watch suggestions for the 2 main couples
Overall: beautiful vistas and sweeping musical scores with innuendo that goes on way too long and abusive exes that I care nothing about, it's fairly on brand for Oxin. 10 episodes about 45 minutes each. Airing on Oxin Films YouTube Channel https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcQaxIPsTWdNrlWiw7D9H3Fjc3ycc7S3A&si=DcyQk4UKyhaKD5L0 Oxin also produced: My Day, Rainbow Prince, My Story, Our Story, Tie the NotContent Warnings: non con kiss, manhandling, stalking, hit, harassment, non con touching
Watch Suggestions (gets rid of love triangles and evil exes/wannabe boyfriends)
- watch episode 1
- watch episode 2: part 2, part 3, part 4 beginning to 2:20 and 6 to the end
- watch episode 3: part 1 beginning to 10, start part 2 at 2:30 and end at 8:25, part 4 5-end
- watch episode 4: part 1, part 2, part 3 beginning to 3:30, part 4 2:30-7:70, 10:35-11:20
- watch episode 5: part 2 (if you want to cackle about a voice over like nature documentary the whole thing) or 9 to the end, part 3 2:20-4:20, part 4 4:30-5:20
What I Liked
- visuals
- horses/characters named after characters from a major company
- the setting/vistas
- I did cackle a couple of times
- intimate scenes
- production value has improved
Room For Improvement
- many characters introduced in the first episode, care nothing about the evil ex/wannabe boyfriend characters
- the 3 stooges are not funny at all
- innuendos can be fun but the frequency and duration make them veer into cringey territory
Was this review helpful to you?
And although his true intentions remain in the dark for much of the series, both for the viewer and for himself, we will later witness that his routine reveals something more than the mere logistics of his life: we understand that he harbors resentment towards a father who wants the young man to inherit his company, which is merging with another, so he has decided to escape his responsibilities. The parent responds to his hostility with a prolonged search for his son to avoid being removed in his absence.
We will also learn that she recently had a breakup with her boyfriend, so possibly the getaway is part of forgetting a failed courtship. What he intends to do when he reaches his destination is a mystery of course to us and probably also to Fourth himself, whose anguish demands comfort as soon as rest for his tormented soul.
Upon his arrival at the airport in the Philippine city of Zamboanga, Junjun, a young rider from Sky Valley Park, is waiting for him, the hotel located in the picturesque mountain spot chosen by Fourth to hide out. If the visitor is somber, mysterious and abrupt, the local is extroverted and optimistic, giving rise to a structure in which opposite poles repel and attract each other in equal measure.
Junjun maintains a routine of coming and going in his daily tasks, feeding and training the resort's horses, or keeping the park that surrounds the hotel complex clean, but his monotony and serenity are broken with the appearance of a kind of incarnation of a prince out of a fairy tale.
While a loving Fourth tries to distance himself because he will eventually have to return to Manila to take over the company, as well as considering that Junjun is heterosexual, so she could never develop romantic feelings for him, the resort worker cannot help but fall in love, although he will also be forced to fight against the pressure that Nathalie will exert, a girlfriend with whom he has not been able to officially break up, and who will appear on the scene with the intention of winning him back.
This is how in a paradisiacal and enviable work space full of queer characters, the viewer eagerly awaits the turn in the gray and quiet life of Junjun (Jaime Lucero) to be beautifully narrated, after the arrival of Fourth, a role assumed by Tim Tuppil, in an interpretation far from what we are used to in the series 'Si Andy, Si Lauren or Si Peng?' and 'Our Story', since he had always assumed the role of the top boy, aggressive and even with a touch of villainy.
Almost right with Fourth, Paris (Angelgrace America), a vlogger from Manila, arrives at the resort, who is also seeking distance from her angry and aggressive ex-boyfriend, who does not accept the breakup. Paris will begin a lesbian relationship with Taylor (Lienel Navidad), the daughter of Mrs. Corazón (Dovee Park), the owner of the resort.
