Teleserye 2014
Legal Wife (Filipino Drama Review & Summary)
The legal wife
- Genre: Marriage, Family, Adultery
- Release Date: 27 January 2014
- Origin: Philippines
- Teleserye: 98 Episodes
Cast
- Angel locsin as Monica “Ikay” Santiago-de Villa
- Jericho Rosales as Adrian de Villa
- Maja Salvador as Nicole Esquivel
- JC de Vera as Max Gonzales
- Christopher de Leon as Javier Santiago, Sr.
- Rio Locsin as Eloisa Santiago
- Mark Gil as Dante Ramos
- Maria Isabel Lopez as Sandra de Villa
- Joem Bascon as Javier “Javi” Santiago. Jr.
- Ahron Villena as Jasper Santiago†
- Janus del Prado as Bradley
- Matet de Leon as Rowena
- Bernard Palanca as Miguel Zapanta
- Joe Vargas as Andrew de Villa
- Pamu Pamorada as Trish de Villa
- Leo Rialp as Eduardo “Gramps” Esquivel
- Pinky Marquez as Emma Alvaro
- Michael Flores as Bob Rivera
- Thou Reyes as Jon
- Dionne Monsanto as Rhea
- Zeppi Borromeo as Anton
- Carla Humphries as Audrey
- Frenchie Dy as Kelly
- Sonjia Calit as Gwen
- Bugoy Cariño as young Jasper
- Casey De Silvia as young Nicole
- Xyriel Manabat as young Monica
- Aaron Junatas as young Javi
- James Blanco as young Javier
- Neri Naig as young Eloisa
- Matt Evans as young Dante
- Dang Cruz as young Yaya Krising
- Junjun Nayra as Atty. Hector Vargas†
- Ricardo Cepeda as Manuel Gonzales†
- Carlos Morales as Javier De Villa†
Like one of the many millions of viewers of The Legal Wife, an ABS CBN drama offering, I fell for it hook, line and sinker.
Infidelity within marriage is one of the most emotive subjects there is.
I came to the program fairly late; it had started in January 2014. I first heard about this show around April from Facebook friends talking about the much-awaited big reveal of the affair.
So I googled for the Legal Wife and was happy to find that there is a free website you can watch tv shows from the Philippines. Hooray!
Anyway, I have watched a show which is addictive.
The Legal Wife was Monica.
Monica and Adrian had been happy and contentedly married for 6 years, blessed with a son. But men being polygamous by nature and ruled by what is between their legs can easily get seduced. (This is apparently best explained by Man is from Mars and Women are from Venus). This was what happened to Adrian.
Despite a beautiful loving wife, who will do anything for him, at his beck and call any time of the day, Adrian let his libido do his thinking. Adrian got easily seduced by the ever seductive Nicole, who happens to be Monica’s best friend.
By the by, according to some studies, by the second wedding anniversary you start to take each other for granted and on the 7th anniversary that is when ennui starts to set in. So be careful of the marriage!
I have to congratulate the actors and actresses of the Legal Wife, especially Maja Salvador, who played Nicole.
Her portrayal of the other woman is tremendously convincing. She was vampish, sexy, carefree, fun, and coquettish. Then she became demented in her obsession with Adrian, the feckless adulterous husband of Monica. Maja was brilliant, every pout, every squint of her eyes, twitching of her nose, raising of her brows said a lot and so much more. Best actress!
Monica, played by the beautiful, fragile-looking Angel Locsin was equally a good actress. Pity though that her character is less convincing, it was not as well developed as the “other woman”.
Her dialogue was not very true to life, though beautifully delivered. I supposed they had to “clean” it for the sake of viewing minors. Monica did not really show that upon learning of the infidelity, it would completely take over her. It is a constant reaction, over-reaction, and counter-reaction. Your mind is always in a whirl, thinking and thinking, plotting and plotting and then you feel low, at your lowest ebb. You still function but in auto-pilot. Your mind is in constant battle, thinking, rethinking, and digesting what happened, what really happened and why it happened! The pain is achingly eating you up inside!!! You become someone else, metamorphosed into Sherlock Holmes and scrutinizing every minute detail with an invisible fine-tooth comb. Playing what you heard, what you thought you know, filling in the gaps with your imagination. Total fixation!!! In fact, you might create a more exciting drama in your mind than what truly did happen! 🙁
When you love your husband, he becomes your world, and no matter how much evidence right there before your eyes that he is cuckolding you, you refuse to believe because it is just unthinkable. You unconsciously refuse to believe and see what is obviously before you. You only realise it in hindsight. You overlook that he is more bothered with his appearance, he became metrosexual, he cleanses, tones and moisturises!!! That he actually wears his aftershave/eau de parfum when he did not use to, that he takes out a lot of money from your account and yet you do not see anything he bought for you or something for the house. He is preoccupied, he starts a vice, ie incessant smoking despite asking him to stop, he is very furtive with his mobile phone and computer. You hear him talking to someone when he should not be talking to anyone as he is alone. He ignores you. Suddenly all the compliments he used to shower you dry up.
