CGI Series Re-Review: Season 24 (2020)

 And now we come to the final season of not just Big World, Big Adventures but sadly of the original series itself as a whole. Although it wasn't planned to be as such as Ian McCue had said a S25 was planned to be made, through an email that was seen on ThomasTheorist's video and that it was planned to take Thomas to Japan but sadly it was canned in favour of Mattel's 'brilliant' replacement that is AEG.

It's no surprise that Japan was planned to be the next country of Thomas' globe trotting adventure as it was hinted in 'Kenji on the Rails Again' which would've been great because of the story potential it would have. Imagine if there was an episode where Thomas was treated as a celebrity amongst the Japanese people as a meta reference to his mass popularity in the country? Imagine a much better version of the Sodor Cup special if it was set at the Olympic games since Kenji's actual basis was made to coincide with it in 1964, ThomasTheorist reference right there. 

Not to mention that Michael White on twitter, before he deleted it, had said in 2021 that he wanted an episode about Thomas and time travelling where the flashback shows him meeting his Perspex model with the voice of Ringo Starr. As crazy as the idea of time travelling might sound, the idea of Thomas meeting his model counterpart sounds like a sweet and nostalgic little easter egg, especially if you got the very first voice of Thomas in the TV series whose last association with the blue engine was for Children In Need animated all star music video in 2009. Honestly that sounds much more entertaining than an extended episode where it was just Thomas and Nia chasing a calliope around for four minutes to fill in time of a bigger story. I would honestly love a S25 of the original series instead of a cheap, mass produced, bland replacement that some head honcho at Mattel thinks would be better.

Anyway, this season was also released during the 75th anniversary year and was also released at the time when the world was locked down from the outbreak of COVID-19 and my god what a terrible year that was. But despite that the season carried on with the 23 episode release, which includes the three specials and one of which was written by Thomas fan Michael White called 'Thomas & the Royal Engine' which was made to coincide with the anniversary year along with two that makes up 'Marvellous Machinery' and I will give my two cents on that much later. 

 I remember hearing, and even I remember saying, that S24 was probably the most improved season of the short lived BWBA era of the show. But is it really? After five years? Let's find out. But first the usual:

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE

SEASON 24

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johsnon

Becky Overton

Michael White

Davey Moore

David Stoten & Ian McCue

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Ian Cherry

Joey So

Produced by

Ian McCue (Mattel Creations)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Told by

John Hasler (as Thomas) - UK

Joseph May (as Thomas) - US

EPISODES

EMILY'S BEST FRIEND

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

You know if there had been an episode from the CG era focusing on Emily's bossy behaviour, like she was seen in S8, I think the episode could've been better if it'd served as a sequel. Perhaps all the engines were trying to avoid her because they don't like being bossed around by her, maybe have a story arc within the Sodor episodes. Even though the show shares the same canon as the model era, at the time when this had aired in 2020, the last time Emily was shown with her bossy personality was in 2005, 15 years. Many kids who remembered watching Thomas at that time, outside of the fandom, had already grown up and moved on from the show while kids who grew up with Emily beyond that had seen her toned down version so if you have this episode where the engines avoid her for being bossy out of nowhere would make the episode very jarring. 

But if you have Emily back in her, much better and well rounded persona instead of her bland nice and kind character that she was in S7 and had an episode beforehand showing that this could've been a great Emily episode that we had in a long time. 

I personally feel Emily was much better in S8 because she still retained what she had in S7 but with some flaws of her own which her being bossy. We've seen the bossy side of her in the likes of 'Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough' and 'Emily's Adventure' but we've also seen her helpful side like her brief moment in 'Chickens to School'. These are the episode I think about the most when it comes to her character and it's a shame that it only lasted two seasons as 'Emily's Knows Best' was, from my memory, the last time we'd seen her like this.

While I still hold the opinion that this was nice and decent, I think the episode would've been better if it'd served as a sequel to an episode where Emily had been bossy. The final cut itself was basically just Emily rolling around to find a best friend but it had conflict with her not concentrating on her delivery of sand as Thomas delivered the sand off screen. This episode feels like it would've been a sequel but instead of Emily trying to find a best friend she tries to find an engine to help with maybe a large load of sand but everyone was avoiding her because of what happened in a previous episode. 

Of course you have Emily trying to show the engines she'd bossed around that she'd learned her lesson but they didn't believe her until she proved herself that she did, maybe she helped out with an engine's own heavy load up Gordon's hill or took a different train while another had broken down or helped them to get back on the rails and thus she's rewarded with the honour of a best friend or friends.

The episode was decent and harmless and the fantasy sequence was nice too with Emily imagining the unrealistic things to do with Edward, yes they're unrealistic but they are a fantasy what else do you expect? And of course it doesn't serve much for the plot but it was still nice anyway. I also love the use of Edward and Henry despite them being secondary characters at this point, though they had much more use and dialogue than there AEG counterparts. But overall this episode would've been better if it had served as a sequel to an episode where Emily was bossy. Not a strong opener but it was OK in my opinion.

Rating: 5/10

THOMAS' FUZZY FRIEND

Written by

Becky Overton

I remember some people in the fandom not liking the idea of a dog peeing on James' wheels because it was lowbrow humour but then again some people in the fandom had done that as well like Madge blowing back mud from her exhaust pipe and spraying it over Skarloey and Rheneas in 'Wash Behind Your Buffers'. I'm not going to explain what it is but if you find the episode you'll know what I'm referring about and, to those who know what I'm saying, true it was years ago but it still happened and I don't remember some of the fandom outcrying about it? 

But when the show does a little bit of crude humour to make little kids laugh, we've all been there before with the likes of Shrek, it's appalling or beneath them. There was a video by tardisrescue about Thomas and a dog that did the same thing and no one made an up roar about that, you'll find the links to those videos in my original review of the episode from June 2020, and I do remember some people interpret Percy's jokey comment about Henry's small funnel as some sort of joke about a guy's Johnson who lives downstairs in 'Percy and the Trousers' and that was there when Rev.W.Awdry was alive. I'm trying not to knock the fandom all the time, I just don't like the hypocrisy.  

As for the episode, I think this could've been a better season opener from its production order than Emily's episode. This episode was wholesome and almost feels like something from one of Christopher Awdry's mini books like 'Thomas and the Birthday Party' or 'Percy and the Kite'. If it were a Christopher Awdry story perhaps it could be about the stray dog that caused trouble with the sheep as shown in the 1989 annual. I see story potential there! 

The humour from this episode was great as well such as Emily's comment saying that dog doesn't like the idea of meeting a dog warden and the Fat Controller subtly referencing the famous Lassie line was funny as well. The humour so far in this season feels natural and you don't have the engines explaining why it's funny that's what makes it unfunny like AEG's bad attempt at its humour.

If the episode was a bit longer I think it could've been more focused on Thomas trying to take responsibility to look after it until it finds a home and maybe got attached to it. Maybe Thomas didn't like him at first but really warmed up to it by the end. We've seen him being responsible in the final episode but it felt so short and quick that I wished we had more time to see such relationship grow. But despite that, I loved this episode and one that could've been a better season opener.

