Series / Maria Clara at Ibarra

Maria Clara at Ibarra (English: Maria Clara and Ibarra) is a 2022 Philippine series by GMA Network starring Barbie Forteza, Dennis Trillo, and Julie Anne San Jose. It follows a 21-year-old nursing student, Maria Clara "Klay" Infantes (Forteza). She's overworked and underpaid as a barista, and she's desperate to graduate. To make matters worse, she lives with an abusive stepfather and her mother is determined to stay with him, hoping Klay won't leave either.

The young woman feels like she simply cannot find the time or energy to care about classical Filipino literature. She doesn't even get how it's relevant to nursing. But her professor, José R. Torres, insists that she must write a good essay about Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal in order to graduate. He hands her a special copy of Noli Me Tangere, which he says will truly immerse her within the text. She doesn't realize just how literal he's being.

She reads the book and dozes off. When she awakens, she finds herself trapped inside the text of Noli Me Tangere. There, she experiences life in 19th century colonial society, bears witness to the events of the novel, and meets the characters — such as, of course, Crisostomo Ibarra (Trillo) and Maria Clara (San Jose). Klay eventually finds herself attached to many of the characters, which eventually results in her returning during the El Filibusterismo (Noli's sequel) arc once she becomes aware of the characters' tragic fates.

Maria Clara at Ibarra contains examples of the following tropes.

• Aborted Arc: Klay gets several Ship Tease with Ibarra early in the show's run, complete with a budding Love Triangle with Maria Clara. Nothing came off of it, and Klay is eventually paired with Fidel.
• Adaptation Inspiration: Prof. Torres enforcing this trope on Klay kickstarted the whole plot. He wants her to write a thorough essay about Noli Me Tangerebut she thinks it's a drag and irrelevant to her career. So he had her experience the novel more thoroughly. In the literal sense of the word.
• Adaptation Personality Change: In "El Filibusterismo", Quiroga is a reluctant accomplice. In this series, he is a loyal follower of Simoun.
• Adaptational Alternate Ending: Klay's involvement ultimately creates an Alternate Continuity of El Filibusterismo, with a Bittersweet Ending instead of the bleak Downer Ending of the original. Specifically, Ibarra/Simoun dies redeemed and several characters are Spared by the Adaptation (Elias, Juli and her family in particular).
• Adaptational Angst Downgrade:
  • Very downplayed with Maria Clara. She was Salvi's Sex Slave in the interim between Noli and El Fili. While she foils her rape here, she's still as miserable as she was in canon.
  • Basilio toys with this. For starters he wasn't cheated out from Captain Tiago's will like in the original. Then there's his girlfriend Juli. On one hand Juli actually gets raped by Padre Camorra in the show, and while it did have the same effect on him, her being Spared by the Adaptation somewhat softens the blow.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade:
  • Padre Salvi is much more prone to loud violent outbursts in the show, unlike in the books wherein he is more of a calm and collected schemer.
  • Unlike in the original novel, Simoun gets to see Maria Clara die and is even the reason for it. Unsurprisingly, he becomes much more antagonistic and bitter.
  • Padre Camorra's Attempted Rape on Juli in the novel is unfortunately successful in the show. However, Juli and her family are Spared by the Adaptation, and her getting past this tragic event serves as the crux of her Character Development.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Downplayed with Padre Salvi. In the books, he is described as looking gaunt, frail, and sickly. In the show, while he is portrayed by model/actor Juancho Triviño, who was previously known for sexy hunk roles, there is a visible effort to make him convincingly look the part. He has dark perpetual eyebags, his hair is trimmed into a very unflattering tonsure, and his lingering cough does not seem to heal. His unpleasant personality just adds more salt to the wound.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Fidel by default, since the unnamed friend of Ibarra in the novels didn't even appear. Here, Fidel Took a Level in Badass as part of his Character Development.
  • Technically Elias. He's the resident badass in Noli but dies in the end. Since he's Spared by the Adaptation in this version, it allows him to continue being the resident Action Hero.
