BLISS RATING: ★★★★★
“King, give this place a chance. Find one thing that is beautiful about this place any you’ll see soon enough how you’re already enchanted by the island.” – Quote from Marahuyo Project
The beauty of series like these, especially coming from the Philippines, is that they not only evoke a story with intensity, they bind it with a background history as to why. In other words, it explains how things are the way they are. More importantly, you get to feel that why and also be entertained. That is what gives them uniqueness and depth. For those of us who are not Filipino/Filipina, the characters are generally over-the-top with singularity and distinctiveness. So, we see clearly what has come about. It is far from formulaic.
Admittedly, this series has a lot of flaws; the most obvious one is its overly melodramatic storyline. It is also not a BL in the classic definition of that term. It is, unquestionably, an unparalleled LGBTQIA+ story. In addition, it pokes fun at the Catholic Church and points out the failure of the Church to see people for who they are and only sees people for what they are. A sad but pathetic reality. The Catholic Church is such a dominating and domineering force in the Philippines; yet closes its eyes to its own truths.
King (Adrain Lindayag) is an out-and-proud flamboyant gay student who loves to test and confront the system, which of course is riddled with arbitrary non-gay conforming behaviors. Unfortunately, he pushes a little too hard one day and his father punishes him by sending him off to a much smaller island in the Philippines where he hopes he can and will learn to conform to societal standards.
However, his Lola (grandmother) is well aware of King’s inclinations and is quite the non-conformist herself. A sad reality is that King’s mother left him and the father when he was young, and he harbors bitter resent towards her because of it. While she is there now living on the island and does try to make amends towards him, she continues to wrestle with accepting his gayness. What is quite real about this series is that the relationship between King and his mother is never fully resolved and perhaps it never will be. And that is one of the truest and rawest fundamentals of this series. There is no trying to make this sweet; it is and remains bitter.
One of the first persons King meets as he steps foot onto the island of Marahuyo is a young man who will become a pivotal person in his life. Ino (Neo France Garcia) is a ‘leader’ among the students in the school. Yet, Ino will soon discover who he is and what his family represented is false. It will become a journey that is not only enlightening but in a sense life changing. Ino must learn to put into context that his family has been living a lie and perpetuating it on false pretenses to cover-up a truth the island as a whole does not want to hear or deal with. He, along the way, will also more deeply unearth his truer nature and self by being with King.
Of course, King also defends a student whose androgenous looks and not quite masculine attire, makes him a bane to the school and Church. He likes to be called Venice (Ian Villa). King befriends him and helps create an atmosphere where Venice becomes free to express himself outwardly more befitting to the way he feels inwardly.
The story is a disquisition about trying to set the LGBTQIA+ students free, with the island nudging along as well. It confronts the bigotry of closed-mindedness. Each of the characters clearly have their own individual pain. Their suffering is also detailed. And made dolefully acute to us as observers. We see how the island’s past violated and then obfuscated its own truthful story of its history to make it fit into an exemplum of righteousness rather than truthfulness or honesty.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? This is a well-acted and well scripted series with dynamic and powerful storylines and themes. However, who honestly stands out at least for me is Ian Villa as Venice. He is the ultimate non-conformist. Dressing in drag or at the least in androgenous clothes to show his contempt for wanting to conform to the pressures of being like everyone else. Being on a small island, his pain is obvious and palpable. Yet he is never defeated by it. He even comforts his good friend, Archie (AJ Sison) who is torn with guilt and anxiety over being gay himself and not being able to express it or manifest his feelings. Trying desperately to hide behind the cloak of the Catholic Church. Feeling at times weak and unable to stand up for what is ‘right’, Venice is always there, still encouraging him, comforting him. Explaining to him, he will be here when he is ready. His time has not yet come. There are several powerfully dramatic moments in this series where it gets very deep into the feelings of torture of wanting to ‘come out’ yet not having the strength to. Ian Villa mastered this role of understanding with distinction. Never making it look like he is a caricature but a real person – secure in who he is, yet vulnerable. But, always there for a friend. It was an unheralded role but so beautifully done.
This series tackled way too much in too short a period of time. One hardly had time to process one issue before they were tackling another major issue. I do wish they had concentrated on telling a story without so many subplot lines where so much was left unresolved.
Nonetheless, this is a must see for 2024. Although this is not a BL per se, at least in my eyes, there is a love interest between King and Ino. But it is not riddled with your typical BL formulaic attachment experiences. It seemed more like both coming to the realization that they are GAY, with the world honestly awaiting them. While they ‘love’ each other, it was not a destiny love but a love where each recognized and brought forth in one another the realization of the first love of another individual of the same gender. It did not feel so much romantic as it did fervency.
This series will pull at your heartstrings and emotions. While it does try and tackle a lot of issues (perhaps too many), its humanity is in the right place. It pokes fun at “establishment norms” and forces one to confront what has long been customary traditions as being right when in reality they are not. Filipino series have a manner of presenting moral dilemmas in ways that makes you look at long held beliefs and traditions and forces you to question them. And they do that with characters that are ‘in your face’ different, which compels you to confront how you see others. We see people who are different as champions of causes, trying to make a difference, advocates for others, kind, placing others before themselves, and above all seeking truth and acceptance. It creates the imagery that the traditionalistic ‘good’ is not as good as it seems and if we look hard enough and deep enough, it is ugly. And it does all of this in an entertaining and creative manner.
Most assuredly, this series will be on my Top Ten Best List for 2024.
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