Rating: 8/10

THE GREAT LITTLE RAILWAY SHOW

Written by

Michael White

I remember the HYPE this episode had when S24 first aired here in Australia, at the time when this was new we'd got it before the UK and US. But it was hyped because not only this was a Michael White episode but because of the variety use of little engines that were used, though I think the majority of it was because of Michael writing the story as he had produced really good stories during this era. I remember him saying that this episode wasn't his best work but I disagree. Five years since its airing here in Australia I believe this was his best. I love his depiction of Percy's naivety here so true to Percy's original character with him thinking the show was for little engines only when really it was for model engines. I remember some people saying that Percy should've been told that but then where's the fun of him thinking it was for little engines and how else can you describe model engines without saying little? I think it worked with the set up for the story and the twist outcome.

I think the episode would work without its fantasy sequence as you can have Gordon pulling into the station to tell Percy to collect his coaches and still have Percy acting conceited and cheeky towards him about the little railway show. Maybe I can see why Michael White might think this episode wasn't his best, I'm not saying it is the reason, as I think there could've been conflict aimed towards Percy when it comes to something like a railway show. Perhaps if the story was longer maybe Percy wanted to be best in show and he ended up getting overed in oil or treacle and was worried he won't win that was until he found what the show really was for. 

All the small engines being missing was good but perhaps you could have the big engines jealous of the show and they put them down for it which resulted in them all going to the show and have the bigger engines knowing just how important they really are. There can be other ways to bring conflict to the story than just the engines knowing of a little railway show and they were gone because of Percy's misunderstanding of what the Fat Controller said, more weight could've been added. But despite that I think the episode was still charming and I really love Percy's character in the story and the nice variety of little engines. 

Plus I think it was kind of strange but interesting that Nia was there. Isn't she suppose to be clever? Isn't she a Mary-Sue like some people in fandom wants to believe because she replaced Edward? Because from defines a Mary-Sue is a female character that lacks in flaws or weakness and maybe just maybe if some people in fandom let go of their hate or maybe think for themselves that maybe Nia, no matter how big or small it might be, has some flaws to herself because for being this clever engine why did she think this show was for little engines instead of thinking that it isn't? and many people can relate to that stuff. Because that's not what a Mary-Sue is! There is such overlooked detail from Nia that it's kind of sad that some people in this fandom only think her trait was that she was from Kenya and yet with these nooks and crannies we see that Nia has some flaws herself.   

I also love the replication of Michael White's model replicas of Rev.W.Awdry's models and Ffarquhar layout, just a nice little easter egg especially with it being the 75th anniversary at the time. So despite this episode's flaws, I still think it was great and its flaws don't really bother me. A nice, charming entertaining episode with Percy being his original self. 

Rating: 10/10  

THOMAS & THE FOREST ENGINES

Written by

Davey Moore

Marcia and Marcio were really nothing characters. All I got out from them was that they were two engines that talk at the same time and burn wood. The episode itself would've no different about two coal burning engines who don't have too much it and took the coal from the trucks instead. Same story, same out come. 

I think it would've been different if Marcia and Marcio had just gotten lost on their way to the docks and one of them could've gotten easily distracted by the different things they see along the way while the other tries their best to focus on the job which would differentiate the two as individuals and would show themselves as flawed characters. Davey Moore is a great writer but I think this was his weakest episode during his run on the show. 

It's also strange how this episode is the only one in existence to not have a home media release, very likely it was planned to be on the 'Carnival Day!' DVD, as the wiki stated that a bonus episode was listed on the DVD via Amazon UK, but for some reason was removed and with corporations slowly killing off the medium by wanting people to buy their streaming services, despite making stupid decisions like anti-password sharing, this will forever remain a streaming exclusive, depends on where you are. For me I watched this on ABC iview here in Australia.

Rating: 1/10   

EMILY TO THE RESCUE

Written by

Becky Overton

I said it before and I'll say it again but this episode about Emily was never about her proving herself as anything. She was just there at the right place and the right time and that's it. It's like a Christopher Awdry story where something happened to an engine because it did and that's it and I wrote about that in my original review here. Especially with the comparison of the him and his father's stories and how they are so different from each other. Emily's reward for saving Gordon didn't really mean anything she just saved him and that's it by placing Rocky under the bridge and was given a number, which was nice after 18 years since her debut in the original series. 

The episode devoted much of its time focusing on the safety inspector's inspection instead of doing something for Emily. Perhaps you devote more time to the bridge's oncoming collapse and Emily was trying to warn everybody about it but thought she was wrong, have Percy believing in her and reference 'Percy Gets it Right' from S7 about no one believing in him about the mudslide. Sure it's like that episode but it can be the same story but with a different situation, like real life. At least if you have the story like that it would make Emily's reward more special.

I like that at this part of the era the production team were giving Emily more stories but with her character being more like her S7 persona she really comes off as boring to me. This is why I much prefer her persona from S8 as mentioned earlier. I will say this episode did have conflict and I would rather sit through this than an AEG episode's about safety, which is so contradicting it hurts and there is a little moment where we see Gordon looking concerned for James, Percy and Rebecca after their derailment, a nice thing to see. But overall the episode just feels flat with Emily's S7 persona.

Rating: 2/10

SHANKAR'S MAKEOVER

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

I still think Rajiv could've been the one that forced Shankar into the competition but of course with it being an international episode it has to be Thomas. But I like that Thomas was overexcited about the contest and just wanted to show Shankar how fun it was until he realised his mistake. Thomas had a history of being like that what with him pulling a train for Henry or pulling trucks so it feels pretty much in his character. Though Thomas could've been the one to be in Shankar's defence of not wanting to take park. It just work and both Rajiv and Shankar have a good dynamic together. I still like the expansion of Shankar's character of him just wanting to be useful and not wanting to be in the spotlight. I also like how the episode didn't end when Shankar realising that it was fun to dress up like Gordon realising he liked being the best dressed engine in the S7 episode. It was just Shankar being himself still. It was a short episode but nice. 

Rating: 6/10 

NIA AND THE UNFRIENDLY ELEPHANT

Written by

Davey Moore

This episode is a perfect example of why Nia is not a Mary-sue that some people in fandom want to believe. In this episode we see Nia acting excited that she was going to collect an elephant on the mainland for the animal park. However, Gordon told her that the elephant doesn't seem to like steam engines at all but Nia, while she means well, was full of confidence that the elephant would like her, making her very presumptuous with herself since she had dealt with elephants before, as mentioned by her in the episode, even difficult ones and no matter what idea she can come up with, it always back fires until Belle told her that the elephant might needs something to be familiar with which resulted her in bringing another one of the elephant's kind to lure her onto the wagon. So she has her nuance. If some still think she's a Mary-sue after reading this then have you and I seen the same episode? 

Yes Nia is a clever engine, as she had pushed to be by Mattel, but she can still make mistakes and that makes her likeable and relevant whereas a Mary-sue is someone who is unrealistic and has no flaws. If Nia was a Mary-sue then the episode wouldn't make any amount of sense. Why would there be an elephant who doesn't like riding behind steam engines but somehow Nia gets the exception? Would that make any sense? It doesn't to me.