  • Juli, another character Spared by the Adaptation, decides to join Elias' group and even takes part of Storming the Castle in the climactic scene.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Crispin and Basilio appear earlier in the series than the book.
  • Tales gets an Early-Bird Cameo towards the end of the Noli arc of the show, whereas he's introduced in the sequel. His daughter (and Basilio's later Love Interest) Juli also gets A Minor Kidroduction during the same scene.
• Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. Despite the Adaptational Jerkass below, Simoun ultimately sees the error of his ways and immediately commits Redemption Equals Death via suicide.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Due to actually seeing Maria Clara die compared to the novel, Simoun becomes more cynical and unhinged and actually committed murder twice (Salvi and Damaso).
• Adaptational Karma:
  • In the novels, Padre Salvi gets away with successfully plotting against Ibarra and successfully had Maria Clara for himself afterwards. He got killed by Simoun in brutal fashion here.
  • Padre Damaso suffers a Bus Crash in the interim of the two novels. As with Salvi, he got brutally killed by Simoun here.
  • Padre Camorra didn't receive his comeuppance in his Attempted Rape of Juli in El Fili either, who was ultimately Driven to Suicide. Here, Juli is Spared by the Adaptation, and the climactic scene shows Juli accidentally tripping Camorra before the latter gets beaten up by the former's father Tales while she's giving a Death Glare.
• Adaptational Mundanity: Inverted thanks to Klay, as her presence brought Time Travel and otherworld elements in the Rizal novels (especially when she brings stuff from her world when she returned in the El Fili arc).
• And the Adventure Continues: Prof. Torres gets a call to fix problems arising in "Birds of Prey."
• Alternate Continuity: Prof. Torres tells Klay that she only created a version of the Noli and El Fili duology with her adventure. Rizal's original works remain unaffected by her changes.
• And Starring: The starring cast are billed, in order; Barbie Forteza, Julie Anne San Jose, and Dennis Trillo as Crisostomo Ibarra/Simoun. This didn't change following David Licauco's promotion during the El Fili chapter. Andrea Torres (Sisa) also gets a "in a very special role" citation.
• Antagonist Title: Played with. Ibarra does become the Big Bad Friend and Final Boss of the series akin to his Face–Heel Turn in the novels, but he goes by the name Simoun during that time.
• Antiquated Linguistics:
  • The characters in the novel speak a somewhat flowery version of Tagalog with heavy Spanish influences (almost veering into Gratuitous Spanish territory) and few hints of English. This mirrors the language used in the 19th century Manila.^note In non-Tagalog-speaking areas of Spanish-era Philippines, many Filipinos actually did not speak Tagalog at all and instead only knew the area's native language — the Philippines has more than 100 native languages — and/or Spanish.
  • This is however inverted in one scene at the restaurant, where one of the headings on the menu is "Still Wine" (ironically, the appropriate word, cerveza, is also present on the same menu.)
• Ascended Extra: Fidel is actually an unnamed friend of Ibarra mentioned early on in Noli, becoming a Breakout Character In-Universe and out thanks to his interactions with Klay.
• Back for the Dead: After last appearing at the end of the Noli arc before Klay briefly returns home to her world, Padre Damaso shows up again not long after Maria Clara's death near the end of the series, only to be choked to death by Simoun/Ibarra. This is notable since Damaso canonically had a Bus Crash in the interim of Noli and El Fili.
• Back for the Finale: Aunt Isabel comes back one more time to witness the death of Captain Tiago.
• Bad Boss: Friar Salvi always blames his inferiors.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Klay and Fidel spend much of their interactions annoying the shit out of each other until their inevitable attraction becomes apparent.
• Berserk Button: For Klay, abusive/violent men. Doubling as a Trauma Button.
• Big Bad:
  • Padre Damaso, the abusive friar who slanders the Ibarra name, starts off as the conflict catalyst for much of the Noli arc.
  • Padre Salvi, through an act of betrayal, usurps Padre Damaso and actively becomes the main threat to our heroes by the end of Noli and all the way through El Fili, up until...
