Cheat: The Series’
HUETV EVERYWHERE
Actors: Daryll Rodriguez, Migo de Vera, VR Relosa, Allora Alcantara, Iyo Canlas, Tuesday Vargas, Daiana Meneses
Format/Genre: Web series/Boys’ love
Premise: CHEAT revolves around five main young characters; an innocent young man, Vee, who has had an unusual sheltered upbringing. Vee lives with his full-time guardian, an apostolic nun. The series concerns the effect that Vee has on 3 siblings: Dong, Jennifer, and Jay. The siblings live with their mother who dabbles in witchcraft. Their father, who is never seen, left the family to be with his Mistress who makes up the eighth character in the entire series (HueTV Everywhere)
Where to Watch: HueTV Everywhere’s Youtube Channel
Why You Should See It
Lust, innocence, betrayal, and sensuality, are beautifully mixed in this dark psycho-supernatural BL series, which also showcases strong performances and mind-blowing turns of the story
The use of supernatural plotlines in LGBT-themed entertainment isn’t unique as a number of foreign tv series—and even movies have already been made. Remember the American tv series, Dante’s Cove and The Lair? Boys’ love, however, is widely appreciated for its light and airy tone, although to be honest, some recent entries have been getting extra-experimental, in terms of both humor and sensuality.
‘Cheat: The Series’ seems to believe it can still push further beyond, aspiring to introduce thematic motifs that are not common features of the genre. Witchcraft and sensuality are regular and persistent themes that the show eloquently mixed with the genre’s inherent and central anthem—love between boys. There is always confusion about which aspect of the story the viewer should focus on, but the script itself is magically blended, to allow audiences to be compelled by both.
In the series, Vee (Daryll Rodriguez) unintentionally brought chaos to a mysterious family whose matriarch and the only daughter are involved in the practice of dark magic. Siblings, Jay (Relosa), Jennifer (Alcantara), and Dong (de Vera) are all influenced by Vee, and have been harboring desires to varying extents for Vee’s love and attention. Jennifer conjures a spell she believes will help her lure Vee into reciprocating her adoration, but backfires, with both her brothers Dong and Jay, begin vying for Vee’s heart instead.
And then there comes betrayal, which creeps into the three siblings and Vee’s hunger for both flesh and love, and as other issues including that of Mother (Tuesday Vargas), The Mistress (Daiana Meneses), and Sister (Claudia Enriquez) who looks weirdly mysterious, darker secrets are seemingly poised to be revealed.
Narrative-wise, ‘Cheat: the Series’ persistently stumbles upon the tendency of convulsion. A 20-min-ish series that tackles such a rich plot expectedly struggles to articulate its motives well, but there are enough compensations for this slight shortcoming. Confident performances from the actors are strong enough to make a good impression on the series, but surprising turns and the mesmerizing mysterious tone of the plot provide a compelling invitation for the audience to stick with the story.
‘Cheat: The Series’ drops a new episode every Tuesday on HueTV Everywhere’s Youtube Channel. Watch the trailer below:
