THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
SERIES 18 (2014)
Written by
Andrew Brenner
Paul Larson & Laura Beaumont
Mark Huckerby & Nick Olster
Davey Moore
Directed by
David Stoten
Don Spencer
Produced by
Robert Anderson (Arc Productions)
Brian Lynch (Arc Productions)
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Told by
Mark Moraghan
EPISODES
OLD RELIABLE EDWARD
I remember when this episode first aired it was praised universally by the older fandom, even me. But as time rolled on and with Mattel and the production team kicking Edward out of the steam team because he was hard to write for given how the episodes for Edward were pretty much the same, I now see this as another Edward proves his worth story and it screams that. Sure it's good that Edward was given an episode but as I said in my S6 review for 'Edward the Very Useful Engine', this is more of a Gordon episode as he is the one learning the lesson, not Edward. No matter what the older fandom says, Edward just can't hold an episode to himself. Even if he's the first character created by Awdry or even if kids do actually like, it's great, but he's just not as interesting enough as the other characters that go through conflict. No matter what, Edward is hard to write for and I definetly understand that. I really don't hate this episode really it was great seeing Edward having his sarcastic side and it gave a good message that we should respect people who are older than us, but all in all, it was just another Edward story that we'd seen time and time again.
Rating: 5/10
NOT SO SLOW COACHES
This was a fun episode, Annie and Clarabel were entertaining with their dialouge and Thomas with his cheeky attitude. I believe the message that the episode provided, visually, is that although there things we don't like from people, there are ones who are more worse, not that Larson and Beaumont were saying Caitlin was a bad engine, just that she's even faster than Thomas which makes it more worse for them. I liked the episode when it first came out and I still like it today.
Rating: 8/10
FLATBEDS OF FEAR
I sometimes feel that the stories they give to Salty, particulary for Halloween, are sometimes weak. I mean this is no worse than the '
Monster of Brendam' from S16. But it didn't feel too scary, but then again there are regulations when it comes to children shows and I bet the writers are very restrictive on how they handle a scary story. I would say this, I do like how they kept the strange sound as mystery instead of something more obvivous. I mean to us the audience, we would know it's the pipes but what were suppose to see is the mystery of the strange noise in the engines' POV. Do they know it's the pipes? No. I understand at the time that Henry was out of character in this episode, but after years of saying that Henry was more of a combination between James and Gordon's personas, I feel that his scaredy persona makes him more stand out compare to his vain and arrogant persona. '
Henry Spots Trouble' and this episode both showcase a better way to execute the former with Henry being scared of the unknown, much more better than being worried about a box. How would Henry know that it was the pipes or anything? Neither Thomas or Emily knew and they were scared and no one complained about that. I understand people wanted Henry back to being grumpy but one, I don't think that would provide any stories for him. We had him grumpy before and never had any episode focusing on him with his grumpy persona and two, I don't think parents would like the idea of a grumpy engine as a character. Nowadays, the characters are more treated like they are suppose to be something kids look up too by society. I mean I more prefer kids to look up to these characters with them going through flaws and conflict. Anyway I digress, in the end, the episode isn't really that bad.
Rating: 7/10
DISAPPEARING DIESELS
I think this episode could've been better with Paxton actually trying to be friends with Diesel instead of just chasing him to find him. But maybe instead Diesel and Paxton being friends maybe have the message that sometimes there are some people who just don't like you but you can still help them out if they are in trouble. Like maybe have Paxton trying hard to be Diesel's friend, Diesel was getting annoyed and was hiding away from him and Paxton followed suit until Diesel broke down and then told him his feelings and then asked for help. I think HIT, Mattel and the production team wanted a Diesel episode were he gets his comuppance because he's the bad guy of the show but what's wrong with showcasing Diesel as a character? The episode itself wasn't bad or anything but mainly it was just Paxton looking for the diesels and then chasing Diesel.
