THESE ARE MY OWN OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
THE BERRY BEST
Lexie Kahanovitz
Directed by
Campbell Bryer
Produced by
Suzie Gallo
Air Date
28/01/25 - UK
Plot
Thomas goes too far when taking 'just a few' strawberries again and again uses up all the fruit in Farmer McColl's field.
So the show FINALLY have some self awareness that Percy's puns were never funny at all, until the end of this episode, shame it took them to their very likely last season to get that because in the last three seasons they were really trying to make them funny.
Still, I think it's another example of the show's inconsistency with its writing that Diesel says they were engines and they can't make something like Strawberry soap scent and yet in the past they could be seen making an obstacle course, art made from scrap and so on. You could have Diesel saying 'How can we make Strawberry soap scent? There aren't any strawberries here!' and you can still go forth with the same transition. Diesel's line felt like Thomas' line when he said he can't plough through fields or swim, when literally in past episodes of this show he can.
Also how did they use all the strawberries up when Sandy used one to make the scent? Sure it was done for the sake of plot so that Thomas and Sandy can go back to Farmer McColl's farm to collect more strawberries but it can still work without the need of the inconsistency. Just have Thomas and Sandy using the whole truckload up and then they go back for more. It will still have the same outcome as shown in the episode. Maybe have Terence telling them no because Farmer McColl needs them but Thomas and Sandy still takes them anyway because they might think the strawberries would grow back, sure that sounds dumb but this is 'All Engines Go!' they are suppose to be dumb for the sake of plot.
Also, the animation was inconsistent too with Thomas, Percy and Diesel being covered in mud in one scene but then later they weren't. Sure it may've come off offscreen but it was kind of implied that it was sticky, this is just a nitpick but I just wanted to point it out.
The episode is nothing special, its comedy with Diesel going through disguises was meh and it just feels ordinary. Improvements could've been made to make it feel consistent instead of just making reasons for the sake of plot because they didn't need to do it. It could've been better if the story focused on James wanting to be cleaned but every time he gets cleaned he's given another dirty job which results to him getting cleaned at the train wash and that it creates the dilemma of wasting the strawberries for the scent. I think that would be way better use instead of using Diesel.
Series Rating (So far):
Sheep Stampede - 6/10
The Berry Best - 3/10
Overall Rating (So far):
9/20
