TRIUMPH IN THE SKIES II [TVB][2013][E]

WRITTEN BY FUNN LIM

"Right... I think the holiday has ended. I know, I know, Zoe, it is time to go back to work"

This episode, the previously not so festive feeling Holiday is feeling a bit more festive in this episode and the hilarity continues with Isaac and Jayden. By far a far better episode than previous ones and I couldn't stop laughing.

Before I begin, I must reproduce a conversation I had with a fellow viewer who said; "Kenneth Ma should really learn acting from Francis Ng. All Kenneth could do is pout with that pouty lips of his. Look at Francis..."

To be fair to Kenneth, he did far better in this series than that other disastrous one called Silver Something Shackled Sucks. But yes, Francis is supreme isn't he. Just go and rewatch TITS 1 and I bet his approach to Samuel Tong is the same. He remembers his interpretation and it is perfectly consistent in here, as if very little time passed between TITS 1 and TITS 2. Francis, I salute you!

Oh and some good news. You get double dose of Myolie, as in Myo as Zoe and Myo and that new girl. So the wait is over.

Continue.

Jayden Koo is entertaining and basking in his little fanclub of air stewardess, each demanding to have some time with him and in the end each agreed on the time management and Jayden smiles happily and smugly whilst Isaac wonders what's the deal with these girls.

In the flight from HK to London, Jayden waltzed in and asked casually "Do you know why the flight from HK to London is my favourite?" and everyone went errrr and Isaac knew the answer and said "Because you can rewind back the clock to 8 hours before" and Jayden agreed and said "That way I can go to all my dates".

That man lives by women and dies by women.

Anyway Roy casually said "I heard there's a new lady engineer reporting back from training in Hainan (I think I heard Hainan, I stand to be corrected)" and Jayden suddenly stood up and said he will check with ground crew on status of the plane. Everyone wondered aloud "He never checked with ground crew, why now?" and they all knew it was because of a female engineer. Jayden walked under the plane and saw the back of a long haired engineer looking ground crew and walked towards that individual and with every bit of gentleness he could muster he enquired politely "You're back?" and a man looked back at him and said "What am I back about?" and Jayden looked shocked. The guys in the plane were still wondering what's with the female ground crew when Jayden walked in, sulkily slammed the cockpit door (I know it is heavy and all but he did slammed the door) and said "If I hear one more word about female engineer, I will eject that person from this cockpit" and everyone shut up as Jayden took the helm sulkily.

Pause.

I wonder what happened? But it was funny seeing Jayden's reaction and his moodiness.

Continue.

Obligatory 15 minutes of Fala Chen but luckily there's more here than just her.

Cut the long story short, Holly wanted to borrow 100 pounds to bet on Arsenal Liverpool winning and Sam refused to lend her the money and when she thought Liverpool won, she sulked, big time. Before that she wrote emails to Daniel wondering where he was and wondered why he loved the sky so much and vowing she will go to the sky and find the answer.

Holly is giving me the airhead vibe, more so when next morning Sam wanted to make a cake (or souffle? Looks like souffle that he has been trying to make for 3 episodes), he walked away and she immediately went and childishly added all sorts of ingredients. Later Sam tried the souffle or cake or whatever and he immediately rushed to Holly, begging her to help him.

Turns out Holly did something that made the souffle the taste that Sam wanted. Holly tried to retrace what she put in and after many attempts, Sam tried it and suddenly, he quietly walked towards the window as Holly stared at him and Sam near tears remembered the past;

Zoe was not feeling well, she couldn't eat much and Sam rushed out and bought her a similar souffle/cake and Zoe tried it and loved it. Much later, Zoe was much weaker and she quietly told him "Isn't it about time you go back to work? The holiday is over Sam" but Sam gently said "It is still holiday. I will go back to work when I find that taste we had, that souffle we had" and presumably Zoe later died and he spent the years looking for that taste as we see him at present and he loudly said "Right... I think the holiday has ended. I know, I know, Zoe, it is time to go back to work" and Holly just stared at him as Sam made the decision to return back to his old life.

Pause.

This is where Francis Ng is god when it comes to acting. This simple scene, him nearly in tears as he stared at the window, then the flashback of the perpetually perky Zoe and how she became weaker and weaker, quite nearly brought tears to my eyes. At that moment, Sam was the loneliest man in the world, holding onto that souffle and his link to Zoe and the fact that at some point he must continue to live even if his beloved wife have died. Even Zoe tried to tell him to live on. Fantastic scene.

Continue.

So Sam ditching the hobo look and adopted the hair swept up look like the Sam we all know all ready and packed, said good bye to little Zoe, Manna said good bye to him, he thanked her and said if she is ever in HK, to be sure to visit him and when he left, a paper plane flew by him and it was Holly saying good bye happily and Sam advising her not to hurt Manna again and to live an honest life and find direction in her life and cryptically Holly cheerfully said "Maybe one day I shall see you in the skies again" and Sam said "And I will be your driver! Good bye Holly, be good to Manna!" and Holly waved cheerfully.

And I guess he will be her tutor later on.

Anyway Sam goes back to HK by... guess! Guess!! Yes, Skylette!! He walked in and quite realistically is in Economy class as the air stewardess says "The prime suspect is on board". As he sat down by the window, Coco greeted him cheerfully and then it was Isaac greeting Sam and said "I will be flying the plane brother!" and Sam smiled sheepishly when Angela Tong in an unnamed cameo appearance, took the seat next to Sam, took one look at Isaac and immediately said "You're the pilot on this flight? Oh no, I can see dark clouds on your forehead! Bad sign!! You will be the end of me in this flight!!" and Isaac was like "Madam, I can assure you I will drive this plane safely and without incident" and Angela was like "We shall see!!" and Sam was like what the hell just happened and then Angele said "I can see bloodshed thanks to your brother the pilot" and Sam hilariously said "He will be donating blood in 2 weeks, could that be it?". That was truly funny!

Mid flight, some wind shear and plane shook a little, to the pilots it was nothing but Angela panicked, grabbed Sam and began chanting with her crystals and all and Sam was like what the hell and then she said a lot of things about the capabilities of Isaac and Sam said "Well he is my brother.." and she gave him this look like "Oh I am so sorry you have such a brother".

Seriously really funny scene, especially Sam's expression. Anyway suddenly Angela stood up and cried for the air stewardess and Coco rushed to her and she said "I think there is a mistake about my seat" and Coco asked to check her flight ticket but Angela said "No no, I mean you try sitting!!" and Coco sat there with Sam looking bewildered and she asked Coco "Can you feel someone or something sitting beneath you?" and Coco spooked stood up and said "I will change your seats" and Angela before she left put a crystal on that seat and chanted and left. Sam was like again the bewildered look.

Not only him, but me too! I was like what the hell just happened!!

Anyway the flight was normal, great and Roy teased "Ahhh Isaac is practically very calm today, he has to since there is a special guest he needs to impress" and Jayden was like who and they said "His brother, Sam Tong" and Jayden says "The Samuel Tong?" and they said yes and suddenly Jayden didn't look too please and his sudden seriousness shut everyone up.

Landing time. All was ok, Isaac doing well until the tower said to land faster at a certain style or whatever and suddenly Isaac panicked big time as Jayden agreed to the tower's request and said to Isaac "Looks like we will  be 5 minutes earlier". Isaac was worried and Roy and I think Tucker both worried for him and Isaac said "Can you two just stop doing that?" and he said to Jayden "Protocol check?"

Pause. Can't remember what was the word used, basically cross checking as per the manual.

Continue.

And Jayden said "Please" and Isaac said "Please"

Pause.

You gotta hand it to Jayden and his bitchiness! Isaac didn't say please and he casually reminded him to say please. 1000 points to Jayden!!

Continue.

Anyway checked everything, Isaac doubting himself and all that, Jayden didn't bat an eyelid. Then landing and guess what? Practically the entire plane dropped on the belly sort of landing which is as we all know, is terrible.

The passengers were mumbling "Who's the captain? Such a bad landing!" and Coco looked at Sam who looked like he will have to scream at Isaac for a job bad done and in the cockpit, everyone looked worried with Isaac looking like he just screwed up and Jayden... I laughed so hard when I saw his look. His what do you call that thing he wears on his ears? The speaker? The stereo speaker thing? Anyway it was almost sideways/skewed and he had this bug eyed look at he looked at Isaac like he couldn't believe what happened.

