Yesterday I woke up from my afternoon nap and guess what, I dreamt I was living a dangerous life like in this TV series! 😆 Wow, I think dreaming about being in a show I just watched has never happened before. Isn't that something? 😂
I did a marathon-viewing and finished season one on Netflix Philippines without a hitch. Thought it's really good too! Before I slept I decided to write a review and now here it is. Would never have thought it would be so good that I would kinda be in it in dreamland. 😂
Anyway that dream story might be written on another day, for now I will let you know what I think of Bagman Season 1. Don't worry, this is almost spoiler free but kinda lengthy. I also have a short rant at the end so be prepared. 😆
Let me break it down to the following:
🔸 The Cast
Here are the most important cast members for me:
◙ Arjo Atayde plays Benjo Malaya
A barber turned bagman for a provincial governor.
◙ Chanel Latorre plays Samantha "Sam" Bernabe
The significant other of Benjo, mother of their twin kids.
◙ Karl Medina plays Leon Torillo
He is the bagman of the governor's election rival.
◙ Allan Paule plays Cito Banal
The governor's friend and right hand man. Benjo's mentor.
◙ Raymond Bagatsing plays Arturo Alcantara
The governor of the fictional province of Magdiwang.
🔸 The Trailer
Here's the Season 1 trailer. Unfortunately there's no English subtitle for our international readers. The good news is you can watch this series for free on iWanTFC where the episodes are hardsubbed in English. (More on my hardsub issue later on).
🔸 Synopsis
A small time provincial barber was about to be evicted from his shop due to road widening. This led to him working for someone who works in the provincial capitol. Little did he know that he would eventually be involved in a life of crime and work for the governor himself.
🔸 How I Learned About Bagman
So I have been on a Pinoy movie watching streak on Netflix PH since last year. I was rarely able to watch local movies in theaters or on TV before the pandemic. This is why I am happy to find more of our films and TV series' on legit online streaming sites.
I do not watch Filipino movies in "pirated" form or unauthorized streaming websites. This is my way of supporting our local film and entertainment industry. It is not as big as Hollywood, nor is our shows well-known worldwide unlike Korean Dramas. I know somehow it helps our writers, actors, producers, etc., a lot to watch any local film/TV series in legitimate streaming websites.
Anyway I first heard of Bagman last year but apparently this iWanTFC original series was made back in 2019. On Facebook, I joined several movie related groups due to the quarantine/lockdowns. This was one of the shows mentioned and recommended by someone. Didn't take note of where to watch it then but found it really interesting when I learned about it. However, somehow it didn't interest me enough to actually look for it online to see what it's all about. Actually I forgot all about it, along with others I wanted to see!
Fast forward to yesterday, I just opened Netflix and voila! Bagman's thumbnail is showing on the recently added section. Whoa! I was surprised and happy to see it because I didn't even know it was going to be on Netflix! Apparently there were some press releases last month but I didn't see any of it. 😂
Let's get on with my review shall we?
🔸 The Review
◙ Characters & Story
I clicked on the first episode and voila! I heard the protagonist's deep voice narrating the opening scenes. (Man, I didn't know Arjo has a deep voice. 🤭 I've seen him a few times on one or two random YouTube videos but never noticed that.) The first episode went by and I kept watching until the 12th or last episode. Haha. That's how gripping it is.
The characters are well developed that you would think you really know them. He or she can be your sibling, neighbor, a friend, relative or even someone from the same class (school batchmate). Why not when these can easily be gleaned from people we know.
In Bagman, we are introduced to the hidden world of syndicated corruption. It may somehow be true to life because hey, Lino Cayetano who's one of the series creators, is part of a political clan. It is no surprise then if he would know all about the shady dealings happening in the government. Then again, the director/writer Shugo Praico says it is all fictional, even if well-researched. Praico mentions the show was also inspired by the Netflix series Narcos.
Similar to the hit movie On The Job, we are presented with a well thought out story based on the hidden lives of people involved in organized crime. It is a scary world to live in but it can be experienced even by ordinary people.
Unfortunately more and more of us let bad things happen because humans crave easy money. Where else does big but dirty money come from except from illegal activities? If one does not conform with the "ways of the world" expect to die early. Hey that's what happens to our environmental defenders and journalists who are exposing the truth to everyone. Here we get a glimpse of the bad side of humanity in all it's ugly glory.
What I like about Bagman is it has a little lore of it's own. For one, Benjo is a struggling barber turned henchman. His "nemesis" is another ordinary citizen you wouldn't think would be working the same job he does based on his "day job." This gives the show a bit of levity from it's otherwise dreary storyline.
In this show, we witness power hungry people kill anyone who are blocking their way. We in the Philippines are normally peace loving, generous and helpful but you know how power and money corrupts poor, weak and/or sinful individuals easily. This happens worldwide! Don't deny it, we at some point in our lives have done something corrupt or wrong even as a child or a teen, especially in school! Would love to talk about it more but let's get back to my review.
