Ina, Kapatid, Anak - A Stereotype Story till the End

I want to make a blog post about the recently concluded soap opera of my most favorite local star, Kim Chiu and her, bedazzling reel (and real-life?) partner, Xian Lim, but I can’t make up my mind on how to do this without sounding like a hater, which I became at the course of this crap, I mean, show, Ina, Kapatid, Anak.

I chanced upon this post from ABS-CBNNews.com about what they think were the 10 memorable scenes from the show. The list includes the following:

10 memorable scenes in 'Ina, Kapatid,Anak'

1. Celyn finds out she's a Marasigan

2. Celyn, Margaux celebrate 18th birthday

3. Margaux, Celyn in intense slapping scene

4. Margaux drives Celyn's car, figures in accident

5. Margaux finds out she's a real Marasigan

6. Liam, Celyn become a couple

7. Celyn, Margaux patch things up

8. Celyn gets kidnapped

9. Celyn gets beat up by Mio

10. Liam proposes to Celyn

For me, although this is from a KimXi fan perspective, since I would always turn the TV off when the story was becoming too focused on Margaux or the oldies’ characters, my favorite and most memorable scenes from the show are:

1. The young Celyn, selling slippers while shouting one of the most memorable lines from the soap – “Tsinelas ni Tere!”

2. Celyn’s scenes that showed her talking to the replica of Sto. Nino. Such trait of Celyn even became the topic of several homilies in the church, where I frequently go to. It is sad that as the show progressed, they took this for granted and focused on too much anger and violence instead.

3. When Celyn went back to the landlady that gave her a place to stay when she was new in the city, and gave her gifts to show her gratitude and to live up to her promise that she would go back when she’s already rich.

4. The first time that Celyn and Liam met in the campus. Their chemistry was overflowing that I never thought the story would never give them a chance to shine as a couple.

5. When Liam learned that they were his dad’s second family.

6. When Celyn was introduced to Tiny. They were the exact opposite that was why they clicked on screen as friends, co-workers and allies. Where did the writer take Tiny’s character as the story progresses? Nada. He was not a favorite.

7. When Celyn spent the night with Liam at the beach after finding out the truth about her character. This could have started something magical for the two, but instead the writer made Liam’s character one confused dude.

8. When Liam came to Celyn’s aid when she needed to practice for the ball and her escort backed out.

9. When Celyn was finally rescued from Mio and the tender hug and kiss that Liam gave her after.

10. The anguish and pains of Celyn when she thought that her Nanay Teresa died, both at the old, gloomy building and at the hospital.

The story had a very promising premise – something unique and rarely tackled. It could have been developed in so many unique ways, but it did not happen. The story started to lag when too much emphasis was given to Margaux’ character. I started to withdraw from my habit of watching it nightly when this happened. All the casts’ problems revolved around the character. It was too obvious that they wanted Maja Salvador to shine, but instead of achieving such, more people started to feel irritated. Most of its viewers watched the show, not for Maja, but for Kim, whom they delegated as the second lead for a time.

For the creatives’ part, they were justifying the turn of events by saying that this is a family drama and not a love story. For most of the viewers though, this has become a Margaux drama. They could have at least tried to balance the story and give equal exposures to all the casts in its entire run. They only passed on the torch of responsibility to Kim Chiu when the ratings dropped phenomenally and almost reached the 20s.

Everything has become so rushed since then. The story stood out for being poorly written, but well-acted. For the CeLiam parts, they either repeated romantic scenes from another Kim Chiu and Xian Lim teleserye, My Binondo Girl, or imitate what was happening with Kim and Xian in real life. The chemistry may be strong, but the story was very weak and yes again, rushed.

Oh well, time to move on. I can’t say that I’ve wasted my eight months watching this because I only watched maybe half of its run. I just hope that they can give Kim Chiu a good story on her next project and give Xian Lim a material, where he will also shine as well. Stop playing favorites, ABS-CBN. Look at what happened to the story of this promising show when you have decided to give the highlight to your favorite. Okay, time to end my rants. I am looking forward now to the Kim and Xian movie, which was based on the book of Ramon Bautista, Bakit Hindi Ka Crush ng Crush Mo. For now, I will forget that Ina, Kapatid, Anak ever existed haha!

PS: For those who missed the bloopers, here it is: