In episode 8 of He’s Into Her season 2, Belle Mariano shines in an emotional episode all about dealing with guilt and its consequences.
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When Max and Deib first met back in season one, their encounter laid the groundwork for what would become their whirlwind romance. But the accidental meet up had to deal with the fact that Deib was trying to find who shot his brother. And now, it’s coming back full circle as explored in an episode laced with emotions. Tito Boyet’s secret is now in the open and it’s threatening to destroy the relationship TagSen built for themselves.
WHAT TO DO, MAX?
The episode begins with Tito Boyet telling Max and the rest about the truth behind Dale’s shooting. He tells them that Max had dengue and they needed 75,000 pesos in order to pay for her treatment. Desperate and out of options, he approached his friend who roped him into a carnapping scheme. But Tito Boyet didn’t actively participate in the crime. All while he’s telling this, Max is just watching on. Rendered speechless, her face is saying all that needs to be said. Tito Randy instructs Max to not tell Deib about this before he’s able to get protection for Boyet.
The next morning, Max is hounded with guilt and anxiety over the dark secret she just learned. Meanwhile, Deib is texting Max that he’s pissed about the case and that he wants to talk to her. Max is bothered by what she knows and pains to tell Deib the truth. But she stops herself, saying that she won’t go to school for the day and that she loves him. Later that day, we find the two main camps discussing the case. We find Deib, who by the way looks so good in that pink top, and his parents talking to their lawyer.
Despite their best efforts, it seems as if they’ve reach a dead-end on their part, which causes Deib’s dad to chide his son for not doing enough. It is at this point where we get to see the guilt that has been eating Deib up. Dale has always been there to support Deib and he feels that it’s his fault and he’s not doing enough to help his older brother. This sense of doing right for Dale is further hit home in the emotional hug the two brothers share later in the episode.
NEEDED CLOSURE
angas ni maxpein oh
— jha (@DBcutiee) June 8, 2022
© iwanttfc
HIH2 MOMENT OF TRUTH#DonBelle#HesIntoHerS2E8 pic.twitter.com/0JuNBRZhH1
As for Max, she’s found it hard to carry about her day knowing what she knows. She breaks down in the hallway, crying over her torrent of feelings and emotions. She is then comforted by Randall and the two go on to play a game of basketball to let out the stress. It is in this scene where the two former lovers finally get their closer and make up, or at least the closest thing to it. Randall tells Max that even though it hurts that he can’t be with her, he’ll accept that she moved on. He doesn’t want to forget the special past they shared together so he’s willing to just be friends. Max then thanks Randall for his understanding.
Meanwhile, back in Benison, we find the gang at The Barb with Michiko alluding to the fact that she’s slowly moving on from Tob. But while one is trying to move on, another is falling harder as Ysay and Lee exchange glances at one another during Naih and Lee’s live selling. Naih catches this and in a shady move, asks Ysay to join them and tell her followers to stop thirsting over her man. As the number one Naih-Lee supporter in school, Ysay obliges though it probably did hurt her on the inside to say that.
IN HER NIGHTMARE
Randall brings an already stressed Max back home, but Deib’s sudden appearance causes the tension to spike. He accuses the two of going out and Max for lying, but Randall defends her saying that she visited her sick lola. Tito Maxim then shows up and invites the three of them to dinner. Randall says he has to go but Deib accepts. Over dinner, Maxim senses the tension and asks what’s wrong. Deib then says that he’s concerned about the case and that his only lead is a syndicate. Maxim tells him that the syndicate used to include Max’s mom as one of its members back in Marinduque before she left. He then says that Tito Boyet could definitely not be part of the syndicate because of how kind he was.
All this talk is making Max tense as she clutches her necklace. Realizing Max’s nerves, Deib decides to redeem a love coupon, this time for quality time. The two then have a special hug session where he says that he’s sorry for being jealous again. He then tells Max that he doesn’t want to be with anyone else but her and asks her to be his date to the senior ball. She accepts and tells him that she loves him, making it the second time today that she did so.
But despite the lovey dovey feelings emanating between these two, Max’s guilt reaches its boiling point. She has a nightmare that Deib discovers the truth and breaks up with her in dramatic fashion. The tense nightmare causes Tito Maxim to come to Max’s room. Feeling that she can no longer keep the secret, she texts Deib that she wants to tell him something important the next day.
In school, we find the two together and we also get a glimpse of one of our favorite sides of Deib, clingy Deib. It was a hug so comforting yet painful because of Max’s worried expression. Max tells him that they should just cut class and go, probably realizing that it’s all about to end. While Deib is initially skeptical, he agrees and we finally get to see those aesthetic running shots we see during the opening credits. Sadly, it also leads to that emotional confrontation in the rain scene. But that will be for next week’s recap.
THE TRUTH ISN’T AS FREEING
For the last time, she wanted to be with him. Because the moment he learns the truth, she will lose him.#HesIntoHerS2E8 #HesIntoHerSeason2 pic.twitter.com/P1JHCwikJW
— Kim Rae (@raekimy) June 8, 2022
It’s quite interesting that episode 8 is entitled And the Truth Shall…because normally, knowing the truth is a freeing experience. But as seen in this episode, knowing the truth is doing the exact opposite. Both Max and Deib feel like it’s their fault for Dale’s shooting happening. Max feels guilty since she had dengue and that if she didn’t, Tito Boyet wouldn’t have done what he did. Deib, meanwhile, is beat up over the fact that he seemingly can’t find a breakthrough in the case. It’s his fault that his brother got shot and he’s not doing enough to help Dale. It’s feelings that are hurting them both on the inside, but more so Max for obvious reasons.
These emotions and conflicted feelings wouldn’t be told as well if it weren’t for the excellent acting of Belle Mariano and Donny Pangilinan this episode. Belle always understands the assignment and she delivered extra hard. (Dare we say it? She carried the episode.) Even without much or any dialogue, her expressions spoke a thousand words. She delivered no lines yet we still got hurt. She conveyed Max’s tension and emotion with conviction. A standout in particular was during her nightmare scene where her crying and panic really got us.
Donny was good as well and he wasn’t no slouch. As the season goes on, his acting has been getting better as we got to see both his loving side and his worried side. The way Donny knows how to make our hearts flutter when he was hugging Max in school is a science that needs to be studied. Overall, with was a fine episode that got us emotional. It shows us that truth and guilt aren’t that far off from one another and processing it isn’t always easy.
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