
Forevermore is a 2014 television series directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina, a luminary of Philippine romantic fiction. It stars Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano, following the love story of Alexander Xander Grande III (Gil), the rebellious, broken only child of a hotel magnate, and Maria Agnes Calay (Soberano), the daughter of a strawberry farmer in La Presa, Benguet. They cross paths when Xander crashes into the Calays strawberry truck while base jumping.
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This series contains examples of the following tropes:
A to G
- Abhorrent Admirer: Clauie to Xander, although its more because of her personality than her looks; as proven when Xanders conventionally unattractive friend becomes smitten with her wiser, but physically identical twin Judy, providing a more direct example.
- Ambiguously Brown: Gil and Soberano are both mestizos (half-Filipino, half-white). However, Soberano looks a lot more visibly Southeast Asian than Gil. Gils Xander has sleek, reddish brown hair and fairly European-looking features (also known as white-passing). Her mother, Bettina, is like this as well: pale, with fairly European-looking features and lighter hair.
- The Atoner: Xanders brother Sebastian died, and he feels responsible for his untimely passing.
- Beauty Contest/Talent Contest: Agnes and Andrew participate in one thats a combination of these. Although marketed mainly as a beauty pageant, the talent portion constitutes nearly half of the final score.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family: The Grandes, with an Evil Matriarch (Xanders grandmother) to boot.
- Bilingual Bonus: More like trilingual bonus (100% a Truth in Television for the Philippines). The characters are fluent in Tagalog and English, but the strawberry farmers in particular also speak Ilocano, one of the many minority languages in the Philippines.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Alex seems nice compared to his mother, but is actually a domestic abuser who beats up Bettina.
- Boomerang Bigot: Bettina is an elitist, antagonistic Love-Obstructing Parent. But her own inferior socioeconomic background is why her husbands mother irrationally dislikes her in the first place.
- Cassandra Truth: Xander is being a disingenuous prick in the first few episodes of the show, but he isnt lying about having had his bank balance unknowingly taken from him.
- The Charmer: Xander, particularly after much Character Development.
- City Mouse: Xander, who is placed in the classic Fish out of Water scenario at the beginning of the show.
- Coming-of-Age Story: For both Xander and Agnes.
- Cute Bookworm: Agnes. She says she likes to read much more than watch TV.
- Domestic Abuse: Alex beats up his wife Bettina. (Although his violent streak is shown onscreen only once not that beating your spouse up only once makes it forgivable Alex growls Are you going to hide again?! at Bettina when she unsuccessfully attempts to run away from his wrath, implying this has happened more than once.)
- Easily Forgiven: Xander when he swoops in to pay his debt to the farmers at the last minute. That said, their homes and livelihood were on the verge of being literally demolished at the time of Xanders arrival, so its understandable that their jubilance prevails over any negative feelings they may have. Indeed, Agnes father tells him upfront that his intentions for saving their community dont matter, and theyre all just relieved.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Clauies reaction to her own twin sister, Judy, snarking that they didnt buy flowers for the formers Beauty Contest endeavor because they all knew she would lose.
- Family of Choice: The La Presa farmers to Xander. He explicitly refers to them as such.
- Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Judy, who is perennially nice and a smart, sensible foil to her vain and ditzy twin sister Clauie.
- Freudian Excuse: Sebastian died because of Xander. It haunts him every waking moment of his life since, although they were both little kids when it happened.
- Good Is Not Dumb: The farmers give Xander the benefit of the doubt, which in itself is quite reasonable. Agnes can see hes lying his ass off, however, and catches him in his attempts to run from responsibility.
- Good Is Not Soft: Agnes lets him suffer for his spoiled, immature recklessness. It even reaches a point where hes shivering in his open-space sleeping quarters and Agnes dissuades her concerned father from providing him with a blanket. She predicts hell confess and want to pay up soon it absolutely works, but his father has drained his bank account. The elderly man who initially implores the other farmers to be humanitarian towards Xander, Ka Sebio, turns out to be this as well; he tells them a little later that they should tie the boy up.Xander, getting tied up: This is outrageous! When I escape from here, Ill file a lawsuit against all of you. This is a human rights violation!Mang Banky: We have human rights, too, which you violated.
- Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Agnes Beauty Contest gown is a rich purple. The equally lovely, levelheaded Judy chose it for her.
