CGI Series Re-Review: Season 23 (2019)

 With 'All Engines Go!' now all wrapped up it's time to go and look back at S23 of the original series. 

While S22 was the usual standard 26 episode series like its previous counterparts, S23 however had shorten the amount of episodes to 23 overall, that includes the three specials. It was a pretty strange move and one that I think was never really explained. The other thing about this season is that this was Andrew Brenner's final season with Thomas, after five years working on the show since S17 in 2013, as he left to pursued other projects and NOT because of the show's changes that some in the fandom want to believe. He left sometime in mid-2018 very likely after the S23 wrapped production.

Replacing him, from 'Steam Team to the Rescue' was David Stoten who had directed some episodes of the show between S18-19 when he was at Arc Productions and the specials from 2015 - 2018 when Jam Filled took over. So would this season be any better? Well let's find out. 

But first the usual: 

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

SERIES 23

Written by

Michael White

Davey Moore

Camille Ucan

Rose Johnson

Becky Overton

Directed by

Dianna Basso 

Joey So (specials)

Produced by

Ian McCue (Mattel Creations)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Told by

John Hasler (as Thomas) - UK

Joseph May (as Thomas) - US

EPISODES

FREE THE ROADS

Written by

Michael White

The strange thing is that Amazon Prime Australia had this listed but for some reason it was 'Henry in the Dark' from S19. Yet the rest of the episodes are from S23. How on earth did that happen I don't know. But thankfully the episode is accessible on the internet. 

Anyway, this episode was great then as it is now. Loved the way the fantasy sequence was more integral to the story instead of just being there like in some episodes of S22 as it served the sequence of Bulgy crashing into some construction supplies to cause the contamination of the water that would later serve Bulgy's conflict of carrying too many passengers, what comes around goes around. I really have no other problem with the episode. 

Bulgy was in character, the situation feels very Thomas and I think the use of contaminated water was good without having the need to get technical. I'm sure that even a person who has no interest or understanding of a steam engine's mechanics would know that running on contaminated water is bad. It would be nice to see Bulgy slow accepting the idea that railways can be good too but I think it's in character for him to refuse to believe such a thing, being a proud bus and all and there people, sadly, who refuse to accept or learn things no matter how old they are. A very strong season opener in my opinion. I gave this episode a solid 10 and I still think it deserved six years later, aged like the finest of wines.

Rating: 10/10

CHUCKLESOME TRUCKS

Written by

Davey Moore

This is a vague memory but I think people were saying in this episode Rebecca was a 'Mary-sue', despite that in S22 we see her with flaws, when this episode debuted in the US years ago. However, I feel that we see some growth from her in this episode. Last season she was very overanxious and was underconfident with herself until everyone realised how great she is in her own way. But in this episode we see her feeling confident of herself and not really worried about the trucks but the other engines were worried for her and remembered their own accidents with the trucks. But Rebecca pushed on and this in character with herself as she doesn't get intimidated by the other engines and dealt with the trucks in her own way. 

Sure I think if this episode was longer, since this was planned for S21 before it was cut, I guess maybe they could show some level of anxiousness and gradually let that fade away and show Rebecca as this confident engine. I guess being a cut S21 episode there might have been a different approach to this episode before shortening to fit within BWBA's timeframe. Perhaps Rebecca was to be anxious about the trucks because the engines projected their own experience onto her? Or maybe one of the engines had doubts about her handling trucks and Rebecca wanted to prove to them that she can in her own way? Or maybe it's the exact same episode but this was the downsized version? Who knows? But still, I think we have seen her growing where in this episode she grew confident and had overcome her anxiousness in the previous season.

I remember some people complained about the flashback references and how it's all 'fan service' but from watching this episode again, I think Thomas in the moral of the day segment says it best, "If you go looking for trouble, you'll find it." And it was them who were worried about the trucks and were distracted by Rebecca's way of dealing with the trucks, despite she had no trouble at all and James and Percy's accidents were a reflection of their own accident with trucks, at least that's what I got out of it. The only one whose accident wasn't mirrored was Thomas as he just missed a signal but it still serves the moral of the story. I do love this episode and I think Rebecca is a great character, not useless as some people might think.

Rating: 9/10

HEART OF GOLD

Written by

Michael White

I think it's good that we see Toby with the feeling of himself being underconfident and one I think many people can relate to. I remember seeing people who talked crap about random people they'd never met on the internet behind their backs, not at all concerned about one's mental health if they may stumble upon their 'secret' conversation on a public forum. Some sad people think they can get away with crap without having much brain cells to realise they can't. 

