So much about Since I Found You is typical, utterly mundane in the sense that the light and airy tone it carries has been the same expression that made Philippine Primetime TV shift to a lighter landscape, finally tapping other options aside from oversized and mindblowingly dramatic soap operas, where big and explosive confrontations are the real deal. That changed a few years ago with the introduction of ‘Be Careful With My Heart’, ‘On the Wings of Love’ and other mellow dramas, and almost instantly, the genre becomes conventional. But it’s the conventional you’d like to see in a show—especially a love story—repetitively, and Since I Found You, to its credit, still charms with its heartfelt effort amid its persistent adherence to a now-commonplace formula.
Antoinette Jadaone, who has practically mastered the genre, maintains a comfortable footing, in Since I Found You and like she did in ‘On The Wings of Love’, she places the characters in this sweet love story to an accessible ground, making them more relatable to the audience. Dani (Arci Muñoz), a quirky hardworking woman, will do everything for her family. She finds herself desperate to enter a prestigious company but unfortunately gets off on the wrong foot after unknowingly engaging in a heated argument with the company’s owner and CEO, Nathan (Piolo Pascual). Her life only gets more complicated as she begins working for the company; she’s determined, that’s for sure, but will all the constant distractions around—Nathan’s persistent annoyed demeanor, and his sizzling sex appeal, that is—getting the job done, turns out to be a lot harder than it seems. But she’s the ‘best practicumer’, and as Nathan evidently falls for her charm, she inches closer to her dream job.
Nathan is the typical stone-hearted employer, whose drive to make more money for the company is bigger than keeping even his most capable employees. Of course, that’s just on the surface. Nathan, after all, came from a very humble beginning—he went from rags-to-riches. But he is stubborn, and he seems to take pride in being one. Will the arrival of the hopeful and driven, Dani, save him from completely caving in to life’s bitterness?
Emulating Dani, in this instance, with her optimism and positivity, seems a very comforting choice. Around them, are characters with equally interesting stories—some, though less often, saddening, but still inspiring. Take Janice (Alessandra de Rossi), for example, a single mother earnestly striving to provide her son with the best she can offer as a mother. She’s Nathan conscience, being mostly the only one capable of voicing out her hesitations, whenever her boss does something she finds unsound. Fortunately, she has James Ribs (Empoy) by her side, to keep her day sunny. JC de Vera’s Ginno Arnaldo is an attentive, over-conforming employee, but ambitious enough to aspire following Nathan’s track. And Dani, whose life is often challenged by its unfairness, has the best family she can dream of. Here, Carmi Martin plays as her mother, while John Lapuz plays her funny ‘angkol’, but essentially a father, both of whom playing devoted parents to her. Now, for a show with such extensive cast, it probably gets faced intertwining and overlapping narratives, but so far, surprisingly, it has not yet. Jadaone, at its helm, maneuvers the actors with an efficient ease, making them well-attuned to their characters’ shifting emotional articulations.
In recent years, romantic dramas of this lightness, charm audience with its abiding appeal, cleaving into the heavy-drama-saturated landscape of television, from time to time. True enough, ‘Since I Found You’ is a light romantic comedy, in the vein of past ‘hugot’ movies and TV shows, like ‘That Thing Called Tadhana’, and ‘On The Wings of Love’, and while SIFY radiates around a far more complex narrative, it remains to be a worthy and remarkable contender. Smart, affectionate, and charming, Since I Found You is surely one the best things in primetime television, today, auspicious enough to usher audience into the dreamier and more comforting worlds of late night viewing. Indeed, even the nights are better.
Since I Found You now airs weeknight on ABS-CBN Primetime Bida, after Bagani
