Hearts are already broken as early as A Soldier’s Heart aired its penultimate episode, which marked the most heartbreaking death of a character, in the entire series. But hope springs in the finale, leaving its faithful audience some sense of optimism and a beautiful promise to look forward to.
The final week of the action-drama series is filled with beautifully choreographed battle sequences, a departure from the usual indoor and courtroom scenes, which the series resorted to when outdoor filming is no longer viable. No thanks to the pandemic, of course.
In its last five days, the series saw the highly-anticipated reunion of brothers Alex (Gerald Anderson) and Saal (Sid Lucero), an encounter that can only end in a bloody duel between the two. Alex Marasigan’s and Saal’s final moments were haunting and chilling, but in a way, beautiful as it engendered a beautiful message: that the long-aspired peace between Christians and Muslims, is possible. One can imagine how difficult for showrunners it was to deliver this sentiment of hope, given how the ABS-CBN itself has been repeatedly denied to feel the same optimism. But in A Soldier’s Heart, that dream was beautifully articulated by the show’s parting message.
Throughout its short but memorable run, the series dared to tackle several socially relevant themes, and controversial motifs including homosexuality in the armed forces, and the ever-existing threats of separatism in Muslim Mindanao. It went from subtle illustration of anomalies to the screaming manifestation of malpractices in the army. Viewers were also mesmerized by how a show filled with harsh themes imparted a very neutral perspective about homosexuality within the army.
The partnership of Phil (Jerome Ponce) and Benjie (Yves Flores) attracted viewers who got smitten with their relationship, which the final episode hinted would only grow to something more than just plain friendship. The finale also saw the resolution of several complications in the plot, including Alex’s two mothers finally setting aside their differences, and estranged friends Raul (Mon Confiado) and Fonti (Nor Domingo) finding a way to fix their broken brotherhood.
One can say that A Soldier’s Heart’s final message is too idealistic, and couldn’t be realized through the means it aspired to use. There is a resonating dream left in the closing frames of the series, one it tried to make sense of, since it began airing in February, and one its loyal viewers can always hold on to in moments of heartache and despair.
A SOLDIER’S HEART is available for streaming on iWantTFC.com and iWantTFC streaming site. The last few episodes are also available to Philippine audiences via ABS-CBN Entertainment YouTube Channel.
