way. The courage couldn’t be merely ignored.
This plot hole was just one of the head-scratching moments in the finale episode, clocking in at nearly two hours a la Game of Thrones. While watched by more than 500,000 concurrent viewers on Facebook and YouTube, there is a sense of rush in the last battles, noticeable in the editing of clips and music.
When Mr. Hipolito killed Gen. Diana Oligario, for example, a clip of him gunning her was reused when he was already in a different position. Ms. Oligario’s impassioned plea for Mr. Dalisay to save the president was another example of lousy editing, as there were no background sounds of the firing bullets.
It also seemed that Mr. Hipolito gunning down the Agilas was taped once and simply reused all over again as they fell to the ground soaked in their own blood.
The death of Lucio Santanar, meanwhile, was badly executed. After Mr. Dalisay aimed to decapitate the newly introduced antagonist, the scene quickly cut away on his falling head. The slicing itself was not seen – though this is understandable since the show is being aired on broadcast television.
I would have expected gorier and more disturbing scenes like Mr. Hipolito’s body being cut into half or Mr. Dalisay being shot in the mouth. But the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) could assail ABS-CBN if “Ang Probinsyano” went too far.
And who would not talk about that disturbingly plot cliché of late backup forces who arrived mere seconds after the president killed Mr. Hipolito? Had they been on the scene even just a minute earlier, lives could have been saved. Either they got into traffic or the story was developed, once again, to show back-ups showing up when they weren’t needed anymore.
Still, the final three weeks of “Ang Probinsyano” are as memorable as you can get. Some lines were, in the underneath, pointed, like Mr. Hipolito’s final words, “Ako ang pangulo ng bagong Pilipinas.” Other scenes, like that shocking and gruesome death of Armando Silang (John Estrada), were apparently taken from the unkind demise of a historical figure, Mariano Marcos, grandfather of Ferdinand Marcos Sr., at the hands of the Japanese.
“Ang Probinsyano” pushed political conversations closer into the mainstream, which was otherwise uncomfortable for daily entertainment habits. In its final days, it stylized itself as a long movie pushing the boundaries as far as it could get to open the sleeping consciousness of a loyal viewership that never left the series even with the shutdown of its broadcaster. “Ang Probinsyano” was, at its best, an artistic disturbance to comforted viewers. Unfortunately, it was bugged by minor mishaps that nearly derailed the overall grit and unsophistication of the series that contributed to its action and suspense.
There can never be another “Ang Probinsyano,” amidst its overt imperfections. If anything, the late Fernando Poe Jr. would have been honored to see his film being adapted in, by our standards, such an unconventional way. The courage couldn’t be merely ignored.
And so the finale has come for Mr. Dalisay, who first graced the airwaves nearly seven years ago as an impostor of his twin, who was shot to death by his mortal nemesis, Joaquin Tuazon (Arjo Atayde).
Some critics said years ago that Mr. Dalisay and Mr. Tuazon’s rain-soaked stab-fest would have been the fitting end to “Ang Probinsyano.” I agreed to that, and still do – with minor exceptions. Let the relentlessness of the violence in the Agilas death quest be ubiquitous in the Dalisay-Tuazon battle so, in that alternate world, Mr. Tuazon’s body would either explode or be chopped into pieces. Either way, I hope the editors would have functional Premiere Pro for video editing.
Featured image is a screenshot from ABS-CBN Entertainment.
The Edj View 