Plus if you really think about this episode and have seen all four seasons of AEG, Nia here is almost the same as her counterpart from that show when it comes to making a plan which ended up going south. So that trait is not as ground breaking that some people in the fandom think it was and I have seen all four seasons of AEG to know that although I can only think of three episodes with that trait for Nia which were 'Off the Rails' and 'Nia's Balloon Blunder' from its first season and 'Nia's Perfect Plan' from its second season and they're pretty much the same storyline with the same outcome just with one tiny difference.

If the episode was longer perhaps you could have Nia thinking of her reputation again for being clever, as shown in her sole focused episode from S22, but the other engines were suggesting their ideas and we see her slowly accepting their advice and idea despite thinking she thinks she's the only clever one.

It just shows that she's more than just an engine from Kenya that some in fandom thinks this era focused upon for her. I always think back to this episode whenever I think of her character and I feel she's severely underrated and some people in this fandom had treated her very unfairly from this era as a character because she'd replaced Edward, despite that you can't do much with Edward apart from him proving his worth and it's mostly to shut Gordon or James up. Sure there's 'A Shed for Edward' but THAT is a very rare case. If some people let go of their hate towards this era based on one decision, maybe the same ones that tell AEG's critics to let it go, or if some people just see things for themselves instead of someone telling them it's bad, perhaps Nia might've had might had more love.

This was one of the episodes that had been cut and repurposed from S21 but to me it didn't give off a S21 feeling to apart from maybe the use of Belle since they would've likely used a steam team character to help her out. Hell Thomas was hardly seen in the episode at all and no his voice over narration doesn't count and no fantasy sequence which makes this episode another great one to sit through. 

The episode, when it was made for S21, was just called 'The Unfriendly Elephant' and we don't know who was the intended character, some people were saying it might've been Henry's and while I can see that, I think we might see Henry in his scaredy persona, and we know how some people in the fandom don't fancy that idea despite that it makes him stand out from the likes of Gordon and James and there are some episodes where that trait is focused, 'Henry and the Elephant' comes to mind and that was a Rev.W.Awdry story! 

Personally this episode is one of my favourites and hidden gem from this season.

Rating: 10/10

JAMES THE SUPER ENGINE

Written by

David Stoten

One of the BWBA Sodor episode which had the fantasy sequence integral to the story to the spilt oil can creates the 'eye mask' later on in the episode. It was also nice to see a James episode where he was actually helpful for the sake of it instead of doing it to just show off like in a typical James story and that he was rewarded with it in the end, even if no one was praising him. 

I've seen some fans over the years complaining how most James episodes, both canon and fanon, where he does something wrong for whatever reason and would punished for it in the end and it was a thing since Awdry had written the books. Like James calling Edward old in 'Old Iron' and his comeuppance was him running away because some boys played with his control and Edward had to save him. 'Buzz Buzz' where James was rude about BoCo by calling him a buzz box because at the time diesels were replacing steam, and that thanks to Diesel he gave all diesels a bad name, his comeuppance in that story was him getting stung by a bee on the nose. 

I guess you could say his comeuppance in 'Percy, James and the Fruitful Day' of getting jammed brakes was him being bossy towards Percy earlier in the episode. My point is James did get some short end of the stick and even I will admit I made some episode in my series where James gets his comeuppance like 'James and the Turntable'. I'm not saying the whole thing of James getting his comeuppance is a bad thing, I think they do make great stories and comedy towards James when he acts up, it's just that fans had been complaining about it being overdone and predictable. 

So it's nice to see a James episode where he's not his usual self and we see more sides of him being shown than his typical self. This was another gem of an episode with some good set up of Percy and the heavy coal trucks, though if the episode were a bit longer we might've seen more build up leading to the derailment. Though speaking of the derailment, I personally don't like how he was derailed like a toy train where he's suppose to be a heavy steam engine and the trucks being heavy should at least topple over with the coal everywhere blocking the way. You can still have James barraging through it when he tries to save Rebecca, the animators had done it in the Vinnie video in promotion of 'The Great Race' where he bashed through some gravel. But despite that this was another gem.

Rating: 10/10

THOMAS' NOT-SO-LUCKY DAY

Written by

Becky Overton

It's a pretty basic story for the sake of learning Italian culture when it comes to luck and while it's repetitive with Thomas making mistakes there was at least some entertainment in it all and some character development from Thomas who thought at first the superstition was silly but after having so much bad luck on his route delivering salt he began to think they were true. Although I think the episode could've been given to Gina since she'd showed some doubt of the Lorenzo's superstition and you could have her going through denial of all the bad luck she was going through because she was thinking how silly superstitions are. But Thomas told her what she said about thinking positively and Gina took her own advice and went with it. I don't think it was that bad. Basic but still good and it was interesting to learn about Italy's way of superstitions and I like how in the end we see the black cat crossing the track which is a reference of misfortune in Italian culture where if a black cat is seen crossing the road it would bring misfortune, which is Lorenzo loosing his top C note. So research was put into this episode despite the basic feeling of it all. 

Rating: 7/10 

ACE'S BRAVE JUMP

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

I didn't like how Thomas was chummy with Ace when this first aired and I still don't like it. With the way Ace had made Thomas abandon Nia while travelling through the American west to the salt flats you think Thomas might still be mad at him for doing that but it seems no one gave the memo to the writers to create a follow up to that scene! We didn't see Ace saying sorry for doing that during their conversation after Ace made that blunder of a jump because he saw a joey and got scared nor we see Thomas looking mad at the site of Ace for what he'd done, it was as if that moment when Thomas had shown some growth as a character in the special where he had enough of Ace was meaningless. I mean they had Thomas remembering Ace being scared of wild animals so why choose that but ignore the essential moment of the special? I'll never know. 

Perhaps you could have a story where there was another worldwide grand prix and Australia is one of the continents for this year's race that Ace and the other cars would come to. Thomas remembers his last encounter with Ace at the salt flats in America and remembered how he made him abandon Nia and called him slow in front of the other cars just so he looks cool in front of them. Ace was still cocky and flash for the sake of the other cars and called Thomas names but secretly he carried the guilt of what he had done in America but chose not to talk about to the other cars.

Maybe during a trial run, Isla warned them of a huge dust storm coming, dust storms are common in places like Central Australia, which is the 'red heart', and that they must return to their base for safety. Ace decided to ignore her and let them carry on with their trials, perhaps the other cars were concerned but agreed with Ace. 

But then the dust storm came blocking their view and causing a crash. Their drivers radioed for help but it'll be too dangerous for the breakdown team, Isla or a helicopters to come through but they saw through the storm a railway line and Ace knew who could help and that's Thomas. At the base, Thomas and the other Australian engines were waiting and were clear of the storm but when Isla told them about the accident, she asked Thomas to help but Thomas didn't want to help Ace because of what he did to him and while the engines told him he had every right to be cross they know that he always helps out to those in need, even ones he had disagreements with and so Thomas made his way to help which resulted in the cars to respect him and saw how fast he can go and Ace apologised to Thomas for what he had done. 

