S22 Ep.25: Counting On Nia

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

COUNTING ON NIA

Written by
Lee Pressman

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

27/09/18

Plot 

Nia is a really clever engine and knows all sorts of things, but when Sir Topham Hatt asks her to take Annie and Clarabel to pick up passengers and take them to Knapford Station, Nia has great trouble finding the right platform.

---

I remember how some fans gave Nia some criticism by labelling her as a Mary-Sue. A Mary-Sue is a trope often given to characters who are too perfect. But in this episode, she is clever but not always indicating that she's not perfect all the time and one thing that surprised me is that Nia can count but not understanding what they look like and after researching, there are different looking numbers in African and I like how Nia suffers from a language barrier, it makes her entirely relatable to immigrants who come to a new country.

The dynamic between her and Annie and Clarabel was great to see, I quite like how the two coaches acted like a motherly figure to her. The fantasy moment was probably one of the most subtle moments coming from the writers. It also doesn't feel like it was there to chew up the running time but was more part of the episode, although they could've done without it as a fantasy moment but I think it's part of the rules, but it wasn't bad by any means it was subtle.

I think with that being one flaw, another one would have to be that there wasn't any reason why the Fat Controller wants Nia to take Thomas' coaches, a mere mention of him being away could be good. 

In the end, it was nice and simple and despite that 'Kangaroo Christmas' has yet to be aired in December, due to it being an Australian Christmas episode and despite it being the 20th episode of this season production wise, this episode was a nice way to the end the 22nd series and the Sodor portion. 

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 7/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Hunt The Truck - 10/10
Cyclone Thomas - 8/10
The Case Of The Puzzling Parts - 6/10

Banjo And The Bushfire - 4/10
Counting On Nia - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):

185/240

'KANGAROO CHRISTMAS' 
WILL BE COMING SOON IN DECEMBER WITH THE SERIES OVERALL.

LOOK OUT FOR MY DVD REVIEW OF 
'HERE COMES THE STEAM TEAM'
COMING SOON.

S22 Ep.24: Banjo And The Bushfire

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

BANJO AND THE BUSHFIRE

Written by

Tim Bain

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Plot
Thomas offers a lift to a ranger while working in the Australian Rainforest. Thomas is excited to learn from her about all the animals that live there, but he is too loud and impatient to be very useful.

Air Date

26/09/18

---

One thing I do like from the Australia episode is the little depths of realism that was added in the bundle of episodes. Tamika works in Kuranda Rainforest, which is located in far North Queensland, which I think that's why there's narrow gauge track, because Queensland is home to cape gauge, which is a bigger size of narrow gauge. Anyway, Kuranda Rainforest also has a scenic railway that crosses a waterfall, although the show's version is nothing but a slab of concrete whereas the real one is a curved wooden bridge:

Kuranda Rainforest Scenic Railway

There was also a steam locomotive going through it as well. But although these things are nice, the episode wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't my favourite. One thing is the title, I find it a bit misleading. Why create a title for animal that barely had any screen time? Wouldn't it be better if the episode was called 'Thomas And The Bushfire' or better, 'Thomas And The Australian Wildlife', they make more sense in my opinion. Tamika is another oversized NG engine that runs of standard gauge and it makes me wonder what is the point of the dual gauge track? Unless there might be more engines that work in Australia to be introduce in future. Plus they never explained why the bushfire started. I pretty much blame the shorter running time for this and I'm coming to the point that they should go back to what it was before. While the shorter running time does add the much more faster pace that test audiences want, the shorter time does not add time for development, explanations and all. The scene with Thomas trying to save Banjo also felt rushed and a little underwhelming too Thomas just puffed up to Banjo collected him and the tree falling was a little unneeded. I know it's for dramatic effect, but it was underwhelming. It could've been better if he saved Banjo from the tree before it fell after trying to find ways to get him down and after he collects him, he puffs out of the forest as fast as he can maybe have the tree fall behind him just in time. That could've been better dramatic effect if the timing wasn't short.

The fantasy sequence though was something that I laughed at though. Speaking of Tamika, I feel that she has a tomboyish personality towards her, I think it's her voice that adds to it and the colour they've given her wasn't anything stereotypical gender wise. She's kind of like Shankar by being an animal lover. I would love to see more of her though as she was just there at that's it.

I kinda preferred 'Cyclone Thomas' despite its faults. It at least had a plot and it sort of followed what the title had given us and Thomas wanting to be like Isla at least add something to it.

The episode wasn't bad nor it wasn't great, it's more in the middle.

