My Extraordinary (2020)

FAILED

A good attempt that failed miserably. If you havent seen this just stay away, otherwise youd be watching "The Sandee Show".

The good:
1. Good actors - Enzo and Darwin are good as Ken and Shake, Keijiee was also convincing as Heaven, even John as Romeo. I also love Yayo's subtle strong single mother acting (more on Yayo later);
2. There is a number 2?

The bad:
1. Sandee. BIG PERIOD;
2. The crying Yayo;
3. The deaths and that ghost-seeing character;
4. The second half of the story;
5. That horrible horrible Ken hospital makeup;
6. The title. How the hell did that title connect to this series? What was so extraordinary???

The moment it was implied that one character can see ghosts and then really saw one at the theater, i knew immediately that something was off with this show, and that things will turn sour. I was hoping i was wrong but damn, they had to go there and it immediately went downhill.

Tropes and my snide remarks aside, the truth is this series had so much potential in the beginning. The first few episodes can actually be considered good - the characters, the acting, the script, and specially the non-Covid plot ( Covid-related fictional stories from the Philippines is just so overused now). Remove the girl best friend and i would gladly give this show 9 gold stars out of 10. Why the heck then do i think the show failed?

It is because of the second half- when the two gay lead characters became extras and the two female characters became the leads. The first episode promised a well produced series with its two gay characters at the center of the story, not as villains, and not as a source of comedic and idiotic relief - something we havent seen in a normal Philippine primetime tv show. What they delivered instead was a confusing mess, and an attempt to give the veteran Yayo the heavy lifting in acting. The story shifted from a love story into a preachy information campaign - "End Homophobia Now" or your child or your friend could die.

The show would also like us to believe that the love between Ken and Shake is so EXTRAORDINARY, that heaven and earth will move just to bring them together even in the afterlife- something that wasnt even established enough before their demise . What little time they got in the first half is a beginning of a love story, at best, they're not even officially a couple yet. They could have spent a couple more episodes to make us believe that what they have is real love.

Also, this series became a semi-supernatural show with a cheap attempt to copy that "Sixth Sense" twist that you can see from miles away. Then they gave extended screentime for the wailing mother, and that best friend who is actually a selfish insecure b*tch. If i was the mother and after realizing what i did, i would have beaten that pretend angel into a pulp. That character lacked remorse and would forever be etched in my mind as one of the worst characters ever.

Overall im giving it a 5.5 just because of the good first half. Should you watch it? No you shouldnt. Will i rewatch? Hell no! Oh, did i mention i hate Sandee?

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It SHOULD have been the BL of the year, but...

My Extraordinary was heavily advertised as the first BL in The Philippines to be aired to a primetime national audience.
I was so excited from watching the trailer, it appeared to be a drama that would hit all the right chords and send a great message. Sadly, this was not the case.

Here is my list of pros and cons:

PROS:

ACTORS. The actors really brought it. Each one of them played their roles to a T, with special mention going to Yayo Aguila (Monica, Ken's mother), who gave a powerhouse performance and made me absolutely hate her character for most of the series.

MUSIC. Probably the best part of the series for me. The theme song is one of my favorites and Kenji Exaltacion's singing of everything was perfect. Also, hats off to director Vincent deJesus, who also composed the music.

ATYPICAL LEAD COUPLE. For once we have a lead couple that doesn't look like two Ken dolls (not that there's anything wrong with that... ). It was refreshing to see two pleasantly average looking guys as the leads, rather than the perfect teeth and skin, chiseled gym bodies, etc. Same with the actors that played Heaven and Romeo.

CINEMATOGRAPHY. The outdoor scenery was so nice and the wishing tree was beautiful.

ESAW. Although the thought of eating chicken intestines sounds absolutely revolting to me, it was nice to learn that "Esaw" is a delicacy in The Philippines.

CONS:

THE STORY. My biggest problem with the story was not the sad ending (although that is a factor, which I will explain later)... it was with the whole supernatural/Sandee sees dead people nonsense. The story would have been just fine -- and much better, in my opinion -- without it.

WRONG MESSAGE. Homophobia is always worth fighting against. But, let's face it, dramas about homophobia have been around for years. It's 2020, folks. People know very well that bigotry is wrong... that's not news. Especially, for a primetime (mostly straight) audience, it would be nice to show how great (and yes, NORMAL) same-sex couples can be. THAT'S the message that needs to be delivered these days... enlightenment, not negativity. As it is, what message does this send to young gays thinking of coming out of the closet? "Stay in the closet, kids. Your parents will freak out and if you think your life is bad now, prepare to be REALLY miserable!" Horrible message.

