A broken home is a child’s worst nightmare – Zaijian Jaranilla wakes up to that unpleasant dream as Gio Ilustre in The Broken Marriage Vow. Check out some of his highlight scenes where he paints his character’s complex emotions dealing with filial drama via this Friday 5 feature.

The video opens with Gio being humiliated by a parent for allegedly bullying the latter’s child at school. Jill (Jodi Sta Maria) arrived and mediated. She tried to extract an apology from Gio, who, at that moment, refused to unshackle all the emotions hurtling at him. Gio didn’t say anything but his stiffness clearly spoke of controlled anger and frustrations.

Interrogated by Jill and David (Zanjoe Marudo) at home, Gio finally unleashed his bitterness. He felt it’s unfair to still be scolded for just defending his mom from malicious allegations. Zaijian’s show of dismay was exactly how a son would have reacted when told to just keep quiet despite the distracting noise around him. At the time, no one knew that Jill had already discovered David’s affair, but the marriage was obviously turning fragile, and Gio was slowly suffering as well.

His parents’ separation changed him. There was a scene where he quietly grieved over his father’s absence. Considering his closeness with David, the turn of events hurt Gio even more. But the pain, he won’t verbalize yet. Without dialogues, Zaijian just let his tears do all the talking. He sat on David’s chair, cried in silence depicting believable agony, one that a child who thought his family was perfect would have felt when his father leaves for another woman.

In the next scene, he mustered the courage to face the inevitable, which was to discuss what happened. He learned about David’s sin, Jill’s sacrifices to keep their family together, and Lexy (Sue Ramirez)’s pregnancy. Jill asked for forgiveness, as if it was her fault, that she wasn’t able to save their family. Gio’s only reply was a tight embrace for his mom.

Later on, however, Gio explodes with his emotions, taking sides, and it wasn’t that of his mom. He listened as Jill delivered her piece. She explained that David didn’t only cheat but misused her savings. To Jill, it was more than just money but an assurance of Gio’s future. For the son, however, it meant nothing. He wanted to be with David. The scene put Zaijian’s dramatic gift on spotlight, delivered with realistic callousness. He was distraught at being told what to do and feel, and how his mom seemingly makes the already tortuous setup even more complicated.

The last scene witnessed Gio coming home to Jill, who was unconscious, beaten up, and almost killed by David. As Jill lay there helpless, David watched in shock and guilt. It was a turning point as Gio saw how evil his father could get. Internalizing anger and angst, Zaijian could have turned out hysterical but his take on Gio’s emotions was fit for the moment. The rage could be felt as he confronted his abusive father, at the same time, he felt weak just looking at Jill’s devastating shape.

Don’t miss out on the next trending scenes in the ‘gigil’ series The Broken Marriage Vow, weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.