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

WRITTEN BY FUNN LIM

"So is episode 11 the deal breaker for you to stop watching? Not yet, not yet at all"

UPDATES - 31.07.2013
A correction towards the end, where I wrote Nick tried to propose to Colby. It is a typo. Should be Coco. Thanks to PPearl of Jaynestars for the correction.

Papers .. check. Pen ... check. Specs ... check. Remote ... check. 150% concentration ... check. Am comfortable. Am ready. Pen in hand, papers ready and after the theme song which I now deem excellent (I even hum the song minus the lyrics in what is George Lam's tone to perfection including the almost off key end of the song), anticipating a lot of reminders to go P.P.P and am eager to see Jayden-Sam blossoming romance as in bromance (maybe too optimistic but it has the making of either the greatest Fight Club ever or the best Bromance ever, I do prefer the latter, let's not spoil those handsome faces), this episode starts with... Matthew, Isaac AND Heather?!

Yes my dear readers, again the entire momentum killed because this episode features prominently Isaac, Roy and of course everyone's favourite one-note facial expression, Summer. For many, it may be a very happy news to learn Holiday is on holiday in this episode. I am sure some will say good riddance. But for her fans, don't worry. I bet episode 12 will be all about the festive named one.

So fans of the 2 pillars may want to fast forward this until the last 10 minutes.

And so... RECAP!

But before that! Some early notices.

1. I can't read my own handwriting; and

2. I aim to present not accurate dialogue BUT somewhat representative of that accurate dialogue. So I shall face palm myself if my recap is not even the representative of that accurate dialogue but altogether different like in my episode 10 recap (if you're reading this at my blog, http://p2e-tits2.blogspot.com/ the relevant mistakes have been amended, thank you very much for all the notices/corrections).

Ok, RECAP!

Like I wrote above, it starts with Isaac, Heather and Matthew. Matthew is like the only one who speaks 100% English, and speaks it well because he is gwailo. He is also Skylette's only invigilator or observer or those who evaluates the others taking exams to be pilot. So he must be one terrified man. Why? Imagine he gives scores and reports for those taking exams to be captain, there must be some risk there. So this time he is observing Isaac and Heather is off to meeting with the other air stewardess. Roy approaches them, as he is hitch-hiking with Isaac's flight as a passenger to go to Taiwan. Heather teases him about his 2 girlfriends. I can't remember if Coco is in this scene.

Summer is at the Issue Counter (the label on the wall says so) busy keying things into the computer. Isaac drops by to check her out and sees her busily keying stuff and he doesn't understand why Summer is there keying in reports when she should be out there doing maintenance stuff. But no worries as then the Engineer appears. By the way he is Chiu Gor aka Brother Chiu and Isaac asks him why is Summer doing these menial jobs when she is a technician and should not be subjected to such menial jobs. Of course Brother Chiu says sarcastically "Am I to report to you on the change of personnel and delegation of work?" and Isaac is forthright as he sternly says to that egomaniac "You're just angry and doing this for revenge for what happened" and Brother Chiu is about to have a serious argument with Isaac as finally, FINALLY sulky face that is Summer who isn't mute but prefers to be mute finally opens her "golden mouth" to speak and what she says will infuriate us all; "It is just delegation of work", obviously protecting Brother Chiu and "stomaching" this obvious abuse of power which Isaac tells Chiu in the face. Chiu leaves and Summer stares at Isaac. No mistake to my word here; she doesn't look at him, she stares at him and waits some time before opening her mouth and in her own way maybe she is questioning him as much as teasing him as she asks quietly "You're here because he (Jayden) asks you to check on me?" but Isaac stares back and says earnestly "Of course not. I am here because I care about you" and suddenly Summer not only stares at him, but LOOKS at Isaac and she looks a bit touched. In fact I dare say there is a tiny smile on her face; very tiny but still a great leap of muscle movement for Miss sulky face. She doesn't look that sulky anymore as she continues to type as Isaac leaves for his flight.