  • ...in a shocking turn of events, Crisostomo Ibarra, who has now become the hellbent Simoun, murders both Padre Salvi and Padre Damaso and takes the reins himself as the final antagonist. See Big Bad Friend below
• Big Bad Friend: True to his role in El Fili, Simoun becomes the show's final antagonist. The final Story Arc is pretty much Klay, Fidel, and/or Elias repeatedly engaging him in an "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight.
• Big Good: Elias becomes the valiant leader of the revolutionary Tulisanes group, taking up arms against the oppressive Spanish regime.
• Bittersweet Ending: Klay ultimately fails to save both Ibarra and Maria Clara from their tragic fates in the novel but her actions ended up softening those tragedies somehow; both died surrounded by people they love instead of alone, and in Ibarra's case seeing the error of his ways. Klay's actions also leads to Elias, Juli and her family being Spared by the Adaptation, and she leaves her friends in the novel with a more positive outlook in life. And ultimately, she and Fidel could finally have their romance when the latter travels to her world in the final scene.
• Both Sides Have a Point: Professor Torres is right that Noli is an influential novel that should be studied, but Klay is also right in declaring that studying it is irrelevant to nursing, whatever her feelings about the novel may be.
• Breakout Character: Fidel, both In-Universe and out, and it's even a plot point. He's actually a nameless friend of Ibarra mentioned early in the novel, but his interactions with Klay gets him dragged into the main plot. In an interview, David Licauco says Fidel is only supposed to be a Bromantic Foil to Ibarra but Fidel becoming a fan favorite and him and Klay becoming the Fan-Preferred Couple increases his importance.
• Canon Character All Along: Fidel being an anomaly in the Rizal novels is given focus towards the end of the show, but it's eventually revealed that he actually is a childhood friend of Ibarra mentioned passingly in the early parts of Noli. His vastly increased role is due to his interactions with Klay.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • Klay is this to the Rizal novels within the context of the story.
  • Fidel, on the other hand, is actually a subversion. Klay (as well as historically savvy audience members) notices that his name isn't written in the books, which is made a Red Herring, and Fidel himself becomes aware of his absence in the novels towards the finale. It's eventually revealed that he's the nameless childhood friend of Ibarra mentioned in the early parts of Noli.
• Cassandra Truth: When Klay says that they're characters in a novel and she knows how things will go, everyone believes that she's undergoing a Sanity Slippage. Maria Clara and the other women around her even try to send Klay off to an asylum.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Klay just can't help herself from saving people, which she herself lampshades in the penultimate episode.
  Simoun: "Hindi ba sinabi kong wag kang makikialam!?"^TranslationDidn't I tell you not to interfere!?
  Klay: "Kilala niyo ako, Sir. Pakialamera talaga ako."^TranslationYou know what I'm like, Sir. I love interfering.
• Death by Adaptation: Padre Salvi is gunned to death by Ibarra/Simoun as Roaring Rampage of Revenge for his Accidental Murder of Maria Clara. Padre Salvi's final scene in the novel was on Chapter 16 during the talking heads exhibit on Quiapo fair, an event that is Adapted Out in the show.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance:
  • Deconstructed/played with. In the 19th century, things like classism and misogyny are rampant and normalized. But the point is to show how things haven't really changed all that much. Although there have been some obvious improvements in modern society, like women (e.g. Klay) being allowed to pursue a university-level education, it's made clear that these issues are still incredibly prevalent to this day.
  • Fidel initially has no problem trying to hit Klay to discipline her.
• Died in Your Arms Tonight: Poor Klay have to witness several...
  • Maria Clara dies while Klay and Simoun are with her.
  • After Simoun poisons himself, he gets surrounded by Klay, Fidel, Elias, Basilio, Isagani, Juli, and Padre Florentino.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • Sisa died in the book from malnutrition since she did nothing but look for her sons. In the series, she was hit by a stray bullet meant for Elias.
  • Rizal was vague on how Maria Clara died during El Fili, with adaptations either settling on her succumbing to an illness or being Driven to Suicide similar to Juli (both are mentioned in a Mythology Gag later). Here she dies by Taking the Bullet for Ibarra/Simoun.