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 7/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Hunt The Truck - 10/10
Cyclone Thomas - 8/10
The Case Of The Puzzling Parts - 6/10
Banjo And The Bushfire - 4/10

Series Rating (So far):

179/230

S22 Ep.23: The Case Of The Puzzling Parts

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

THE CASE OF THE PUZZLING PARTS

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

25/09/18

Plot
Special Agent Sidney sets out to solve The Case of the Puzzling Parts.

---

I'll be honest comparing this to the other Sodor episode, this one was boring to sit through. I do like the combination of Sidney and Paxton, it was fun seeing them together. But most of the episode is just them going around places to see what purpose do the parts have and that was it. It was also nice to that the Skarloey Railway engines still exist and I hope we see them in future with an episode. 

The parts that Sidney was pushing look a little lazy. I mean the red wheel is pretty much the size for a steam engine as well as the orange boiler thing. Plus considering that the parts were for Sidney in the end, given the hints throughout the episode, why can't Dart hesitate at the beginning to tell Sidney that the parts were for him, but cut him off before he could say his name by having Sidney honking his horn? It would at least give the situation some purpose.

In the end, there's not much to talk about. It was a little boring, but the combination between Sidney and Paxton was nice.

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Hunt The Truck - 10/10
Cyclone Thomas - 8/10
The Case Of The Puzzling Parts - 6/10

Series Rating (So far):

174/230

S22 Ep.22: Cyclone Thomas

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

CYCLONE THOMAS

Written by

Tim Bain

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

24/09/18

Plot

Thomas wants to be just like Ruby, a Flying Doctor's plane, who transports Dr Claire to remote places where it's hard for patients to get to hospitals or doctors for treatment.

---

Now that India and China are now out of the way, we are now at the second Australian episode and once again it was great, not being bias here because I'm from Australia. I quite like this episode more than 'Outback Thomas' as this one has more action and conflict. We got to see Isla in action for the first time and see that she takes her job seriously by transporting Dr. Claire to her patients. I do like the cyclone scene, it really felt intense and it had an 'Edward's Exploit' vibe towards it in my opinion with Thomas doing something that Isla can't. Plus I like the cyclone bit, as a way of educating kids overseas about Australia, considering that here in Australia, particualry up the northern part of the country, cyclones can happen. The worst one that Australia faced was back in 1974 known as Cyclone Tracy, which had hit Darwin around Christmas eve and day.

Some people said that Thomas acted irresponsible for pretending to be a doctor, while I do understand that I feel that if Thomas should know that by now then what is the point of him learning? To me Thomas relates to a young kid wanting to be something that they're not and kids soon learnt that they should be happy for being who they are. To me it works and plus Isla told Thomas to leave it for the medical professionals, implying the lesson to kids that being a doctor is something serious. But yeah Thomas should've been thinking about it in the end, like many kids should do in real life as impersonating a doctor is a bad cause.

Some people might also say that the episode is 'Thomas And The Jet Plane' but in CGI and while I can see what they are saying, but in my opinion, would younger fans, kids, the target range would know of that episode's existence? We are living in a world that most of the target range don't know or are even interested in the model era of the show, I mean look at the reviews on some classic series DVDs on Amazon US by parents. I bet there are some who do watch the model era but I doubt that they are a majority. Plus Jeremy in that episode is more like Harold the Helicopter but as a plane. A cocky vehicle that bags out in the railway whereas Isla takes her job seriously.

One thing that I like from this episode is Rachel Miller's Australian accent, it sounds almost authentic and not like a cheap cringy version of it like you hear from the likes of 'The Simpsons', seriously how hard is it to find an actual Australian actor for the show? Their VA's done a terrible job! Another that I like from Jam Filled was the station that Thomas went to when they were in the eye of cyclone. The station was almost authentic too with the lower platforms. Station's like Alice Springs had them, so it's nice to see that.

So while yes I can see what some are saying, but the episode just showcased some strong characters and a good plot that it doesn't really bother me in the end. 

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Hunt The Truck - 10/10
Cyclone Thomas - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):

168/220

S22 Ep.21: Hunt The Truck

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

HUNT THE TRUCK

Written by
Michael White

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by 

Micaela Winter

Air Date

23/09/18

Plot

Bill and Ben's latest game consists of hiding trucks and making other engines hunt for them.