Next of course is the compulsory travelogue feature of this series every time we see Taiwan. Only this time it is Rachel and Heather at some club and Rachel is like the female Jayden; during her free time in Taiwan, she will go to that sort of club and seek out the services of gigolos, usually part time university students moonlighting as gigolos to earn some cash for school fees. I didn't make that up! That's what my notes say! I am sure Taiwan isn't too happy with this sort of description. Anyway Rachel asks why don't Heather seek one out but she was only teasing because Rachel is sort of envious of Heather for having a good husband like Tony. In fact maybe Rachel will have an affair with Tony? Anyway Heather doesn't seem so happy about Tony. Previously we see her so darn happy and contented with Tony but when we see such scenes, it usually means there is trouble in paradise. Rachel gets seduced by another guy whilst Heather is at the beach when approached by a younger Taiwanese guy who seduces her with words and they ended up in an embrace as they danced to an imaginary song, which is an Adele song. I think the 3rd Adele song in this series? Or maybe a repetition of one of the first two Adele songs earlier on. Point is TVB must have paid through the roof for the copyrights for Adele's whole album because the songs came from the same album I believe. And who to see her dancing intimately with that possible gigolo? Roy as he is with his "beach girl" girlfriend and he looks sorta shocked.

I will make the assumption Heather sleeps with that guy because no scenes of that.

Isaac is back in HK and he visits Summer who is STILL at the same place keying in stuff. Isaac looks worried for Summer and he brings her food and insists she rest and eat. She keeps saying no need and Isaac understands her and says "I know why you insist on finishing these stuff, so that you can quickly go back to maintenance isn't it? But have you ever thought, that jealous and small minded Brother Chiu will only give you more of other work just to prevent you from going back to maintenance. This is his way of getting back at you. Give it a rest" but Summer refuses although she is quite touched by Isaac's concern. Isaac suddenly says "I know! You wait!" and he rushes off and Summer is left baffled. Some time later he returns with a big box and Summer stares at him as Isaac says "Here, I got some stuff for you to repair!" and Summer looks into the box and says "I may be a technician but I really don't know how to fix these" and Isaac confidently says "If you can fix planes, these are just simple stuff!! Can't even test your skills at all!" and Summer takes an item and spends the whole night fixing toasters, hair dryers, etc as Isaac sleeps by the side. Occasionally she looks at the sleeping Isaac and again that small, very small smile as she not stares but looks at him.

Morning. Summer holds the hair dryer at Isaac's face and switch it on and it works! Isaac wakes up stunned and Summer says to Isaac something she probably hardly says; "Thank you". Isaac looks at her and tells her with sincerity;"Wow you did great. Next time I have anything to fix, I will find you" which Summer approves as Isaac says "This is what you should be doing. Not keying in stuff. What he did to you, is like asking someone good with a screwdriver to type on a computer and a wushu artiste to stir fry vegetable. They just don't mix and totally unconnected! Go for the Engineer license. You can do it! And then he won't be able to bully you anymore" and Summer I think asks if he is saying this because of Jayden and Isaac replies not only for Jayden, but because he genuinely wants to help her. I think if there is any good reason to fall for Isaac, this is it.

Isaac is becoming like Sam now. Even his personal life is as boring as Sam! He flies, studies, visits Summer. A routine.

Roy is back and sees Heather and says something like "I will keep your secret for you" and I am sure Heather doesn't know what he means and some teasing that frankly I don't care to recap.

As for Isaac, he is about to take his CT4 exams. Roy sees Isaac and calls him "Captain!" and Isaac reminds Roy not to call him that since he is not yet a captain, if not others might misconstrue Roy's meaning. Roy confidently says "I am sure you can even pass your CT6. Just a matter of time anyway, after all you have the *****".

Pause. HUGE PAUSE.

I swear it, I repeated the scenes 3 times and I still couldn't get what Roy said when he said "You have the *****". I couldn't understand the ***** and I didn't have the subtitles on. My fellow viewer says to me "He said TECHNIQUE" and I was like it didn't sound like TECHNIQUE, it sounded like tessksksed, as in WHAT DID HE JUST SAY? But technique fits, it fits perfectly. And my fellow viewer says "Kenneth Ma should be ashamed of himself. Even Ron Ng speaks better English than him" and mind you, she is Kenneth Ma's fan. I too am disappointed. So my fellow readers, did he say technique? What did he say? I am sorry to say I didn't understand what he said at all. And yes, even Ron Ng speaks clearer English than Kenneth Ma. Kenneth is in danger of speaking gibberish ala Joe Ma. Anyway I will just assume it is technique.

Continue.

Anyway Coco is there and wishes Isaac good luck. Isaac suddenly takes out his phone and he reads some "guess this" joke and it is kinda juvenile and Isaac says "It is from my brother" and I think even Roy is surprised Sam has such juvenile sense of humour. Isaac says this is Sam's way of releasing Isaac's tension at exams. What a good brother. Matthew approaches and says the standard line he said to Sam earlier and will say to every pilot he will test later on; "*name* go ahead, you are the one in charge. The decision rests on you, I will observe only" or similar to that.

