Incognito

My recent viewing experience with this series started with promise, but quickly veered into a familiar and frustrating territory: that of a story simply refusing to end. What began as an engaging narrative soon became a drawn-out exercise in patience, making me question the prevailing trend in Philippine television to prioritize sheer length over tight, impactful storytelling.

The Good (Initially): To its credit, the series initially captured my interest. There were intriguing character dynamics, a compelling premise, and the early episodes hinted at a well-structured plot with a clear direction. The initial pacing felt appropriate, allowing for character introduction and plot development without unnecessary filler.

The Dragging Reality: However, as the series progressed, the quality began to noticeably decline. The central conflict, which should have been the driving force, became diluted by an endless stream of tangential subplots and repetitive scenarios. It felt less like organic storytelling and more like a deliberate attempt to stretch the narrative thin. Moments that should have been concise and impactful were instead drawn out with unnecessary scenes, and new "side quests" emerged without serving the overarching plot in any meaningful way.

The "Cash Cow" Conundrum: This brings me to the core of my frustration: the palpable sense that the series' longevity was prioritized above all else. It's as if the primary goal shifted from telling a compelling story to simply occupying a time slot for as long as possible, presumably to maximize advertising revenue. This "cash cow" mentality, while understandable from a business perspective, ultimately sacrifices artistic integrity and viewer satisfaction. When a series feels like it's designed to be long rather than genuinely needing to be long, the engagement suffers significantly.

Why So Long, Philippines?

This experience highlights a broader question about Filipino teleseryes. While there might be cultural preferences for intricate family sagas and daily viewing habits that support extended runs, the constant drive for quantity often seems to overshadow the potential for quality. Instead of delivering a concise, impactful narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end, many series opt for an open-ended structure that allows for indefinite extensions. This approach often leads to plot fatigue, character stagnation, and a general sense of the story "dragging."

Final Verdict: While I appreciate the initial effort and the talent involved, the series ultimately became a casualty of its own ambition for longevity. It's a prime example of how an otherwise promising story can lose its way when the focus shifts from narrative integrity to maximizing runtime. For future Filipino productions, I sincerely hope to see a greater emphasis on crafting tighter, more purposeful narratives, where every episode contributes meaningfully to the story, rather than just adding to the clock. Quality, not just quantity, should be the ultimate goal.

I appreciate the effort, the concept and the production value. However, there are small important details in every episode that doesn't make any sense and it negatively affects the show overall. Whether it's a missing explanation, an impossible gun fight scene, or a script that does not support the character's (supposedly) natural reaction, this show failed to capture the realism we hoped for a big budget Netflix Filipino series like this. It still has a long way to go to get on par with the good international series' on the mentioned platform. The cast and production value carries everything for this show though.

I live in the states and I'm watching this using English captions and I find the show great, even in comparison to American action drama. I have never seen another production with Richard or Daniel to compare them to previous productions. The story of Andres is heartwarming and also sad it appears. The character Thomas is a little over the top maybe with the acting or maybe it's the dialogue. I absolutely do not like the character he works opposite of. I can't even think of her real name. I think they call her Sparrow.. Eagle is great for her part. She plays it beautifully. I love the main guy- the order guy Greg. As you can see I don't know these Filipino actors, but I find the top three Greg, Padilla, and Shark. I guess my favorite character is Daniel Padilla. He's playing the part very very well. After I started viewing this, I went back and watched a couple of his movies and he is adorable in both drama and romance and surprisingly in action. I wish this was on in Netflix in the states so I wouldn't have to jump through hoops to see this. I'm a movie buff. For you nay sayers, just shut up. My husband has watched a few with me, but he can't get past the language barrier, but he says as far as the action a lot of it is right on And they are holding weapons like women hold weapons and the guys are doing decent.. has seen a few things unrealistic, but he's looking at it from a professional viewpoint. It is after all television. He actually owns those weapons. So he's a little more of a master But if you think about it, they're not playing professionals per se except for maybe Andres and Shark. The series is great but they started so strong and I can't imagine they can keep that pace up for the series to go years and years like many do in the states. But I am loving the scenery and the action. My favorite couple is Andres and his grandmother. I just love that connection. They show a family and how important it is. They need a line producer. The screen writers need to look back at previous episodes because they are deviating from some of the storyline And that was notice right away by me because I've binge watch it three or four episodes at a time. I wish they did like we do in the states. This is definitely not a soap opera, but drama action and once a week would be great. One hour a week for 10-20 weeks on Netflix or on abs-cbn Guys I love it and don't let any of these bad reviews affect you because if am American that speaks English as her first language, Spanish as her second language and just a tad bit of this language loves it and her husband who hates watching anything with close caption will watch it, this is a hit. And I know every series needs a beautiful kick ass girl and she is very much that but there's something about her, I do not like. And Thomas is a good actor but they need to take some of his goofiness away. They are trying to create a Tony and Ziva that we had in the states with NCIS and that worked, but this doesn't seem to be working not for me anyway. And the fact that they are going from one location to another each episode is great but we had a series here that tried it twice and both times it had to be canceled because it got so expensive and all the effects with the shooting and the knife fighting I'm loving it. We are a family of karate here with my daughter being a 3rd degree black belt in tae kwon do and something else but I can't remember so I believe a little bit of that added can really make a huge difference. And I saw some of that. I wish you guys would run this on Netflix in the states because there's a lot of Filip in CA, FL, and Hawaii and then people like new.

Honestly, Incognito blew me away. This isn't just the best action series from ABS-CBN. It might just be the best action series ever made in the Philippines. The production quality is on another level. You can really tell they invested in the training, the locations, and the cinematography. Every episode feels like a movie. The fight scenes? Solid. The stunts? Intense. And the cast? Perfectly chosen. Richard Gutierrez and Ian Veneracion nailed their roles, and even the younger cast like Maris and Anthony really held their own. Baron Geisler brought that signature intensity, Daniel Padilla completely transformed into a legit action star, and Kaila Estrada impressed me with her quiet strength and presence onscreen.

Every episode keeps you hooked. It's not your typical teleserye. It's fast-paced, smart, and emotionally grounded. Incognito proves that Filipino-made action can be world-class. ABS-CBN just raised the standard, and I'm here for it.

Stopped at episode 5, and I will not continue watching it. Richard Gutierrez acting style didnt change for the past 15 years. The rest of the main cast acting skills looks like a newbie actors, except for Baron Geisler perhaps.

Aside from the acting, what made me stop watching this are the fight scenes. I mean, the bad guys will attack the hero one by one when they can attack all at the same time. Nevermind the gunfights ahahaha. Typical Filipino movies/shows. The heroes wont get shot even if the bad guys shoot them with a million bullets in close range. Hey! The heroes are not even taking cover when being shot at, but the bullets seems to miraculously dodge them.

You know which part is the best? Or at least looks good? The trailer. When you start watching the shows, almost 40% are fillers and cringy lines spoken in hard english and a bit formal tagalog.

And nobody swear! Ahahaha or maybe i just missed it.

I really hope Richard Gutierrez will get to read this. Man, try to change your acting style please. You've been using that style for 15 plus years.