Darna: Episode 50

50. Close Combat

Tatlong bagong Extra ang magsasama-sama at tatawaging ang kanilang pangkat na XTriad: si Klara (Jef Gaitan) na may kapangyarihang magpasunod sa mga kalalakihan; si Ino (Karl Gabriel) na dumudura ng lason na nakalulusaw ng kahit anong tamaan nito; at ang nawawalang apo ni Lola Trining (Lui Manansala) na si Miguel (Henz Villaraiz) na isa rin palang Extra na may kakayahang kalasin ang dalawang kamay. Malalaman ito nila Narda sa kabila ng patuloy na paghahanap sa binata na pinamumunuan ni Noah. Magsisimula namang magtaka ang mga tao sa mga kakaibang kilos ni Brian lalo na ang kanyang ninong na si Antiporda at si Narda na rin na mabibigla sa kawalan ng interes nito na tumulong sa kanya sa paghahanap kay Miguel. Patuloy naman ang pagsasanay ni Regina kasama si Ali sa Brazilian Jiu Jitsu upang paghandaan ang napipintong paghaharap nil ani Darna. Mahahanap na ni Darna sila Borgo at Ishna sa tulong ng matalas na paningin ni Ding at magsasalpukan ang tatlo. #DarnaCloseCombat

Sa wakas ay dumarami na rin ang mga kalaban ni Darna na nagsasama-sama upang pahirapan siya kahit na tila ba wala gaanong dating ang mga ito dahil hindi naman sila mga kilala. Hindi rin naman ganoon kapansin-pansin ang kanilang mga kakayahan na nauunawaan din naman natin dahil mahirap din naman umisip ng kapangyarihan ng mga tauhan. Kaya naman ako rin ay nagtataka, bakit kaya hindi sila magsama ng mga kilalang kalaban ni Darna? Hindi naman siguro magiging suliranin ito dahil maari naman nilang gamitin ang mga tauhan na iyon. Lumalabas kasi ngayon tila ba magiging kakamping kaaway pa ni Darna si Valentina sa paglaban sa mga Extra. Maari naman sila magsama ng isang bigating artista na lalabas at magiging pangunahing kalaban ng ilang linggo. Sa ngayon ay mapagtyatyagaan na rin naman natin ito lalo pa at ipinakita na nila na nalalapit na talaga ang paghaharap nila Darna at Valentina. Mukhang hindi rin naman sila magkaaway talaga, bagkus iisa ang hangarin subalit magkaiba ang mga pamamaraan. #DarnaCloseCombat

50. Close Combat

Three new Extras join forces and name their group XTriad: Klara (Jef Gaitan) who has the power to seduce and make men bend to her will; Ino (Karl Gabriel) who can spit acid that can disintegrate anything it touches; and Lola Trining’s (Lui Manansala) missing grandson Miguel (Henz Villaraiz) who also turns out to be an Extra and has the ability to detach his hands. Narda and friends discover this in the midst of looking for the young lad being spearheaded by Noah. Meanwhile, people start doubting Brian, especially his godfather Antiporda as well as Narda herself who is taken aback by his hesitance to help in the search for Miguel. Regina, on the other hand, continues her Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training with Ali in order to prepare for her impending face off with Darna. Darna finally finds Borgo and Ishna with the help of Ding’s extraordinary eyesight. The three end up in a brawl. #DarnaCloseCombat

At last, Darna’s enemies are starting to multiply to give her a hard time in spite of their seemingly lack of name recall that makes them feel more like nuisance villains. Their powers are not that catchy either, which is understandable since it is indeed difficult to think of special abilities for these characters. This leads me to wonder why they don’t just throw in a popular Darna villain in the mix? I don’t believe this will cause them any problems because they are allowed to use those characters too anyway. It’s just that now it appears that Darna and Valentina are frenemies more than anything else when it comes to battling Extras. They can just introduce a popular actor who can appear for a few weeks and will play the role of a main villain. Well, for now we can make do of what we have even more so now that the previews show how Darna and Valentina’s showdown is really almost upon us. It seems as though the two are not really enemies but rather one with the same cause, just different methodologies. #DarnaCloseCombat

“Because eventually alam ko magkakaharap din kami ni Darna, and I have to be ready.” –Regina

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