Rating: 5/10
SIGNALS CROSSED
I think it would've been better if the episode had provided a bit of a back story over why Toby was scared of Knapford Junction instead of that he just is. I mean the writers had added some tidbits of continuity here and there such as the mine from 'King of The Railway' being reboarded up in 'Missing Gator' or how Sidney was stuck up the hoist at the Dieselworks for two years, the same length of time when 'Day of the Diesels' was released in 2011, when 'The Missing Christmas Decorations' was released. You could have the narrator mentioned that more engines were coming in and out at the big station and more goods were being delivered that the Fat Controller expanded the yards. That way Toby's fear and stress would've made more sense. The whole episode was pretty much Toby being nervous and that's it. It wasn't a bad episode and I feel Toby's fear was natural, just like with the dam back in S5. However I think if the episode had added more backstory, Toby's role would've made better sense.
Rating: 4/10
TOAD'S ADVENTURE
This story was good and Toad and Oliver were in great character. Although the episode had lack some action, sure there was the runaway but it felt a bit shortlived compare to 'Busy Going Backwards' from S5. It wasn't a bad episode really with its message around James that we shouldn't rush things otherwise we might get into some trouble. But I will say this, its a crying shame that Oliver didn't get any leading role himself at all, he has potential with that arrogant attitude of his, heck Richard Jordan's story, that I'd adapted in October 2020 proves that a story about Oliver and Toad can work!
Rating: 7/10
DUCK IN THE WATER
I liked James' snarky attitude in this episode. We all don't like a job that we don't prefer but you got to make do. I remember not many fans like the episode because James left Rocky with his hook unsecured, at least from my memory. But without that, how can an episode go through conflict? Although the titling of the episode seems strange as the focus of the conflict was more about the signals that James had knocked over and less about Duck being in the water. I suggest maybe a title like 'Fallen Signal' or maybe something simple like 'James and the Signal', maybe. You can still have the scenes with Duck. This was another good episode with its message that we admit the problem we'd created and own up, even if it was an accident.
Rating: 7/10
DUCK AND THE SLIP COACHES
I'll say this, the whole Duck and Emily joke in the episode was just unnecessary. It could've easily been cut or rewritten but it was mostly their to pander to the older fandom. I understand the production team was at least acknowledging the older fandom for exisiting and that one person was a member of the production team at the time, but things like these don't need to be in the show. It's just like the Donald and Douglas joke from Lost Treasure, it never adds anything to the story. As for the episode itself, I still find it amazing that they took something that was once railway practice and placed it in the episode which is almost the equalivant of something that you get from a Railway Series book. In fact the whole episode has that feeling with an engine thinking that he could do better and ends up being wrong. It was a very clever and well written story and it gave Duck some good focus as well despite that he was more in the supporting role. So yeah, despite that unneeded pandering, this was still a great episode to watch to this day!
Rating: 10/10
THOMAS THE QUARRY ENGINE
Over the years watching this episode, I really see this among as my personal all time favorites. There's something that feels like an early Railway Series story, with the focus of Thomas on his branch line and Thomas causing a bit chaos. It just feels like something out from the likes of 'Tank Engine Thomas Again'. Also the addition of 'I Like To Be Beside The Seaside' just makes it even more Awdry because Rev.W.Awdry adds little nursery rhymes in the early books, I know the song is not really one but I do see Rev.W.Awdry placing it in one of his books. The story was great as well as the character interactions. I really have no problem with the episode overall.
Rating: 10/10
THOMAS AND THE EMERGENCY CABLE
This was another solid episode from Andrew Brenner and I love that the message was clear and simple, the emergency brake is stricly there for emergencies only. Although I wish the episode went further and tell kids that they have to pay a fine, like you do in real life. It even furthers the message that a false emergency can lead to something bad and in this episode that resulted Annie into having a wheel flat, thanks to the false emergency. It also gave another little message towards the end that we shouldn't hold a grudge against something over a little mistake and that if they'd learnt their lesson they had bettered themselves. To me this one of the best episodes of the seasons and probably of all time.
Rating: 10/10
DUNCAN AND THE GRUMPY PASSENGER
This episode feels more relevant now than it was in 2014. Ever since 2017, Mattel and the production team had geared more towards the pre-school audience and strayed away from the older fandom with the latter complaining about things like Duck and the other returnees being an example of fan service and then want something else without being greatful with what we got and this episode's message is pretty much a big nail on the head that while everyone is grumpy we should just ignore them and carry on with our job, it's the same outside of Thomas as well. Especially with people working in retail, hotels/motels, airports etc. heck I guess if this episode was released in 2020 you could call the grumpy passenger a 'karen' now and the grumpy passenger would be a favorite among the people who hated lockdowns during the pandemic and not caring for a living soul, I understand that you have a business running but if you leave it open and people die from COVID-19 your business would still be failing regardless, lockdowns work just talk to anyone from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Davey Moore did an excellent job at nailing Duncan's character but also having him trying his best appease the grumpy passenger as well which I guess is a bit of a flaw to him as well. Another solid episode!
Rating: 10/10
MARION AND THE PIPE
I always felt that this episode was set after Lost Treasure, despite that the movie came out a year later. Since Marion had said that she'd dug up a treasure chest and then in the movie that was her subplot. Just a little thought I had for the last five years. With the episode, it was a nice episode and I do love Marion's persona but I also like how she was hiding her problem away and carries on like it was no big deal until the problem got worse, a good message for kids and parents in the real world.
Rating: 7/10
MISSING GATOR
I do like this episode, it even lives up today what with this pandemic we are living in, as of 2020, and that we can't see our family members and friends, depending on what country you live in. The message that we should focus on the positives of our relationship whether its a friend or a loved one can keep us happy and hopefully we might see them again. It was an emotional episode that was crafted really well. Plus the strong continuity such as the old mine at Ulfstead Castle being reboarded up was nice too.
Rating: 9/10
NO STEAM WITHOUT COAL
Bill and Ben's antics in this episode was really great comedy and were in great character. However with Timothy, I remember people were saying that BoCo didn't need to comeback because he and Marion were pretty much his character. But we do see later on that the latter can't handle the twins in a busy situation and Timothy is always beaten down when it comes to the twins' teasing whereas BoCo gets more annoyed with them and gets more firm. I wish the production team had brought him into the series but with the upcoming reboot I feel that hope for BoCo returning are very slim to none. I feel that there is a dynamic between them. Anyway, this was a great episode with the twins' characterisation and the situation they go through is something they would do, I still don't like the whole no coal makes no steam and no steam doesn't make you move thing that the series had established way back from the 7th season. Water is what helps makes the steam, coal helps to burn the fire to boil the water to make steam. I'm glad that they fixed that in the 'Big World, Big Adventures' movie.
Rating: 9/10
SPENCER'S VIP
The best part of the episode was Spencer's progression here, even though at this time the characters learn their lesson and are reverted back to what they were previously for another episode. As much as I understand why people want character development in the show, I think it works if the show was a one time thing. But it was good none the less to see something different from Spencer. I remember some people were saying that the mistakes made by the engines were very 'Miller-esque' but from looking at the episode again after so long, I think the mistakes aren't really that bad and they were done to serve the main message that showing off and rushing about can cause trouble as well giving someone a second chance since they'd learned their mistake like the engines and Spencer. This was a good episode with its variety use of characters such as the 'steam team' and secondary characters like Duck and Oliver, even if some have thought that they were placed their because it was 'fan service'. Although Toby being one of the engines that was showing off was kinda strange, maybe if they'd added Henry instead it would make some sense but that's just a nitpick.
Rating: 8/10
TOAD'S BRIGHT IDEA
One thing that I liked from the episode was how this was set during 'Tale of the Brave'. It was just an interesting concept to see coming from Thomas. While that was great the episode was also great as well with the character dynamic between Gator and Toad, quite like Moore's way to putting certain characters together that aren't quite common to see in the show. Toad was someone who is straightforward but can be a quite authoritive brake van and knows the rights and wrongs of the railways, such as Gator and his lamp and I think this might be a story that Awdry might like since it had a very railway oriented theme towards it when it comes to the importance of lamps. Whereas Gator was impulsive on getting back to the docks, but of course he had a reason for it but knew later just how important Toad and his lamp are. A very creative and well done episode.
Rating: 10/10
LONG LOST FRIEND
I wasn't much of a fan of this episode when it came out and six years after this came out, it still isn't a favourite of mine. It was OK and it was great seeing Percy and Gator reuniting again after so long, a nice thing to set during Christmas time. But the whole story overall was more of a hide-and-seek thing with Gator going from one place to another and Percy goes to the last place Gator was earlier. It was a bit repetitive in my opinion and maybe the whole thing could've been done better. While I tend to see the whole rock salt thing more as a plot device to keep the story going, I don't understand why that it had to be loaded at the docks when it was unloaded from the ship earlier. I think it could've been better to have it at the shunting yards and have all the trucks surrounding Percy as he was trying to find Gator. It was an OK story but repetitive.
Rating: 5/10
LAST TRAIN FOR CHRISTMAS
This was a great episode then and its still a great episode now! What I love about the episode is how the engines are trying their best to clear the tracks for Connor so he can bring the last train back to Sodor in time for Christmas since Thomas had established earlier that there won't be trains running on Christmas, something that does happen in Britain every year during Christmas and Boxing day. The episode showcased that the railways are indeed a service to the public in desperate of time and that the message is that we should always keep our promises and be kind to one another. Probably the best Christmas episode from the season.
Rating: 10/10
DUNCAN THE HUMBUG
There was something about the ending that seemed a little off to me and it was the same feeling I had back when this episode was new in 2014. It feels like they were telling Duncan that it was OK for him to be grumpy. I understand Luke said that it doesn't make him any less useful, but I believe they did that so they won't change him completely. While the characters do go through some development, they do go back and revert themselves to what they were previously for the sake of storytelling. As for the episode, I think it was good to have an episode where we see an engine not liking Christmas and the winter time, since Duncan was complaining more about that. Usually we always have an episode where everyone loves Christmas, so it was a nice change to see that. I also like how the episode teaches kids that we shouldn't force someone to be cheerful, especially at Christmas and that everyone are who they are and it's OK. This was a good episode but not as good as 'Last Train For Christmas' in my opinion.
Rating: 8/10
THE PERFECT GIFT
The idea of the story isn't anything new, especially since we had two episodes from the Miller/Barlow era when it comes to giving gifts. Percy's role was sweet but it too wasn't anything different with him helping a friend. But the message that everyone does Christmas their own special way or that gifts can be great in any shape or size. I like the episode it wasn't bad but it wasn't really the strongest out of the Christmas episodes from this season.
Rating: 6/10
EMILY SAVES THE WORLD
I remember when this episode was announced, everyone in the fandom wasn't really excited by the whole idea of Emily and a runaway globe. Even though we had an episode quite similar called 'Rusty and the Boulder' and fans praised that as a great episode, to me it's not. While yes Thomas the Tank Engine was always written with railway accuracy by the Rev.W.Awdry, the writers in the production team are storytellers first and there's going to be some twists and turns that even Awdry himself would might've disprove of if he were alive today. As of the episode itself, after all the Emily we had seen from this era, since Mattel will be sadly rebooting the show, this probably the best Emily episode from this era. Although I would've much prefer her in her S8 persona, here she isn't even all that bad. She was eager to show off her exciting load but wasn't paying attention by the idea that her load can fall off. There were lots of comedic moments that were shown not told and I'd liked that from this era too. The episode was great looking back at it, maybe not the best but still one of the great gems of S18. Yes unrealistic but entertaining none the less. Perhaps maybe to make the message better if that Emily was warned to look out for any low hanging places but she brushed it off because she was more excited about showing everyone her exciting delivery. A shame that after this and 'Best Engine Ever', Emily didn't get anymore episodes until BWBA and they were pretty mediocre compare to those two.
Ratings: 9/10
TIMOTHY & THE RAINBOW TRUCK
The episode was a bit slice of life and it had a good start, middle and end to it as well. Their's really not much else to say but that it was a good episode with Timothy, Bill and Ben and the use of the three strikes formula was done brilliantly, rather then have Timothy stopping and starting and reciting the same dialouge over and over again like the last production team did, he just went past things that are rainbowed coloured. I don't really have much quarrel with the episode.