Thomas was pleased and the two became friends. I don't know what other Thomas episode would work for Thomas' message of the day segment but this sounds like a great episode idea that still respects the movie's continuity and perhaps this would serve as a follow up. But sadly with Mattel replacing the original show over crap that is AEG, this will always remain a fanon idea.

Now on with the episode, despite the big problem that I had talked about earlier, it wasn't a bad episode and I think it was good that we're seeing Ace trying to overcome his fear of wild animals, despite that at the end of the episode with the frog he had a lot to learn still. The scene with him and Thomas traversing through the outback dealing with wild animals was alright and it did give us a cute moment with the baby emus, I also like Ace complementing one's jump. It's nice to see Ace's soft side more often but I still think there should've been an episode of him making amends with Thomas after their last encounter in the 2018 special. It would at least make sense with them being chummy in the episode.

I also like that Tamika was in the episode as it is appropriate for her basis, the SAR Steam motor coach, to work in the outback as it goes to Hawker in South Australia which is an outback town, much better than the rainforest. So a nice bit of realism. So while I think it was wrong of the episode to ignore the scene of Thomas leaving Ace behind at the salt flats, I think the episode was still fine and I liked Ace's character development.

Rating: 6/10   

SONNY'S SECOND CHANCE

Written by

Becky Overton

Watching this in production order does feel weird as this was placed well before the two 'Marvellous Machinery' special episodes. Who is Sonny? Why is he a thief? Why is asking for a second chance? Why is Gordon rude to him? So I can see why they'd placed the two special episodes first to avoid any confusion amongst viewers. But I also think it gives off a strong non-linear sort of vibe because it adds a layer of mystery of why Sonny was this thief and why he was given a second chance. It also gives the viewers the crave of wanting more answers and it'll all lead up to a bigger story. It's funny watching this episode now as I'd never picked up on this when it was new in 2020, but it reminded me of my own episode arc that I made back in 2019 focusing on Duck, Diesel and Paxton, particularly the episode 'Paxton', as I was thinking it would've been nice to see Duck with the supporting role based on what he went through in the past. I'm sure with the massive access of the classic series that kids have in the UK and US they might be familiar with the episodes from the 'Duck and the Diesel Engine' trilogy from S2. We never gotten the two engines, Duck and Diesel, interacting with each other during the Brenner/McCue and the short lived Stoten/McCue era as well and it's a shame now that the original series had ended. 

Duck has trust issues with Diesel since the latter told lies to the trucks about him calling Gordon, Henry and James names. Seeing Sonny trusting him would send Duck a shiver since he knows trusting him leads to trouble. Duck can be quite the sympathetic character to Sonny as he can understand not being trusted or respected, even though Duck's case was based on a lie. Plus given Gordon was bragging that he never made a mistake at Knapford in front of Thomas and Percy, it would make the joke funnier with Duck since he knows full well that Gordon was full of bull. 

However, despite that, I honestly think Diesel's motivation towards Sonny was weird. He only took advantage of him because he wanted to get out of the job he doesn't like and called Sonny silly in front of him without his knowledge when talking to Percy but also wanted to be Sonny's friend? It certainly was no ploy to send him away based on his image as a thief as we see Diesel didn't want to hurt him. It's just strange though that he and Sonny never interacted in the 'Marvellous Machinery' special nor did Sonny do anything bad to Diesel as he was never in the special to begin with and yet Diesel wanted to take advantage of him?    

It would've been better say if they'd brought back Sailor John from the Lost Treasure movie, perhaps he was friends with Baz and Berenie from 'Marvellous Machinery' and they told him how Sonny stood up to them and wanted him gone from this island, hence the motivation of screwing up his second chance,  and have him using Sonny to transport things to the sailing ship at Arelsbrugh such as supplies and spare parts so that he can sail out from Sodor as he'd escaped jail. When Sonny told the other engines that he was helping with something, the engines knew that he was trouble and told him about Sailor John but he, manipulated him saying that these engines don't know what they're talking about.  

Sonny soon found out about the ploy when news about Sailor John's escape spread on the news and when he put two and two together, he realised that Sailor John was using him to flee the island. Sailor John knew that the jig was up and maybe for faster transport he used Gordon instead to get to the ship quickly and Sonny was chasing after him to stop him, which would tie the knot on Gordon's disdain towards Sonny storyline. I just think there are better ways to make this story really engaging and enough to make some sense to have Sonny being judged, used and made his amends by stopping the situation that he got himself into instead of furthering it into a big problem. 

Sure the late Sir John Hurt had passed away three years prior to this season's airing but, and by no means of disrespect towards one of Britain's most famous actors, they could have one of the voice actors to voice the character instead. The episode was fine, it wasn't bad but I just think there could've been a much better motivation to screw up Sonny's second chance. 

Rating: 4/10

THOMAS AND THE INVENTOR'S WORKSHOP

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

Thomas generating electricity for Ruth was odd but when had the show ever been scientifically accurate? The steam showing off from their funnels is white but is only seen when it's cold. In reality steam is invisible and you can see that during warmer months, I had seen that a few times, especially during that incredibly and oddly warm autumn day in March in 2023 when I was filming steam engines at the Thirlmere Festival of Steam. When 3801 blew its whistle you can see a portion of white coming out of its whistle but most of the time it was invisible. You can find the video on my NWR1991 YouTube channel as I digress. The whole electricity generating scene was also done for story reason to give the windmill some power and to give off that energy message that Ruth was talking about afterwards. I'm just thankful that Thomas just somehow became an electric engine. Plus still LOVE that 'Back to the Future' reference.

The story itself was quite simple, Thomas was tasked to take Ruth around the island for a place to live in until she found the broken windmill. I think it was a little hilarious that Thomas thought it looked old and useless considering that he, a steam engine, had been called that by the likes of Diesel. You think Thomas might be a little bit sympathetic about the whole thing but I think he was written like that to help with the little mystery of why Ruth wants it to be a place to live in. 

I still think the troublesome gate, while there for story, would've looked better if it had fencing along the line and maybe a farm nearby that way we would at least know of its importance instead of just being there for the sake of story. Is this a great episode? No but it was harmless, nice and simple kind of gave me the vibe of 'Thomas the Babysitter' from S19. I think the water wheel episode as seen from S22 did this type of story much better considering it was about Thomas learning of something that he didn't know and that the whole runaway, as cartoonish as it was, was done to showcase how strong bamboo is.

Rating: 6.5/10

THE INVENTOR'S SPECTACULAR BRIDGE

Written by

David Stoten

If you remember back in 2020 the Motorised train set of Thomas on a walking bridge set at that year's Toy Fair in New York, this is its episode in order to promote it, perhaps and very likely a mandate by Mattel at the time since toys come first, stories second. This episode basically exist for that sole purpose and I also think it made no sense to have Ruth say a new bridge would take weeks to build and yet would make a new bridge in a matter of hours. Plus, it's a shame too, but we never see Ruth with any flaw with her inventions as they all came off as perfect. I think this episode could've been a great opportunity to use that. Maybe Ruth had been praised so much for her inventions and that she was really confident that she can make a moving bridge quick enough for Toby to cross but it ended up being such a rush job that it went haywire and it almost took Toby and Henrietta with them as it was about to fall down, perhaps it'd reached the other side for the two to land on. 

