All Engines Go! Review - S1 Ep.3: License to Deliver

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

LICENSE TO DELIVER

Written by
Peter Gaffeny

Directed by

Campbell Bryer

Produced by

Rick Suvalle

Suzie Gallo

Air Date

24/08/21 - Mex

13/09/21 - USA

19/09/22 - CAN

10/11/21 - UK

5/01/22 - AUS

Plot

When Percy has to deliver a new light bulb to the lighthouse at night, Thomas suggests playing secret agents along the way to help Percy forget about his fear of the dark.

MY VIEWS

I think the spy stuff is unnecessary for an episode that teaches young kids to not be afraid of the dark. You could still have Thomas and Percy going about on the Island with their lightbulb delivery and have Percy being scared of the dark without all the spy stuff. It wouldn't make that much difference. Plus what I think could enhance the story without the spy stuff was the lighthouse bulb. Try and show kids why the lighthouse's light bulb is important and why Percy should confront the dark in order to get it there on time. That's how I think the episode would play out without the spy stuff. 

But that isn't to say that this episode was bad - I think it was OK and in comparison to 'The Case of the Puzzling Parts' from S22, this episode made the whole spy thing a bit more entertaining, personally I am not a fan of the former because I think the whole thing was really boring to sit through. Plus it was nice seeing Thomas helping Percy overcoming his fear of the dark. Another thing that I like about this episode is that, unlike the last two episodes before this one, you don't really have Thomas or any other character stating the message of the story and instead the episode lets the audience to digest the message while watching the episode. I much prefer showing the message through visuals instead of having a fictional character to tell the audience its message. 

For the latter it just feels like that you have to tell them the message because they are not going to get it. Kids are smarter than most people give them credit for and deserve to be treated that way instead of being dumbed down. 

Series Rating:

A Thomas Promise - 4/10

Thomas Blast Off - 4/10

License to Deliver - 5/10

Overall rating (So far):

13/30