So next we see Isaac in a meeting with Matthew and his co pilots and he handles the meeting well. He prepares for flight.

And now comes the almost comical part. I don't know if this is really for real, if it is let me say Skylette is one major civil claims class action in the making.

Teddy recovers well, and by the way he injured his waist, not foot. He happily asks where is Boss and he is told the truth and he is very emotional but everyone reminds him Boss doesn't want to make a scene so she quietly accepts her punishment. Chiu comes to them asking why is everyone standing around doing nothing and Teddy answers "Out of respect for you, we are waiting for you" but he says that through gritted teeth. Chiu accepts that, reluctantly and then he got the call.

The plane Isaac will be errr... piloting? Flying? The one he will have his CT4 test on is having huge problems. A tyre needs changing, coffee machine broken down, toilet not working and some other host of problems which made me think, when it was flying into HK, all these problems pre existed? Or they're using a plane they have yet to fix? Boys ask why not change planes and Chiu says no spare plane, busy time that day.They have 1 hour to fix it and Summer is defrosted from her cold palace and she eagerly says yes (Brother Chiu is not the one who defrosted her) but she suddenly holds her stomach area in pain. She ignores the pain, reports for duty and is sent to fix the tyre. Teddy check the machine on board. Even Chiu is seen fixing the toilet bowl. He overhears about some VVVVVVIP guy is going on board, the super rich guy named Rackal? I don't recognise the actor. Anyway in Skylette world; rich guy = arrogant rude guy. Anyway when Isaac asks Chiu "Is the plane ready for passengers to go on board considering there are many things to fix?" and Chiu confidently says "Yes, give me an hour, I can get them fixed" and so passengers go on board. Isaac sees outside the window and sees Summer hard at work with the tyre and someone says something like oh she's back in the technician team and Isaac smiling says "Of course, you can't keep someone as good as her out forever" or something like that.

Time has passed, rich man on board looks into the toilet and sees Chiu hard at work and Teddy is seeing all this as Chiu stares at the rich guy eye to eye, and rich guy is a younger guy who loudly says "Why are the passengers called to board the plane when things are still being fixed?" and Chiu says "This plane will be ready on time" and rich guy says "Why do you persist to do this insulting job when you didn't need to? At the end of the day you're just some service guy, fixing a toilet bowl. How degrading".

Pause.

The words the rich guy used is very insulting in Chinese, I think at some point he compares Chiu to rubbish. Anyway rich guy is Chiu's brother? Son? Chiu's from rich family?

Continue.

Chiu looks very angry as the rich guy walks away and Chiu sees Teddy looking, angrily asks Teddy why he is not doing his work when Teddy says with determination; "Brother Chiu, we will get this plane fixed on time to show to the likes of him we are not rubbish".

Was Chiu appreciative of this show of loyalty and defiance? Not one bit.

Anyway Summer still fixing the tyre as in changing the tyre in pain and everyone is concerned when Chiu comes down to scold her for slowing them down and emphasising how the airline will be fined for every minute they're not flying off the runway and Isaac comes down and scolds Chiu "It is over the time limit and the plane is still not ready. Chiu, I am not pressuring you to finish. I am asking you earnestly and hope you answer me honestly; if this plane is not ready on time and is not fit to fly, tell me. I'd rather change planes even if it means more delay" and Chiu says angrily "It is Ha Sun who is slowing us down. I have fixed everything save for the tyre! Ha Sun, if you're sick, don't insist. You don't need to pretend to be strong, just admit that you're sick instead of pretending!" and Summer tells them "Give me 20 minutes". 20 minutes later I assume all done when Chiu says "All done! You can fly now!" when Summer says "STOP! Look! There's oil leakage" and they rush to the scene, all almost doing some Charlie's Angels pose (quite cool actually) and looking at their watches and counting the drips.

Pause.

What now? Oil leakage? Obviously this plane is problem plane. So many problems, but all ok when it was flying into HK?? I don't get it. I was half expecting the nose of the plane to fall off and Chiu to say "I can fix that!" and Summer says "Agree even if I am dying from pain, I can fix that!!". Almost like Superman and Supergirl thing.

Continue.

28 drips and Chiu says "You can fly" and Summer says "I disagree" and Chiu says "Manual says if it is only 28 drips the plane can take off!!" and Summer says "But that is the maximum allowed drips. There are 300 passengers on board, we must not take such risk" and she has a point. All look at Isaac who finally says with authority "Safety first, Just fix it, take however much time you need" which means probably for Skylette MAJOR COMPLAINS.