  • Padre Damaso died due to unknown causes during the interim between Noli and El Fili, with his death being ruled out as either hypertension or heart-attack. Here Ibarra/Simoun chokes him not long after Maria Clara's death.
  • Capitan Tiago's death was reported to Basilio while he was in jail. In the series, Basilio was there to witness Tiago's death.
  • At the end of El Fili Simoun was repeatedly gunned before poisoning himself. Here he drinks the poison almost immediately after the lantern bomb plan got foiled.
• Distant Finale: The Grand Finale is set in 2030, seven years after the year it was broadcast.
• "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: "Baguhin Ang Buong Mundo"^Translation"Change the Whole World" is sung by Julie Anne San Jose, Maria Clara's actress.
• Double-Meaning Title: The Maria Clara in the title refers to both the Rizal novel character and the show's protagonist.
• The Dragon:
  • Padre Salvi, despite already being the town curate, still acts as a submissive right-hand man to his predecessor Padre Damaso.
  • Renato, the sacristan-mayor, is in turn Padre Salvi's own dragon.
  • Quiroga, a Chinese businessman and arms smuggler, is this to Simoun, being the latter's trusted weaponsmaster and confidante.
• Dying as Yourself: Ibarra declares as much before he dies.
• Edutainment Show: GMA has repeatedly stated that the purpose of the show is to educate younger generations about Rizal's novels. It is safe to say they succeeded, attracting the interest of K-pop stans and third graders (who do not have to study Rizal for six years) alike.
• Evil Former Friend: Simoun becomes the show's Big Bad Friend for the final arc, though it's actually an inversion as it was Simoun who cut ties with Klay, Fidel, and Elias while the latter three repeatedly went out of their way to make him see reason.
• Family Theme Naming: Klay's family is named after Rizal characters. Her mom, Narcisa (aka Sisa in Noli), explains that her mom was a fan of Rizal's works.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: 21st century Klay gets stuck in Noli Me Tangere, a novel set in the 1800s. The Grand Finale has Fidel travelling to real world set in 2030.
• From Bad to Worse: Klay's numerous attempts on changing the characters' fates mostly blew up on her face. The most notable example being her quest to save Maria Clara, which failure results with Simoun being more antagonistic than he was in the books.
• Genre Savvy: Played straight at first, but eventually Subverted. Klay only read up to Chapter 3 of Noli before getting sucked in, allowing her to understand what's going on for a while before being confused later on.
  • Played straight again in the El Fili arc. Klay reads the El Filibusterismo ahead and even brings a copy with her the second time around she enters the portal.
• Go Mad from the Revelation: Captain Tiago never recovered from finding out that his late wife Pia was raped by Friar Damaso and that his daughter Maria Clara is illegitimate.
• Heel Realization: Andeng feels bad about spying for Salvi and leaves town after Maria Clara becomes a nun.
• Hero of Another Story: It is indicated that Klay is not the first person to enter Prof. Torres' magic book and she will not be the last.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold
  • Lucia is a mujer libre (courtesan) and gets a lot of shit for it. But she's not a bad person by any means. She's even a revolutionary who's fighting for the country's freedom.
  • Another prostitute helps in rescuing Ibarra. She is actually from the real world. She and heaven knows how many more pose as book characters to aid Mr. Torres.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: The final stretch of the series is Klay, Fidel, and Elias reaching out to Simoun to abandon his Roaring Rampage of Revenge. They (or at least Klay and Fidel, as Elias is rallying the rebel group outside) succeeded literally last minute.
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite Klay's best efforts to change things for the better for her beloved friends in the novels, the trajectory of the story mostly remained the same.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Klay is treated as this since she does not understand the clothing standards of the 19th century.
  "You don't wear panties, but I'm the one who is indecent?"
• Irony:
  • Klay arrives in Noli with little knowledge of the book and changes little when she finally tries actively changing the fates of the characters. She later arrives in El Fili with fresh knowledge of the entire book but arrives in a version drastically altered.
  • On the subject, Klay decides to return in El Fili to save her friends, Ibarra and Maria Clara in particular, from their fates. Her intervention indeed resulted in several characters being Spared by the Adaptation, but with the sad exception of the two mentioned.