It would give off the moral of not to rush things and not get too uppity about one's self. To me Ruth came off more as a Mary-Sue than what the fandom thinks of Nia. As I said before Nia in the original series had flaws when it comes to her cleverness with her understanding the look of numbers and dealing with an elephant who was not used to her and it came out as nuance in the end whereas Ruth in this episode never really had any flaw with her inventions and this episode could've been a great opportunity. 

 I want to believe that the production team had struggled with the idea for the episode but I think it would've been better if it turned out the way what I thought of earlier. Mattel will still have their advert and bridge set being sold and we would've had a good story. 

I know fans big problem was Toby's scaredy persona but to be honest he did have a history of troublesome bridges before such as 'Toby and the Flood' in S5 and 'Toby Had a Little Lamb' in S6, despite that he was willing to go over it for the sake of the baby lambs but he can still be scared of it, so I can't say I blame him for it and I wish had the series continued on we might've had an episode of him getting over that fear. I honestly think Toby's scaredy persona is just something natural that we all share no matter how brave we tried to look and no matter what everyone regardless of age can be scared of somethings. You might have a problem with Toby here but it works and it was relevant to his character given what I'd mentioned earlier. The big problem to me for this episode was its writing. 

This episode just exist for the sake of merchandising and I have no idea why I gave it a bigger rating at the time but I don't see the big problem with Toby in the episode. Yes he's suppose to be wise with a sense of humour but it doesn't work with what this episode was trying to do and him being fearful of bridges is something natural to him. 

Rating: 3/10

YONG BAO & THE TIGER

Written by

Ian McCue & David Stoten

I loved this episode when it came out and I still love it today. I love that Yong Bao had a back story of his own growth from the sidings to the big wide world of China as he was looking for a tiger. But I think the story could benefit more if Yong Bao was scared of coming out of the yard because he often hear how engines can have accidents and the mean engines teased him for being scared by mocking him with coaches and snowploughs. It would give more reason for the tiger to inspire Yong Bao to be brave since it's seen as a major symbol of that in China. Perhaps he was scared of trying to rescue the big mean engine falling down because he didn't have the strength to pull him but then the tiger showed up enhancing his bravery. With something like that it would've made Yong Bao having the colour red and the tiger emblem more rewarding and more symbolic as a reminder that the tiger inspired him.

But I love the atmosphere of the episode and the best scene of the episode was when Yong Bao and the tiger were running down the slope of the Himalayas with the setting sun, as seen in the picture above, with Chris Renshaw's music it was beautiful and probably one of my favourites scenes in television ever. Five years on this episode was still great but I think with a few tweaks for Yong Bao this would've been an amazing episode! It's a shame though that there was a UK dub of the Chinese exclusive short that was released for that country's release of 'The Great Race'. I remember seeing the whole special somewhere on the internet, though I can't remember where and was more surprised by the exclusive CG animation of Thomas on a stage with lights aim towards him talking to the audience with the Yong Bao clip from 'Meet the Contenders'. A UK dub was released in 2018 but was horribly cut down for some strange reason on their YouTube channel in 2018 through those strange content farming compilation videos which was a huge waste and what was the point of those videos? 

But despite that the episode version of that animated short was fantastic!

Rating: 9/10

GORDON & REBECCA, COMING THROUGH!

Written by

Davey Moore

You know while watching this episode I thought it would've been nice to see Rebecca getting anxious and trying to be like Gordon but after seeing her saying that she has her own way of doing things I see such growth of her as a character. On her first day on Sodor she was very anxious and was trying to live up to the other engines because they were fast, strong and famous etc. but in this episode we see her just being herself and not getting worried about being like someone else. She's just her bright, friendly self and I think for her case she shows that it's not that hard to be kind to others. This was a nice episode and I do like that while Gordon was his usual boastful self he was aware of his mistake later on and it worked with the dynamic between him and her. Rebecca and Nia were great characters and it's sad to see that they're treated like black sheep from the fandom because they'd replaced Edward and Henry. 

Yes they are indeed legacy characters that were created by the Rev.W.Awdry but I just don't think there's nothing else you can do with them with the persona's that Awdry had given them since their overaching story arc's had been done decades before. I will always say 'A Shed for Edward' is an example of doing an Edward story with conflict while retaining his original persona, no matter how much crap the episode gets. 

This episode was another gem and one I do see working for the likes of S21 had it expanded to 26 episodes and if she was planned as the season's DVD exclusive character from the tent pole releases and after understanding Rebecca's personality from a second rewatch, she really had become one of my personal favourites. I love her bubbly, positive, happy self but also her flaws over being overanxious and self doubt about herself made me very sympathetic towards her but she managed to see all the good in everyone and everything, I love her. She was a great character and I'm glad that AEG didn't touch her because she's too good for that show, even if that thing was its own show.

Rating: 10/10

KENJI ON THE RAILS AGAIN

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

Ah yes, the episode that had been hinting at the idea of Thomas going to Japan, as mentioned earlier in this blog post. I remember rumours had rummaged around on the internet, before it became true in October 2020, that the show being on hiatus means the show had ended and thought that because of that hint there might be a new season on the way but no Mattel canned it in favour of AEG because of this iteration not helping with the franchise's low toy sales. But in hindsight there was still no reason to give the show a pointless redesign for the hopes of toy sales going up, it worked for a short period of time but fell flat later on and already that show is canned now. 

Anyway back to the episode I remember when first watching this episode after ABC iview placed it as one of the four episodes they'd uploaded back in 2020 and was so surprised and happy to hear Hiro again. When this episode aired, the last time he appeared in the show was in 'Letters to Santa' from S20, which was a small role. I still get that feeling of happiness when hearing Togo Igawa's voice and I bet he had fun voicing Hiro again. Him moving back to Japan did come as a surprise to me when first watching this, which was of course the show's way of hinting that Thomas' next world adventure was in going to be in Japan, as said by Ian McCue in the link I'd provided above, which was something that I had been hoping since BWBA was announced but that never came because of what I said earlier.

When first seeing this episode back in 2020, I thought it would've worked better as two episodes. One for Kenji wanting to be useful but can't work without electricity until Ruth decided to give him a battery, perhaps for the conflict he thinks he can reach to Knapford by going fast around Ulfstead castle and then zooms off thinking he can be useful still only for him to stop on the middle of the main line and blocking the way for oncoming trains, one of which was Gordon who can't stop with the express. A simple episode but one that I think would shine Kenji as a character, perhaps a mirror of Thomas wanting to see the world but was stuck in the station yard until he proved how useful he was. Perhaps referencing his story arc in his Railway Series book at 'The Adventure Begins' and have Kenji hearing about that back home in Japan, which could hint an episode about Thomas being a celebrity in Japan.

