I’m truly happy for the success of Maja Salvador’s ABS-CBN soap Wildflower. Maja has worked extremely hard to do a show that she can be proud of, and one that people want watch religiously. There were many pressure points for Maja, since the shows in the time slot she took over did well. There were rumors that casting some pivotal roles proved to be a challenge, as the creative team wanted to come up with the perfect cast. There were also some logistic problems I heard about, as many of the scenes were shot meticulously. After all that Maja and the rest of the cast and the production people exerted, even a mild hit would’ve been regarded as a flop. This was seen as a revolutionary show that would showcase Maja’s many talents and resoundingly prove she could headline a show.
This was also Maja’s first solo-starrer. She has been in the business for a number of years now, and is also part of the Salvador clan. She has paid her dues. How could this show not be a huge hit and break records?
Still, it was scary considering she was following the success of Pasion de Amor and We Will Survive. She had to match the noise created by those two shows.
The pressure was horrible. I remember talking to Maja during the launch and she was nervous, even anxious. Nobody knew what was going to happen. Expectations were insanely high. ABS-CBN and Ruel Bayani, the business unit head of the show, did everything to produce a TV show worth watching, promoting the show like there was nothing else.
Now, after 257 episodes, Wildflower is a certified hit, constantly crushing the competition. It would regularly trend on social media too, and Maja was propelled to superstardom. The show is airing its finale next week, dubbed as “the wildest ending.”
With Raul (Wendell Ramos), Helena (Zsa Zsa Padilla) and Arnaldo (RK Bagatsing) out of the picture, Lily (Maja Salvador) appears to have the upper hand in her mission to get the Ardientes off their high horses and finally set the people of Poblacion Ardiente free from their deception and abuses. But Julio Ardiente (Tirso Cruz III), together with Emilia (Aiko Melendez), will not give up without a fight, and make sure Lily will pay for everything that she did.
After publicly putting the blame on Lily for Arnaldo’s death, the Ardientes humiliate her in public and force her to walk around town with a signage that says she is a killer, while Emilia lashes her back with a whip. But just when the odds are seemingly back in the Ardientes favor, the people of Poblacion Ardiente discover a mass grave suspected to belong to their loved ones who went missing, causing a massive public outrage.
More than just a story of revenge, Wildflower is the tale of a woman’s courage, determination and resilience to find justice for her family, and for the people of one town. Driven by hope and love, main protagonist Lily Cruz fights for what is right without putting the law in her own hands.
How will this discovery of the mass grave change things? Where will Lily find a spark of hope amid the misery? When will Poblacion Ardiente finally see the light after many years of being in the dark under the Ardiente rule?
While these burning questions will be answered in the finale week, I still clearly remember the pilot week of Wildflower. I was actually nervous for Maja because she has grown to become a very dear friend. Anything could happen. What if a big storm hit Metro Manila and the metropolis loses electriticity for a week? What if people turned out to be wholly uninterested?
The show premiered on February 13, 2017. For a week, I was restless. I was wild with paraonoia, far from a wildflower actually. First thing on the Monday following the premiere, I checked the average ratings for the pilot week. “The ratings are high!” I screamed, as if I were Maja.
Bravo, Maja! Wildflower is a hit and you have blossomed.