SnoRene, SebMira: 2nd leads, odd pairings, bad boys who stole the show

MANILA, Philippines — If there is nothing new on TV these days, it is the fact that bad boys, such as Seb Terra and Archie Aguerro, or goofballs such as Snoop, still make many viewers drawn to them.

If they have a pairing with the female heroine or an interesting "bida-kontrabida" such as Irene Tiu, the result would be a smash hit because viewers are interested to know how could two polar opposites end up with each other. 

Drama tropes such as rich boy-poor girl or vice versa, bad boy-good girl will never be passe; they always make a killing at the box-office or the ratings, except maybe if the acting is as dry as the current El Nino phenomenon. 

The past few months showed how these tropes continue to lure viewers in with several TV characters that were surprisingly not the presumed main leads, but managed to influence the flow of the main story or even drastically changed the ending (meaning a male lead's end somehow had to be presumably changed to appease a fanbase for the bad boy role who stole the viewers' hearts). 

"Makiling" was supposed to be the nth time real-life couple Elle Villanueva and Derrick Monasterio star in an afternoon drama. 

As the preferred love team who figure prominently on the show's opening billboard, they were supposed to end up in each other's arms. 

Elle's Amira would have avenged her misfortunes at the hands of the Crazy 5, which includes the Terra siblings Seb and Portia (Kristoffer Martin and Myrtle Sarrosa), and after meting out her own brand of justice, live happily ever after with Derrick's Alex. 

But "Makiling" did not end as expected, and though a little rushed, ended better for the message that it tried to give to its afternoon drama viewers. 

Amira is the poor girl with big dreams, while Seb is the rich brat son who leads the group of bullies called Crazy 5. He and his lackeys were literally criminals who were just itching to graduate from juvenile delinquents to society nuisance, well save for their family's money, they can get away with anything, even criminal liability (sounds familiar?). 

Naturally, it is understandable that when Amira was able to escape death brought upon by some members of the Crazy 5, she returns