Pulang Araw – Episodes 51-55 Thoughts (Week 11)

A bit late for these thoughts on Week 11 since I had to wait for the Netflix episodes of Pulang Araw🤐But I finally got to watch them and there’s definitely lots of unpack!

Of course, once again, the week was backloaded. Boring stuff in the beginning, then actually interesting stuff at the end of week.

Episode 51 just continued with Col. Yuta’s libido and a rehash of Mama Borromeo wanting to prostitute her daughter to him for personal gain. And then Eduardo brooding over his father whom he wished he could meet again and gain acceptance from, but has now decided he will not even let himself be known to him as he gets this miraculous chance.

Funniest part of this episode was Teresita’s news report-worthy exposition about the latest war happenings reminding us that yes, there actually is a war going on. And we certainly need that reminder considering the stories the show prefers to tell instead.

Episode 52 was a solid episode to show the conflict between Filipinos. Especially highlighting Filipinos who indeed bowed down to the Japanese for various reasons, perhaps selfish, maybe self-preservation. However, it kind of gets diluted when the Borromeos are used as the example.

Episode 53 was also funny in how easy it is to make Mama Borromeo the most despicable person on the show (up to this point lol). Just gross, yeah?

But that of course changes starting with Episode 54. This was exciting because we finally get to watch Eduardo stepping into danger. Finally we get to see one of the many stories about Filipino heroes during this time. The emerging heroes during this hellish time in the country.

I really liked the way they fused together Eduardo’s dangerous mission with the more innocent times of the Core4+1 playing hide and seek. A more innocent time period with the kids (moar flashbacks with the kids please!) compared to the fast rising threat and danger of wartime.

And then Episode 55. My goodness. One of the most difficult, but important viewing experiences I’ve ever had with a television series. Definitely the most difficult of a Filipino series.

I had to check the GMA aired version and see how they broadcast those very heavy final minutes. And they did as best they could to retain the disgusting, emotional visuals of Japanese troops raping Filipino women. Including minors. However, GMA did upload the Netflix version, uncut, onto YouTube in a separate video.

It’s hard not to be emotional and angry watching those scenes. Imagine that scene, but repeated countless times across the Philippines and across Asia as well. The brutality and demonic behavior of these soldiers… I mean, words can’t really describe or express how horrible it all really is.

Pulang Araw did an excellent job being able to portray that indescribable horror. And I believe, referencing the Bahay na Pula, the site of mass rapes and murders during the war. This is definitely something that very much needs to be seen by Filipino audiences as a way to remember an important part of the country’s history.

This is what the show should be more about. The struggles and the hell that Filipinos were put through during the war and how they were able to somehow stay strong and fight back and (hopefully) survive.

You put brutal scenes of the raping of comfort women and the indiscriminant murder of young men by Japanese forces side by side with scenes of love triangles and arranged marriages and the typical teleserye kontrabida mother? It makes no sense. And it really diminishes and dilutes what Pulang Araw should truly be about and what it should focus on. This is a once in a decade or more series.

You for sure are not going to get a series like this with the opportunity like this for a long time. So if they are still in production right now, I hope the show makes sure to shift focus onto these important moments in history rather than the less interesting, repetitive and irrelevant soapy plot threads and story beats.

A standing ovation to Ashley Ortega, Rochelle Pangilinan and Isay Alvarez. As well as Sanya Lopez too. As of this writing, I’ve already watched Episode 56 and it is good to see the show not falling back to the flat plot threads that filled the first 50. They will hopefully be continuing full steam ahead. And as a result, we will be able to experience more breathtaking and emotionally affecting performances like those of these aforementioned ladies.

Can you believe it took 55 episodes to get to this point? I don’t blame Filipino viewers for tuning out (as the ratings show). It requires a huge investment and the show did not have enough strong moments to keep people invested in those 55 episodes. The highlights were few and far between. And the highlights weren’t that strong enough to truly grab hold of you and not let go.

The show honestly could’ve chopped off half of the first 50 episodes and nothing of value would’ve been lost. We’d still be able to get the depth and development needed to make the scenes we are only just getting now land safely and be legitimately impactful.

Oh well. We’re here now. When you see this title card:

You don’t expect the typical Filipino soap opera.

So for anyone else who has stuck with the show, hopefully these coming weeks will deliver the stories, scenes and moments we were promised at the start.