S20 Ep.16: All In Vain

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

ALL IN VAIN

Written by

Helen Farrall 

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by

Ian McCue (HIT)

Air Date

16/01/17 - CAN
26/02/17 - JPN

Plot

James is delighted to be picked to take the Mayor and Sir Topham Hatt to a ball at Callan Castle and promises to do all his jobs without complaint; James is horrified at the end of the day when he finds a tiny scratch on his paintwork.

PRO
- James' character is tolerable and less flanderised
- James willing to sacrifice his own vanity for a special job 
- The little thumbs up from the painter
- Edward was the right choice

CON
- Edward sound a bit whiny at the start.

This is 'Pouty James' done right! James' character is definitely growing from his previous episode and he is less flanderised than what the previous did for him. He was vain but he did try his best to sacrifice his own vanity just to do a special job that he was given to by the Fat Controller. You don't see him complain or worry about it. Even with the small scratch he knows that he messed up and learned that he should've ignored it. I also love the choice of using Edward to help him and it gives that chemistry between them like the early classic series. You can see his helpful persona and it feels more natural to see him helping James rather than a forced Thomas role. However there are some small things about him that I don't like, Edward. I see that he was a bit whiny about him not taking the mayor usually he wouldn't mind if another engine had taken a job that he would be good with. But to be honest, his 'Here's Edward' line to most fans was considered as cringey even though that it is a part of Edward's character to tease another engine's trait. It shows in 'Cows' and 'Old Reliable Edward'.

There's pretty much one flaw I see in this episode but it I think it can be ignored easily. It had good character growth for James and some good comedic value in it as well. I do like the little thumbs up from the painter, it's small but it brings a bit of a chuckle out. I hope they keep on developing him, James, but I won't hold my breath for it considering a few certain branch line engines had an episode against that.

Rating: 10/10

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
All In Vain - 10/10

Overall Rating:

132/160