Gabriel

Again, as always, this is a biased post.

How does Gabriel compare with his father Samuel so far? I don't know if Samuel's character flaw, that is falling for another woman when he was supposed to be destined for Isabelle, was intentional or was a product of cretaive adjustment to appeal to more following, but it surely allowed us a prolonged run of our favorite Primetime masterserye. Now well into part 2 with Gabriel keeping us hopeful that the alitaptaps will prevail, Ikaw Lamang and Coco Martin continue to make us tweet excitedly before, during and after each episode.

Samuel was memorable falling in love with Isabelle. He was a disappointment when his character was weakened by his decision to marry somebody else and appear happy with her. He lacked scenes that assured us he still had Isabelle in his heart. He was too upright to even show he still pined for her while married to Mona. Perhaps Coco Martin, known to have so much respect for what is morally and ethically right wouldn't want his character to exhibit a wayward yet common attitude of taking solemn vows for granted. We, SamBelle fans tried too hard to accept this and just looked forward to a promised second chance at love in the next generation. Gabriel it is and this time, the alitaptaps which initially hovered over Natalia, changed their preference and pointed to Andrea.

Part 2 started really happy with a perky Jacq literally colliding with a determined-looking Gabriel. Ikaw Lamang woke us all up to a greater display of chemistyr between Coco and Kim this time via rom-com, light, no tears but 110% kilig. Of course, when characters and events from the past start merging with the present, the laughter is again replaced with a nightly showcase of tears. Gabriel for a while there, kept us worried that he is not going to let go of the bitterness and will choose Natalia over Jacq just so he could satisfy his thirst for revenge.

I breathed a sigh of relief last night when after the initial outburst, Gabriel was able to gladly accept that Manong is actually Samuel, his long lost father. Apparently, among the present generation, Natalia will be the one to keep the bitterness in as she struggles to make things difficult for her mother and sister to win her back. Bahala siyang magkawrinkles sa inis. Gabriel is now reunited with his Papa (that was the best scene of Coco so far, when he uttered the word to Joel Torre's Samuel). There are two things left in Gabriel's sad list of things to settle: his revenge against Franco and his love for Andrea who is Franco's daughter.

It seems that it will take a while before Gabriel surrenders to his real feelings for Andrea but I trust the creative team to give us the twists and turns that make IL a must-see every night. Early enough in Part 2, Gabriel was given the opportunity to realize who he really loves and his interest in Natalia  has no signs of coming back. I hope so. The events now would center on Isabelle and Andrea escaping Franco (this was unsuccessful the first time around with mother and daughter getting separated by the bombing of the ship) and Gabriel finally getting his revenge with the help of Samuel. I would like to think it's going to be Samuel versus Franco to spare Gabriel from staining his hands lest he becomes less worthy of Andrea's love if he gets to kill her father. I wonder how the writers will make SamBelle possible as GabRea becomes a reality. Will SamBelle be official at all?

Happy 150th episode, TeamIL! I hope you will give us the most satisfactory ending with GabRea together, something we didn't get with SamBelle.