The last time we saw him being underconfident was 'You Can Do It Toby' from S8 and it's no stranger to Toby's character as it harks back to his book's debut by the Rev.W.Awdry in 1952 with him thinking that nobody wants to ride on him and prefer the roads. From my experience there are times where you gain confidence for yourself when you develop skills but it can still hurt when there are people who don't think highly of you and sometimes it stings because of the work you'd done and Toby did that when you consider the original series to be one whole timeline instead of different ones that the fandom wants to believe.

This was another solid episode from Michael White.

Rating: 10/10   

PANICKY PERCY

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

I remember saying this episode could've gone to Nia since she had experienced an avalanche while she was in China in the 2018 special. Have her worried about the dangers of snow and overcome it. But now I realise that she had already experienced the danger of it all from that moment and understood the whole situation. 

I now think this should be a Percy episode but maybe about him panicking that he was late with the mail after dealing with an earlier mishap with the snow earlier in the morning. Perhaps during the episode he was dealing with so much snow left behind the last snow fall that he lost time and tries to make up for it by running fast only for him to end up being derailed instead of being worried about Thomas. The fantasy sequences might be Percy thinking about other boundaries with snow in an exaggerated why and ended up dealing with the real version of it all and in the end he was actually on time with delivering it the mail and that he was panicking over nothing.

If Percy was scared I think he would still showcase bravery which still respects what he went through in the 2014 special but here Percy was panicking based on the thought that Thomas was in danger, though with this being one timeline Percy could've at least know about Thomas and his trouble with snow which is why I think the mail would've been better the option, especially with panicking. Anyway that's the best I could explain about the differences between the two.

But if you want to avoid Percy perhaps Rebecca could've been a better choice with her anxiousness maybe with Percy being trapped in the snow? Maybe she had experience with snow herself before moving to Sodor and gets worried about everyone's safety until she'd overcome it. But one small thing I like was that we see Gordon being concerned for Thomas' wellbeing and would put his express aside for him. It's such a nice little moment to see Gordon being goodhearted.

Rating: 6/10 

CROWNING AROUND

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

Loved this episode then and still love it now. Rajiv was an excellent character. Boastful, selfish but kind and empathetic and the reward of having his crown back after saving Shankar from colliding with Noor Jehan was very deserving. I wish that there was an episode focusing between him and Shankar during the original series' run too as they have so much potential. I really don't have any massive problem with the episode. I gave it a solid 10 and I'm still giving it today!

Rating: 10/10

GORDON GETS THE GIGGLES

Written by

Becky Overton

I'll never understand some people's dislike towards this episode because they were doing something new for Gordon that wasn't done for a long time and yet complain that he was exaggerated with his boastful side, which had been since the show's fifth season, but there's nothing wrong that they showed another side of him and yet tried to showcase that he was a serious engine. Could there have been more weight behind this episode if the stories were given a longer running time without the need of the Thomas segments and maybe the fantasy sequence? I think so. 

Maybe the other engines were acting silly in the shed maybe telling jokes, pulling faces or whatever and Gordon groans at them for being silly and maybe Thomas or Percy were teasing Gordon saying that if he was acting silly maybe the Fat Controller will take the express away from him because he wasn't being serious. That what I think would work for set up and then carry on with Rebecca crashing into the honey jar and vegetable wagons. 

Speaking of Rebecca, I think it's a shame that we'd never gotten more of her during this era's run, especially with her clumsy side. You could have an episode focusing on that as well as her wheel slipping problem like her actual basis, she had so much potential and Mattel took that away. 

I remember someone saying that it should be Charlie that made Gordon get the giggles and while that works I think they wanted to show some physical comedy to make the show more comedic, as that was the intention for this refresh and with Rebecca being clumsy it makes sense to do that whereas Charlie just tells jokes. I personally do not care that much for Charlie anyway despite liking his episode in S17.   

But anyway while I think this episode was great maybe there could've been more weight if the show didn't decrease the running time for the sake of the additions made for this era.

Rating: 9/10  

THE OTHER BIG ENGINE

Written by

Davey Moore

I think what could've been a bit better is, if the episode was a bit longer, if Gordon was cross that Thomas gets to travel around the world while he and the others were to stay on Sodor and deal with his work as well as their own and both engines had an argument and didn't make their amends at all the next day as Thomas left to board a ship and thinking that it would be great to get away from him only to discover that there was an engine like Gordon in Brazil who speaks the same catchphrases as him in his own language and that's where you carry out the rest of the episode and maybe have a scene where Gordon apologises to Thomas for his rudeness via a postcard or letter.

I do like the episode as it shows that not everyone is the same as you might think. I do think the episode was fine and I love how much Gustavo was a more friendlier version of Gordon and how Thomas made an assumption of him. Though I think Thomas should've carried on the assumption by being a bit rude to Gustavo as well, hurting his feelings. 

Perhaps he was trying to tell Thomas that he was switched on the same line as him, since Thomas was cross that he travelled so far to meet another Gordon and wasn't paying attention, and that Thomas tells him off by calling him bossy and mean, due to his held back his feelings about Gordon's outburst at the sheds on Sodor earlier and took it out on Gustavo because he reminded him of Gordon and would soon try to apologise for his outburst and that's when where you carry out the scene when Thomas ran out of water. I feel the episode could've been an emotional one as something like an argument between two friends can happen in real life and it would make Thomas' mention of him not always getting along with Gordon a bit more meaningful with the letter or postcard of apology the cherry on top.

This was a good episode but I think it still would've been better if you added more to Thomas and Gordon's on and off friendship. 

Rating: 7/10

BATUCADA

Written by

Davey Moore

Another Brazilian episode and the first cultured focused episode in this production order. While the episode wasn't bad I think what could've been better if it was about Thomas wanting to prove to everyone that engines can make music and instead of using trucks of car parts and iron pellets to make rhythm he would collect musicians for Carnival in his coaches and they would enjoy his rhythmic chuffing sound and created a beat to go along with it. 

Perhaps for the conflict you can have the street that was to showcase the Carnival flooded due to rain and the show had to be cancelled which means Thomas can't prove to the others that engines can make music and so he decided to pull Carnival instead with the bateria on board his coaches while the dancers dance around on the flatbeds, sure unsafe but what else can they do? And with Thomas' rhythmic chuffing he proves to everyone that engines can make music. 

The episode wasn't bad as I feel it had more story than something cultural unlike Davey Moore's 'Thomas in the Wild' from last season. Thomas made a nice beat, was asked to take part in the show and didn't have his trucks but was told to start the show with his whistle. It could've been better but it wasn't bad all the same.

Rating: 5/10

DIESEL DO RIGHT

Written by

Davey Moore

I remember everyone liking the fantasy sequence because it was a parody of the BWBA intro but I still feel that it hadn't any relevance with Diesel thinking he's more important. There was one fantasy sequence in an oncoming episode that feels more fitting to what Diesel was thinking about instead of what was in this episode. Like what does the intro have to do with Diesel thinking he was more important than the other diesels? Perhaps what could make sense if you have Diesel being rolled down the red carpet and have him dressed like a king while the other diesel grovel at him saying how important he was and how they were wrong into not helping him, that at least makes sense.

However the episode was good with the message that Diesel should fix his own problems instead of holding a grudge and being lazy because the others told him to take responsibility, which shows that he doesn't because he thinks he always gets in trouble all the time for no reason, despite that he's only in trouble because he stuffed up his job that happened off screen. 

Rebecca could've been replaced by someone else like Percy but I feel she was placed in to showcase more of her personality, in which this case she was gullible to fall for Diesel's trick to get the other diesels in trouble because of his fragile ego, another flaw of hers. I think perhaps if the episode was a little longer you might have the other engines not trusting Diesel when he asks for help but Rebecca, still new to everything on the railway, thought different and was sympathetic towards him despite what the engines said about him, you could have Duck telling her about his history with him or Percy telling her about the time he pushed trucks of China clay into the sea. It would showcase the moral about no one should take advantage of someone.

The episode was fine but I think it might've been better if the story was bigger.

Rating: 7/10

THOMAS MAKES A MISTAKE

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

I will say it was an OK episode. A bit formulaic with engine gets special job, gets distracted, makes a mistake, tries to put it right but just makes things worse, admits mistake. A pretty generic story that could be set in any location but honestly one that I can relate too. I remember when I had a job that I'd stuffed up something and too afraid to admit it but had to tell because it was not working. In the end I still had my job and was just told not to do it again after it was put right and I say no matter what age you are you can still make mistakes so it is something relevant for people both young and old despite that these episodes are in the same timeline with episodes where Thomas made mess ups before.

I really don't despise this episode but I wouldn't call this a firm favourite of mine either. It was a generic everyone makes mistakes storyline that could work in any area. 

Rating: 5/10 

GRUDGE MATCH

Written by

Davey Moore

I will say I love Raul's character of being feisty and competitive because he couldn't get rid of his grudge of Thomas beating him in the shunting competition at The Great Railway Show as seen in the 2016 special, The Great Race. I also like to think that Raul is a huge sports fan considering that he likes games and competitions until it would go too far on how much he wants to win. I remember not everyone liking the ball bouncing scene when it comes to realism and some had even said that it was stereotypical because they were bouncing a ball? Sure Raul would later turn it into a game of soccer but how on earth is that stereotypical? 

There was nothing negative about it and it's a national past time in the country so it was showcasing culture without the need to overexplain it. It would only be negative to say that everyone was into it or even good at it when really not everybody loves the sport nor are good at it and we hadn't seen any of the characters saying they were good at it like everyone. It was just three engines playing a game and showcasing more of Raul's personality. It was harmless and it makes me question about people just slapping a word over something make it look bad without knowing the actual meaning behind it all based on misguidance. 

Plus the ball bouncing scene might seem pointless at first but it would serve for Raul's character development after realising that winning isn't everything. We see him treating the game keepy uppy as something serious at first but after nearly falling into the sea we see that he'd grown after he saw the ball bouncing into the sea.

Sure this might be an engine being competitive story like the multiple Thomas and Diesel episodes from AEG but from looking at the past few seasons from this era some racing episodes were a bit different to the other and there was hardly that much of them when breaking them down as racing themed stories which were about three and they were two episodes in S19: 'Reds Vs. Blues' and 'The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead' and 'Number One Engine' in S22, three seasons apart and they at least feel different to each other, at least to me, whereas the Thomas and Diesel stories are all the same but the only thing that makes them different is there delivery of the day. Hell when compare this to the S22 opener, you can tell they are different from each other with the former being Hong-Mei and her one mindedness and Raul wanting to beat Thomas so bad because he lost to him before in England.

 My point is the original series knows how to make variety when it comes to the theme of racing and not just write the same type of story with a cheaply made replacement this the show's delivery of the day. This Simpsons clip would always sum up AEG's lack of variety. Yes I know this is knocking on AEG and I know there are fans who don't like it and yes AEG is its own series but even if it is it doesn't mean they need to suck at variety.

Anyway, this episode was great. I love Raul's character, it's an episode where it has a relevant message about being competitive and kids can relate to Raul when it comes to them wanting to win but are such a sore loser when they don't win, I wish that was a thing in AEG. A story like this can work elsewhere but it was done for the sake of Raul's character development.

Rating: 8/10   

DIESEL GLOWS AWAY

Written by

Davey Moore

Earlier I said that I didn't like Diesel's fantasy sequence in 'Diesel Do Right' because I feel that him thinking that he's important didn't really fit and that the fantasy sequence in this episode would've been better. All you need to do is replace Nia and Stanley with diesels like Den and Dart and you're all set. But despite the one thing that I like was that we see another side of Nia's personality which is her being cheeky and it kind of reminds me of Edward in a way because he would often get back at engines who deserve it but not in a malicious way. 

Anyway, I think this episode was good and at first I thought it would've been better if Paxton and Nia were judgmental given Diesel's track record of bumping things hard but Diesel was really putting the trucks in line. But it wouldn't work for the story because Nia and Paxton were trying to put Diesel in his place for hiding while they deal with his work and if you add in the bit I'd mentioned earlier it would make Nia and Paxton being in the wrong because Diesel was being underappreciated and it wouldn't make any sense. 

So what we got worked and I can see this working in S21 with Edward in Nia's place and it's a side of him we'd hardly seen even though the last time we saw him as that was in S22's 'Hunt the Truck'. Maybe this was one of the dropped episodes? There are only two episodes that we don't know that would make up a total of 26 on the wiki! And we do know that Oliver had been replaced by Samson so maybe the same can be said about this episode? But I don't know the real answer but this episodes has a smidge feeling of a S21 episode. But it's nice to see this trait implemented for Nia despite many people in the fandom saying that she doesn't have persona and that being from Kenya was the only thing focused about her, and the more I see and hear that while watching these episodes the more, pardon my French here, bullshit it is.

Nia has personality and its sad that it flown under the radar of the fandom. Nia's persona is what made this episode great for me and after watching AEG Nia's character that iteration is becoming more pale in comparison to her original series self and no, in case you're wondering, this isn't me preferring her because I hate AEG. I genuinely see it without all the crap now that years had passed and Nia in the original series is better to me and I believe other people will see it if they'd just let go of their hate, isn't that what some people had been telling AEG's critics? Because I don't see that from people who still hold a grudge over this iteration. I don't mind people liking AEG, I don't mind people not liking BWBA. I just don't like people who are two-faced.   