• Karma Houdini: Renato gets no serious punishment for stealing from the church and murdering Crispin. He is last seen gloating about his newfound freedom over the dead body of Friar Salvi.
• Killed Offscreen: Crisostomo's faithful manservant Adong died sometime after the Noli Me Tangere arc but not before he was able to bury what's left of the Ibarra family fortune for Crisostomo to find.
• The Lancer: Fidel is this to Ibarra and later to Elias when he joins the revolutionaries.
• Last Episode, New Character: Klay meets two identical strangers who resemble Ibarra and Maria Clara in the Grand Finale. The Ibarra doppelganger (named Barry) is actually Prof. Torres' grandson, while the Maria Clara doppelganger (named Clarisse) is naturally his wife.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Ali, the magical firefly who occasionally accompanies Klay, is short for the Filipino word for it, "alitaptap".
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Fidel becomes a long-haired biseinen during the El Fili arc. Both Ibarra (now Simoun) and Elias also grew their hair by this time, but became more "rugged" despite still retaining their good looks. See Looks Like Jesus below.
• Looks Like Jesus: Both Elias and Simoun in El Fili.
• Meaningful Name:
  • In Rizal's novels, Narcisa aka Sisa is a mother who goes insane because her sons go missing. In real life, Klay's mom is called Narcisa and Klay's sudden disappearance (into the world of Noli Me Tangere) causes her great distress.
  • The name of the restaurant where Klay works, “Crispy Basil Grill”, may be a nod to Crispin and Basilio.
  • Fidel, who was formerly a snob elitist, joins the revolutionaries after a change of heart, adopting the alias Naliwanagan, which translates to "enlightened".
• Middle Name Basis:
  • The two Maria Claras are addressed with nicknames derived from their second name; the main protagonist almost exclusively goes by Klay and the Rizal novel character is given the Affectionate Nickname "Clarita" by her aunt Isabel.
  • As with the novels, Crisostomo Ibarra's full name is Juan Crisostomo Ibarra, and he is mostly addressed via Last-Name Basis anyway.
• Mind Screw: The series initially about a girl entering a book suddenly throws in concepts like reincarnation and alternate dimensions in the finale.
• Mistaken for Prostitute: Klay gets sucked into the world of Noli while wearing a T-shirt and shorts, an outfit considered exotic and revealing in 19th century Manila. It doesn't help that she's wearing underwear and the women of the time don't wear any beneath their heavy layers of clothing. When the women find her (actually completely modest and regular) underwear, they're absolutely shocked by it and assume it must be some sort of fetish gear. Pretty much everyone assumes she's a prostitute until she starts wearing period-typical clothes.
• The Mole: Andeng, Maria Clara's personal servant, is coerced into spying for Friar Salvi.
• Multi-Character Title: The show refers to Ibarra and the two Maria Claras.
• Mythology Gag:
  • The episode following Maria Clara's death, Victorina and Penchang are discussing whether she died of illness or suicide, the most common depictions of her demise in various adaptations.
  • Elias uses the name Albino so he and Klay can infiltrate the monastery. Albino is a minor character from El Fili.
  • The Imagine Spot of Simoun's lantern bomb plan is a Shot-for-Shot Remake of the same scene in the 1998 Jose Rizal biopic.
• Name and Name: Although in a twist, the first name in the title refers to two characters.
• Named by the Adaptation: Fidel is actually an unnamed very minor character in Noli instead of a Canon Foreigner Klay (and the viewers) initially believed. Klay tells him that perhaps he represents the unsung heroes, which he takes in stride.
• Newspaper Dating: Klay notices the date "May 11, 1884" on a newspaper Lucia is holding, convincing her she's traveled back in time.
• Next Sunday A.D.: The Grand Finale takes place in 2030, yet nothing drastic appears aside from Klay now being a doctor.
• Old Master: Mr. Torres;s real job is to send today's youth into the books. He is becoming aware that age is catching up to him.