Pause.

No more news on Summer's stomach pain. So that gets me thinking; Oh no! Summer will die! She will die! In TITS 3, she will come back as Autumn, somewhat chillier? I think the pain is just her overworked. From my observation, she hasn't slept for at least 20 hours?

Continue.

I assume after the flight, Chiu, Isaac and Summer is summoned to Adrian's office. Adrian is polite, almost too nice when he asks "A delay of 2 hours rarely happen with Skylette. I have read the reports from Engineer, Matthew and all involved. Now I would like to hear from you, what happened"

Pause.

2 hours only? Rare occurrence? If with Air Asia, it is to be expected! And 2 hours is NOTHING. So they didn't change plane.

Continue.

Anyway Chiu basically blames everything on Summer being sick, ignoring her own health, slowing them all down. Isaac gets blamed also for letting the passengers on board and he blames Chiu for insisting something he can't do on time and guess who Chiu blames? Yes, Summer again. And infuriatingly Summer agrees and says she takes FULL RESPONSIBILITY. Chiu doesn't look grateful, he looks smug, like as if it is the right thing for Summer to do. Isaac looks at Summer. Summer looks down. And I look at Summer thinking there are times to be heroic, and take full responsibility but this is not the time and certainly she can't shoulder such a huge responsibility. Adrian asks Summer why she keeps working even when she was in pain and not tell anyone and Summer quietly and defiantly says "Because I don't want women to be discriminated for just some pain". NOT a good answer.

Adrian thoughtfully says he will need to review the reports and come to a decision.

Pause.

I notice that Summer looks down a lot. She hardly meets anyone's eyes when she is talking except for Jayden and that is with defiance and a little bit of "I don't care what you have to say" stare.

Continue.

Isaac finds Summer and basically asks her "Why did you take the blame for him? Obviously he was at fault, not you" but Summer insists "It is my fault" and Isaac says "Why are you protecting him? He didn't protect you!" and Summer says "He is my mentor and there are some things you do not understand" which basically means don't butt in. Maybe Summer owes that Chiu for something.

No worries. I am sure Jayden will let  Airbus A330 run him over twice before letting Summer be fired. And Isaac will let the same plane run him over twice as well before he lets that happen also.

Anyway Isaac is worried for Summer  but he is also worried for his own test, thinking he will surely fail but Roy and Nick encourage him and Nick says he needs his help.

Yes proposal time. Next few minutes is on how he failed to propose to Coco who rushes off to be the shoulder to cry on for her friend, Colby.

Pause.

Probably Coco doesn't want to marry Nick. Even Roy and Isaac feels like scolding Coco's attitude towards Nick but Nick is very understanding.

Continue.

YES! PPP TIME!

LONDON.

Tony, Jayden and Sam. They all have their signature look. Tony is always smiling. Jayden is always looking skeptical even behind his Ray Ban. Sam always look bewildered. Especially when all 3 are together.

Tony suggests why not they all go for a little "drive" with their 2 seaters plane and so Jayden is once again partnered with Sam. Sam looks sorta bewildered and Jayden, looking skeptical says laughingly but again with a bit of venom "Hey look, if you don't want to fly with me, you don't have to, since I see you looking at Tony longingly" which of course Sam denies and laughs. Jayden says he is excited to fly with Sam who is after all the first Chinese captain in an Airline in HK but Sam, ever humble says the standard in the commercial aviation industry is not as high as the military so he feels he may be the one learning from Jayden or something like that. Anyway they go into the plane, Sam flying and of course Jayden has to make some things difficult, like covering the errr... I didn't quite catch the name, I saw the word ALT on it and I think it is the altimeter? Correct me if I am wrong. Anyway he covers the altimeter with a smiley face drawn on a paper and says "Let's see if you can fly at the same height with this covered" and Sam looks ... repeat after me ... bewildered ... and says ok and continues to fly at a stable height and so Jayden once again tests Sam and says why don't he land at the very last landing point/metre of the landing way. Seriously I really am not sure what the terms are so I am shooting blind here but what he means is the very last possible landing point on a runway. Again Sam looking ... you know the term .. says yes but this time he also looks slightly worried. Yes, Sam is worried. Jayden previously looks rather not too happy when Sam flies the same height. Anyway there is a very polite unspoken competition of skills here. And guess what? Sam lands PERFECTLY (not like how Isaac landed in the earlier episode where the plane basically went THUD). Sam parks the plane and smiles a small smile looking smug this time, like he wins the challenge and Jayden as cool as he is knows he is defeated. Whatever he throws at Sam, Sam does it well. He tries to nitpick Sam but Sam wins. He is trying to expose Sam as some incompetent pilot, to find a fault in his professional life and yet he can't find any. They're sorta friendly with one another, but Sam knows that Jayden is constantly testing Sam's skills, constantly finding that weak point that has yet to exist, except Sam is too safe, too old school and too careful whilst Jayden is a maverick, from a different training and certainly pushes the limit. I don't think Jayden is malicious but he can be pretty smug about it when he could rattle Sam's steely patience and way too humble persona. I think in a way Jayden respects Sam and I hope the more he tests Sam, the more Sam wins, the more Sam will win over Jayden's respect. After all, Sam is the only one so far who has scolded Jayden, quite openly and Jayden has had to stomach that without complaints because he knew Sam was right.