---

Some fans on the twittersphere had speculated that the picture that ABC Australia had released, see above, was Bill and Ben gasping at the site of BoCo. To be honest, I always hope for his return to CGI ever since Brenner/McCue had taken over the production since 2013. But everyone had been saying, in their opinion, that BoCo has no persona, he's Edward but a diesel, Timothy and Marion are more suited to the role etc. But to me I see him with a personality. He has a very stern and tough persona but with a heart of gold, he acts like a stern father who loves them but would scold them whereas Edward, stern but more gentle and I don't really see how Timothy and Marion are more suited considering that they never keep them in order. Timothy is gullible, come on how many times did we have with him falling for their tricks?, and Marion tries but never succeed at times in keeping them in order, sure she was stern towards them but as I said, at times. I mean in 'No Help At All', she was calling out for help towards the twins but they didn't listen.

Anyway was he in today's episode? Sadly, no. But despite that, it was no big loss. The episode still turned out great in the end. I love how Edward was used with him knowing the twins' tricks and it's nice how he works as a secondary character. It's also nice to see Edward's playful back too since S18. Bill and Ben were a treat to watch with their trickery and mischevious attitude and it was great fun seeing them in conflict even there interaction with Edward was spot on too, it feels like something out from the third season. Plus the fantasty sequence was executed greatly, it adds more to the story.

If some fans are dissapointed that BoCo didn't come back here is something. No one had hinted or said that he'll be returning and it was all hyped up for no reason. I know that the production team had always surprised us with returnees, heck I still remember my shock from last year with Bulgy. But like I said in my review for this year's special, self hype can lead to dissapointment. Remember when SiF had hinted that a character from the past had returned and it wasn't from the classic series? People thought it was Bear or whatever character they thought of. But it turns out it was Sam from the Wooden Railway toyline and some had blamed SiF for it, but they didn't say to get hyped about it, they simply told everyone to look out for it. Plus other people who had joined them for the world premire had said that they'll be dissapointed from the hype that they've created (most of the fanbase). As I said before, self hype can lead to dissapointment. I'll be honest, I was expecting him but I was holding back my excitment. But even after viewing this episode again, what sense would he make? You might say that they brought Bulgy back last year out of the blue but here's the difference. Bulgy's comeback made sense. Bertie broke down and he wasn't going to be back anytime soon and who else can take passengers by road? Bulgy! If BoCo was in this, then what would he do?

In the end, this is probably the best episode from the 22nd season and probably my most favourite. Hope we see more Bill and Ben episode soon and I hope one day we'll see BoCo in full CG. 

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10
Hunt The Truck - 10/10

Series Rating (So far):

168/210

S22 Ep.20: The Water Wheel

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

THE WATER WHEEL

Written by
Davey Moore

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date
22/09/18

Plot

Hong-Mei tells Thomas that the water wheel he is carrying is made from bamboo and is very important. But in his eagerness to discover things made of bamboo, Thomas forgets his mission and ends up taking a shortcut via a low bridge, which knocks the water wheel off his flatbed and sends it rolling across the Chinese countryside. 

---

So we are now at our final China episode and unlike 'Tiger Trouble', this really wasn't a good episode to end the China portion. I feel that the slapstick cartoony chase with Thomas and Water Wheel really ate up most of the pacing. At first it was funny but it was really dragging out that it was getting more annoying than funny. Basically this is 'Steady Eddie' in full CG and in China with Thomas instead. Would've been better if it were a Hong-Mei episode, she really needed character development, badly! She was nothing but a blank slate. This wasn't bad unlike 'Apology Impossible' where that story was messy but the plot in this episode was bare. It had a nice educational sequence about bamboo and what it was used for and it had a nice message about how important water is, heck it even felt logical for a show like Thomas. But the plot could've been about a heat wave striking China and water around the Chinese Railway was drying or warming up which result the engines to stay in their shed. Thomas or Hong-Mei didn't like it but Yong Bao said that it is important and that they must keep their water in their tanks for emergencies only. They ignore it and burned out their water until an emergency happened and they didn't have enough until they saw a water wheel and got their tanks filled with water coming from that and learned how important it was. The daydream sequence was a bit ridiculous too. 

As of the China episodes, I feel that they are a bit better than the India episodes but not the best of the series. The best episode among them is 'Thomas And The Dragon'. I really felt that Davey Moore had made a good episode focusing on something that is apart of Chinese culture but wove a story around it about being scared of something. Sure some might say it works for Percy, but Thomas had his share of being scared of something. Probably the worst episode, not bad by any means, is 'Thomas In The Wild'. The plot was bare and dry although the fantasy moment is something I think that was needed as there wasn't any episode with Thomas dealing with Panda's before. Plus the baby Panda's were awfully adorable! But the plot just didn't have anything. 'Runaway Truck' wasn't bad but wasn't great either. I quite like Lei with his accident prone but good heart persona. 'Number One Engine', In my opinion wasn't bad but looking back it could've been much better. Plus it felt like Moore was playing it safe.