Rating: 7/10

LAID BACK SHANE

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

I remember not liking the title of the episode but now when I think about it, it all make sense as Shane was very laid back by the long distance to his home to the Red Centre, which is what Alice Springs is called, and with that it resulted in him not taking the situation seriously with his coaches telling him about it the consequences. This might've worked more with Thomas since he doesn't know that much about Australia and its long distance and it would work with his trait of being overexcited but I liked it that it was focused on Shane since this expands more of his character by showcasing a flaw. 

While the episode was basically a three strikes your out storyline with Shane stopping and starting I thought it still works and although it can get annoying there were times the three strikes structure isn't grating like in 'The Sad Story of Henry'. It just gets annoying when they repeat the same thing over and over again like in the Miller/Barlow era or even AEG but in the end we get an engine getting their comeuppance and learning their lesson in the end and we got something different out from Shane than just some jovial, bombastic engine. He can also be impatient and laid back which can land him into trouble.

However, I think it would've been better if Shane ran out of water instead of coal since that is an important substance for an engine to help create the steam with the coal and fire and for the fantasy sequence you can have Shane on the sunny shores of the beach with him relaxing and then having a swim as part of delusional state that he was in when he ran out of coal. But anyway this was a very good simple episode.

Rating: 8/10  

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

This was a great episode then as it is now. One of my favourite things about this episode is that it showcases to everyone that no matter how near or far we are in the world, the wisdom and love for our friends linger on in our minds and it showcases that in the episode when Thomas was scared of the golden dragon boat that Yong Bao had accidently left behind. Something that everyone can relate too. 

I also like how in this season we have international that have cultural things like the Dragon boat race or Batucada but had more story added to entertain instead of trying to make a documentary out of the cultural aspect of the show for kids and that we also have international stories in this season that are more character focused like Shane, Raul and Rajiv. So it's quite nice to see some improvements made for this season, even though the writers were brought in for this season.

I really don't have much else to say as I don't have any problem with the episode. I don't see what to improve to make it better, even the fantasy sequence was great too. Like I said earlier, this was great when it came out in 2019 and is still great today.

Rating: 10/10 

FIRST DAY ON SODOR!

Written by

Becky Overton

Watching through this retrospective of S23, there are some episodes that might seem like duds but there's still some good in them that I end up giving them a good rating but with this episode I feel that Darcy could've been more of an introvert who was scared about her first day on Sodor and is really quiet. You could have Max and Monty teasing her saying that she's a boring machine despite that is what she really does and when Oliver and Alfie were tipped over by the vibrations of their drilling, Max and Monty think they can make a hole in the tunnel by ramming into it, it fits well in their character being a pair of idiots and they too end up being tipped over and that's where Darcy comes in drilling in the quiet and everyone was amazed by her which shows that if you always stay quiet you might not show who you really are and what you're capable of. 

The episode feels a bit rushed and that if it were longer we might see Darcy doing more to prove herself worthy on her first day. Though I will say she has more personality here than her AEG counterpart and she was barely in the show at all! I really can't remember what her traits were in that show. Helpful yes but that's just it really. They really didn't do much with her there. I rather prefer Rebecca's episodes from S22 over this to be honest as we do see her being anxious about being like the other engines causing chaos for her like bringing the passengers to their stations early. I feel we got more out from her in that episode because it felt less rushed whereas Darcy was just she's here, she's nervous, stuffed up, proved herself and that's it. 

As much as I like Nia being the one who supports her I think it would've been better if Rebecca was the one who supports her since she can understand what it was like to nervous and it would work if they'd made Darcy an introvert. I'm kind of mixed on this episode. I liked Darcy but I think it would've been better if she was an introvert and tries to overcome it. This probably the lowest rated episode I give to a S23 episode. It wasn't bad but it could've been better and probably should be less rushed but I would blame the chunk of that time towards the Thomas segments. I still don't like the fantasy sequence where the paving machine was almost a humanised machine.

Rating: 4/10

RANGERS ON THE RAILS

Written by

Davey Moore

I will always find it funny just how meta Emily's yearn for adventure is, considering that for years some fans had always wanted more Emily focused episodes and the last time she had a leading role which was 'Best Engine Ever' in S19 but I think maybe what could've been better if it was about Emily not really into adventures and would prefer something simple while the other engines were all telling her their own big adventures like Thomas traversing around the world or Percy and James running away from a giant landslide at the clay pits and discovered dinosaur bones or Gordon going to London for the first time and only to discover that they'd 'changed' names etc. 