In the plane, Angela walked to Sam and Sam sheepishly said "I apologise on behalf of my brother" and Angela said "Don't bother. I already knew this" and she was about to leave when Sam reminded her about the crystal on the chair and she said "You keep it. With him as your family, you will need it" and she chanted on the crystal and walked away as Sam coughed when Angela blew in his face.

In the cockpit, Jayden being his sarcastic self was about to leave as he said "I have to say.... that was.. a .. "perfect" landing"

Oh Jayden, you can be such a bastard sometimes!

Roy says to Jayden "You don't need to write about the hard landing do you?" and Isaac gloomily said "No, just write it as it is" and Jayden signed off on the report when words has it Adrian the CEO or manager or some top rank wanted to see Jayden and Isaac and immediately the guys were like "Adrian knew? So fast?"

In the offices Isaac walked along gloomily as Jayden was his usual cocky self wearing his rayban, they walked in expected some lecture when they heard laughter and it was Tony, Adrian and Sam!! Adrian smiled and said "Ahhhh come on in! I am happy to announce Samuel Tong will be joining Skylette as captain! You will never know the competition I had to beat off to get Sam! Welcome Sam! Now you and your brother can both fly on the same plane!" and Sam said "Thank you for the warm welcome, I look forward to working here" and Adrian says "Sam, not that I am blowing my own trumpet but Skylette has many new and experienced pilots. Here is Jayden Koo, our own rising star!" and Jayden didn't look too happy at this news shook Sam's hands. Jayden smiled charmingly as he without taking his sunglasses off "I heard so much about you when I was just a young boy" and Sam smiled sheepishly.

Ouch! Sam is old we know, but Jayden just reminded him!

In fact Jayden looked sorta murderous. You see... because Sam was the first Chinese Captain and now with him back, Jayden may not be the star of Skylette anymore and for someone who basks in limelight and attention, no wonder Jayden isn't too happy.

At the pub, Tony, Roy and Isaac welcomes Sam and the next few minutes will be this episode's weirdest. Sam was commenting on Isaac's landing and the hand gesture he used like a bobbing plane up and down hitting on the table like his hard landing was very funny to watch as Isaac looked sheepish and Roy said "You can't blame him Brother Sam. He was nervous in your presence" and Sam gave Isaac a earful as he said "If by my presence made you nervous, then you're not ready" and Roy said "But you should see how he had to land minutes faster, he was just nervous about that, he was just fine during the wind shear" and Isaac said "I wasn't confident about the shorter window to do the landing and Captain Koo just agreed to the suggestion so I had no choice" and Sam said "Isaac, if you can't do it, then tell the captain you can't do it. I'd rather you fly 2 more rounds before a landing rather than the hard landing" and Isaac nodded and I do agree with Sam when Jayden appeared, hugging Isaac like buddy-buddy and said "Actually it wasn't his fault, it wasn't my fault, it was YOUR (Sam) fault" and Sam was like "My fault? How is it my fault?" and Jayden said "Because he was too intimidated by your presence, the great Sam Tong"

Very weird exchange as Jayden went on to sorta defend Isaac whilst shooting daggers at Sam and Sam sounds like he was over critical of his own brother when he was trying to teach Isaac a few tips about decision making as a pilot and the art of flying and Isaac being very quiet, like being used as a tool by Jayden and Sam as they exchanged a rather polite friendly barb against one another. Obviously Jayden was having a hissy fit against Sam but poor Isaac, being reminded again and again how inadequate he is against his own brother or even Jayden as Sam said "You learn from your captain Isaac. You're lucky to be under Jayden Koo and to be my brother, you can learn from us both" and Jayden was like "Oh no, I don't think there is anything I can teach him"

Anyway the entire exchange was just plain weird.

Back at home, Isaac and Coco stood silently as Sam threw out the old food, expired food and unhealthy food from the refrigerator and gave an ultimatum; "You want this microwaveable food or me?" and of course they want Sam and Sam threw those food away and with that Sam is now back into their lives. 