H to Z
- Hate Sink: Aling Galietta, the owner of the land upon which the farmers plant and reside. Shes greedy and willing to screw over dozens of industrious workers with families for her own personal gain, to the point of leaving them deprived not only of their livelihood and homes, but also their every single possession.
- Happily Adopted: Mirasol is not Agnes biological mother, but treats her like any mother should. Fittingly, her surname Amparo means shelter.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: Agnes father and Mirasol. They arent romantically involved, but Mirasol is Agnes adoptive mother, recognized as such both in-universe and out.
- Hollywood Tone-Deaf: Intentional on Agnes part. She uses purposely horrid singing to force Xander to wake up early.
- Imaginary Love Triangle: Niknok is a little boy who thinks hes dating teenage Agnes. Hes overprotective of his my love, but Agnes very clearly doesnt reciprocate his feelings, for discernible reasons.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Xanders friends are cocky, spoiled party animals (who somehow utterly neglect to secure a business permit for an event theyd been planning for a long time) like he is, but theyre right in saying he should honor his promises to them.
- Love at First Sight: Downplayed. When Agnes first lays her eyes upon Xander, shes struck in a way that reads as more than just finding him attractive. However, hes also the reckless idiot that cost her and the other farmers thousands of pesos, so she truly does find him irritating.
- Meaningful Name: Xanders erstwhile girlfriend and near-wife, Katherine Kate Saavedra, is a mentally unstable Jerkass who eventually heals from her issues after years of therapy. The name Katherine is believed to mean torture or pure, and both roots are applicable here. Her surname, Saavedra, also roughly means old house, alluding to the fact that her relationship with Xander is a Destructive Romance from the past that should stay there.
- Meet Cute: In the technical sense of the term, as in fortuitous circumstances force them to meet. Neither of them are happy about it, although anyone well-versed enough in the art of romantic fiction will know where that usually leads.
- Men Don't Cry: Averted. For instance, rather than the usual reactions of irrational, blustering anger or cool unsentimentality, Drew cries when Agnes rejects his courtship.
- Morality Pet: Niknok to Xander. The greatest glimpses into Xanders softer side are through his friendship with the child.
- Motifs: Strawberries. Theyre attractive, delicious, and considered exotic in the Philippines, where the climate in most regions is unsuitable for planting them. Its no wonder that a teleserye set in one of the few places within the whole archipelago cold enough to accommodate strawberry growth (Baguio) would utilize the fruit so heavily in its aesthetics.
- No Name Given: Aling is a Tagalog honorific that practically just amounts to Aunt, but can be used for any sufficiently aged female figure of some authority. Galiettas forename is never revealed (that is, unless Galietta is her forename). Likewise, Mang is an honorific in the same vein; Banky is a jokingly Anglicized form of bangkay, meaning corpse, as the character is known in-universe for being so gaunt and old that hes reminiscent of a cadaver.
- Not So Above It All: Smart, reliable Judy, who readily helps Agnes give Xander a dose of his own medicine, cant help blurting out that she finds him yummy.Agnes: [Beat] Are you Clauie?
- Pet the Dog: A significant early marker of Xanders Character Development is helping a child get rid of his aching tooth.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Judy and Clauie look alike, but could hardly be any more different.
- Quirky Curls: Agnes has these.
- Scenery Porn: Agnes and her community are introduced via gorgeous shots of the steep strawberry farms.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Xander and Agnes.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Some of the names, like Clauie. Yes, its just Chloe spelled strangely. Another genuine quirk of Philippine culture.
- Spirited Young Lady: Agnes. Her Establishing Character Moment is her making an effort to stand up to Aling Galiettas money-grubbing tyranny. Her father says Agnes never cowers from a challenge.
- Starter Villain: Clauie. Shes catty to Agnes for no reason. However, she is still a welcome member of the farmers community and ultimately quite harmless. She and Agnes become friends over the course of the series.
- Statuesque Stunner: Downplayed. Agnes isnt Amazonian-gigantic, but she stands at 57. This is considered very tall especially in the context of a Philippine show (shes One Head Taller than most of the other women), and her leading man is no more than 3 inches taller than she is.
- Teleserye: On the lighter-hearted side of the spectrum, but still qualifies.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Xander, naturally. Kate as well, and Clauie, but the latter was never really more than a catty peer. She even coaches Agnes for her Beauty Contest.