But Emily mentioned one or two like chasing the giant globe from S18 and stopping Caitlin as a runaway or even flying down the line with her to the Steamworks from S19 and although she found them nice she doesn't seem she wants another adventure. Then the episode carries out but then she was having quite of an adventure her own, perhaps something more thrilling maybe like discovering an old rail line that one goes towards the castle before the Misty Valley line was opened, maybe a line that was once served as a past relative of Lord Callan and discovered an old private engine that was once thought to be lost. You could use footage from 'Hero of the Rails' in the moral of the day Thomas segment. 

I think that might be an exciting Emily story compare to this one which was just meh to me. It feels like more could've been added to make the episode a bit better as it feels like Emily wants adventure, she got a special job that was for Nia, she got lost and the adventure was that she got to go camping. Maybe what could've better for Emily's motivation of going on a camp out would be the idea of sleeping under the stars but couldn't see them because of all the lights surrounding the sheds. That might work with the whole camping setting they were going for. I feel that would make more sense than Emily wanting an adventure.

Rating: 3/10

LORENZO'S SOLO

Written by

Becky Overton

I love Lorenzo's personality which is him being a diva, selfish and impulsive but I feel Lorenzo's conflict with Bepe was contrived so they can make the conflict between them happen. What could've been better and natural if say Lorenzo was chosen to pull her but he was late to pick her up because he was so excited and boastful about having such an honour of taking her to the show and when he realised he saw that Bepe was gone from the yard and he went to find him and when he did he feels heartbroken that he let another engine, probably Gina or Thomas, to take her instead and blamed him for not thinking of him.

Bepe wasn't in the wrong because Lorenzo was late and she needs to be collected and so Lorenzo puffs off and finds another coach to pick up the opera singer before he and his engine gets there. Lorenzo made it before them and he still blames Bepe for not waiting for him even though Bepe and his engine tried to tell him but Lorenzo was lost in his egotistical over dramatic mind and doesn't want to pull him ever again. Bepe sighs but wasn't upset because this happens all the time whenever something goes wrong and that Bepe knows he needs him because Lorenzo is bad with directions and thus would carry on with the rest of the episode where he lost his direction and realises that Bepe helps him out and realises his own mistake of being terrible to him due to his own ego.

It would make it all the more natural. I love how they chose the 'Funiculì, Funicula', despite being a well known song from Italy, as it has railway connection to it which was written to open the first funicular railway in Italy. Some people might say it's 'stereotypical' because they heard it as a meme from a Spiderman game or relates to anything Italian in an exaggerated manner, but it's a well known opera song, it has a railway theme to it and it relates to the subject matter which was about Opera which has originated in that country.

The story could've been better if it was contrived but I love Lorenzo's character.

Rating: 3/10   

DEEP TROUBLE

Written by

Michael White

The episode is compact but Michael managed to fit every important story element in from start to finish that it just feels right and I remember when first watching this I actually laughed at the fantasy sequence with Monty falling all the way down the hole that he managed to make his way to Australia. It was funny with a clever little punchline. Now that's how you humour people unlike AEG's attempt at 'humour' by explaining the joke as if the joke was subtle but really it was obvious with its crappy puns.

I also like how 'Down the Mine' was referenced and we see Thomas showing some maturity here and I remember Michael White wanted to showcase Thomas' growth as a character in the show too. 

I really have no problem with the episode, it was great and well structured.

Rating: 10/10 

TOO LOUD, THOMAS!

Written by

Becky Overton

A simple story about Thomas loosing his voice from shouting too much and I can understand some people might find it annoying to hear Thomas being bad at singing opera, which is ironic because John Hasler could really sing, after hearing him in songs for the specials. But the whole point of the story is to showcase that the more you shout the soon you'll lost your voice and I can tell after screaming my voice during rugby league games here in Australia. You could have the episode set maybe in Brazil where Thomas and Raul were cheering on a soccer team or something and Raul was so screaming so loud he lost his voice. But what we got is what we got and it wasn't bad and I like the use of the bouncing from Thomas to give Stefano the use of body language too. 

I had a little chuckle of Lorenzo's bluntness as answered Thomas' question about his singing and that small moment showcases how different Lorenzo and Beppe are. Beppe was trying to find ways to not hurt Thomas' feelings but Lorenzo was just blunt and told Thomas like it is. 

While it was simple I thought it was good and I didn't have much else to complain about.

