THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
THOMAS AND THE MONKEY PALACE
Becky Overton
Directed by
Dianna Basso
Produced by
Micaela Winter
Air Date
15/09/18
Plot
In India, Thomas is on his way to deliver a truckload of coconuts, when he discovers a branch line leading to a mysterious monkey temple. Ignoring Rajiv's warning to stay clear, he visits it at night and a cheeky monkey gets trapped in the truck. When it tries to attract Thomas's attention, Thomas crashes and spills all the coconuts.
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Honestly I'm not really much of a fan of the India episodes. The first two weren't bad or terrible but they didn't really add much to their story. However I found this episode rather more enjoyable out of the bunch, yet to see 'Tiger Trouble' and it does sound promising from what was said at MIPJunior last year. Anyway the episode has a thing that Bollywood doesn't have and that was conflict. You might say that Bollywood does, but the ending which was conflict felt forced and rushed, here the conflict had already started with a coconut shortage at the station due to the summer heat. Then as Thomas arrived at the Monkey Palace, we see one of the monkeys is a stowaway and the coconuts had fallen out of Thomas wagon. Sure it might sound like a three strike Miller and Barlow era script, but it wasn't bland or boring to sit through.
The monkey palace may as well be relatable to tourists when it comes to monkeys. They steal stuff (the monkeys) from tourists and other countries around Asia have these as well. A close family member of mine went to Bali with friends and her partner that have a monkey palace and stole her water bottle. So it was quite authentic to see that and monkeys were cute to see in CGI. I also liked how Churabula had disciplined Thomas as well when he arrived without the coconuts too, nice to see a bit of that in the show from someone who is a controller of the railway. In the end, the episode was good though I think the plot could be about a theif is about around the Indian Railway and it turns out to be the monkeys or maybe have the monkeys being cheeky to Thomas by playing with his controls to have him learn about not being cheeky to an engine like Rajiv or Noor Jehan.
The monkey palace may as well be relatable to tourists when it comes to monkeys. They steal stuff (the monkeys) from tourists and other countries around Asia have these as well. A close family member of mine went to Bali with friends and her partner that have a monkey palace and stole her water bottle. So it was quite authentic to see that and monkeys were cute to see in CGI. I also liked how Churabula had disciplined Thomas as well when he arrived without the coconuts too, nice to see a bit of that in the show from someone who is a controller of the railway. In the end, the episode was good though I think the plot could be about a theif is about around the Indian Railway and it turns out to be the monkeys or maybe have the monkeys being cheeky to Thomas by playing with his controls to have him learn about not being cheeky to an engine like Rajiv or Noor Jehan.
Episode Rating
Number One Engine - 8/10
Forever and Ever - 8.5/10
Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
Series Rating (So far):
106/130