“KILLER BRIDE” Tops Triumphant Premiere Week with Well-Received “JOSHNELLA” Pairing

High-concept shows stand a chance to be a real treat whenever they air on Philippine television. It can be a foreign production like the action drama series “24” starring Kiefer Sutherland (dubbed in Filipino by ABS-CBN back in the 2000s), or it can be a local masterpiece like “May Bukas Pa” with the then-young Zaijian Jaranilla, also on the same network. In short, the Kapamilya network is a master at this, if the international trending reaction to their new suspense-drama tele-serye “The Killer Bride” is any indication. The backstory of a vengeful spirit was awesomely terrifying enough, but the new love team that formed there was a big bonus too.

ABS-CBN News has it that as of Thursday night, Kapamilya fans who have been tuning in to the debut week of “The Killer Bride” have decided that the lead pairing of Janella Salvador and Joshua Garcia was one that could develop into a viable onscreen love team, or “ship” as it tends to be called these days. Granted, it took the new tele-serye the better part of a week to finally introduce the two stars as it first covered the narrative backstory, but when viewers saw their characters meet this Thursday, August 15, they knew.

Over the night and into the following morning, social media commentary is definitely supportive of the first-time pairing between Janella and Joshua. From the heavily hyped initial meeting scene in the trailer with Salvador’s Emma tripping atop Garcia’s Elias, audiences have been hooked at the potential of their dynamics. And in honor of their proven chemistry the fans have cooked up the portmanteau couple name “Joshnella,” in hope that their tandem will prove not just a flash in the pan but one that will move “The Killer Bride” for months and maybe years of plot.

THANK YOU FOR TUNING IN! ❣️ #TheKillerBrideFirstMeet pic.twitter.com/2TJwYTlfa0

— RCD Narratives - ABS-CBN (@RCDNarratives) August 15, 2019

Back to the show itself, the three-episode prologue period does well to set up the origin story of the titular “Killer Bride” ghost haunting the town of Las Espadas. Camila (Maja Salvador) becomes a patsy in a murder she did not commit, convicted by testimony from her own husband Vito (Geoff Eigenmann) of the influential dela Cuesta clan. Forced to care for her newborn baby in prison, she is forced to give her up due to sickness, only to be trapped behind bars when the correctional facility catches fire.

Believing her baby, taken to the prison clinic which also got razed, is dead, a dying Camila curses everyone that doomed her to that fate, swearing to kill them all from beyond the grave. Her tragic end and her last words become an urban legend in Las Espadas even as the dela Cuestas choose to make her a non-entity. When Emma arrives in town looking for work, she is assumed to be the perfect host for Camila’s spirit to possess and finally carry out her vengeance.

The Joshnella tandem created in “The Killer Bride” is auspicious considering that both members of the new ship are no longer tied to their previous romantic partners, Julia Barretto to Joshua Garcia and Elmo Magalona for Janella Salvador. The new tele-serye airs primetime weekdays after “The General’s Daughter” on ABS-CBN.

Image from Orange Magazine PH