Rating: 7/10 

OUT OF SITE

Written by

Michael White

This really feels like a proper Brenda episode where we see so much of personality. She's a perfectionist who loves her nice levelled grounds and doesn't want anyone to ruin it since she worked so hard. She also jumped to conclusion as she thinks Max and Monty had dumped the stone on the ground and blamed them for a problem that no one communicated her with. This to me was an excellent way of debuting her appearance to the show and with that and with Byron acting all bossy, as he was planned to be for one episode of Jack and the Pack before it got cancelled during production, they would make a great husband and wife dynamic. I don't believe she was made as a replacement for Byron as Thomas indirectly mentioned that the construction team has bulldozers since he had never met her before and in the episodes she was in they never had Thomas interact with her one bit. So I think Byron was with us before Mattel canned the original series. But anyway, I like Brenda and the Lord of the Rings reference too. 

Rating: 10/10    

ALL TRACKS LEAD TO ROME

Written by

Becky Overton

I really feel Thomas was in character when it comes to his curiosity which is how he was shown in the Railway Series as well as showing his pride but I feel it could've been if Thomas tries to be a better expert about Italy only for him to get things wrong and Gina corrected him and he would get annoyed with Gina thinking that she's some know-it-all but Gina was only trying to help. I think having that while Gina later called him 'sweet' would feel more natural for Thomas to be cross with her compliment because Thomas wants to show that he's more than that. Thomas wanting to prove Gina that he knows about archaeology and other things in what we got feels a little contrived for the sake of set up for the story. 

This whole extended episode was set up for the next special particularly the hint of Lorenzo and Beppe being the legendary lost engine who was disappeared because they were looking for treasure while the main story was simple as it was just about Thomas being curious and how it can lead to trouble.

I don't think this would work as a standard international episode as I feel it probably wouldn't have much to tell anyway, where can you fit the story about Lorenzo and Beppe within a six minute timeframe?

I do like Gina and I can relate to her when it comes to the annoyance of people thinking they know better when really they don't but despite holding a grudge she would still look out for Thomas in terms of his safety. 

Rating: 6/10     

MINES OF MYSTERY

Written by

Becky Overton

While a continuation of the previous episode, the whole story was simply Thomas wanting prove that he can make a big discovery too and I like that we've seen some growth from him over the previous episode with him asking questions to help him learn and not be fooled by his own echo when he was in the mine again, by accident. I also like how Jack and the Pack had purpose to further enhance the story such as Jack finding a piece of a mosaic to make Thomas crave for big discovery and at first thought he found a chariot wheel but it was just a tractor and that would lead into in Max and Monty being one of the two to send Thomas down the mine by accident thanks to their stupidity. 

Speaking of the two dump trucks it's good to see them having some development such as them telling Thomas to stop despite that afterwards they were still the usual selves. This was also the debut of Lorenzo and Beppe as well and you can see how different the two are with Lorenzo's curiosity while Thomas had grown and learned his lesson from the previous episode. I will say this was the better extended episode of the Italian stories, in my opinion. Maybe not great but still better.

I'd watched S24 first since ABC iview was going to get rid them soon on their free streaming service, this happened plenty of times. In comparison I much prefer 'Marvellous Machinery' because I feel it had better story and comedy and while the whole 'fear of being replaced' story trope had been done to death in this series I now feel that it's more relevant than ever, especially when it comes to generative A.I. I have more to tell when I release my S24 review tomorrow.

Rating: 7/10 

STEAM TEAM TO THE RESCUE

Written by

Davey Moore

And we come to the last episode of S23 and I will say I like how everything was set up as something small but then created into something bigger and bigger. The small start up was Salty being knocked off the rails and slipped into the sea and soon after Thomas took Salty to the Dieselworks, Porter was out of action after being covered with flour and then the conflict was increased further on when Salty accidently threw the seaweed onto the tracks to make Den's wheel slip and bash into an object to cause the doors to go haywire which leads up to the steam team doing all the jobs. 

I remember everyone was saying what about Duck, Donald, Douglas, Oliver and the other engines? Why can't they help out? Here's the thing, it's logical but then you wouldn't have a story about trying to run a railway with a few engines so it wouldn't make any sense, despite them showing Rosie, Stanley and Henry during the song break. Plus this is about the steam team but if there was a reason perhaps the other engines not part of the steam team have other work to do elsewhere and the steam team were the only ones available to do the work that the Diesels were suppose to do and well as their own.

I also like how the special showcases the stress of running a railway with the Fat Controller being all flabbergasted by the arrangements too. The special was basically showcasing one of the values that the show had been known for which was teamwork though I think maybe without the song you could have the steam team trying to deal with the extra work but would argue and create such a fuss that the workload was getting backlogged and Percy was on his own dealing with a big job at the docks while Thomas was trying to get everyone in order. It would make Thomas' 'Braveheart' reference a bit more special when trying to give the other engines a pep talk about teamwork. I do prefer this over the two Italian specials as it was more entertaining with its conflict.

