THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS AND FRIENDS FAN BASE
THOMAS THE BABYSITTER
Helen Farrall
Directed by
TBA
Produced by
Jennifer Hill (Arc)
Ian McCue (HIT)
Air Date
17/01/16 - JPN
Plot:
Thomas has to deal with a crying baby on board his train and tries to find a solution to the problem, which he did in the end.
PRO:
- Moral: There's a solution to a problem
- Down to earth moment from Annie and Clarabel
- The time-lapse scene was amazing
CON:
- Toby or Percy could at least give a few ideas to stop the crying.
While I do love 'Toad and The Whale' and I still do, I love this episode more as it does depict on real life and I should know coming from personal experience. I remember travelling on a train and a baby was crying loudly that it was getting very annoying. But I love the pacing of this episode as nothing feels out of place, much better then what 'The Other Side of the Mountain' did. The episode has its simplicity and while some may think this episode is boring because of that, it's one of things that made me think fondly of Thomas' glory days as there was simple storytelling in the Reverend's books, particularly in its early years, 'Edward's Day Out' is one of them. It had conflict at the start of the story with Edward being teased as being old and not worthy but in the end he got his reward by coming out of his shed and taking a passenger train. The moral of the story is there's a solution to a problem and it shows, though only with Annie and Clarabel's singing not turning out great, but it turns out alright in the end with what the solution was and that was Thomas puffing along his line that it made the baby go to sleep because of the vibration of the track maybe. Although I think it would be made better if we have Toby or Percy giving ideas to stop the baby crying. Henrietta did by saying maybe singing a lullaby could work for the baby.
I didn't put this in my PRO or CON list but that little cameo of Stanley had made me wonder of his purpose on the railway and I think it would be great to see him working as a utility engine. A utility engine is an engine used for any work whenever its useful for it, more like a helping. Considering that he's (Stanley) everywhere for cameo appearance and that it should work along with Rosie. I don't see much between these two when it comes to starring roles but I like to see the writers shining on Rosie's persona as being a tomboy as the previous team had failed to that with her originally.
I like how Thomas came up with the idea that he would run non-stop between each station as that calms the baby down, Annie and Clarabel brought him back down to earth and tell him the problem that he could face. Definitely good that there is some common sense still working in the series, although it could've happened in previous episodes too this season.
One of my favourite things coming from Arc Productions is the time-lapse scene when Thomas was heading back to the big station on his return journey. It looks remarkable so well done to Arc Productions for creating such scene. In the end I love this episode. It's sweet, it has heart and it has a good moral. OK maybe a baby can't calm down on a train all the time but there can be a solution to a problem and it could be anything for a baby to stop crying.
Rating: 9/10
Episode Ratings:
Who's Geoffrey - 9/10
The Truth About Toby - 6.5/10
Lost Property - 9/10
Henry Spots Trouble - 7/10
Snow Place Like Home - 7/10
A Cranky Christmas - 6/10
Diesel's Ghostly Christmas - 9.5/10
Toad and The Whale - 9/10
Very Important Sheep - 9/10
The Beast of Sodor - 9/10
Salty All At Sea - 8/10
Den & Dart - 8/10
Helping Hiro - 6/10
Two Wheels Good - 7/10
Reds Vs. Blues - 6/10
Slow Stephen - 9/10
Best Engine Ever - 10/10
Series Rating (So far):
177/240