S20 Ep.15: Cautious Connor (600th post)

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

ALSO 600TH POST!!

PLEASE NOTE FROM 'MUCKING ABOUT' ONWARDS THESE REVIEWS ARE BEING RELEASED DURING THE JAPANESE AIRING OF THE SHOW. SOME EPISODES THAT AIRED IN JAPAN MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN REVIEWED.

CAUTIOUS CONNOR

Written by

Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Air Date

5/12/16 - CAN
19/02/17 - JPN

Plot

While going at high speeds, Connor breaks his coupling rod and fears going fast will break it again.

PRO
- Connor's character development
- Stephen's pep speech
- The camera angles during the pep talk

CON

- I think Edward or Rheneas would've been another good choice

- It would've been better if Caitlin helped Connor

 

When I first saw this I said it was not only Brenner's best script in this season but probably one of the best of the series. It was great to see Connor having some character development and a main role rather than being a secondary character with traits that he just likes being fast. The development that Brenner gave to him was just great to see with Connor actually worried about being fast after an accident which can happen to people in real life. 

The main highlight of the episode to me would have to be Stephen's pep talk. When I first saw this I thought it was inspirational with his words that the steam engines he knew in the past didn't give up when something bad happened, they get back on their wheels and try again. It makes you a bit pumped up and being proud of yourself for who and what you are. The swooping camera angles during the talk were amazing to see too so well done to Jam Filled on that, since they animated the episode. However I think there were some major missed opportunities for this episode. 

While I do love Stephen giving Connor the pep talk, I think it would've been better if you have engines like Edward or Rheneas. Those two engines went through some trouble like Connor went through. For Edward, you have 'Edward's Exploit' where he fought in the bad weather despite his faults to take his passengers home rather than giving up and for Rheneas you have the story 'Gallant Old Engine' where his valve gear was jammed and the Skarloey railway was suffering hardship at the time but Rheneas had brought his passengers home in the wet weather and everyone praised what a fine railway it was and it brought the railway back to popularity again. 

Also while Thomas is given another role in this season, I do see him fit in considering that Ulfstead is on his branch line, as Sam Wilkinson's map from 2014 had placed an extension to the castle. But I think what could've been better if Caitlin was the one that helped Connor to get back to himself again. After all they both love racing each other and they do share a close friendship and the ending of the episode would've been just been characters that were introduced from 'King of The Railway'. But despite that, I never felt bothered by it because the episode delivered very well. 

All in all though, the episode is probably one of the best I've seen. 

Episode Ratings:

Sidney Sings - 8/10

Toby's New Friend - 7/10
Henry Gets the Express - 10/10
Diesel and the Ducklings - 8/10
Bradford the Brake Van - 10/10
Saving Time - 6/10
Ryan and Daisy - 7/10
Pouty James - 5/10

Blown Away - 9/10

The Way She Does It - 9/10

Letters To Santa - 8/10
Love Me Tender - 7/10
The Railcar & The Coaches - 9/10

Mucking About - 9/10
Cautious Connor - 10/10

Overall Rating:

122/150