S18 Ep.4:Disappearing Diesels

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

DISAPPEARING DIESELS

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Stoten 

Produced by

Robert Anderson (Arc)

Hallim Jabbour and Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date:

28/08/14

Plot

Devious Diesel and the other diesels were playing a trick on Paxton by hiding around the Dieselworks. However simple minded Paxton thought all of them had disappeared. 

PRO:
- No Steam Vs. Diesel rivalry plot
- Paxton's gullible mind
- Diesel's impression of Reg and funny lines
- Moral: Don't take jokes too far/Anyone can be a friend

CON:
- Kids standing on the level crossing gates
- 'What he means is...'

It's nice to see an episode focusing on the diesel engines and I'm glad it was not a steam vs. diesel rivalry plot, after all we had enough of those plots in my opinion. I love the line that 'give diesels a bad reputation' it implies that diesels are of course engines too, but some can be tricky and devious that it gives a bad reputation from the other engines, pretty much sums up the differences between Paxton and Diesel's personality. Diesel's the devious and trickster while Paxton is a nice but gullible one. The mind of Paxton is hilarious, one example is him misunderstanding Diesel's hiding place. People might think that Paxton can be quite goofy, but if you look back at Sharon Miller/Sam Barlow era of the series the way they made their characters 'goofy' is very childish and annoying (e.g - Charlie's jokes during that era) whereas Paxton's gullible mind is quite humorous. I love the impression of Diesel's Reg voice and the funny 'I'm a truck of sausages!' these little lines can give a little chuckle for both kids and parents. The episode had about two morals, don't take jokes too far otherwise people might misunderstand it and that anyone can be a friend and this whole episode showcasing that Paxton, a nice and simple engine, thinks of Diesel as a friend even though he (Diesel) teases him. However there are two con's I have for this episode and that is the children standing on the level crossing gates. The show may get some criticism from parents that it implies children it's OK to stand on level crossing gates, really it results into tragic accidents, if Andrew Brenner or any writer is reading this please make an episode about railway safety so that way Thomas & Friends might not get the 'bad image' card. Plus I don't like Dart saying 'What he means is..' lines, they're just too repetitive and annoying and I'm sure kids would know what Den is saying, but that could be part of his character trait (Dart). But in the end, despite the level crossing scene, it's a nice episode and I love it that it's focused on Paxton.

Rating: 9/10