Angel Locsin in character as Rhian of ‘The General’s Daughter.’ ABS-CBN/Dreamscape
MANILA — Finally “reporting for duty” on Monday in her first teleserye lead role in five years, Angel Locsin wowed viewers with a comeback performance befitting her “Action-Drama Queen” title, in the pilot episode of “The General’s Daughter.”
The Dreamscape production, which debuted through a worldwide simulcast on ABS-CBN’s traditional and online channels, opened with Locsin’s Rhian infilitrating a foreign coast guard ship to rescue Filipino fishermen.
Just moments prior, the fishermen had asserted their rights, despite threats from the foreign forces, to earn a living within the territorial waters of the Philippines.
In a spectacle said to be a taste of what’s to come in the series, a scuba diving Rhian emerged from the water, climbed the ship, and stealthily took down patrol guards — chronicled through fast-paced, sweeping shots of the action at sea.
Rhian (Angel Locsin) rescues Filipino fishermen from abusive foreign coast guards in the pilot episode of ‘The General’s Daughter.’ ABS-CBN
All but one of the Filipinos managed to escape safely, leading Rhian to trade the captured boy with a coast guard officer she also got a hold of. The negotiation, however, put Rhian in a dangerous position. Trailing her compatriots, she ran but not far enough to evade bullets from the foreigners.
“Kung handa ka magbuwis ng buhay, kanino mo ito ibibigay?” Rhian narrated as she was shown bloodied and floating, before being washed ashore to Barrio Sto. Francisco.
There, she was found by Elai (Arjo Atayde), a young man with autism, and taken in by his mother, Isabelle (Maricel Soriano), who would help her recover physically.
Rhian, however, appeared to have temporarily lost her memory. Her combat instincts, which kicked in when she defended Elai from market goons, brought more worry to already suspicious residents who didn’t approve of Isabelle’s trustful regard for the stranger.
The unrest caused Rhian to voluntarily leave Sto. Francisco, and soon parted ways with Isabelle and Elai. She promised to repay and visit the two, with whom she has already built a close relationship.
Unknown to Rhian, officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines made aware of the ship infiltration have already found their way to the coastal community, inching closer to helping her regain her memory.
In promotional trailers for “The General’s Daughter,” Rhian has been revealed to be a soldier raised to kill her own father, putting her in conflicts as she navigates a double life.
A trained assassin embedded in the military, she finds her once steely focus uncertain when her target and his family start regarding her with a kind of love she, until that point, has not felt.
Cast members of ‘The General’s Daughter,’ led by Angel Locsin, pose on stage after a January 15 press conference. Michael Bagtas, ABS-CBN News
Yet to make their appearance in the pilot episode are screen veterans Albert Martinez, Tirso Cruz III, Eula Valdez, and Janice de Belen. Also part of the cast are Paulo Avelino, JC de Vera, Ryza Cenon, and the breakout tandem of Loisa Andalio and Ronnie Alonte.
By the episode’s conclusion on Monday, “The General’s Daughter” dominated trending topics on Twitter. Aside from the series’ official hashtag, Locsin and Atayde’s names made the list. “Darna” and “Action Drama Queen,” references to Locsin’s high-octane scenes, also ranked in the top 10.
Sharing a screenshot of the trending list, the comebacking Locsin tweeted to her followers: “From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. Wow.”