Juan dela Cruz Ends October 25

…or, at least, that was what I heard while channel hopping late last night from Papa Ahwel Paz and Ogie Diaz, anchors of the DZMM teleradyo program Mismo. That explained a lot!

First of all, the writers went to great lengths to build up a feud between Juan and Agustin. Just when I was starting to really get annoyed with Agustin, they killed him. Not only that, he was suddenly contrite and asking for Juan’s forgiveness. Baloney!

I thought Lolo Jules was also going to be killed in the same fight that saw off Agustin; and the way Juan wailed upon seeing him wounded, I thought it was a certainty that Eddie Garcia was needed at another teleserye.

False alarm. Lolo Jules lives on.

“ For an action hero, Juan was doing an awful lot of crying! There was a disconnect somewhere. Juan – and his sidekick Asiong – was also always being outwitted. What had the series become, Dumb and Dumber? ”

Instead, it was Samuel Alejando who bit the dust last night. The way it was done was sleek – i.e. at the hands of Laura but under the influence of Peru-ha – but the suddenness of it made one suspect that Albert Martinez was urgently needed for another teleserye.

Especially as we were all led to believe that a fight to the finish between father and son would be the show’s epic finale.

The weekly ratings used to be appended to the show’s Wikipedia page. These had been taken down. Falling ratings?

I have not missed a single episode but frankly, many of the recent ones had become certifiably boring. Thus, I won’t be surprised at all if, indeed, the ratings have come down.

Instead of milking the aswang versus tao premise to the last drop, this conflict should have been resolved long ago and Juan could have moved on to fight another enemy. I know Tagabantay was conceived to be the scourge of aswangs; but the story is fantasy, anyway.

What’s to stop the writers from starting a new feud with, say, aliens or werewolves or some other creature? Anything but the aswangs, the feud with which was, to put things in the vernacular, gasgas na gasgas na and crying to be ended.

The sudden introduction of more fantasy creatures – i.e. the kapre, tiyanak and dwende – gave one the feeling that this was a desperate attempt at reviving the ratings. Was it?

What made Juan dela Cruz so appealing in the beginning was the way it blended fantasy with light comedy. In recent months, however, the show began to sink more and more into heavy drama.

For an action hero, Juan was doing an awful lot of crying! There was a disconnect somewhere. Juan – and his sidekick Asiong – was also always being outwitted. What had the series become, Dumb and Dumber?

For all its recent faults, however, Juan dela Cruz has been a lovely series to follow. Nights will simply not be the same without it.

Ogie Diaz, however, hinted at a sequel.

“What’s it called?” Ahwel Paz wanted to know.

“Two dela Cruz,” Ogie Diaz quipped.

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