But this is an example of creating a big story under a small time limit, which is what all the 60min AEG specials should be! These specials showcase good pacing and didn't add any unnecessary filler to pad out time unlike AEG because they had such a thin story as something big. Hell this special only had one song did it need to be there? Probably not and you could just have a montage of the engines hard at work but honestly the song was more of a theme song about the steam team and not some song forcing down a moral that belittles a child's intelligence.

Rating: 9/10 

OVERALL

The more that I watch BWBA, the more I realised how great it was sitting through it. Not perfect but still good. Despite its problem with the shorten running time most episodes managed to tell a story with start, middle and end. I also like how the international stories gave focus towards the likes of Shane, Rajiv and Raul and we see more of their personalities shine as mentioned in their respective episode. Speaking of characters with their personalities, and as I mentioned previously, Nia in AEG was often praised for having some character but here she had more of her character traits shown more than whatever AEG did, the only trait I got out from her in that show was that she loves music and that's it. Others say that she makes plan but then adapts to something new when it doesn't go her way, honestly there was an episode like that in S24 and you'll know which one when my S24 re-review comes out.

But speaking of Nia she had more persona here than AEG had tried and that was in the episode 'Diesel Glows Away' when her and Paxton were getting back at Diesel for hiding so we see her as a bit of trickster but to those that deserve it and as I said in that episode review she reminds me of Edward with that trait, we had other characters were similar traits before like Thomas and Percy being cheeky despite they have other traits to stand out more and no one argued over that. There are other traits and flaws that gave Nia such character such as thinking of her reputation amongst the other engines when it comes to her being clever because she doesn't know what numbers look like in 'Counting on Nia', her being a trickster as I'd mentioned earlier and I had mentioned more of it in some S24 episodes that she was in. Even though they are small it still shows her character and all the criticism about her based on possible misconception, misinformation or bad memory all because she'd replaced Edward because he was hard to write for, and as someone who writes Thomas fan stories for fun I can tell you I can understand the production team's struggles with Edward. 

The same can be said about Rebecca and while she had one episode that showcase her having some growth from her previous episodes from last season, we see more character from her. So no they're not these pointless characters that are there for the sake of being there to appease feminists. They have character and have more potential for stories like maybe have Rebecca experiencing snow for the first time on Sodor or maybe for Nia she played a trick on an engine because she thought they did something to her but it turns out to be a misunderstanding and caused trouble. The more I'd watched these two characters the more I liked them and it's a shame too that Mattel had decided to can the original series in favour of some crappy replacement. Nia and Rebecca are good characters and deserve more love. 

Plus the more I watch these episodes the more I think the show was being 'stereotypical' is just a lot of bull made by some people who dislike the iteration at the time. From watching the episodes I don't really see anything negative about the countries they were depicting. If you want a negative stereotype of Brazil I say watch The Simpsons episode 'Blame It on Lisa' from S13 they showcased Brazil as a crime infested and unclean place which was enough to have the country's government peeved off at the show and try to sue Fox for the negative depiction since they'd invested so much money into their tourism campaign. 

Maybe to further examples of what negative stereotyping is. Izzy Gomez from TUGS is another example. A lazy, cheap, rusting tramp steamer who would sneak into port for free which makes him a criminal from Mexico with a very extravagant Spanish accent. Now sure he did some good like clearing Sunshine's name in the show's debut episode he was seen more as what I pointed out. Those are negative stereotyping and I haven't seen stuff like that in the BWBA episodes.

Perhaps they had simplified the countries for the sake of their younger audience understanding what country Thomas was in with things that are normally associated with said country but there was no harm towards them and I'd pointed out as an Aussie myself what a negative stereotype of an Australian would be like and Shane is hardly one himself as seen in this episode and with the outback being shown more often it had more story opportunities compare to anything else and it's also a place that most people would associate Australia with. I feel that some people just slap a word on something because they don't like it without knowing its full meaning. These are professional writers and I think they would know that they don't want to offend people from those countries for the sake of the brand's reputation.

The one criticism that I have for this season is that some of the fantasy sequences didn't need to be there all the time as I feel they could work without them and I know that in S24 they had downscaled the use of them but they still place them in for the sake of it instead of making them integral to the plot. But all in all this was another good season and still better than AEG.

OVERALL RATING:

170/230

Coming soon my viewpoints of S24