As of Yong Bao, I think there should've been more to him. But there were traits of him like playing little jokes and showcasing some of his bravery. Hong Mei really didn't get any time to shine and I hope we see them again, I mean Mattel wants to market Thomas even further in that country because of his popularity over there.

As we end the China portion, I feel that this episode was a bit of a dud. I think Moore has a hard time writing for the China episodes probably because of the time limit and trying wove a story around the culture. It worked for the Dragon episode but the others didn't for the others. I think the production team should try and hire in a person of Chinese heritage and write stories with the culture added into it. It worked with Tim Bain for 'Outback Thomas' as he is from Australia.

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10
The Water Wheel - 6/10

Series Rating (So far):

158/200

S22 Ep.19: Apology Impossible

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

APOLOGY IMPOSSIBLE

Written by
Becky Overton

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

21/09/18

Plot

Fed up with the other engines pushing him around, Philip refuses to give way when he and James end up facing each other on a one track bridge. As James refuses too, it's stalemate. But with engines stacked up behind them and the bridge in danger of collapsing, Philip decides that sometimes the littlest engine can actually be the bigger engine 

---

Surprised to see Becky Overton being one of the writers for the Sodor portion of episodes. Sadly she had pulled a few duds this season, apart from 'Tiger Trouble'. But this episode is joining the line of duds. I mean the episode wasn't bad or terrible, it just wasn't good. It's nice to see Philip being cross for once. Showcases some character development towards him. But the portrayal of James was just odd, usually he's stuck up but the nature of his character works with the likes of Gordon. In fact, why not use him instead? Have Philip standing up towards an engine that he had admired. I would've rated this episode much higher if that had happened. Plus it threw all the character development from 'All In Vain' out of the window. In that episode, James was at least putting his work first and was trying not to freakout in case it gets ruined. But here, he's reverted back to what he was.

Some people might say that Gordon and Philip's rivalry had been settled but in this era, characters like him often revert back to their previous selves for the demand of the plot, even if I do find that stupid. I also feel like that the story should’ve been about Philip standing up for himself, to showcase kids to stand up towards bullies. Philip almost did, but he kept reverting back to this timid self when he was trying to stand up towards James. The same thing happened when he was dealing with Vinnie in TGR for some reason.

Plus in some episodes, they reused some previous episodes for the Thomas moral segments. Here they used 'Who's Geoffrey' after it was used for 'Outback Thomas' and then went with 'Springtime for Diesel'. Why not just use the latter? It basically had the same message as this episode about saying sorry can be hard.

In the end, this episode's plot was just a mess. James apologised yes but that didn't help the episode being good. What could've been better if Philip was standing up towards him, preferably Gordon, and pushes him out of the way. Yes Philip was cross and not being his usual self but he is still that timid engine when it comes to bullies. 

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10
Apology Impossible - 3/10

Series Rating (So far):

152/190

S22 Ep.18: Seeing Is Believing

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

SEEING IS BELIEVING 

Written by
Andrew Brenner

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

20/09/18

Plot

Merlin comes to Sodor from the Mainland for the first time. He thinks that when he shuts his eyes nobody can see him. Percy hears everyone talking about the 'invisible' engine and wonders why he hasn't seen him. But how can you see an engine that's invisible?

I'll say this, the ending towards this episode felt a little rushed but I kinda liked it that it captures a bit of Percy's naive side, as he was in the past. I don't see that as Brenner's fault I see it as the limited timing being the fault. I thought he might of met Merlin and saw that he wasn't invisible and Thomas told him about it and Percy just accepts it. But despite that it didn't really hurt my enjoyment for this episode. I was looking forward to this episode and I think this was better than Brenner's other script, 'Forever and Ever'. I like the use of other characters too like Trevor. Nice to see he wasn't neglected.

Percy was great in the episode and it was nice to see him being more determined rather than him being reverted back to his scaredy engine persona that he was given back in the 2017 special. 

What was the main highlight for me from this episode is that Hugh Bonneville came back as Merlin. His voice work for the character was one of the great things about him with jovial attitude, you can tell Bonneville had a great time voicing him and I'm so glad he was not replace by someone else trying to bring that same jovial attitude to his character. I hope maybe in future we see other characters from JBS like Theo, Lexie, Hurricane, Frankie and Beresford too. Although for the latter it would have to be on the mainland.