The always necessary antagonistic figure soon appears, this time assumed by Jabó, a character played by Jericho Del Rosario ('My Story', 'Our Story'), who also works as assistant director, the rich and arrogant local who will try take over Junjun's workplace thanks to a risky and bad decision by Taylor.
But he will not act alone against the protagonists, because Marcus (Jaime Ramada, 'Twinkle, Twinkie, Little Star', 'Osmosis'), Paris's ex-boyfriend, adds to his evil.
'Sky Valley' is a current, modern series and is aimed at a young audience that is still trying to find characters that represent their reality.
Many of the scenes in this story take place in the guests' places of recreation and the hosts' work places where belonging or not turns out to be crucial to the mood.
'Sky Valley' is a current, modern series and is aimed at a young audience that is still trying to find characters that represent their reality.
Many of the scenes in this story take place in the guests' places of recreation and the hosts' work places where belonging or not turns out to be crucial to the mood.
The cast, mostly young, reflects the life of these kids who could be the youth of any country: their cell phone is an extension of their hands, going out in groups, showing the world as they perceive it on social networks, the conflicts of workers and between them and their bosses, family ties, with situations close and real to those of today's youth.
Acceptance as each one is and respect for the other are the central axes of the series that will advance the lives of these two young strangers who start their relationship on the wrong foot after a series of setbacks, but also explores the range of colors of the rest of the characters that accompany them on a journey of discovery.
The music, composed by Kayowdee, includes the diegetic, that is, the music performed by the cast members guitar in hand or in the night shows that enliven the lives of the resort guests, performed by the characters Timo (Sean Perez), Simba (Christian Patricio), Pumbaa (Voltaire Cabe) and the actress herself who plays Taylor, introduce the viewer to this romance.
'Sky Valley' is directed and written by Xion Lim, the Filipino actor, director, screenwriter and producer who was responsible for carrying out series such as 'My Day', 'Rainbow Prince', 'My Story', 'Our Story' and 'Dear Miss Becky', among others, but who also fails to capture the audience on this occasion as he lacks the voice to delineate characters and resolve conflicts, for not meeting the viewer's expectations by not achieving an adequate closure after a spectacular and powerful.
The director uses, once again, very attractive actors to give life to his protagonists, he gives a lot of importance to the landscape, but he likes to focus the story on many characters, whom he does not draw well on paper, and this detracts from the lack of a deepening into the construction and history of the characters, both main and secondary, the latter also important for their weight in the events.
Likewise, the viewer lacks knowledge of the causes of the characters' internal conflicts, which if known could be valuable to better understand their realities. I am referring, for example, to why Fourth does not want to commit to the family business, the lack of connection with her father, her past and the failed relationship with her ex-boyfriend, these reasons for her presence at the resort and what gives rise to to the unleashing of events; the reason why Paris needs to get away from her boyfriend and the past left behind in Manila; Taylor and her mother's relationship, among others.
Junjun, Fourth, Paris and Taylor don't seem to me to be characters with a life of their own. The intimacy that emerges between the four main characters does not develop organically when their performances are so flat. A plot as tenuous as the one portrayed in the series requires much stronger characters to sustain itself. A lot of potential gone down the drain.
It's a shame that what should be a passionate intensity between the two male protagonists loses steam almost from the very beginning, before a rather artificial conflict gives rise to the relationship between the two girls.
In a series that should be all about character and setting, 'Sky Valley' falls short of the former but succeeds in the latter. The beautiful landscapes, both mountain and beach, end up forming an aesthetically coherent background for interesting characters who are otherwise not developed as much as they should.
The story aims to be an emotional and psychological journey, where the characters search for answers and comfort in the midst of their personal problems, anguish and uncertainty. But the series lacks a well-constructed narrative and compelling performances; Even so, it invites us to reflect on the complexity of loving relationships and the search for identity in a constantly changing world.
An vomiting ending, this couldn't end worse. After a promising start, even knowing the author of the work, it was in constant decline until it sank into the garbage dump of bad series. I was totally disappointed and bewildered. In my opinion, the most vile and execrable thing about the director. The worst Pinoy BL series.
Was this review helpful to you?