The only thing I don't like about Bagman is at some point you might think they are saying it is alright for ordinary people to commit crimes everyday. Imagine, you will let a family member or loved one continue to do bad things to others just because you benefit from it? Wow, you are an accomplice to all the crimes they commit! Do these hidden criminals even know the 10 Commandments of God? Chronic sinners may escape doing bad things to others here on Earth but their souls will burn in hell for it.
And then all the smoking! Ugh. Stop promoting the spread of second hand smoke! It's killing other people slowly! I've never seen a movie/series that has excessive smoking as this one.
What do I consider the best part of this show? It doesn't have any fanfare whatsoever. It's not a love story but shows how our love for others can make us vulnerable enough to easily commit sins.
There are only a few scenes that imply sex, there's no torrid kissing but there are some nudity. Remove those and the story is still compelling. It can carry itself without the need to make it sexual like most Western shows. We are a conservative, Catholic nation after all. Well hey the entire plot is full of injustices it doesn't need anything else. Just don't let kids watch it because it has what I mentioned and excessive or sometimes unnecessary curse words plus violent scenes. I believe this series is rated R.
Overall it is an admirable and commendable show. Bagman lets us see how everyone contributes to corruption wherever we are. It will make you ask yourself, "Who runs the government or who works in government offices? Who allows bad things to happen to others?" The answer? We the people. We are the source of each other's problem.
The series will also make you see what makes someone get into the life of crime. There are small things or even little sins we do and tolerate even if it's wrong. Every episode reflects possible real life situations. Many of us ignore what's right and keep turning a blind eye on the wrong things we see or do until it negatively affects us or our loved ones.
◙ Acting
The performance is superb! Most actors were natural at portraying their characters. Who knew we could see better acting in a Pinoy TV series? Hahaha. Kidding aside, Bagman also has well-known and veteran actors that makes it worthwhile to watch.
It is no surprise that Arjo won the Best Actor award in the 2020 Asian Academy Creative Awards. Except for actually cutting people's hair, he's perfect for the role. Even if he looks tisoy (mestiso), it doesn't matter as he is convincing as Benjo.
Another performance that stood out to me the most is from someone I have never seen before. Apparently the other bagman's actor is the son of veteran performer Pen Medina. No wonder even if he was unknown to me, it is obvious why Karl Medina did a good job!
◙ Cinematography, Production Design & Music
Now I am curious where the location of this story is. Clearly it is in one of the provinces of the Philippines but I haven't found where yet. At least this is a break from what I'm used to as Bagman is a story in a rural setting.
So far I got no complaints regarding the cinematography. I do have an issue with the flashbacks. Sometimes it doesn't seem like a flashback but okay, sure if the narrator says so then it is.
Throughout the series, there's only a few special effects but we see a lot of prosthetics. I think the latter still needs improvement. Or maybe it's the angle of the shots that needs to improve because in some scenes the "wounds" and "blood" are obviously just on top of the skin. Looks fake to me. It doesn't add enough authenticity or real life feels to the scenes sometimes.
The acting can only take the story so far but if the other aspects don't contribute to the authenticity then it tends to lose it's audience. I mean, you use a gavel to pummel someone to death with blood splattering all over the place then in the next scene you see the person's head and body is not too damaged? Come on, why even show the body at all?
As for the music... well the opening soundtrack reminds me of Alias and X-Files. Not sure if I like it but it's not a big deal.
I'm not too impressed with these three aspects but it's still okay.
◙ Rating
Okay now that you know what I think of Bagman, I will rate each part separately:
Characters & Story: 10
Acting: 10
Cinematography, Production Design & Music: 7
Overall rating: 9/10
And that's it! So what do you think about the series based on my review?
Oh by the way, incoming rant in 3... 2... 1...
I recommend watching this on Netflix PH if you are a Filipino too. Why? Well one of my pet peeves is watching a local show with English subtitles! iWanTFC is such a disappointment because they hardsub all their videos. It is so distracting and annoying when most people here don't even need it. Yes you can watch a lot of videos for free but if you also hate hardsubbed local videos then you know what to do.
What, do we not understand our own national language?! WTF that's just stupid. Americans/Britons/Australians do not watch shows with English subtitles hardsubbed in online episodes or even in local theaters! Unless someone is deaf-mute I don't think they even need subtitles in the local language. Ugh.
We're in the Philippines and we have our own national language which is Filipino and yet in the rare occasions I was able to watch local movies in theaters I saw it hardsubbed in English! WTF. Whoever thought of doing this since the past decade must be out of their minds.
Why don't we hardsub English movies shown in theaters in Filipino then huh? Not everyone can understand English that well anyway so why isn't it done ever? We keep watching Hollywood movies everywhere without subtitles in Filipino and then we show our own movies to the local public with English subtitles?! That's a big "No Thanks!" to our colonial mentality!
And so that's why it further discouraged me from watching any local movies in theaters in the past. This is also why I watch Filipino movies/shows on Netflix since I can watch videos (with or) without subtitles.
That's all and I thank you. Bow. 😅
I will be watching Season 2 soon. For the meantime, fellow Pinoys, let's enjoy the sneak peek!
So what do you think about Bagman? Have you seen it? Feel free to share your thoughts (and violent reactions? 🙊) below.
XOXO,
@LucyStephanie
P. S. Lead image from IMDb.
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