THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
THE WATER WHEEL
Davey Moore
Directed by
Dianna Basso
Produced by
Micaela Winter
Air Date
22/09/18
Air Date
22/09/18
Plot
Hong-Mei tells Thomas that the water wheel he is carrying is made from bamboo and is very important. But in his eagerness to discover things made of bamboo, Thomas forgets his mission and ends up taking a shortcut via a low bridge, which knocks the water wheel off his flatbed and sends it rolling across the Chinese countryside.
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So we are now at our final China episode and unlike 'Tiger Trouble', this really wasn't a good episode to end the China portion. I feel that the slapstick cartoony chase with Thomas and Water Wheel really ate up most of the pacing. At first it was funny but it was really dragging out that it was getting more annoying than funny. Basically this is 'Steady Eddie' in full CG and in China with Thomas instead. Would've been better if it were a Hong-Mei episode, she really needed character development, badly! She was nothing but a blank slate. This wasn't bad unlike 'Apology Impossible' where that story was messy but the plot in this episode was bare. It had a nice educational sequence about bamboo and what it was used for and it had a nice message about how important water is, heck it even felt logical for a show like Thomas. But the plot could've been about a heat wave striking China and water around the Chinese Railway was drying or warming up which result the engines to stay in their shed. Thomas or Hong-Mei didn't like it but Yong Bao said that it is important and that they must keep their water in their tanks for emergencies only. They ignore it and burned out their water until an emergency happened and they didn't have enough until they saw a water wheel and got their tanks filled with water coming from that and learned how important it was. The daydream sequence was a bit ridiculous too.
As of the China episodes, I feel that they are a bit better than the India episodes but not the best of the series. The best episode among them is 'Thomas And The Dragon'. I really felt that Davey Moore had made a good episode focusing on something that is apart of Chinese culture but wove a story around it about being scared of something. Sure some might say it works for Percy, but Thomas had his share of being scared of something. Probably the worst episode, not bad by any means, is 'Thomas In The Wild'. The plot was bare and dry although the fantasy moment is something I think that was needed as there wasn't any episode with Thomas dealing with Panda's before. Plus the baby Panda's were awfully adorable! But the plot just didn't have anything. 'Runaway Truck' wasn't bad but wasn't great either. I quite like Lei with his accident prone but good heart persona. 'Number One Engine', In my opinion wasn't bad but looking back it could've been much better. Plus it felt like Moore was playing it safe.
As of Yong Bao, I think there should've been more to him. But there were traits of him like playing little jokes and showcasing some of his bravery. Hong Mei really didn't get any time to shine and I hope we see them again, I mean Mattel wants to market Thomas even further in that country because of his popularity over there.
As we end the China portion, I feel that this episode was a bit of a dud. I think Moore has a hard time writing for the China episodes probably because of the time limit and trying wove a story around the culture. It worked for the Dragon episode but the others didn't for the others. I think the production team should try and hire in a person of Chinese heritage and write stories with the culture added into it. It worked with Tim Bain for 'Outback Thomas' as he is from Australia.
As we end the China portion, I feel that this episode was a bit of a dud. I think Moore has a hard time writing for the China episodes probably because of the time limit and trying wove a story around the culture. It worked for the Dragon episode but the others didn't for the others. I think the production team should try and hire in a person of Chinese heritage and write stories with the culture added into it. It worked with Tim Bain for 'Outback Thomas' as he is from Australia.
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
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
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
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Series Rating (So far):
158/200