GMA Network’s Pulang Araw may not be the definitive screen depiction of wartime Philippines we all deserve. But that does not take away from the many positive achievements of the ambitious series. Even if its execution leaves a bit to be desired.
And here we are with the final five episodes of Pulang Araw. So this will just be my thoughts on the final week and I’ll share my thoughts on the series as a whole in a Hindsight Review.
The penultimate week of Pulang Araw was another pretty good encapsulation of the highs and lows of the series.
A relatively stronger Week 20. A week which was originally supposed to be the finale week for the series. But the show managed to stretch and squeeze two more weeks of episodes out.
You definitely felt like things are wrapping up on Pulang Araw. On one hand, it’s like “Finally!” But on the other, it feels like we haven’t even scratched the surface. It’s a strange feeling because yes, I do want to wrap these stories up. At least, with these characters that we’ve watched for 95 episodes. But I still want to know more about what’s going on elsewhere during the war. I want to hear other stories.
Hard to imagine how after this week, there would’ve only been two more weeks left in this series. With the pacing we’ve gotten, you’d think there were at least two more months left of the series. They don’t seem to have even scratched the surface of what should be more of Filipino resistance during World War II. Instead, we got weeks wasted on tired teleserye tropes which really did little, if anything, to help build up to what should be climactic weeks now.
A solid week of Pulang Araw. The focus and highlights of the week were the various reunions and crossing of paths of different characters. They were a lot of fun to watch. And when paired with some good battle scenes, it helped to make up for the slower (though few) moments of the week.
Welp! I’ve actually caught up to Pulang Araw after falling behind a few weeks! And it was a pretty good week to watch as soon as possible. I feel like I say this every week, but FINALLY we are getting to the good stuff.
Perhaps the most eventful week of Pulang Araw so far. I think this is the kind of week I wish we got around Week 10. Or even better, much earlier than that. We’re in the thick of the war with still lots of ground to cover. But we only have five weeks left?!
Definitely a stronger week on Pulang Araw. I feel like I’ve been strung along with the end of week previews, getting my hopes up only to be disappointed. But if the preview at the end of Episode 70 pans out next week, then this week will have been the perfect precursor and lead-up to it.