“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
We’ve probably come across this oft-quoted phrase for countless times already and we got to witness it materialize right before our eyes through Lena, the female antagonist astoundingly portrayed by seasoned actress Mercedes Cabral in “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” who avid viewers loved to hate because of all the wicked and irrational things that she had done, especially in the previous week’s (December 2 to December 6) episodes.
Upon realizing that the love of her life, Rigor (John Estrada), had already turned his back at her and losing their baby due to miscarriage following her accident, Lena outrageously transformed into a deranged woman brandishing a knife as she vowed to exact vengeance on everyone who put her in that situation.
And the first person on her “kill list” was Noy (Lou Veloso), the loyal and dependable best friend of Tindeng (Charo Santos), who unfortunately fell into her lair after he was able to lure him to go with her at her hideout. Since he was already and frail sick, the old man failed to escape his death as Lena mercilessly stabbed him multiple times and even tucked him inside an old suitcase. She then shamelessly brought his lifeless and bloody body outside the Quiapo Church in broad daylight when many people were going to and fro Plaza Miranda.
As they were searching for Noy around the area, Tindeng and Marites heard about the mysterious luggage dripping in blood found in the plaza, so they went there and much to their shock, it contained the lifeless Noy bathing in his own blood. Tindeng instantly broke down, through which we got to witness the astounding dramatic chops of Charo that many of us probably missed to see and that extended in the morgue as she bawled over Noy once more. Rigor found out about this and asked Colonel Suarez (King Gutierrez) if he could handle the case, which the latter strongly rejected.
Meanwhile, Lena set her sights on her next target—none other than Roda (Joel Lamangan), whom she repeatedly stabbed as well. Fortunately, the latter was able to escape from her and sought the help of the men who immediately came to his rescue. He was rushed to the hospital where he told Rigor and Mando (Allan Paule) that it was Lena who attacked him, as well as the one who killed Noy after her appalling confession to him. Upon hearing this, the two officers wasted no time in finding the whereabouts of Lena in order to arrest her.
Fearing for their lives, Marites and Tindeng went to their house to seek refuge there. Unbeknown to them, danger was just right around the corner as Lena arrived their as well to finally carry out her revenge plot. Lena was able to break in to their house and wreaked havoc, which resulted in a nerve-wracking altercation between the mother-daughter tandem and the deranged mistress.
Marites and Tindeng tried to gang up at them but to no avail for Lena was strong enough to conquer them. She was able to stab Tindeng on the chest when the latter attempted to save her daughter, as well as Marites in the waist. Fortunately, Rigor just came right in time to save his wife from being completely killed by his lover as he was able to stop Lena from stabbing Marites anew by shooting her right into her chest, resulting to Lena dying on the spot.
On the other hand, Tanggol (Coco Martin) and Divina (Rosanna Roces) faced major problems in their drug and gambling business, which prompted them to devise clever strategies in order to resolve them. As Divina alerted him about their lack of clients as they were all skeptical to invest on them given that they’re just new in the field, Tanggol came up with the idea of using the name of the Caballeros in their conversations and transactions and telling everyone that they only continued to operate their business in order to attract more customers. And it indeed worked with Mr. Abdali on their first try, and then with the other clients Divina reached out to.
Since their product started to receive growing interest from the loyal customers of the Caballeros, the group of Tanggol considered getting a high-ranking protector from the police force. As they set off to a drug transaction, the Tanggol and his group were so shocked to encounter a police checkpoint on their way. While Divina and his right-hands were able to get through it, as well as Tanggol and Madonna (Kim Domingo), Tanggol’s friends were apprehended by the authorities after they were able to recognize them as the group of fugitives who recently escaped from prison.
Despite Divina’s advise for them to flee from the scene and leave his friends to the hands of the police, Tanggol disobeyed her and swiftly went back to save his friends. A nail-biting gunfight between Tanggol’s group and the police, to which the former unbelievably succeeded. They headed to the gambling house and found out from their trustees that they lost to Col. Suarez and they only made do with the money they had left to keep the business running.
A heated confrontation then ensued between the groups of Divina and Tanggol as they discussed what just happened to them. As they explained that they did it for the sake of their group and apologized for their mistake, Madonna couldn’t help but lambast them. He also expressed how upset he was of Divina and her crew for deciding to leave his friends behind in times of trouble when he would help them as well if they were on that position.
Netizens’ rave reactions
Everyone who got to catch the previous week’s episode of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo” were surely appalled by the unexpected and gruesome deaths of Noy and Lena. Many heaped their praises on Mercedes Cabral for her compelling performance as the antagonist Lena, especially when she began to carry out her revenge plot on Marites’ family by threatening not just her life, but of those people dear to her, too. She did a great job in delivering terror and annoyance to the viewers, as if she’s in a suspense-thriller or horror movie, so viewers were relieved that Lena is now finally gone for good
At the same time, many were saddened and bewildered by the tragic death of Noy and even suggested for the wicked characters to take his place since he was too kind to die. However, they’re grateful that Roda was able to survive and report Lena’s heinous crimes.
Apart from Mercedes, Charo Santos also shined in the past week due to her moving breakdown scenes that highlighted her dramatic acting chops.
Here are some of the Kapamilya netizens’ feedbacks that they posted on X (formerly Twitter):
Will Tindeng and Marites also die? Will Tanggol and his group be finally able to find a protector that’s going to help them with their businesses? Let’s all find out in the upcoming episodes of “FPJ’s Batang Quiapo,” weeknights at 8 PM, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, A2Z, and TV5.