For Max (Kaila Estrada), moving on from Sevi (Victor Silayan)’s memories is the hardest mission. 

Max has always been a force to be reckoned with as Team Incognito’s most valuable cyber asset. She never backs down from a mission. But beneath the tough exterior and tactical brilliance, there’s a part of her still caught in the crossfire of heartbreak.

Her character exudes this badass vibe on the surface. But while her actions make her look tough, her eyes couldn’t lie about the flicker of pain lingering beneath, as shown in these scenes from “Incognito” compiled by Kapamilya Toplist. 

Just on her first appearance in the series, Max already showed hints of her emotional battle when she was seen sneaking into a house to take a ring from a vault.  And later on viewers figured that it was the ring supposedly to be given to her by her ex-fiance, Sevi. 

In one of her more emotional moments following her group’s first mission, Max returned to her usual routine and was shown talking to a wedding coordinator. As soon as the woman left, Max took out her phone to talk to someone, who could easily be assumed as her boyfriend as the guy on the other line told her he wouldn’t be able to make it to their meeting but assured her that their wedding would be perfect because she was there. Tears welled up in Max’s eyes just as the call ended and it was revealed that the supposed 'call' was only a voice recording of her boyfriend.  

Flashbacks then finally explained why the sorrow in her eyes. It turned out she once had a boyfriend named Sevi, who was also a fellow soldier. During an operation, their unit was set up and ambushed by a group of local terrorists. Sevi was trapped in the location, forcing Max to defy her superior's command to abort the mission and instead infiltrate the place to save Sevi. But in a cruel twist, it was Sevi who shielded her from enemy fire, saving her but sacrificing his own life in the process.

This led to Max being discharged from service due to insubordination and desertion, and being blamed by Sevi’s family, who never really liked her in the first place. She hadn’t truly healed from the back-to-back tragedies in her life, as seen in her vulnerability when she arrived home and avoided the barrage of questions from her adoptive  'mothers,' Teddy (Ana Abad Santos) and Lorena (Sharmaine Suarez), who are just trying to help her heal and move on. The scene captured Max’s silent pain and longing in that heartbreaking second when she missed Sevi and pretended to talk to him over the phone. 

There are just moments when her pain gets triggered even by the little things, even when it’s unintentional. For instance, during their mission to capture terrorist and crime syndicate leader Timor Escalera’s (Art Acuña) son, Donato (Elijah Canlas), where Max had to go undercover, she was caught off guard when her comrade JB (Richard Gutierrez) reminded her not to wear anything that could give away her identity, referring to her ring. That must have stung because that ring is the only tangible memory she has of her great love. Later, when their mission with Timor led them to the country of Matera, her emotions boiled over when she received a call from someone trying to take the engagement ring from her.

From Matera, the ‘kontraks’ returned to the Philippines, bringing Timor with them. They stayed at one of JB’s secluded safe houses. Still enduring the gunshot wound she got from the mission, Max thanked JB for being extra attentive and making sure she was okay by giving her a room where she could rest. While viewers might have felt a spark of ‘kilig’ in that moment, for Max, it was just another painful reminder that once, there was another man who cared for her just as much. Instead of getting the rest she needed, her heart grew heavier. She sat by the window in the daylight, her silent tears glistening as memories of Sevi flooded in. She remembered how he used to scold her whenever she got hurt. And in the stillness, she whispered a plea to him, hoping he wouldn’t be angry watchingover her from heaven, knowing she had once again come back from a mission wounded.

Maybe it was sheer exhaustion that caused Max to fall into a deep sleep. But she was tormented by nightmares, crying and struggling in her sleep. Thankfully, JB was there. He gently held her hands and woke her up.

And in what felt like a poetic parallel to JB waking her from that nightmare, the next scene showed Max bit by bit opening up to JB. She admitted how frustrated she felt that they still failed—Timor, their package, ended up dead while in their custody—even after she had risked her life on the mission. But deep down, Max’s frustration wasn’t just about the mission itself. She had wanted it to succeed so badly because she saw it as her shot at redemption. But with the way things turned out, the possibility of being reinstated in the service felt even more impossible. Worse, she felt trapped in the past. 

Max still carries traces of Sevi with her wherever she goes—his voice, his love, his presence lingering like a shadow she refuses to let go of. Because it’s Max herself who doesn’t want to move on. Whenever loneliness creeps in, she finds solace in listening to Sevi’s old voice recordings. There was a scene, after her group’s failed mission involving Timor, where she played the voice message of Sevi reassuring her that everything will be okay because she’s a good soldier.

But while Max struggles to move forward, she’s lucky to have people around her who genuinely want to help her heal, like her mothers. There was this cute moment when JB unexpectedly dropped by Max’s house and was immediately met with an interrogation from her parents. Apparently, he was the first guy to ever visit Max at home, so  Lorena and Teddy wasted no time grilling him about his intentions. And then, JB got a small glimpse into Max’s broken heart when the talkative Teddy let it slip that Max had been through a lot ever since losing Sevi. Lorena, realizing they were saying too much, quickly cut herpartner off and simply told their that Max was at a restaurant and she would be home in an hour or two. 

Familiar with the social media trend where people use the word ‘restaurant’ as a metaphor for the person they loved and can’t move on from? Well, Max might just be the perfect example. In the succeeding scene, JB finally found her sitting alone in a restaurant. Because she once promised Sevi that she would always be there, waiting.

It’s never easy to forget a love that consumed your entire being. It paralyzes you. It clouds your judgment. During their mission to rescue hotel hostages from the shady religious group led by Rema Muñoz (Robert Seña), Max got distracted when she suddenly realized her engagement ring was missing from her finger. Panic set in. But JB quickly pulled her back to reality, reminding her that they were in the middle of a mission and there was no time to look for the ring. That moment, however, reignited something inside Max. If she couldn’t hold onto the past, she would channel her pain into something else, so she vowed to take down the enemies with relentless force.

Later, back at their safe house, JB caught Max once again lost in her thoughts and staring at her bare hands. The absence of that ring was weighing heavier than any wound she had endured.

Max eventually returned to the hotel, determined to find the ring. In the middle of her search, she broke down, overwhelmed by the weight of her grief and almost accepting that maybe it was time to finally let go. But then, just when she was about to give up, she found the ring. And in that moment, it was enough to convince her that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t time to release Sevi’s memory just yet.

The next clip shows Max alone in her room and staring at Sevi’s photograph. With a heavy heart, she quietly asked if losing the ring was really Sevi’s way of telling her to stop clinging to her past. She was clearly tired of holding on, but she wasn’t ready to let go either. Not yet.

Will Max ever find the courage to move on? Follow her journey in “Incognito,” airing weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live (KOL), TV5, and A2Z.