The highly anticipated Philippine drama on primetime has finally premiered last Monday, April 16, 2012. Everyone expects much from this series since it's dubbed as the largest teleserye of the year, boasting its powerhouse cast, expensive costumes designed by famous local designers, and the scenes shot in the beautiful country of Bhutan. The series got an impressive rating of 31.7% (by Kantar Media-TNS) for its premiere.
Here's a recap of the 30-minute pilot episode.
Episode 1 Recap
We open with the beautiful scenery of the fictional kingdom of Yangdon. Prince Anand and his Filipina girlfriend, Isabel fly a kite, he confesses his love to her, describing it as higher and farther than a kite can go. He asks her to make their relationship official and proposes to marry her.
A royal guard informs Prince Anand the king's condition, asking him to go back immediately. Prince Anand hurriedly drives to the palace to see the dying king. The king passes to him the throne. He orders him to take care of the kingdom and to love it more than he did.
Ashi Behati visits the place where Isabel does a medical mission. Isabel is a missionary doctor who works for the UN. Ashi Behati, in Yangdon language, says she just wanted to see the goodwill they've been doing. And sarcastically, she asks Isabel when do they plan to leave since they've been staying in the county for a long time.
Isabel responds in Filipino language, "We are doing our best to help the people of Yangdon", then bows and smiles to Ashi. Ashi is startled, she doesn't understand any of Isabel's words. Then they hear a gong and bell sound, implying the king has died.
We cut to Ashi, brushing her hair in front of the mirror. She utters, "Finally, you died. You animal!" Then we see a flashback, Ashi promises to her dying father that she'll fight and get back the power to their family.
Dasho announces to the people the king's death and introduces the new king. King Anand gives his speech to his people. He promises to take care and love the kingdom and asks for support and respect. Everyone applauds him including Isabel, who is standing in the crowd. Ashi sees the king and Isabel's glances to each other.
King Anand meets the council. He asks them to accept Isabel to be his queen.With the help of Dasho Kenchu, he gets the council's approval.
The royal wedding takes place. We cut to Queen Isabel saying she's pregnant.King Anand jumps with happiness and hugs the queen.
She gives birth to a healthy baby girl, the princess of Yangdon. They gave her the name "Areeya".
Everyone visits the palace to congratulate the royal family. Each one gives presents to the princess. Ashi Behati chooses to give the princess an embroidered handkerchief. The king's right hand reminds the king about the belief that a hanky as a gift brings tears and sadness. Ashi explains it's not her intention to bring tears to the princess. The king accepts the gift and thanks her.
The council meet again to discuss the king's leadership. They talk about the king's liberalism, and emphasize that he's slowly changing the kingdom's traditions. Ashi Behati cuts in and asks if there's a way to oust the king from power. She suggests insurgence to resolve the problem. A council member says, in case of insurgence, the council head Dasho Kencho will replace the king.
Dasho is against the idea. He says there's no need for revolt because they have a good king, he will try to talk him.
An assassin executes a plot to kill the queen and the princess. He plants a bomb in the mountains causing rocks to fall in the road. The queen's car collides with these rocks and falls off the cliff.
Comments:
The acting is fine as far as the main and supporting characters are concerned except for Ashi Behati. It looks like Gretchen Baretto forgot she's doing a new drama and "Magkaribal" has long been ended. Or maybe her acting is just like that whatever character she portrays. I hate Ashi Hebati and I'm not sure whether it's because she's a convincing villain or because her acting is bad, haha.
I think they need to work on their special effects. The explosion itself was good but the rocks falling were obviously fake. Also the rain and lightning effects, not so convincing.
During the king's inauguration and the royal wedding, there should be bigger crowd. He's the king, the whole kingdom must be there but we only see countable number of people. I thought this is a big-budget drama, but why can't they add some cg effects to make it look like thousands of people are present.
Lastly, I think it's better if dialogues in Yangdon language are subbed rather than dubbed. It is so confusing to watch scenes dubbed in Filipino, then we see subtitles, and then they speak English, too. If they choose to use subtitles, all should be in subtitles, and if they choose to dub, all should be dubbed. I think it's okay that they use English when a Yangdonese speaks to a Filipino. But if it's Yangdonese to Yangdonese, it is better if we have Filipino subtitles instead. Filipinos can read and besides, the succeeding episodes will be in the Philippine setting so dialogues will be in Filipino. It will be much realistic if we hear them speak the Yangdon language and then subtitles are flashed.
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