Anyway once out of the plane, Jayden in his sorta scheming skeptical way says to Sam "Ahhh Captain Tong is indeed Captain Tong" but I don't think he sounds genuine at all. There is always a hint of sarcasm in the way he speaks to Sam. Sam humbly says to Jayden "Ahhh but compared to your training, I do think my technique can't match yours. I am always trying to improve my technique and we are trained in different schools of technique. I do think your way is much better than mine. I hope you will teach me so I may improve myself" and Jayden, still cool, still skeptical but with a certain disbelief that Sam could be THIS humble agrees.

But I bet he is hoping Sam will fall on his face when walking on the runway or something.

Again, Jayden's rivalry with Sam is very very polite. Nothing cynical, nothing sinister. Sam knows Jayden is always testing him and so he remains friendly with Jayden but when he wins, there is that small happy smile. I love this last scene.

The earlier scenes, I enjoy Isaac's interaction with Summer and standing up for Summer in front of that bully, Engineer. But I can't understand how a plane can have so many problems 1 hour before flight.

As for Roy, Heather, Coco, Nick scenes, frankly I feel they disturb the momentum and kill it. I really do not enjoy their stories, and reason is this.

Anyone who reads the synopsis which reveals too much knows Roy sleeps with Heather, Coco somehow is not with Nick and is with Jim Jim, Isaac will be with Summer, Holly with Jayden and then Sam. Jayden and Sam both have the personality and such force and charisma in their screen presence that they grab every attention there is. It seems like the scriptwriter spent all his time writing for these 2, developing their personalities and save for Isaac, the rest are rather cardboard personalities. I really don't care Roy's true love is Heather. I don't care why Heather will cheat on Tony, the ever smiling one. I don't care how Jim Jim and Coco gets together. I also don't care how Holly will jump from Jayden to Sam or even what happens to her missing boyfriend. So far the series has yet to develop enough on them. Granted, it is only 11 episodes. There are still 32 episodes to go. But imagine this; we have 32 episodes of what we already know will happen. So I hope for the next 32 episodes there will be some more development to interest us why such and such (which we already know will happen) will happen in such and such way. I don't want to see too much love stories. I am so far not even convinced with Summer and Isaac more so the rest. I want to see them in emergency situation and how they get to earn their honour badge as pilots and save the day instead of just oil leakage, toilet bowl problem and again the pesky coffee machine breaking down for I don't know how many times.

Right now, it is the 2 pillars and foundations that is keeping this series very very interesting. I have problem with the editing. It is disjointed. I have problems with the continuity; the momentum crashes too often, leaving me one part Jayden (sceptical), one part Sam (bewildered) and one part Tony (laughing at the What The Hell Just Happened way).

I am still waiting for some Jayden-Summer and Sam-Summer moments. This is dragging way too long just to get to the point why Jayden left Summer, etc etc etc.

My fellow viewer said to me at the end of this episode that it really reminded her of some Bollywood movie. She was like half expecting for them to break into song and dance routine, because so far everything is so sunny, cheery, and also the fact that Isaac and Roy dressed up to play waiter and chef to help Nick to propose to Colby Coco felt like a Bollywood film.

Performances wise ...

Francis Ng rules as Sam. I love his self satisfied smile when he landed perfectly. In fact it is like a relieved sort of smile, like he is afraid he could not land properly and lose "face" to Jayden. Like suddenly he could relax after some tense moments. Only Jayden can make him feel that way, apart from the women in his life. Francis is subtle and yet there it is for any viewer to see.

