Two months since it premiered on Viu in November 2024, “How To Spot A Red Flag” has now arrived on the shores of free TV as it began airing on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5 last January 27, Monday. Thus, more avid Kapamilya viewers and cast members’ fans got to experience the kilig and good vibes it has been bringing.

Just on its first five episodes, the series immediately captivated us not only with the kilig, comedic, and heartwarming scenes it offered, but also with the undeniable beauty of La Union and the formidable chemistry of its lead stars Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan (a.k.a. “DonBelle”). The inaugural episode commenced by giving us the premise of the narrative and introducing to us the characters of Cha and Matt, along with the other personalities surrounding them, by providing glimpses into their lives.

Belle’s character Cha Fontanilla is the gutsy owner of the humble coffee shop named Ayat Blends, while Donny’s Matt Flores is a balikbayan who works at the prestigious Legacy Café after finishing his MBA abroad. They may be treading on different paths, but the universe has a quirky way of connecting them—by putting both of them as victims of catfishing orchestrated by Matt’s best buddy JR, played by perennial onscreen third wheel Jameson Blake.

JR’s secret started to get unraveled when Cha and Matt accidentally bumped into each other at a restaurant as the latter was about to meet his girlfriend Christine (Kira Balinger) for their anniversary. Oblivious, confused, and furious, Cha suddenly slapped Matt after he denied knowing her when she claimed that she was his “ka-talking stage.” Matt was also slapped by Christine, assuming that he was indeed cheating on her.

Just when Matt thought that he and Christine were already fine after he was able to convince her that he was completely unaware of what happened, she suddenly broke up with him to pursue her calling of doing missionary work in Uganda that will last for five years. Heartbroken, Matt couldn’t do anything but accept it and let her go.

In the second episode, videos of Matt and Cha’s heated confrontation spread like wildfire on social media the following day, which prompted her parents, Ime (Benjie Paras) and Vivian (Mylene Dizon), to reprimand her for going on a date without telling them. On the other hand, Matt got cancelled online by netizens, so he immediately acted upon it by carrying out a personal investigation to search for the culprit. With the help of the picture he got from the poser’s account, he found out that it’s actually JR.

Matt then had a surprise and cute encounter with Cha at the Legacy Café as she attempted to uncover the secret behind the trending coffee and orange mix formulated by their café. She might have besmirched it out of her anger, but she actually liked it, too, so she diligently tried to copy it and subsequently launched it as a new drink at Ayat Blends. Meanwhile, Matt confronted JR about what he discovered and encouraged him to finally stop using him and ‘fess up already to Cha.

That was how we found out that he actually attempted before, but he suddenly got turned off upon learning that he’s the son of Leandro Valdez, Sr. Since Matt hadn’t told Cha yet that he was not really the one she was talking to, JR pleaded with him not to expose their secret yet, but Matt advised him to fix his own mess.

The third episode began where the previous episode left off, with Matt swinging by Ayat Blends to speak with Cha to apologize for what happened the other night and asked for another chance. But Cha refused to accept his apologies and his bribe, then shooed him away. Viewers were arguably surprised and bewildered by Matt’s sudden cordial interaction with Cha, and it was revealed that JR was able to compel him to continue pretending during their conversation.

JR reminded Matt that he saved him from getting drowned when they were still kids, which left a scar on his left shoulder. Matt’s friendliness towards Cha continued that evening as he once again dropped by her café and helped him figure out the right formula for the new “cocofee” (coconut + coffee) drink that she was about to introduce by tasting every mix that he concocted, which got his stomach upset.

When quizzed by Matt anew about his true feelings for Cha in the fourth episode, JR confessed that he was actually at the restaurant when the viral confrontation happened, for he was supposed to finally admit the truth. But he didn’t muster the courage to show up anymore upon seeing how pissed she was about getting catfished, afraid that she would never forgive him once she found out.

Despite being warned by her parents about seeing the guy who catfished her, Cha still invited him to go on a simple beach date and go surfing on her day off. Since he’s not into surfing, Matt pleaded again to JR to ‘fess up already, but the latter refused and taught him how to surf instead. Even though her father discouraged her from pushing through with their date, Cha got the blessing of her mother to see Matt.

However, while both of them were able to conquer and enjoy the crashing waves while on their surfboards, their beach and surf date in the fifth episode didn’t go as planned as Cha and Matt suffered from sprain. Just when we thought that it would turn into a complete disaster, their injury only brought them closer to each other as they agreed to walk side-by-side while their sprained legs were tied together with a handkerchief.

Due to their terrible sprains, both Cha and Matt were rushed to the clinic by their respective parents, wherein they once again met. Knowing that Cha’s father would be mad to see them together, her best friend Maxie (Esnyr Ranollo) shoved both of them into the nearest room for them to hide. While inside and their faces only a few inches away from each other, Cha began to realize that Matt was really different from the guy she was chatting with as she recalled Matt’s "poser" telling her that he liked coffee and surfing, but those were not what she witnessed.

Comments from netizens

“How To Spot A Red Flag” really had a promising start as it immediately captured the attention of the viewers. But as the story continues to unfold, we discovered that this is definitely more than just kilig and good vibes for this also has a heart, which can be seen through the interactions of DonBelle’s characters, Matt and Cha, with their respective parents in the first five episodes.  

As we’re used to seeing them portray tough and, sometimes, antagonist roles in their past acting projects, it’s totally refreshing to see both seasoned actresses Mylene Dizon and Angel Aquino in less serious and less dramatic mother roles. At the same time, we couldn’t help but be reminded of Benjie Paras’ well-loved character Chito Tampipi in the 2013 Kapamilya series “Got To Believe,” in his depiction of the strict yet doting father Ime. For sure, many viewers admire the kind of relationship their characters have with their onscreen children, as well as the sensible and thought-provoking advice that they’ve imparted to them.

Jameson and Esnyr also impressed us with their performances as the haughty bad boy JR and the straightforward bestfriend Maxie, respectively. Meanwhile, even though her stint was short, Kira still delivered with her portrayal of Christine. 

Last, but definitely not the least, are Donny and Belle, who truly did great jobs as Matt and Cha and displayed formidable chemistry. True to their statements during the interviews, DonBelle really brought something different in this series through their characters. 

Indeed, “How To Spot A Red Flag” is a great “pambanlaw” or way of capping off our primetime viewing after the two teleseryes slated prior to it that are loaded with heavy action and drama. Here are some of the reactions posted by Kapamilya netizens and DonBelle fans on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the first five episodes of the romantic comedy series that aired on free TV:

What will happen to Cha and Matt? Will JR finally muster the courage to admit the truth to Cha? Well, let’s all find out in the next episodes of “How To Spot a Red Flag,” weeknights on Kapamilya Channel, A2Z, and TV5!