Last weekend, I went to catch Ex Ex Lovers, the most anticipated comeback of Marvin-Jolina. And I’m happy to report that, no, they certainly have not lost their touch and yes, the kilig is still topnotch, their bickering is still entertaining as hell, and finally, yes, the movie certainly has new things to say about love. Do I recommend you see it? Hell yes!

But wait. This isn’t a review of Ex Ex Lovers. This is a recap of all the easter eggs relating to Marvin-Jolina’s past works and fandom lore that fill the movie! 

Marvin-Jolina has always been my ultimate loveteam, see. I was there when they were first introduced in Gimik. I can still quote lines from FLAMES The Movie and Kung Ayaw Mo Huwag Mo. Whenever I saw the PNR, I’d think about Abigail and Nelson traveling to Bicol on it. And do not even get me started on Labs Kita… Okey Ka Lang. Their bickering and their chemistry, their brand of kilig is just unparalleled and inimitable. So, of course, I caught all these easter eggs! 

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Joy and Ced

Let’s start with their names. Jolina plays Joy, who’s been a single mother for 10 years, still waiting on the annulment of her marriage with Ced, played by Marvin, who’s currently an OFW in Malta. Those names sound familiar, right? Because it’s a play on Bujoy and Ned, their characters from Labs Kita…Okey Ka Lang? Kinda fitting, to be honest, because Joy and Ced also used to be best friends before they became husband and wife.

Joey and SC

In the film, Joy must find Ced at the request of her daughter who just got engaged. Her daughter, played by Loisa Andalio, is named SC. She’s getting married to Joey, played by JK Labajo. In the 90s youth oriented show Gimik, Marvin played Joseph Fajardo aka Joey while Jolina played Socorro Corazon or Ese (pronounced es-see).

The Gimik cast

In Gimik, Ese’s best friends were Diane, played by Judy Ann Santos, and Melanie, played by Mylene Dizon. That these actors appear in the movie as Joy’s friends is already an insane dose of nostalgia, but then G Tongi (Gimik’s Gina) and Dominic Ochoa (Gimik’s Eric) appear, too? I was cheesing!

Tameme

Yeah, of course, you know Tameme is a Jolina Magdangal classic. But it’s not only a classic OPM song, it’s also the theme song of their episode in FLAMES The Movie, a twinbill with another legendary love team, Rico Yan and Claudine Barretto. Hearing this song in the movie just hits harder when you know it was in their first movie together.

Ballroom dancing

At one point in the movie, we see Joy and Ced having to dance after being egged on by their daughter, because they used to dance together when they were younger.

In Joyce Bernal’s Hey Babe!, Marvin played a dance instructor named Nelson and Jolina played Abigail, who would only get into a relationship once someone makes her feel chuva-choo-choo. 

As Ced is trying to flirt with Joy during their dance, he recreates a move that Nelson did to Abigail. They even said chuva-choo-choo at some point in the movie!

I love you, thank you

In a scene where Joy is telling someone about the many ways his absentee husband sucks, she shares that she once told him she loves him, to which he responded with a thank you.

Years after Marvin-Jolina’s last project, they made an appearance in Gandang Gabi Vice where Jolina shared an anecdote about the time she told Marvin she loved him and only got the same response.

“Taga-” monologue

At the film’s emotional climax, Joy confronts Ced about all that he’s put her through and everything she did for him in their marriage, mirroring Bujoy’s iconic monologue in Labs Kita…Okey Ka Lang?

Bujoy’s yellow dress

One of the best things about Ex Ex Lovers is its ending. It’s a most beautiful resolution where we see love taking another form or, perhaps, returning to its original one. And the way that they were dressed similarly to Ned and Bujoy made it feel like a real full-circle moment.

A true reunion of two people who have known each other for so long, have always loved each other albeit in different ways, and are fully at peace that they will continue to do so.

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