Ratings: 8/10
MARION AND THE DINOSUARS
I remember everyone, including me, complaining about Thomas' apperarnce being contrived and how it goes against Awdry's vision of having the engines on their designated lines. But as times rolls on, I realise that Thomas' appearence were out of the writers' control and honestly you can say that Thomas can be called off from his branch line work when he has to make a delivery from somewhere on the main line to his branch line. I mean we had that before like with Thomas taking the mail train with Percy back in S3. Anyway, that's on bit I want to get out, as of the episode, I love Marion. Her naive but bubbly persona is one of the charms of her character and Olivia Colman was excellent with her performance. She had really brought the character to life and it's amazing today that she's now an A list star with a wonderful range of performances, she was great in 'The Crown', haven't seen the show but seen clips, and she had been in 'The Simpsons' which her character kinda reminds me of Marion. A great episode of a great character, much better than her pipe episode from before. Plus this was our introduction to Samson, but I'll get to him next.
Ratings: 10/10
SAMSON AT YOUR SERVICE
One of the things I'd liked about the episode was the teasing that the engines did towards Samson. It shows that the engines aren't always these perfect role models that maybe some parents might get peeved off from. I mean the Rev.W.Awdry did say that his engines do act like children and kids do tease other people for their flaws. Samson's character was an interesting one and he stood out among the ones who are just cheery and kind. He kinda reminds me of Sir Handel from the fourth season. It was a good episode with the message that we shouldn't act like we know everything and always ask for help if we are in a spot of trouble.
Rating: 9/10
SAMSON SENT FOR SCRAP
I was sort of in the middle with this episode back in 2015 but looking at this episode again after years of first seeing it, I think it was a terrible episode. Their was really not much plot, basically it was Samson being an idiot who thinks anything left beside was scrap and I think Harvey was wasted away as a secondary character in the episode. If the episode was more better, I would make it more like Samson, being stubborn and full of himself or acting bigger than Harvey whenever he has second thoughts. Then before everything almost went wrong (i.e - The Fat Controller's car nearly being grabbed by Reg) he stood up towards him and told how he is wrong for thinking anything on the side was scrap. It had some good moments like Scruff whistling at the Fat Controller for attention and then heading off to scrap yard while he [TFC] was still speaking. But it didn't help the episode from being poorly executed.
Rating: 2/10
MILLIE & THE VOLCANO
This was a nice episode and it was great that we got some focus on Millie. It had a very Thomas like feel towards it with the small engine being belittled by their bigger peers and trying to get their own back by doing the same, like Millie trying to get back at Harvey and Samson for laughing at her and calling her silly. Like how Thomas was belittled by Gordon. It did give a good message that two wrongs don't make a right and that you should not listen to people who belittle you.
Rating: 9/10
OVERALL
I still feel 50/50 on S17 but for S18, I feel that it was a much better improvement it really began to pick up some pace on being different to the previous season. There were much more better stories and I liked the diversity of characters that were focused rather than just the steam team and a few secondary characters. I stand by my viewpoints on Edward's episode, yes it's a good episode but just it still reused the same old trope that had carried multiple other episodes focused on him about proving his own worth and it makes sense to make him more of a secondary character, 'The Adventure Begins', 'Rosie is Red' and 'Hunt the Truck' all proved that crystal clear. Honestly for some fans, and I apologise in advance that if some are offended, who'd critcised Duck for just being this proud great westerner that just says 'The great western way', I don't honestly know why fans need to have an Edward episode which is the same over and over again. Edward has limits. There can be episodes where Edward can be flawed like putting trust into an engine or making a plan to help an engine but only to get backfired but at the end of the day there are limits and their are other times that Edward can be out of character and older fans would hate that.
Some stories like 'Thomas and the Emergency Cable' and 'Duck and the Slip Coaches' really feel like that they came out from a Railway Series book. They do showcase some railway operation but were more focused on the characters than the realism. Just like what the Rev.W.Awdry did in the books, with a few artistic liberties. I understand that not many fans had liked what Mattel did in recent years, especially with railway realism but I said this a hundred times, realism is one of the things that made Thomas interesting but it's not THE focus. The characters are the focus we see them grow and learn.
The visuals are once again nice and are bit more better than what we got in S17. As I said before, S18 was a big improvement to what we got last season. The music sadly still feels generic and there to fill in the background although still catchy.
I'm still planning on reviewing S19-21 but those will wait until next year, hopefully they get released early.
OVERALL RATING
192/260