The reason I think Kenji could've shine as a character if this episode was split into two is because I still think Kenji came off as a bit of a blank state. We see that he's friendly and happy but we never see much else with him outside from that. Sure he worries about being alone on a ship but it was short lived after Hiro offered to journey with him back home. If you want to have an episode where he overcomes the fear of being alone perhaps have him loaded onto a ship on his own that was heading towards the mainland and see that he would never be alone because he could have the company of sailors who work about the ship singing songs, play games and tell stories. Sure Hiro wouldn't come along but it can still work with Kenji asking Thomas to come to Japan someday.

The episode we have today was harmless and good but I think it would work as two episodes focusing on Kenji to make him shine. Still though I wish we had episodes of Thomas in Japan and perhaps a special set in that country, probably a much better version of Sodor cup as mentioned earlier. I did like how Thomas was sad that Hiro was leaving but managed to overcome it because he knows that it would make Kenji happy and it's nice to see how much Thomas had grown as a character, probably one of my favourite little moments.

Rating: 5.5/10

CLEO THE ROAD ENGINE

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

I think a better way to introduce Cleo to the show is to make her like Buzz Lightyear in the first 'Toy Story' film where she thinks she is a steam engine because Ruth said she looks like one. Perhaps she tries to shunt trucks but can't and tries to pull coaches but she can't because she has no coupling until she accepted the fact that she was car in the end when Gordon crashed into her when she tries to run on the rails. Of course show her crash off screen to not upset the young kids watching which shows the message about curiosity sometimes can lead to trouble and that we must be careful. Having her racing against Thomas, as shown in the actual episode, seems a bit generic since we had episodes of Thomas and Bertie in the past, though it's nice how we had an episode of Thomas racing here and there instead of being a big portion like AEG with its obsession of Thomas and Diesel competing with each other. This is why the original series will always triumph in terms of variety. 

I think if you want a racing Cleo episode why not have her compete with Bertie? You can have an episode where that Bertie enjoys racing with Ruth and it made Thomas feel left out that maybe Bertie doesn't want to be friend anymore and we know what the outcome would be that everyone can have more than one best friend and there'll still be times for him and Thomas to race against each other and then you have the three of them racing off into the sunset. It could've been a nice episode had the production team thought of that at the time of production but that will remain a fanon idea.

Yes Cleo turning around is still unrealistic and kind of pointless when Ruth can try and steer her off the rails but honestly it was a much creative way to moving her around while still retain the grounded reality of the show, much better than what AEG did, I know I kept knocking on that show for a while when writing these reviews but I can't help but compare them despite being different to one another even though AEG was made as this series' replacement. While the episode was harmless I think it would've been better to make Cleo have the Buzz Lightyear route. You can still have Thomas talking about ignoring advice still after the episode. 

Rating: 5/10 

NIA'S BRIGHT IDEA

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

If Nia had a Railway Series book this would be her fourth story to showcase all the things she had learnt from her pervious stories and her growth as a character such as Skiff telling her about the lighthouse and its use and then she came up with the idea that Skiff told her later on the episode. We've seen some growth of her in these two seasons. Her counting episode showcases that she had a reputation to uphold of her being clever and didn't want to admit she doesn't understand numbers and then in unfriendly elephant we see her being very confident with herself that she knows how to handle elephants until she got help from Belle about what the elephant might need. The 2018 special would be her introductory to showcase Nia and her clever persona as well as her other traits that she had such as her being sassy, giving in to a challenge etc.

She had a story arc and character believe it or not and she's not just this engine from Africa that just exist for the sole purpose of merchandising or appeasing to feminists that the fandom wants to believe. Her flaw is that she had a reputation of being clever and wants to uphold it but learns from her mistakes when doing that and realises that she can't be clever all the time. I think if these episodes didn't have the Thomas segments they would be even better but Nia had character and she wasn't a Mary-Sue or just this engine from Kenya. Perhaps I recommend to some people of the fandom to rewatch her episodes without the anger of her replacing Edward, the same can be said about Rebecca who had replaced Henry at the sheds too, sure that be impossible for some but if you move on from your hate towards this era, ironic because I believe they might be the same who tell the critics of AEG to move on, you would see things differently. 

To me this episode feels like a culmination of Nia's character arc, despite that S24 was not really intended to be the final season of the original series. She asked Skiff about the lighthouse and its use and would later use that idea for the big Ferris wheel. The earl had some doubts that it would work, which indicates that Nia's idea might not go to plan. If she were a Mary-sue she would know to use the big wheel and everyone would cheer which would make her boring.

Sure she knows that the wheel is tall and had Christmas lights but off screen she was there at the castle and might've seen the workmen setting them up or was probably told about it. Sure if this episode was longer perhaps we would've gotten that as set up for the episode's climax. But she's still not a Mary-sue. 

Nia is a clever and strong character but the flaw that she was focused upon is her cleverness and even though S24 was not intended to be the final season, this episode really feels like a full circle moment for Nia's character arc since her introduction in 2018. I much prefer her character from this series more than her boring character from AEG. Yes she had flaws when it comes to her having a plan that would backfire but it's no different to her in this show.

Rating: 10/10

CLEO'S FIRST SNOW

Written by

Becky Overton

I still think this was a nice little episode about Cleo seeing snow for the first time. But perhaps you could make the episode about her experiencing snow for the first time and see that it can be dangerous at times. We've seen her being a bit of a daredevil in her debut episode perhaps she wants to race with Thomas again but was told not to because of how slippery the roads and rails can be and that's where she learns her lesson. She still wants to have fun but perhaps in other ways when it comes to snow. 

There really isn't much to say for such a simple episode but I do love Cleo's childlike character with her seeing things for the first time and it's quite rare to see that happening in the show especially years after since its debut in 1984. This really was a charming little episode.

Rating: 9/10

THOMAS' ANIMAL FRIENDS

Written by

Davey Moore

I don't know why some people in this fandom thought this was the series finale. Yes it was the last episode to be aired on TV because they'd moved the last three long episodes to the front to air them in time for the 75th anniversary. If you remember digiguide's placement they said that Royal Engine was number 23 which makes it the canonical series finale and this the 20th episode and they are usually correct over the production order over the years. But to be honest the more I've watched this episode the more I'd like it and the message that it conveys about if you like something that others don't understand, like it. 

Which I think it's relevant to many people young and old, including older Thomas fans. Thomas was enjoying something until the other engines show their disdain towards it which made Thomas sad and thought that it was silly because some of the other engines laughed or criticised him. Hate it all you want because of its silliness or because you might have a weird dislike towards a group of people who are furries based on very bad misconceptions by some idiots both and off the internet, but I find it very relevant because not have I been through since I was a kid in primary school back in the 90's but I remember some people in the fandom had this sheer resentment towards people who do like BWBA for whatever reason because they don't like it or want to treat it as some big joke because they have nothing better to do than finding some actual joy in their life. 

The same can be said about those people who hate people that likes 'All Engines Go!' I don't like the show and might be critical about some of its fans, mainly towards them over their annoyance of people who are just critical of the show, but I don't go as far as attacking people who do like it for whatever reason, even if I don't agree with their viewpoints. 

