My Husband’s Lover

My Husband's Lover is a Filipino drama television series created and developed by Suzette Doctolero and produced by GMA Network. It premiered on June 10, 2013 on the network's coveted Primetime block. The series stars Carla Abellana, Tom Rodriguez and Dennis Trillo as the main characters. Carolyn Galve serves as the executive producer of show and Dominic Zapata directed the series. It is credited as the very first gay-themed series in Philippine television due to the series' central subject of homosexual relationships and infidelity. The show has multiple continuing story lines that tackle sensitive yet relevant social issues like homosexual and bisexual relationships, homophobia and the society's discrimination against homosexuals, infidelity, pre-marital sex and the consequences of early or unplanned marriages. It also tackles the importance of family, friendship, integrity and love. Vincent Soriano (Tom Rodriguez) got his girlfriend Lally Agatep (Carla Abellana) pregnant while they were still in college. So they decided to get married even if the two of them were not ready for the responsibility and Vincent's mother Elaine was very much against it. Thus Lally's married life was never smooth-sailing because of Elaine. But for the love for her husband, Lally endures the hardships in dealing with her mother-in-law. However, when Lally got pregnant on their second child, Vincent suddenly became distant and cold towards her. Lally felt that Vincent was being unfair to her so she decided to leave together with their children. Vincent loves his kids so much, so he tried to win back his wife by proposing and this time getting married again with a blessing from the church. Unknown to Lally, Vincent is keeping a secret from her; it is also a secret he has kept from everyone else ever since he was young. Vincent was a closeted homosexual man who never planned to come out because he was afraid that it'll destroy his family. However, everything changed when he crosses paths with Eric del Mundo (Dennis Trillo) again – his greatest love. Unlike Vincent, Eric is openly gay. But, just like Vincent, he still is in love with him. Eventually, the two men start an affair and Vincent tries to hide the affair from Lally by showering her with gifts and attention. However, Lally's intuition tells her that something is wrong even though everything in her married life seems fine. That's when she starts to investigate and she eventually learns of Vincent's darkest secret. II. Audience Reception My reception Well, at first I didn’t like the idea of My Husband’s Lover because I’m not a homosexual, and I don’t like homosexuals too, so I didn’t watch the Pilot Episodes of My Husband’s Lover. But then, my Mom used to watched television after work, it just so happens that she turned the channel to channel 7 (GMA) and the show was My Husband’s Lover, she watched for a few minutes, after the show she got attracted by the story. She goes by everyday watching the show. I have no choice but to watch too, since we only have one television and I have nothing to do. The show’s story is good as it is. I just don’t like the theme of the show which is about homosexuals. But by watching it every day, I came to like the show. I even got excited when Lally is about to discover her husband’s secret. I think I liked the show because of the professionalism of the actors, and the moral lesson given to us by the story itself. There are many moral lessons in this story; you just need to dig deep into the words spoken by the actors. B. Others reception Interviewee: Maria Aileen Icay She said, â€Å"For the past few days, this drama has been consistently topping the trends and even the ratings despite its unusual story concept. This drama has taken our country by storm. We define it along with the veterans in the Philippine entertainment industry as â€Å"Phenomenal†. This drama that I’m so proud of for is the most talked-about†My Husband’s Lover†. Primarily it’s because this drama is a gem! For a drama fan like me, this drama has set the bar higher for upcoming Philippine dramas and is a history in itself. This is the first drama that tackles same-sex relationship in a very realistic manner. Aside from that, the family issues this drama portrays are something that most of us can empathize with or can even relate to. It’s just sad that some people refrain from watching this masterpiece just because they are a fan of the rival network or they’re a Roman Catholic or they are against same-sex relationships. † Interviewee: Gia Francia Leron She said, â€Å"I just love this drama because everything is very well executed. The story, script, acting and cinematography. No drama is perfect but this is by far the best Filipino drama I’ve ever seen in my watching experience† Interviewee: John Kenneth Sarampote He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover such an extraordinary and groundbreaking drama is the fact that it defies standards. We see Vincent and Eric, all masculine and manly, identify themselves as gay men. We see that their relationship is rooted on love and not on monetary co-dependence. We see that there are many layers of characters that define a gay man. We see two gay men struggle prejudice that pushes them to loathe themselves and hide who they really are. We see that all people, no matter what gender, struggle in their own way. † Interviewee: John Paul Luis He said, â€Å"I’ve never been a Kapuso viewer actually. I liked the show even before it aired on television because of the theme, the theme song, the story. Everything. I also liked the show because I can relate to Vincent (Tom Rodriguez) especially on his life, the part wherein he hides his real identity just because his father is a retired general. I envy Eric (Dennis Trillo) because of the acceptance of his mom that he is Gay and her mom is just okay with it. I pity Lally (Carla Abellana) because right from the start, Vincent had been lying to her. What I can only say is that this show made me cry. All of the emotions are already here. Interviewee: Maurice Kim Lim He said, â€Å"What makes My Husband’s Lover unique is its central struggle — that of a wife witnessing the disintegration of her marriage with her closeted gay husband, whose failure to come to terms with his homosexuality gives Filipinos a venue to discuss pressing LGBT issues. â€Å"