There are a hundred different and little things that are now so obviously the signs of his infidelity and yet you do not see any of them at that time. BECAUSE YOU LOVED AND YOU TRUSTED AND BELIEVED IN YOU TOGETHER SO COMPLETELY.
And these are what make it so hard to forgive and forget. You become so furious with yourself, more than with him sometimes. Somehow you will blame yourself. How can you have been so STUPID? You think you deserve what happened because you did not do anything. It was all so blatant and yet you remained complacent. Therefore, it must be your fault. You must be lacking in something that he has to look somewhere to complete him, to fulfill his needs. You feel you are nothing, inconsequential, redundant. Your self-esteem and self-respect get such a battering and pummelling that they go down to virtually zero degrees. You feel that you became invisible, you did not exist. He let you disappear.
It is hard to deal with infidelity. It is like having a death. In a way, it is a bereavement, your relationship as you know it is dead. If you are lucky, the marriage might get resurrected like Lazarus from the dead but it will never be the same.
As much as you like to forgive and forget, it will be easier said than done. There will be a lot of issues to be resolved. You have to deal with how you feel, how you should feel about him and about yourself.
Infidelity is a choice. It is a choice between your marriage and falling in love and having sex with someone else. It is a lot harder in fact to deal with emotional infidelity than sexual infidelity. (Monica pointed this out with Adrian when she said, he looks at Nicole the way he looks at her! Woah grim).
Committing infidelity disrespects the wife. He takes away the compassion he gave to the wife upon the onset of marriage; he is knowingly vanquishing and extinguishing the life and fire of the marriage. It is more than a rape of the relationship, it is a murder of your life together.
(It takes courage and bravery to get over such total annihilation. Some are not so lucky.)
This is the crux of the matter, can a wife forgives her husband who disrespects her and totally lacking compassion towards her?
It is possible to rebuild a life together but it would take a lot of shared pain, blaming Q&A, apologies, promises, and much more. They have to work together and start to rebuild trust. The adulterer must allow the wife (or husband) to grieve for as long as it takes and only then when the brain gets sorted that the heart follows and starts to heal itself and hopefully it will turn into something new and better with a greater understanding between parties. If there was real love before the adultery, then reconciliation can likely happen. It is hard to just throw away a shared history.
And on a positive note, a relationship borne from this sort of devastation can become a better, more mature loving kind. You love each other with open eyes, healing warts and all 😉 lol. And you will nurture one another in much more careful and all-seeing watchful eyes.
Anyway, The Legal Wife is slated to end tomorrow night and I can’t wait for the outcome. Will Monica take Adrian back?
One thing for sure Adrian will continue to spurn Nicole. Nicole is just too much hard work. Too clingy and demanding. She was a good shag/lover but a wife, she is not.
As much as we want to put all the blame on the mistress, adultery is complicit of two. You cannot seduce someone who is truly happy in a relationship.
Probably to cut all loose ends of the story, Nicole and Adrian’s love child will end up dead of dehydration having been unknowingly left and trapped in a hot vehicle.
Monica and Adrian will then be able to start anew without any hindrance or much of a physical reminder of a bitter yesterday! They will go ride into the sunset with their own children and not look back!
Can Monica forgive Adrian’s infidelity? Can there be a life together after infidelity?
I have been reading and hearing the opinions of celebrities and from those who have experienced infidelity within their marriage. These were brilliantly super-imposed in between the episodes of the Legal Wife, giving the program credence and personal touch.
Many had the opinion that Monica is better off alone. Going back to Adrian is somehow a sign of weakness. Apparently doing it alone means being empowered as a woman.
I disagree, staying within a marriage where you know that your husband is truly sorry for what he did and working really hard to more than make up for all his iniquities, shows the strength of character.
There is only one question to ask! Will you be happy with or without him?!!!
If you will be happier being with him rather than without him, give him a second chance but no more.
Below is a respite for all the angst of the first video. But it is in Tagalog so to enjoy it get an interpreter. It is worth the effort. LMAO
Whoever made the video has a touch of genius. I have never laughed so much in my life. Monica and her hotdog, tender juicy is epic.
The end where Monica rues having thrown her shoes off at Nicole and bemoaning the fact that she stepped on a glass shard due to her now unshod feet is just classic. I was rolling on the floor laughing! Who thought infidelity could be so funny! LOL
IF YOU ARE MARRIED AND THINKING OF SLEEPING AROUND OR FALLING IN LOVE WITH SOMEONE ELSE. STOP! REEVALUATE YOUR LIFE FIRST AND THEN ACT!