This episode feels like a metaphor to me and while yes it may not be as grand of a finale like what 'Royal Engine' was, though not intentional, it was a harmless episode. Hell I think its moral about liking something that others don't is much more relevant to people than something about showing people the feels of a place or not be too competitive for the umpteenth time in AEG and even if you say that it was made to advertise merchandise then this advert was pretty good with its story and a relevant moral message that doesn't scream at you saying 'BUY ME! BUY ME! BUY ME!' over some toys based on this episode for the motorised range that were never released here in Australia, to my knowledge. If you want to find an episode that is just an advert look at 'The Inventor's Spectacular Bridge' from earlier or the episode 'Cake it Easy' from AEG's third season, they are more like toy commercials. 

When thinking of the fantasy sequence where it was just Rebecca telling Thomas what animal relate to each engine had its importance because we do see Thomas imaging Gordon as an elephant, James as a lion and Percy as a panda with Rebecca as leopard. I mean if this episode didn't have a fantasy sequence it would still be the same scene in a different way say Thomas and Rebecca puffing down a random set wondering who relates to each animal. It worked for the story, in my opinion.

The episode is harmless and was more of a story than a toy commercial.

Rating: 10/10

A NEW ARRIVAL

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

It's basically just another fear of replacement storyline and the engines have to prove themselves useful despite that in past episodes the Fat Controller would never do such a thing. But I can't think of anything else to make it any different even if you make it a railway technology fair featuring different types of engines. When it comes to something new and exciting there are those who tend to fear it because it might replace it and don't want to live in a world where it's progressing and it's still a thing we have to deal with today. So the whole fear of replacement trope while tired out from past episodes is something that works for this story and is a thing that's relevant to kids and adults today such as generative A.I especially when it comes to art. 

People today would, lazily, write, voice and draw by using ChatGPT or other A.I learning systems and would not need the use of actual human talent. I've seen many artists on social media living in fear of being replaced by people's obsession of A.I, especially when it comes to the corporate world you know actual workplaces where people need money to live, feed and for other important things and are encouraging people to support them in this stupid world. So this story is something that they can relate too and whatever else will come that is new and different, other people might live with that fear as well, the fear of replacement story despite its problems is quite timeless when you think about it.

The episode had nice set up for the next part while also trying to tell its own story too. It was also nice to sit through a more fun Thomas story that doesn't rely on slapstick for four minutes long that offers no importance. While yes AEG's specials are pointlessly 60mins long and this was 22mins, the pacing was much better and less exhausting in this special, I'm looking at you 'Mystery of Lookout Mountain'. You might say the jet engine scene was pointless but it add more importance to the episode's story than say Nia and Thomas chasing a runaway calliope for some music festival. 

I think the episode was tame, harmless and really not that bad. Perhaps if you do make it as a railway tech fair, with multiple engines from around the world, you can still have Thomas being scared of being replaced but the invited engines were nice to them and respect them for who they are, especially when they heard so many stories about them in their home countries.

Rating: 8/10 

 

WORLD OF TOMORROW

Written by

Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont

As ridiculous as a giant metal man and a flying car are for something like Thomas, they had their purpose and were not there for the sake of being there and that was for the climatic chase scene towards Baz and Bernie when they stole Ruth's plans and made a run for it and when researching the possibility if such things can happen, there had been attempts at creating flying cars dating back to the Autogyro AC-35 in 1935, you can find it on wikipedia, but of course they are not mass manufactured and personally I think I would drive on the road. 

I think flying cars are more unsafe and while giant robots are complex to build now some say it is a possibility in the future, and some had been made as prototypes, so they are kind of realistic in a way, maybe not for the timeline Ian McCue had made but it's ambiguous. Five years since 'Marvellous Machinery' and I honestly still don't see any problem with it. Sure it's not what Awdry had created but neither was S5 with its own wackiness to appease investors for money to make a movie that was not even in relevance to what S5 had to offer and it ended up being a bust and yet fans who grew up with it still enjoyed it. The episode still had a story that was built up from before with conflict still relevant for people which is the fear of replacement. 

It had much better comedy too, I still laugh at Gordon being magnetic, and it's more entertaining than some special about a music festival. I still think Baz and Bernie were funny and Sonny's development was alright but I think if the episodes were just a little longer we might understand more of Sonny and why he banded up with a couple of crooks and why does he want to be useful? He would be a more sympathetic character had this been longer. 

Plus they were continuing with the fear of replacement story with Kenji but they never really brought it up after Gordon expressed his disdain about him until the very end of the episode. It would've been better if they had finished that story in the previous episode and focus more on the tech fair and Baz and Bernie trying to steal Ruth's plans in this one. It really didn't need to be there.  

 The whole special may not be a cup of tea for everyone but I've seen worse. This and the special before it in my opinion were much better than 'Digs & Discoveries' there was more action and the stories had better structure. 

Rating: 7/10    

THOMAS & THE ROYAL ENGINE

Written by

Michael White

And now we come to the final ever episode of the original series which was made to coincide with the 75th anniversary at the time. To mark the occasion they had Prince Harry on board to make a special live action message celebrating the brand's 75th, this was before he left the Royal Family for 'privacy' reasons. Anyway, the opening shot was only used on TV because when the episode was released on DVD it was removed, probably to keep the episode less dated. This happened on subsequent airings after its debut in the UK and Australia on TV. You can still find it on Netflix in the America as well as on YouTube when it was big news at the time. 

To me I often thought of this special episode very fondly and it feels so Thomas to me, especially with it being the 75th at the time. It was a simple story about him going about his work and mishaps happen along the way while meeting Duchess along the way. According to Michael White this special was written twice as long of its usual running time and likely the characters from 'Journey Beyond Sodor' would've made an appearance but were cut out due to time. Unless we ever see the original script that had been written, I don't know how they would work in the story perhaps it would just be him asking for directions but first he was to help them with something and then they would tell him. But that's just my guess on what it could've been. 

We had Beresford's scene which I thought was funny with him swinging Thomas about and getting muddled about directions despite Thomas was agreeing with him about where to turn so Thomas can mess up on his journey. Sure he wasn't THAT important but he helped to move the plot along.

Duchess was a fun character and I do like how she gets flustered when given important work which was transporting the Queen and her son Prince Charles to London and would get rude when things were getting too much for her but means well as we've seen from her when she met up with Thomas along the line. If the series had continued on I bet we could've seen more of her. I definitely see her working alongside Spencer and maybe being friends with Rebecca who helps her out to overcome her anxiousness. Such a shame really this series had more potential than AEG. 

I remember everyone hoping for her to be Duchess of Hamilton as seen in the 'Thomas & the Great Railway Show' book when her toy was listed somewhere back then but was later shown to be this combination of a Duchess, with smoke deflectors from a Royal Scot and an LNER corridor tender and I have the feeling the reason she was that is because back in the day of the Thomas Creator Collective videos that were uploaded on the official YouTube channel they had a depiction of Mallard and according to EpicLafiteau, they got in trouble of using its look without permission so they made their own version to avoid making her look like a real Duchess so they won't get into any strife from any organisation that owns them. 