That night suddenly there was no electricity as fuse burnt and Coco panicked and begged Isaac to fix it but Isaac refused and Coco told Isaac about the weird lady with the crystals (Angela Tong) and that invincible something she felt when sitting next to Sam and Coco said "Did you remember that story about that old male passenger who was chatting with no one next to him in one flight?" and Isaac said "Of course, everyone knows that story, he was busy chatting to that empty seat next to him and " and Coco said "AND later we are told the flight was carrying his deceased wife in the coffin, remember?" and Isaac said "So?" and Coco said "Sam was carrying Zoe remember?!" and she ran back to her room as Isaac was sorta spooked by that.

True! Not that he was taking Zoe back in a coffin but Angela didn't know Sam's wife died so when she felt a presence, Coco deduced it was Zoe. Isaac was certainly spooked.

Next morning at the airport restaurant, Roy asked if Isaac was ok and Isaac looked tired and said "Coco disturbed me with her ridiculous..." and he looked out the huge window into the window of the cockpit and inside he saw .. ZOE!!!! He eyes turned big and he looked again and Zoe was gone. Isaac was certainly spooked.

Anyway next we see a report by an engineer (ground crew) that a plane was purportedly hit by lightning and they had to check and in the end one guy asked for "Boss" and the radio/walkie-talkie was passed around looking for Boss and it finally reached a Zoe lookalike in all business tone said "This is Boss".

Next episode. Will Isaac run crying for mama when he sees Zoe? How will Sam react?

Great episode. I was touched by Sam's story with Zoe and I was tickled funny by Angela's cameo, their exchange and of course Jayden's antics and Isaac's flop landing. The dialogue between the guys are funny, sassy and witty and very well written, especially the difference in approach between Sam and Jayden in certain situations. Not as funny as last night but the whole "Isaac donates blood regularly-he will be donating in 2 weeks" was darn funny! As for Jayden bitchiness, I look forward to tension with Sam.

Character wise, I am loving the old ones but I am growing fond of Isaac.

Performance wise, Francis Ng proves why without him, TITS 2 will not work. He is consistent. He is Sam, and he is the Sam in TITS 1 and in between at least 8 years has passed and still he could still channel Sam Tong, the tone, the looks, the mannerism, the behaviour. This is why he is a superb acting and my companion is right; Ron, Kenneth and the rest can learn from Francis when it comes to consistency. And his English ain't bad.

Chilam is the breakout star of this series thus far. Whilst he may not be Cool Mort, I can see a little of Cool Mort in this Jayden. So far fantastic performance. I dread how Holly will change him. Please don't! I am looking forward to more jealousy from Chilam's Jayden. His Jayden is very very smug guy. And his sarcasm is just on point.

Ron Ng deserves some love. He is incompetent as a pilot, no doubt but so far not one news on him as Isaac when in 4 episodes, his Isaac is a very prominent character.  His acting is usual, he can be deadpan and playful, he is not so wooden anymore and his Isaac is supposed to be the comic relief I suppose. Acting is not fantastic but I don't think Ron deserves the non-promotion afforded to him in this series. Practically no news.

Kenneth is earnest as Roy but his English sucks.

Nancy Wu is believable as Coco the air stewardess and I a wondering will there be romance between her and Isaac which is sorta hinted a few times already in this series. Anyway nothing much to say of Nancy except she did well.

As for Fala, I still feel she is a miscast as someone without direction, someone sorta devious but isn't a bad person. Fala never gives me the impression of someone that way. And for Holly to work she must be someone innately likable but Holly isn't. I feel the problem is the casting. Fala would have been better cast perhaps as a specially written top executive of Skylette running the company rather than someone who has zero ambition and direction which will suit a more younger "airhead" sort of actress. Someone better at being playful than being dead serious pretending to be playful.

I wish there is a preview of Episode 5. Right now I am like "flying blind" as to what next episode is but I do think the next 1 or 2 episodes will be the various shocked reaction to reappearance of "Zoe".

I must say though, at episode 4, this is turning to be a better series than I had anticipated and after some very unmemorable series since Reality Check, I welcome a series that gives me witty funny lines even if I had to sit through the cliche love relationships.

Like how Holly will romance Jayden before knowing Sam is the one for her and in the end probably ended up with neither.