KEN/SHAKE RELATIONSHIP. Yes, they were adorable. But there was no progression of their relationship shown. One moment they barely know one another and suddenly they're majorly flirting. Huh? And, although I absolutely disliked the "together in the afterlife" deal, the bottom line is that they barely knew each other. They were just two people about to get together and see where it would lead, -- they never even had a real kiss -- yet, the series portrays them as the romantic couple of the century. Couldn't buy into that, sorry.

HE LIED: Director Vincent deJesus said, in the comment section of a reaction video, that no one would die in the series. He didn't have to say anything, but he chose to tell this blatant lie. NOT cool. I'm pissed about that.

I can't say I did not enjoy My Extraordinary. I DID enjoy it... mostly. For me, the best line in the series was this one (Ken to his mom): "Mom, I'm your son. You've always known. You were just the last to admit."

Too bad it was a dead gay character saying it to a mom that couldn't hear it.

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what was the point?

there are literally other ways to educate the audience about homophobia... so why?

such wasted potential when the first few episodes had a different feel and perhaps mAybe just maybe they'd show a hopeful tone and say "it is time to address these issues. it is normal to love who you love. no one has the right to tell you different. you are the only to have the right to say it. no one has the right to take that away from you. parents should support their children because they love them and not because of others' perception."

what did we get? a recycled rewritten plot of two gay people dying from a car accident before we get to even see anything else of their relationship.

why kill them off? you do know you could still deliver a way impactful message of two guys standing tall with their heads up and telling the world, "yes, we are who we are. deal with it."

where is the character development? we didn't get to see sandee own up to her mistakes... she literally was blaming shake (his ghost??? the audacity) and being overall on the other side of the plate when ken was in the hospital and even afterlife???? kevin telling her "it's not your fault." when it clearly is! she didn't have to out ken to his mom... then nothing as tragic as that would've happened... ken could've come out to his mom at his own pace

i can't even get myself to rate the rewatch value for this bc no way josé will i ever rewatch this again.

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Not a BL

I still believe that the story here is morally wrong. Dying in a car crash that was self inflicted because your upset that your mom found out your gay is no where near as tragic as a couple detaching from family and friends because they are not accepted. People die in car crashes everyday and it's not because they were upset that their mom found out they were gay. The crash here was a successful suicide and murder. It wasn't an accident. That fact was never mentioned. As I stated before they could have survived the crash and just disappeared and started a new life far away. Living detached from your son and friend is far more tragic. Anyway, this series ended with everyone being happy even the main characters. Oh yeah one minor point the main characters ARE DEAD! The messages here do not seem to address homophobia in any real essence to me. The messages for gay couples from this series is don't try to have a relationship if your family won't accept you because you'll die in a car crash. Messages to friends of gay guys (Sandee) whom they are secretly in love with the gay friend is: it's ok the tell the homophobic mom that their son is gay in a fit of deceit because he will will forgive after he's dead. That's twisted. It didn't even seem like Sandee had any remorse. Well for 30 seconds maybe, then she went to the other house and Ken instantly forgave her without any hesitation or discussion. Really??? I don't even think the Pope would have forgiven that easy. The mothers acceptance in the last episode was sophomoric at best. Seemed forced and too simplistic. There was an attempt but in my opinion it fell very short. The 1st 5 episodes had me very intrigued. Wow did this one make a wrong turn! I hope the second series is not a BL.

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My Extraordinary (2020): The First Pinoy BL Series on Philippine Free TV

“My Extraordinary” was the first Filipino (Pinoy) boys’ love (BL) series on Philippine free television. Given the conservative nature of mainstream Philippine free television, getting “My Extraordinary” (or at least its first episode) on TV5 was huge. While not as successful as other top-tier Pinoy BL series, “My Extraordinary” can be proud of its achievements in terms of acting performance and production value. It’s plot/storyline, however, has received mixed reviews.

Initially, the plot/storyline appeared promising because the lead characters, Shake and Ken, were worlds apart in terms of family background, school status, and economic situation. Regrettably, there wasn’t much development with regard to their relationship since it was cut short by their untimely deaths. Some say “My Extraordinary” was different for combining the BL genre with the paranormal genre but such effort has been done before. I can think of at a least three recent Thai BL series that dabbled on the otherworldly: “My Dream,” “He’s Coming To Me,” and “Ghost Runner.” “My Extraordinary,” nevertheless, had set itself apart from other Pinoy BL series for being one of the first to pursue the supernatural. Sad to say, its treatment of the unearthly wasn’t really that grounded on Pinoy culture. But more than the underwhelming handling of the ghostly turn of the plot/storyline, my uneasiness with “My Extraordinary” had to do with its use of the tiresome bury your gay trope in line with the equally wearisome too good for this problematic earth narrative that tackles homophobia and depicts gay characters as suffering victims without agency who die tragic deaths from an uncaring world. I know what lesson these types of realistic narratives are trying to impart -- that homophobia kills and ruins relationships -- but I expected more than this usual lesson from this series.

