After months of waiting, the hottest and highly anticipated primetime series of ABS-CBN this 2022 has finally arrived – A Family Affair. And just on its pilot week, we were immediately served with a promising narrative and compelling performances from the ensemble cast that would surely make us hooked to it.

The first episode premiered last June 27 with a mystery, as we watched two unidentified men lifting a seemingly bloodied and lifeless body and then throwing it to the sea in the opening scene.

It eventually shifted to the picturesque bird’s eye view of a portion of Masbate, wherein the series was shot, then to a rodeo festival scene wherein Freddie (Edu Manzano) was gleefully watching his second son Paco (Gerald Anderson) as he showed off his skills in toppling down a cow and riding a bull to defend his title as the Rodeo King.

We were also quickly treated to leading lady Ivana Alawi’s splendor and sexiness as her character Cherry Red (Ivana Alawi) milked a cow, cooked caldereta and caramelado, rode an ATV, and served her bosses and their guests in a skimpy dress. We arguably found ourselves amused as well by Cherry Red’s kulitan moments with Paco and Seb (Jake Ejercito).

With the mention of Dave’s (Sam Milby) name while everyone was around the dining table for lunch, Cherry got instantly distracted as she reminisced about her impeded romance with Dave in their younger years. In her conversation with Paco, we were also able to find out that he also has admiration for her, as he asked her if he could be his girlfriend a few years ago.

Although her stepmother Everlyn (Ana Abad Santos) has been pushing her to simply get hitched to one of the four Estrella brothers as she perceives it as the practical and easy way for them to have a comfortable life, Cherry insists that she’s not that type of girl and wants to succeed in life through her own efforts.

Cherry’s complicated history with the Estrella family started when the latter’s late matriarch Carol (Dawn Zulueta) bequeathed to her the ancestral house situated inside their hacienda’s premises many years ago. She almost didn’t accept it and wished to be given work instead because she did not want to accept anything from someone she did not know personally. But her stepmom objected and reminded her that they’re in dire need of a decent dwelling place.

Living with the Estrellas was initially not 100% easy for her as Dave used to hate her. He presumed her as an opportunist, which he later on realized was wrong all along as she actually cares so much about their family. He eventually accepted her and even fell in love with her.

As both Dave and Paco harbor romantic feelings towards Cherry, there has been tension between the two brothers. Even though she seemingly loved him, too, Dave still got extremely jealous when he caught Paco professing his love for Cherry. That fueled his vexation towards her, up until he went to Manila to study and returned home.

She noticed how he’d been avoiding her ever since coming back and had the chance to confront him about it when he toured him around their farm and discussed its daily operations – a task given to him by Freddie. And that instantly changed upon finding out that she and Paco are actually not in a relationship yet, as it calmed his raging heart.

As the Estrella brothers’ reunion was indeed a sight to behold, their lovely bond is going to be shaken up by Drew’s (Jameson Blake) drug addiction and the brewing rivalry between Paco and Dave not only in running their family business, but in Cherry’s heart as well.

Apart from Dave, another special person in Cherry’s life made a surprise return – her long-lost father Panyong (Lito Pimentel). Unbeknown to her, her dad has known the Estrellas for a long time as he and Freddie had an interesting history. It was revealed that the dairy farm was a brainchild of Panyong and his business partner, which Freddie adapted, and that the piece of land they were contesting to be rewarded to them many years ago was later on acquired by him.

While there seemed to be tension between them, Panyong was still grateful for the kindness their family showed to his unica hija. Besides, Freddie also hired him to be their new security guard and started immediately.

After years of waiting for Cherry, Paco finally mustered the courage to ask for her sweet “yes”. Unfortunately, Dave was the first one to do so as he approached on her way to meeting Paco and ‘fessed up that he’s been in love with her for a long time now. Seeing them together truly broke Paco’s heart and infuriated him, especially when Dave asked him to already let go of Cherry.

One night, Panyong was able to retrieve a letter from one of Carol’s belongings that was left in their house. It was addressed to him and disclosed that the death of his wife was actually not an accident, as Freddie intentionally burned their farmhouse to force Panyong to leave and for him to acquire the lot it occupied.
Fueled by wrath, Panyong quickly rushed to the Estrella mansion to supposedly confront Freddie about it.

Drew got rattled upon learning it, thinking that Panyong would report him to his dad after being caught sneaking into Freddie’s office. He infuriatingly approached him, which resulted in a heated confrontation between them and Drew smashing Panyong with a brick on his head multiple times that killed him on the spot.
Meanwhile, Paco and Cherry had a heart-to-heart talk about her relationship with Dave. He vowed to take her away from him once he hurt her or made her cry. Even though it’s difficult for him, he tearfully accepted it as he’s willing to do anything for her.

Speaking of Dave, he also got scared upon discovering the crime committed by his younger brother, who was high on drugs that time. He initially prodded him to surrender to the authorities and tell the truth, but got scared and took pity on Drew. And the next thing we saw, Panyong’s lifeless body was being lifted then hurled by two unknown men to the sea – the scene that we saw in the pilot episode.

The next morning, Panyong’s body was recovered by the authorities, which truly shocked the townsfolk, especially Everlyn and Cherry. On the other hand, Drew fearfully confessed to Freddie, who confronted him and Dave, that it was him who killed Panyong. As the firstborn insisted to let the authorities know about it, Freddie told him to keep mum about it not just for the sake of Drew, but for their whole family and business, too.

A Family Affair’s first five episodes indeed brought us to an extreme rollercoaster ride of emotions. We arguably found ourselves smiling or even laughing as we watched the fun shenanigans of the lead characters, getting kilig on the moments shared by Cherry Red with Paco and Dave, being moved by the heartwarming moments, and having our breaths bated during the thrilling altercations.

We’re also impressed by the unmistakable chemistry of the ensemble cast, particularly of the headliners Ivana Alawi, Gerald Anderson, Sam Milby, Jake Ejercito, and Jameson Blake, who are all doing a great job in portraying their respective roles. This may not be her first acting stint, but Ivana’s star truly shines as she’s able to astound us with her performance as the gorgeous Cherry Red. Her four leading men are also able to show different facets of them that we probably have not seen yet in their previous projects.

The appearance of Ivana’s younger sister Mona as the younger version of her was surely a delight to fans who usually see her nowadays in either her ate or kuya’s vlogs. We were also surprised by the cameo role of veteran actress Dawn Zulueta who we haven’t seen on-screen for a long time now.

Aside from the stellar performances of the actors’ and the whole Star Creatives production team, we also couldn’t help but admire their choice of setting, which was Masbate. Its lush, picturesque sceneries truly complement the beauty of this narrative and are truly a feast to the eyes!

Will the truth prevail in the next episodes of A Family Affair? Well, let’s all find out by not missing an episode of it every night on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z Channel 11 and iWantTFC.