• One-Steve Limit: Due to the Family Theme Naming above, with Klay and Maria Clara being the most notable example, and the two women even lampshade this themselves by addressing each other as "Katukayo" (Filipino for someone sharing your name).
• Our Nudity Is Different: Klay is baffled that everyone is overdressed, yet they do not wear underwear.
• Portal Book: The series' premise. It actually combines Types II and III; the Noli arc is Type II, with Klay being stuck there due to her professor wanting her to immerse with its story and characters for an essay. The El Fili arc, on the other hand, is Type III as Klay only returned to the sequel novel in order to save her friends from their tragic fates.
• Production Foreshadowing: Klay sees a Portal Book about Urduja in the Grand Finale, promoting Mga Lihim ni Urduja which will succeed this show's slot the following week.
• Product Placement: Klay brings a pack of Maggi Magic Sarap, a seasoning mix, into the 19th century. She also brings Bench underwear with her.
• Protagonist Title: While Klay (one of the two titular Maria Claras) is the undisputed protagonist of the show, Ibarra is the protagonist of the Portal Book she's transplanted into, and the show treats them along with the other Maria Clara as co-protagonists (see the billing via page image).
• Promotion to Opening Titles:
  • David Licauco (Fidel) was bumped up from "also starring" to the main cats lineup during the El Fili arc.
  • Basilio gets added to the OBB during the El Fili cast via his Time-Shifted Actor Khalil Ramos.
• Railroading: Prof. Torres' role is to make sure the Rizal novels will unfold as written, and has clashed with Klay on a few occasions when the latter attempted to change things up. He didn't hold it against Klay when she ended up creating an Alternate Continuity, though.
• "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: Naturally, as the show is heavily tied to two important pieces of Philippine literature.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: A special episode called "Blood Moon" premiered on November 8, 2022, coinciding with a real-life lunar eclipse visible from the Philippines that night. In-universe, the eclipse opens a portal that would allow Klay to return to the real world, although she decides to stay in the story.
• Reality Has No Subtitles: Klay doesn't understand anything when the Noli characters speak Spanish. Likewise, characters who are not ilustrados do not understand Klay whenever she speaks English.
• Recycled with a Gimmick: The show is Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo with Time Travel and otherworld elements added.
• Red Baron: Simoun is known by his aliases Cardinal Moreno and Eminencia Negra.
• Reincarnate in Another World: Klay meets a couple in the Grand Finale who are identical strangers to Ibarra and Maria Clara. Klay thinks they're her late friends' alternate selves instead of this trope, however.
• Reincarnation Romance: Klay meets a couple in the Grand Finale who are identical strangers to Ibarra and Maria Clara. The Ibarra doppelganger is actually Prof. Torres' grandson, and the Maria Clara doppelganger is naturally his wife.
• Rousing Speech: Ibarra escapes custody and interrupts Christmas mass to deliver an epic one where he tells the people that they are being oppressed by the Spaniards. He begs them to "listen to us" and most of them respond in kind.
• Rule of Symbolism: During the El Fili arc, the rebellion faction are composed mainly of characters with drastically altered fates (e.g. Ascended Extras and/or those Spared by the Adaptation) from the novels along with the In-Universe Canon Foreigner protagonist, tying to the series' Screw Destiny theme.
• Schrödinger's Cast: Five major characters have their fates altered by Klay by the time of and during the El Fili arc, three are spared, one dying (though deservedly so), and the remaining one prolonging his death to a karmic one. This affected the trajectory of the story in various ways.
  • The first spared character (Elias), who should have died at the end of Noli, becomes the primary Rebel Leader. It helps that the author himself has admitted regret on killing this character due to his wasted potential, which the show capitalized on.
  • The second spared character (Juli) was actually about to meet her tragic fate when Klay intervenes. Though her ordeal still serves as a breaking point for Basilio to push him on joining Simoun's cause like in the novel, her survival leads to a positive domino effect in which her father and grandfather also survive their tragic fates.