In the end, it was fun episode with great characterisation despite the ending feeling a bit rushed. 

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10
Seeing Is Believing - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):

160/180

S22 Ep.17: Tiger Trouble

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

TIGER TROUBLE

Written by
Becky Overton

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by

Micaela Winter 

Air Date

19/09/18

Plot

Thomas and Rajiv both take a detour through the Indian jungle in order to see some tigers. But when Thomas spots that Rajiv's passengers have an empty tiger cage with them, he sets out with the help of Rajiv and Shankar to find the tigers and make sure that none of them are captured. 

---

The India episode weren't really my favourites as the series progressed. 'Trusty Trunky' was good in my opinion but felt bare, 'Thomas Goes To Bollywood' just felt bare and could've been given to Rajiv instead given his boastful nature and 'Thomas And The Monkey Palace' while better than those two in my opinion could've been a bit better with the monkeys being cheeky and troublesome to Thomas. Today's episode however is what I considered the best episode from the International stories so far and probably the best India episode overall. 

Rajiv and Shankar both play off well when it comes to their character. Rajiv the boastful, conceited engine that wants to do things his own way and Shankar being the grumpy but sensitive engine. I quite like that we see more of Shankar as an animal lover and wanting to stop the hunters from capturing the tigers because of their rarity. 

The hunters have provided some really good conflict and it gave the episode a situation that Thomas is in. It really adds the importance of one of the UN's goals about life on land and how we should be respecting animals and stop people from hunting down rare ones for their own selfish greed. 

While the India episodes overall weren't really the best among the international side in my opinion, 'Tiger Trouble' did go out on a high note. It's a shame too that they're done as I feel that the characters introduced like Shankar and Noor Jehan were left underdeveloped and unused, it was nice that they got the spotlight but that was it, even Ashima is still the bland character that she was in 'The Great Race'. You think after two years since her debut that they would focus on her, considering from what I've heard, that parents and even children loved her since the movie.

All in all this was a great episode in comparison to the India episodes. I quite like the Tiger Thomas fantasy and I think we'll see that as a toy soon, my guess it'll be a Trackmaster toy. I could say 'Adventures' but that'll be discontinued in December of this year. The reuse of 'Luke's New Friend' was a little odd but I understand what they're trying to make.

  
Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck - 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 8/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School Of Duck - 9/10
Tiger Trouble - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):

142/170

S22 Ep.16: School of Duck

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

SCHOOL OF DUCK

Written by

Lee Pressman

Directed by

David Stoten 

Produced by

Micaela Winter

Air Date

18/09/18

Plot
When a storm destroys a classroom at Harwick School, Duck tries to find a solution.
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I have a feeling that this is one of the pushed aside episodes of S21 as Toby mentioned that Henrietta was away at the Steamworks and had Hannah or it's not and Henrietta was just away. That aside, this episode was great. I remember when this episode aired in Italy back in August, I was surprised that Duck was given a lead role. His last lead role was 'Duck And The Slip Coaches' in S18, which was not too long ago but it's nice to see him getting the spotlight again and to see him outside of his Great Western pride persona, which I'm fine with because "He talks endlessly about it!" as that's a part of his character. The episode showed his caring side for Dexter, the new carriage. So it's nice to see more to his character. 

Plus the moral about recycling and reusing was nice to hear and I quite like how he was transformed to a school house, it also shows how education is important in a subtle way. Although I wonder if they'll be anymore episodes focusing on Dexter in future, as he was only restored to be a school house until the school at Harwick was repaired.

Speaking of Dexter, I was quite surprised to hear that Mark Moraghan is the voice of the carriage. So despite him not being narrator anymore, for the TV series of course, it's nice to see him still part of the Thomas team. In the end, this was a great episode and it felt like something out of S20 or S21.

Episode Rating

Number One Engine - 8/10

Forever and Ever - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Dragon - 10/10
Confusion Without Delay - 10/10
Trusty Trunky - 6.5/10
What Rebecca Does - 9/10
Thomas Goes to Bollywood - 6/10
Samson and The Fireworks - 10/10
Runaway Truck- 7/10
Rosie Is Red - 10/10
Thomas In The Wild - 5/10
Thomas' Animal Ark - 9/10
Thomas and the Monkey Palace - 7/10
An Engine of Many Colours - 9/10
Outback Thomas - 10/10
School Of Duck - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):

134/160