Luckily, the plot/storyline was salvaged by a solid script. Screenplay was literary yet very relatable. Yes, there were some preachy lines here and there but there were also substantial comedic and dramatic dialogues. Most of the funniest dialogues that I thoroughly enjoyed were delivered by Heaven. But my favorite lines were the more serious ones from my favorite characters of this series: brothers Ken and Lawrence. From the ghost Ken talking to sorrowful Monica, we got: “Mom, I’m your son. You’ve always known. You were just the last to admit.” And from Lawrence responding to Monica lamenting that Ken’s gay, we got: “So what if he is? What’s wrong with that?” Lawrence also said “So what if Kuya (older brother) is gay? Will fireballs fall from the sky? Is it the end of the world? If something bad happens to Kuya, I don’t think I can ever forgive Mom.”

From the lead cast members, Enzo and Darwin, to the veteran cast members, Yayo and Jojit, to the supporting cast members, Karissa, Z, and Keijee, acting was very good. I’m pleasantly surprised how natural and realistic the performance of the young actors were on this series. It’s a pity Keijee’s Heaven didn’t have the good character background he deserved while Karissa’s Sandee wasn’t really able to fully redeem herself.

Aside from the acting performance, “My Extraordinary” was also strong with reference to production value. The quality of production design, cinematography, sound engineering, and musical scoring was maintained all throughout the series. The soundtracks were all good. I especially liked “Hindi Ko ‘To Binalak” (I Didn’t Plan for This) and “Hindi Niya Alam” (He Doesn’t Know), both performed by Kenji Exaltacion. By the way, thanks to “My Extraordinary” for always acknowledging this account, Pinoy BL Series, on their post-credits.

Overall, I would certainly recommend rewatching “My Extraordinary.” If you’re looking for a top-tier Pinoy BL series with excellent acting performance and production value, “My Extraordinary” is an appropriate series for you. And watch out for its sequel “A Kiss 2 Remember” which I hope will have a much happier ending.

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Sad Truth

This BL is another one that draws on the sad truth of society. I couldn't handle how sad I was during the watch. I wish it didn't end the way it did, but sadly, sometimes that can happen and it does. Ken and Shake brought about a really cute love story that ends pretty tragically.

Let's Dive In.

This series only has 8 episodes that are no longer than about 25 minutes, so I wish that we could've seen more of them and their story, while also possibly seeing more of the supporting characters. The acting wasn't the best, but it's not the worst I've seen, and it gets a bit better by the end. Key and Shake had really nice chemistry from the very beginning. I definitely recommend a watch, but it is pretty heavy, so be aware of that.

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Ended up Being Pretty Ordinary

The series started out with potential as the first BL shown on prime time television in the Philippines. The characters did not look like movie stars, there weren't any gratuitous shots of shirtless men with ripped muscles. One of the characters comes from poverty, so many potential positive messages were discarded by employing the bury your gays trope in order to redeem heterosexual transgressions and to finger wag about homophobia being a killer. This series possibly sends a message that gay people should stay in the closet because it is much too dangerous to live their authentic lives. Your parents will be against you, your best friend will betray you and you will lose your life.

Ken and Shake meet in school and develop a relationship. They are comfortable enough where Ken practically sits on Shake's lap, and they hold hands during the play Ken wrote. Even though this doesn't take place in 1920, Ken's friend Sandee, doesn't realize that gay men are not attracted to women, so she outs Ken and Shake's relationship to Ken's mother, who immediately flips out and starts yelling and screaming at Ken about rutting in the grass (they were sitting on a blanket in a selfie) and to get home first thing in the morning. This leads to a car accident where both Shake and Ken were killed. Some people complained about lack of relationship development. This is because we got treated to 3 episodes (out of 8, almost half) where Sandee and Mom are redeemed and everything is okay because the dead guys are now frolicking in heaven.

In reality, it would have been better to show that in spite of Mom's homophobia, that Ken and Shake built a life together. Ken's mom would see him happy with Shake, and making a decision to love her son and support him. That would show that homophobia doesn't always win.

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Produced Like A Teleserye

I do want to mention a very important thing before I start, I recommend this show for people who are more into soap operas or dramatic storyline acting as this had traditional teleseryes (common tv type of series in the Philippines) tropes which might be the reason why a lot of people either liked it or disliked it.