  • The remaining two characters' changed fates are intertwined with Simoun's Character Development. Salvi was a Karma Houdini in the novels but here his hatred towards Ibarra/Simoun and obsession for Maria Clara are more pronounced, and it got to a point that he accidentally killed Maria Clara when he's actually gunning for Simoun instead. He got killed by Simoun for this, but this results in the latter's more cynical characterization. Simoun then proceeds to kill Damaso, who should have suffered Bus Crash by El Fili, to illustrate how far Simoun has fallen.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The series runs on the idea that everything bad in the books that Klay and other character try to prevent comes true anyway.
• Series Fauxnale: The antepenultimate episode resolves the entire Myth Arc regarding the books and its characters, with the last two episodes being Dénouement regarding Klay's personal life.
• Shout-Out:
  • Klay had Maria Clara read The Count of Monte Cristo (which was the basis of El Fili).
  • After witnessing several tragedies and character deaths near the end of the Noli arc, Klay unfavorably compares the novel to Game of Thrones.
• Shown Their Work: It is clear that the production team did their research to portray the 19th century Philippines as accurately as they did. GMA often boasts about it during their nightly news reports.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Several by the time the show reaches the El Filibusterismo arc.
  • Elias is somehow alive as opposed to being killed off in the end of Noli Me Tangere. This is based on an anecdote that Rizal regretted killing off Elias.
  • Klay successfully talks Juli out of being Driven to Suicide after the latter's rape. As a result of this, her father Tales and grandfather Selo also survive their tragic deaths from the novel.
  • Subverted by Padre Damaso, who shows up after Maria Clara's death despite dying canonically in the interim between Noli and El Fili, only to be killed off by Simoun.
• The Stations of the Canon: The main plot of the story, being a Portal Book series. Much of the conflict between protagonist Klay and her teacher Prof. Torres is the former becoming too attached with the characters from the iconic two-part novel that she wanted to save them from their tragic fates while the latter keeps insisting that the characters' fates should be preserved due to the novels' cultural and historical importance. She ultimately created an Alternate Continuity, though Prof. Torres doesn't hold it against her.
• Suspicious Spending:The husband of Sisa is addicted to cockfighting. He is bribed into participating in a phony rebellion. Tasyo the philosopher notes that the man was seen buying a new game cock despite having no source of income.
• Team Member in the Adaptation: Elias, Juli (both characters who are Spared by the Adaptation) and Fidel (an Ascended Extra from the novels) became members of the revolutionaries in this version.
• Trailers Always Spoil:
  • Elias being Spared by the Adaptation is foiled for the viewers when the character appeared in a few Freeze-Frame Bonus during the El Fili arc trailer.
  • Klay becoming a doctor is seen in several On the Next leading to the episode's final week. Prof. Torres gives her a medical school scholarship in the beginning of the Grand Finale.
  • Barry Torres, Prof. Torres' grandson, is spoiled as a Last Episode, New Character by the same On the Next previews above. What the trailers didn't spoil, however, is that Barry is an Identical Stranger to Ibarra.
• Uncertain Doom: Friar Camorra is last seen being taken away by the bandits, led by the angry father of the girl he raped.
• Unknown Rival: Salvi is this to Ibarra over Maria Clara's love but he is so egotistical that he believes Ibarra is the rival.
• Unwitting Pawn: In "El Filibusterismo", Tales was driven to banditry due to desperation. In this series, he was manipulated by Simoun.
• Uptown Girl: Aunt Isabel used to be this in her youth. She was forbidden from marrying her sweetheart Renaldo because he was poor. They have finally gotten married in the El Filibusterismo arc.
• Year Inside, Hour Outside: The entirety of Noli took months to nearly a year, but only a few hours pass when Klay returns to the real world. When she heads back to the novel world during the El Fili arc (a Distant Sequel set thirteen years later) a week later, the characters are naturally puzzled that Klay didn't age.
• You Can't Fight Fate: Over the course of the series, Klay witnesses several Noli characters die just as written in the book, even if she tried to prevent their deaths. She is led to believe that this was the message of Noli (which is what she was supposed to discover in the book). This gives her a Heroic BSoD.
• Your Terrorists Are Our Freedom Fighters: The outlaws led by Elias who butt heads with the other outlaws led by Tales and Pablito.