TV Buff

The first few weeks of the show didn’t really interest me as I found it too cluttered. It seemed like there were too many characters, too many influences (Miguel fights with oriental martial arts styles while Amante seems to favor shoot ‘em ups.) After much prodding from my aunt and cousin, I decided to give it a try.

Sugo turns the concepts of good and evil on its head. The concept and its associated themes have a lot of intricate and complex layers. It’s not clearly deliniated white and black, good and evil.

The main story is a centuries long tribal war between the Karag-ayans and the Binhi-lans. According to lore, the Binhi-lan’s dark lord, Apo Abukay is in a state of inanimation and can only be awakened by the offering of a lass from their tribe – the Alay. Apo Abukay is the incarnation of all that is evil and bringing him back to life subjects the world to that kind of evil. The first born female of every generation is the designated Alay and she has to be killed upon reaching her 18th year to give life to Apo Abukay. The Alay’s blood burns up as soon as it is shed.

On the other side, the Karag-ayan’s have their chosen one – the Sugo. This is the first born male of every generation. His mission is to kill the Alay before she is offered to reanimate the dark lord. The Sugo is trained to use the “force” (Yes, they really call it pwersa), to fight at the ultimate level since the road to killing the Alay is full of danger. Monsters guard the body of Apo Abukay and the Binhi-lans go to all lengths to keep their offering safe. The Sugo’s blood also burns when shed.

In the current generation, the Karag-ayan’s Miguel is blind so his cousin Adan disputes Miguel’s ability to become the Sugo. This is one layer, jealousy and dethronements within the tribe. This theme is also explored with the power struggle between Samuel and Yayo Aguila’s character on the Binhi-lan’s side. Miguel is then dispatched to Father Francis, also a Karag-ayan, and the good padre becomes his teacher in the fighting ways.

The thing is, Miguel is actually a twin. His twin Amante falls in the hands of the Binhi-lans. (Don’t you just love this device of the twins being switched in melodramas?) Miguel doesn’t really take to heart his mission to kill while Amante is trained and learned to protect the Alay. Here we see the theme of the reluctant hero.

Turns out the Alay also gets switched. Rebecca is brought up to be the Alay but it turns out that the real Alay, Isabel got separated from her mother in an accident on board a ship. Isabel is brought up by her grandmother who thinks that she is her own granddaughter. She meets Miguel as a child and they strike a friendship. This friendship turns out to be true love. What they didn’t know was that theire love goes against what destiny has in store for them because of the blood that runs through their veins. Miguel is fated to kill Isabel to keep the peace and stop evil from spreading. Still following the story?

So what do we know at this point? From the story they have us believing that Miguel and the Karag-ayans are the “good” guys and that they are here to preserve the peace for mankind. Amante and the Binhi-lans on the other hand are “evil” as they groom the Alay for her destiny to bring back to life the source of all evil. Miguel, the supposed good twin is tasked to kill, while Amante the supposed bad twin is tasked to protect.

One of Father Francis’s lines go something like, “tungkulin nating mapanatili ang kaayusan sa mundo.” (”It’s our duty to maintain order in the world”) And how do they do that? By killing. Remember, they are supposed to be the good guys but their mission is to kill. How much more ironic can you get? To think that the Alay is actually someone innocent whose only fault is to be born to the tribe at the time that she came into the world.

Each tribe already carries the label of being “good” and “evil” yet if you take a look at the individuals that make up each group, you’ll still have characters that can go opposite of what they are perceived to be in the general order of things.

At times, the episodes get utterly fantastic which common sense tells you does not actually happen in the real world. But then, it is a telefantasya and they have the liberty to play around with astounding and supernatural feats. When you watch Sugo, keep an open mind and remember that this is not reality that they are portraying but rather a hyper reality that two tribes hold the forces of good and evil in their hands.

The effects are still cheesy showing that despite many good ideas, we are still a little behind when it comes to actually executing them. The story is so rich and leaves a lot of things that can still be explored. I have barely scratched the surface of the possibilities of the story with what I have narrated above. I can see endless fan fiction possibilities on the theme as it is a mythology that can be further explored.

The show is a mish-mash of several influences from Shaolin movies to the iconic “The Matrix.” The crux of the story is essentially Filipino but these styles distract from this. They could have used the structure as a vehicle to introduce more elements from indigenous cultures. For example, instead of the flying wire work, how about arnis or sikaran as a fighting style.

I would recommend Sugo as good escapist fare. It has a rich concept that can be further mined for wonderful ideas. Despite it’s limitations, it takes a step in the right direction in creating a modern Filipino myth.

Sugo airs on GMA 7, weekdays after Encantadia