I’ve had this on my PTW list and I decided to watch it because I wanted to lessen my list and I enjoyed it myself—maybe because it was something I was familiar with. I grew up watching a lot of teleseryes (even now) so I wasn’t as disappointed by the outcome of their story.
A little background on teleseryes: teleseryes are known to be dramatic and have realistic but unrealistic story, dialogues, acting, pacing, delivery etc... which is most likely why a lot of people were frustrated with the tragic ending and why it ended how it did but it’s a familiar thing in teleseryes.
We have that dramatic mother who doesn’t want to accept what their children does unless it’s something she wants to accept, a best friend who we know will betray, tragic love story etc... it’s all familiar in teleserye so in that sense for a lot of people it felt hostile. This wasn’t something they expected.
This might’ve been a tragic story but I wished they made it tragic in a way no one died. In older shows where there were LGBTQ+ representatives, they almost always end up with tragic endings such as death and so, seeing it here too made me feel queazy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s alright to kill characters but something about the death of Shake and Ken was off-putting for me.

I also want to mention the frustrations I had with the characterization. Sandee did not deserve to be forgiven. She outed him to his mother and if you have basic common sense, you should know that you should never out someone as that is their personal choice. Are you them? No? Then use your brain.
Even when he died his mother could accept he did but not the fact that he was gay? How inhuman can you get? But props to Lawrence, he was a great brother who truly stood beside his brother’s side.
This might’ve been a tragic story but I wished they made it tragic in a way no one died. In older shows where there were LGBTQ+ representatives, they almost always end up with tragic endings such as death and so, seeing it here too made me feel queazy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s alright to kill characters but something about the death of Shake and Ken was off-putting for me.

Yes, this had the most unrealistic storyline and it never went into detail about the things we thought it would go into detail about (such as homophobia, acceptance—yes the acceptance scene in the end did not get me at all). It merely scraped the iceberg but overall I found myself enjoying the show.

I think most people who would enjoy this shows are people who can tolerate or enjoy melodramatic pieces and tragic but happy endings. Overall, I suggest you don’t take the show too seriously and maybe you’ll enjoy it.

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Not a BL

Going into this show, the one thing you need to know is that this is not a BL. At least, it is not a BL in thr strictest sense. Instead, this is a BL-stylized story about the dangers of homophobia.

The story is unoriginal but the acting elevates the story. I found some scenes to be well written while others were a bit cringey. Karissa Tonglico (Sandee) stands out as one of the best actors in this show in my opinion. The two times I got emotional was because of her. She is good. Both male leads and supporting actor Z Mejias are excellent too and do a good job with mostly predictable and corny lines. Darwin Yu is believable as the nerdy Shake.

I did not cry much in this series because I didn't feel a strong connection to the characters. Sandee and the baby brother are the only characters I seemed to connect with.. I think this is the fault with the story: it expects us to care about characters we hardly know. The director here needed to put more weight on the BL elements and let the chips fall in place for his homophobia-is-evil tale. His message was loud and clear but it overshadowed all the BL elements.

Overall I would not recommend this series to anyone unless they love tragedy and drama. Definitely, there are other much better BLs out there.

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If M.Night directed a BL

I was checked out from the beginning. It really didn't have any redeeming qualities.

- The audio was awful
+ the acting was OK
- the story was confused

It was some terrible Queer Romeo & Juliette story written around a shock ending that wasn't a shock. It was just disappointment and fell so so flat on its face. I really hate trashing a show but it has no clear direction and was confusing.

The actors as usual tried their hardest but even the best chefs can't make a 5 star meal or of McDonald's and the characters were just terribly written.

I was looking forward to this but i honestly can't think of a reason to even recommend it to anyone. There's hundreds of BL and dozens of bad ones to watch ahead of this. It's not even worth watching to see why it was just so MEH?

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A Profoundly Poignant Story

This is a beautiful and stunning (short) BL series. Of course, there are some flaws with its story and production, but they did not decrease from its overall theme or intensity of the story. It is a story about a friendship that happens by serendipitous (extraordinary if you will) means. That is the point to this story, really. So, this story resonated deeply with me as an intense love story that was never meant to be fulfilled in its corporeal form. In every sense of the word, they were a couple deeply in love, no matter how short their time together was. Whether this was the message or not, I was deeply and profoundly moved by this story that I was left in tears. (My husband had to console me). Those who did not find this story to their liking or gave it poor ratings, did not see its big picture or its impact. It indeed captured love for a different realm. You can read my full review of this profoundly moving series at ppbongi.medium.com.

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