THESE ARE MY OWN OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
FILL-IN FRIEND
Written by
Eva Konstantopoulos
Directed by
Campbell Bryer
Produced by
Suzie Gallo
Air Date
2/03/24 - CAN
7/03/24 - US
Plot
Thomas really misses Percy, so the engines come up with a fun plan to find him a new best friend until Percy returns from the mainland.
Honestly, they could've just taken the whole plot of 'Missing Gator' from S18. That episode had least less sensory overload compare to this episode. I'm not autistic but man some moments of the episode feels like you can't take in all the sounds what with the engines arguing who can be Thomas' fill in friend, the music and whistles etc. I get that it was suppose to do that but the S18 episode that I'd pointed out shows you can do it without pushing it to the max. For a show that introduced a character, Bruno, who is autistic and showed an example of sensory overload in the Mystery special back in 2022, this show sure had forgotten all about that.
The episode, while fine with it trying to go forth with the message about missing someone and listening to someone, I feel they could've just reused the S18 episode instead without the overload.
Series Rating:
What's the Buzz - 4.5/10
Bells are Ringing - 4/10
Abraca-Diesel - 2/10
Overcommitted - 2.5/10
Sandy's Fine Mess - 4/10
Nia's Green Surprise - 3/10
Duck Duck Whoosh! - 1/10
Choo-Choo Check In - 5/10
Percy's Little Problem - 3/10
Fill-In Friend - 4/10
Overall Rating (So far):
32/100
32/100