Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real premiered its pilot last night. What can The Outsider say but... RIVETING! Let me give you three reasons why it is!
1. The actors played their roles!
Not that they were acting because as a viewer, you won't feel they are. You would feel that they are the characters. For those 30 minutes, the viewers may have forgotten that was Dingdong Dantes. To them, it may have been Mr. Real himself.
Ms. Maricel Soriano is still the Diamond Star. She still shines bright in her portrayal as the first Mrs. Real. Ms. Coney Reyes pushed the bar and helped build the foundation of the story. Her part in the story definitely plays a big chunk in the bigger picture. The parents of the 1st Mrs. Real also did well.
Lovi Poe, with the short appearance in the pilot episode, did not appear as Lovi Poe. She seemed to be the future second Mrs. Real indeed.
The actors-- riveting!
2. The scriptwriting had depth.
In this review, The Outsider will avoid terms like 'better' for the sake of not comparing it to other soap operas. Take it as it is for this time.
As far as Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real is concerned, much credit goes to the team of scriptwriters and the creative team at least for the pilot episode. As far as depth is concerned, they had it. You would know that the loyalty did not just get disturbed because of some tempting woman. You would know that the loyalty would begin to blur because of personal issues that has taken its roots from marital concerns.
In the case of Mr. Real, it is the undying undermining insults of his father-in-law which, after ten years, would grow its bad fruit-- the tension between the couple. Which brought in the personal issue of insecurity in the part of Mr. Real. Then begins his unknowingly journey to finding his significance, his worth apart from the distorted reality he has with his current in-laws.
With that issue, the question that the thinking viewers are faced with is this: can there be a reason good enough to forget about marital loyalty?
3. The director knows well what to do.
If there's ever a reason why more Kapuso viewers looked forward to, it's not merely the cast. It's the fact that Andoy Ranay is behind this masterpiece. One who has made a big punch in his portfolio via One True Love and the blockbuster movie Ang Diary Ng Panget.
What we like about Andoy Ranay is his penchant for details. He selects extras who in turn would attract more viewers to stick! He seems to show importance for roles like the helper of Mrs. Real because they serve like glue, stitching the story together.
The good thing about Ranay is he's unconventional in his approach of creating moments. He seems to get away with the tradition of putting up big cat fights to gain higher ratings. He shows the viewers that all episodes, all scenes are important and not just the big fight scenes worth trending. He gives us a better taste of what a soap opera of the thinking generation deserves.
All these give us a promising, riveting soap opera at least on the side of GMA Network.
As far as weaknesses are concerned, GMA Telebabad shows have been low on ratings these days. They better push the button for this one and take it as a major show. Pour in efforts in consistent scriptwriting and brilliant promotion. Because the opposite of it is exactly the network's weakness.