I also love how the special was about Thomas meeting royalty which is a nice connection to Railway Series history given for the fact that King Charles was once a fan of the books after been given some by the Rev.W.Awdry as a child. This feels like an anniversary special given its little easter eggs for older fans like Awdry's first design of Thomas and 'Gordon Goes Foreign', at first I thought the latter wouldn't make any sense because young kids would've never heard of that story but then I realised that they would've because of all the remakes on YouTube of that story over the years and the Mr. Perkins storytime video of that story that was released in 2015. 

The special was great and while I think it would've been better if say Gordon came along to try and help Thomas to get to London but Thomas thinks he knows the way since he too had been there before, since he had referenced he'd went to the mainland in 'The Great Race' referring to 'Thomas & the Special Letter'. But Gordon told him about the different stations in London and that he may not know he would end up. I think to help with it overall is that Gordon reminds Thomas about their alliance and that there is where Thomas and Gordon work together along with helping Duchess. Even though there was a 25th season being planned it would've serve as nice conclusion with the engines that started the TV run since the pilot in 1983. 

But despite that the special was great and was a nice send off to the legacy of the little blue engine by being rewarded a medal for being really useful which is a nice metaphor of him entertaining generations of people for 80 years, as writing this in 2025!

Rating: 10/10

OVERALL

Despite a slow start to the season, S24 had gotten better and better with each episode, with some hiccups along the way of episodes that could've been better. I will always say this that BWBA had much more engaging and entertaining stories than AEG will ever have. I know that show is different to the original series but as I said earlier in the post the original series will always triumph in better storytelling, quality and variety. I'm glad we didn't have multiple episodes of Thomas racing Cleo as we only had one from this whole season unlike AEG's formulaic episodes of Thomas and Diesel racing each other. I'm glad that BWBA had given some character growth towards the likes of Nia and Rebecca whereas AEG gave character 'growth' but would never really stick with it like Diesel looking so tough to be brave in front of everyone during the past four seasons. 

I'm glad BWBA had some stories that don't feel empty like some AEG episodes like 'Art Engines Go!' where the engines don't go through any sort of conflict and had overcome them making them better characters. BWBA had plenty such as Percy causing chaos over a misunderstanding, Thomas taking personal responsibility of looking after a lost dog, Nia thinking she knows how to deal with elephants and hell, despite that it could've been better, Ace overcoming his fear of wild animals was something still. Hell some of those stories I still remember more than whatever AEG had ever produced.

I'm aware that it can get annoying of me knocking down AEG all the time. Yes it is a kids show and so was BWBA but the former, in my opinion, didn't really have quality at all. There are a few gems here and there but they were rare and the few episodes that I liked could not match the amount of crapness that I'd seen from them. Most of them just come off as generic and forgettable with bland songs. I just can't help but compare it to something that I think is better than it. I believe there is quality in these episode of BWBA despite its flaws. This feels more like Thomas than a show that is Thomas in name only. 

S24 really didn't come off to me as a season desperate to not be cancelled because BWBA wasn't that much of a success in terms of toy sales. It came off to me as another Thomas season but with more stories set on Sodor than in other countries and from watching this season it never really came off as fast paced like Paw Patrol, to me at least. It still felt like episodes from past seasons before this one but just shorter because the Thomas segments were based on these videos that were released in 2015 and were popular with Mattel's test audiences and kids in general. I think without them we could've had longer stories, depends on how much they could put in. It's pacing was nice and steady too, kind of reminds me of AEG's but with much better and more memorable stories. Sure there are some episodes that could've been better in my opinion but at least they still have some memorability in them but then again what season has a streak of perfect and amazing episodes? I'll still remember 'Sonny's Second Chance' more than any AEG episode. 

I'm glad that Nia and Rebecca both episodes to themselves this season and showcase more of their character and growth. These two characters were great and I still think they had more potential in the original series had this continued on if Mattel weren't so hellbent on toy sales. Maybe if there marketing was better for Thomas perhaps they've wouldn't need to pump out something as useless as the corporate slop that is AEG at all! Sure it's not common to see someone praising Nia and Rebecca and it's not me being blindsided. After watching this show again and not holding an resentment to this iteration, Rebecca and Nia had everything that some people fandom had been complaining about them for not having. They had character, they have traits and they have flaws. They are not this perfect, Mary-sue like character to appease feminists they are characters just like everyone else in the show with growth. 

There was love put into these characters by the production team and I'm glad to see that. I much prefer this version of Nia in comparison to her AEG counterpart. Sure she has an interest in music in AEG but that's all it is she loves music and I feel they'd never explored more of that because they were more focused on other things like cartoon slapstick, racing and whatever else that show had done to make it lack variety and character. Hell they never explored Carly's love for bugs either. 

Such a shame that this was the last season of the show overall because I feel the show was improving itself. Compare to the last two seasons where the fantasy sequences were more prominent, this season shows a decreased amount of them and one felt important to the story so the plot can progress which was the super engine episode where James was thinking about being a super hero and was brought backdown to earth because Rocky was moving some oil drums until James crashed into it creating a mask for him. We had more episodes like last season from the international side of things that are more character focused only one that was cultured focused. 

Perhaps if the show had continued on for another five years we might've seen more improvements. I personally do see the Thomas segments being removed and have the episodes running a little bit longer and make it like the episodes that we've seen as far as S21. I believe the fantasy sequences might be here and there as long as they have any importance instead of just being there for the sake of being there. But they're only guesses really of something that hadn't happened. But I see more potential in BWBA. 

I wish we had an episode where Nia was reunited with Kawku that we've seen in the 2018 special. I wish we've gotten more episodes of Nia and Rebecca and explore there other traits that were shown in previous episodes like Nia being a trickster or thinking that she is clever due to past experiences or showcase Rebecca's gullibility. These two characters were overhated by some people in the fandom because they'd replaced Edward and Henry and I already stated why those two characters just don't hold a story to themselves anymore like they did in the early days of the show. I would rather see more episodes focusing on the international engines as characters and Thomas learning another country's culture than another rinse and repeat episode of Thomas and Diesel racing with each other only for them to stuff up in the end. 

I still see the love and care that the original series had by a production team who cares about the history of the franchise and trying to find the right balance to please both the old and young. You can still sense that through the recent 80th anniversary podcast with Ian McCue. You can tell he loves the show and knows just how special it was amongst the older fandom. 

Still, despite Mattel planning something for 2026, I don't think they would want to continue on with BWBA since it didn't work out for them, unfortunately, because toy sales didn't go up, thanks to their crap marketing. So it's all the matter of wait and see.   

OVERALL RATING:

162/230

So with 'All Engines Go!' releasing everything for the year and of its entire run and with nothing else new for the Thomas franchise until whenever we hear more about Mattel's upcoming Thomas project, that they'd been hinting back in May,  for the year 2026, this will be my last post for the year 2025. 

I would've made a post about the Down the Mine pilot but I was thinking of making a follow up video to the one that  I'd made for its 40th anniversary in 2023 to see what had been speculated as either true or false. Perhaps if more information comes about the upcoming 2026 project, I might comeback and give my verdict of it all here. Depends on when Mattel would release info about it, perhaps later on this year maybe.

Thank you all for reading my viewpoints and I hope you look out for more of my videos during the rest of the year!

-NWR1991