Chilam rules as Jayden as well. Again it is those little expressions, even if hidden behind his Ray Ban, his body language radiates skepticism, disbelief, etc.

Ron Ng matures as Isaac. I do miss Isaac when he is not on screen. In this episode, he has plenty of screen time and some very meaty dialogue that makes sense and moves the audiences. I love his Isaac's concern for Summer and the way he says those lines is like how he always does; same expression, same tone but somehow there is a difference. His performance is still average at best but Isaac is written well enough to allow Ron to have some good moments with witty lines or save the damsel in distress moment. But I am still not convinced about his chemistry with Myolie. And for those who feels perhaps Summer looking like Zoe is a big no-no for Isaac to fall in love with, even Sam can differentiate Summer isn't Zoe. And moreover, Summer is 90% Zoe. The 10% like I said is for Myolie's new face so basically even if same actress, I suppose any viewer can ignore the fact that it is the same actress in 2 very different roles.

Myolie Wu has more to do in here but she still manages to have that one sort of expression. Ron's one expression is expected. But someone like Myolie, however much her character is written as super serious and all must when alone at least have more expressions. Like when she is betrayed by her mentor, she looks pained as in you know, pain. But not a hint of pain of betrayal, not a hint of disbelief and then to willingness to take the blame. It is that 1 look, 1 way of presenting that look of the moment. More can be done but she looks and acts so awkward. Yes this is her interpretation of the role probably but I feel like she is like Kristen Stewart in Twilight; like she is so uncomfortable. It is beyond her interpretation. It is her acting abilities. I am getting very frustrated with Myolie. Either she overacts as some happy girl or she just stand there like a statue with a perpetual frown. How can anyone be like Summer like that 24/7? Can we ever see a more relaxed her? And perhaps a more relaxed Myolie that acting really shouldn't be a burden? Francis' Sam is also awkward, uptight but there are differences. I don't expect her Summer to suddenly roll around the grass crying with happiness. But I expect to see more than that of a statue who can act rather than an actress who can act as a statue. Myolie, YOU CAN DO BETTER! But since this is already filmed, all I can do is wait and see.

There should be subtitles every time Kenneth speaks English. Bad English is one thing, his English is getting to the stage "What did he just say, let me rewind twice, I don't understand!". Performance wise, absolutely wasted in here. His Roy is still busy with his 2 girlfriends.

Elena Kong so far has very little to do except the obligatory older woman looking for more romance in a loveless marriage role that every series seems to have these days. I am sure she will have more to do. So far, not convinced she is in a loveless marriage since so little is shown between her and Tony.

Everybody else is ok but again severely underused. If overused also will kill the momentum.

The series is still entertaining so far. The only reason why it is not entertaining to some is because of all these momentum killer moments. Other than that, it is still one of the better series to watch. However 32 episodes of what we already know may be a bit too much. This series should just end at 30 episodes. The 10 episodes is probably to drag it just to justify the cost of filming.

You know I was watching a Japanese NHK series called Carnation and it was I believe 150 plus episodes. You may think it is long. But it is about a woman's journey in the fashion world and life, started from 11 right up to her death at 93. It is from 1930s to 2000 or so. It practically shows from birth to death of many major characters. It shows WWII and the change of time and fashion. You'll care about each character, even those that seems like cardboard characters because they serve a purpose. Each episode was 30 minutes long (with commercials). And that series held my attention from ep 1 until the very last and I was hoping there would be a few more episodes to tie up some loose ends. That is the power of a well edited, perfectly acted and interesting storyline. I gotta hand it to the Japanese when it comes to brevity.

Compared to this series, 43 episodes of what is probably a 2 year time span? At 43 episodes, Carnation have already shown at least 2 decades of Ohara Itoko's life.

I don't expect brevity but I expected more things happening. Right now I hear the criticism and I agree; the pace is really slowing down.

By the way I highly recommend Carnation if you can find it with English subtitles. It is truly a series which celebrates life and of course, girl-power. If you can get through Triumph In The Skies 2's 43 episodes with just the same old same old thus far, that more than 150 episodes of Carnation will be a breeze to you. Every series has its ups and of course many downs. The difference  for Carnation, the downs do not discourage you. I bet some viewers may be feeling like they want to abandon Triumph In The Skies 2. But if you feel like it, and if you have been reading my recaps, please do not abandon it yet. It is still interesting. I never do a full recap so there are many things to watch out for anyway. There is always the fast forward button for those characters you do not care about.

So is episode 11 the deal breaker for you to stop watching? Not yet, not yet at all.