In 2017, Mattel had announced that they were going to improve the Thomas series based on feedback from test audiences which would later become 'Big World, Big Adventures' which began broadcasting in late 2018. But after seven years since its time in the spotlight does it still hold up? I can already hear the groans right now from some people thinking that it's not but I'm going to look through it myself and it's a nice change after reviewing All Engines Go! for the last two years. But first the usual:
THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FANBASE
SERIES 22
Davey Moore
Andrew Brenner
Becky Overton
Lee Pressman
Michael White
Tim Bain
Directed by
Dianna Basso
Produced by
Micaela Winters (Mattel Creations)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)
Told by
John Hasler (as Thomas) - UK
Joseph May (as Thomas) - US
EPISODES
NUMBER ONE ENGINE
Written by
Davey Moore
I will say, despite the fantasy sequences being placed in for the sake of placing in, Thomas saying that Annie and Clarabel likes Thomas going fast and jumping over the moon feels so much like his character, cheekily making things up to make himself look good in front of anyone he meets. In this episode we meet our first international character, Hong-Mei who is also blue and number one.
One thing I would like to point out, I remember seeing on twitter someone was saying that the episode showing how her number one being painted was 'stereotypical' but I can't seem to understand how it is when it's just showing how the way numbers are written in Mandarin, can we say the same to how we write numbers in the west? Plus how the way it was written was nice too as the dash on the left is correct way of writing '1' in Mandarin and the word next to is translate to 'No.'
In the past I had said that Hong-Mei was a blank slate, and while I still think she has more potential as a character, she at least have some personality, one of which is racing and has a one track mind as she was not being careful with her train of stone and a bit cheeky after Thomas saying that the colour red, being the colour of luck in China, wasn't on his side, which kind of shows she's like Thomas since that was the point the episode was trying to make. I'm actually starting to like Hong-Mei and I wish the production team had done more with her, let alone I wish Mattel had given BWBA more of a chance.
Funny how we get more personality from Hong-Mei, An An and Ying-Yong in one episode than Kana, if she ever had any, in an entire season of AEG but hey that's just my opinion. I find the episode good overall but maybe if Mattel hadn't added in Thomas' intro and outro and song, maybe the episode could've been better.
Rating: 7/10
FOREVER & EVER
Written by
Andrew Brenner
Ah yes, perhaps one of the most controversial episodes to the Thomas fandom. Henry saying that he was moving out of the shed does come completely out of nowhere, despite all the media reports saying it was happening, so that the sheds can be more gender diverse for Nia and Rebecca. 'A Shed for Edward' was at least building up to something and had a reason for him to move away which is basically just him being more closer to his branch line and wanting to keep Philip some company in the shed because he, Philip, enjoys his stay, something that I think is in character with Edward as he doesn't always think of himself first.
I think there could at least be an episode building up towards Henry leaving for those who may not have been aware of this change. I remember some people in the fandom were trying to make an episode themselves of their own. I don't think the writers had a thought in mind for Henry's departure since, before this iteration became a thing, it was only planned that Edward was to leave the sheds with Rebecca as the replacement engine and the show would've likely carried out as normal like it did in S21.
Ian McCue had mentioned that through an email to ThomasFan2002 back in 2021. I remember hearing from ThomasTankMerch back in 2018 that they'd scrapped the usual tent pole DVD release (e.g - Dinos and Discoveries, Extraordinary Engines etc.) due to BWBA and very likely Rebecca may've been planned as the exclusive character for that release. One of the Thomas magazines from the UK had mentioned that Rebecca had met Thomas on the mainland, very likely she was planned to appear in Journey Beyond Sodor as lead up and would then make her episode debut later on before the idea was dropped, this is just my theory of what could've been planned as eight episodes have been scrapped from S21 to accommodate the production of this iteration to be on schedule thanks to 'The Adventure Begins' being a last minute thing in 2014.
I also think the writers can't think of a different story to make for Henry because whenever I try to think of one it would usually end up being almost the same as Edward's. I think maybe 'Super Rescue' could've been a good choice, but you have to make new changes to avoid continuity from the book in order to not contradict all the stories that had happened in S3, but still keep parts of the original in tact. But you can have Bear being the only goods diesel to take trucks on the mainland after D199 was sent away for his rude behaviour and that's where Henry decides to stay at Vicarstown to help with the extra workload. I don't know if a story like that could work in the same running format as Big World though.
I also think Henry does work as a hypochondriac, an engine who is afraid of getting sick, the chicken pox episode could've furthered with that to at least give Henry a reason apart from being scared of something unknown. He had history of being ill due to his old shape and I think that should've been added further after his new shape. I also think his scaredy persona can work because the chickenpox episode showcase of him being scared of something that he had never experienced since he's an engine as well as an abominable snowman.
You could make stories with those traits. I know not everyone likes Henry as that and would want him as he was in the classic series because that was what they grew up with and while I do like Henry's original persona, he just comes off as a fusion between Gordon and James to me. The traits that he was given in the CGI series, at least what the Brenner/McCue era had given us, made him more standout as a character. But because they wanted more female engines, and let's be honest here the show has a gender imbalance, so they went with what we got.
I remember people were saying that the episode was making fun of the fandom and I always thought it was just some people having a wild imagination but TheGermanofSodor had told me that Brenner wrote this with the fandom in mind because of all the criticism the show was getting at the time and while I think there are legit things to complain about there had been complaints like characters such as Duck for example being used as 'fan service' or something so minimal. I've seen people on twitter complaining about the smallest thing from the show that makes them go mad for some reason, once someone said they were livid that two episodes from S11 used the same clip twice, I mean it's stock footage of course they're going to use if it makes sense.
And to be fair, some people of the fandom, not trying to generalise here, have reacted to change almost similar to Gordon, especially with BWBA and 'All Engines Go!' too. I can understand of being annoyed with criticism too with my videos, though there had been some legit ones that I do take into account, but some criticism that I'd gotten in the past had never really shown me how to improve and some would come off as a snide remark just so they can get a reaction out of me, probably, for some, because I said something bad about something they like, even though I have the right of an opinion to say that it was regardless, wasn't even attacking them for liking it too. If you can't handle someone not liking the same thing as you then you should not be on the internet, I had my share of that too in the past.
Though some criticisms that I'd gotten had been scathing and mean spirited, with no word on how it should be made better, for something that I thought was good at first. Those people who do that have no idea that on the other side of the computer screen is another living, breathing, emotional, functional person who can take those words to heart. They would put words into other people's mouth as if they know better and would act like they're the morally righteous person and I down right despise them for it and even when you make amends, they never bother to show up and apologise for their horrible words they just cower away and stay quiet thinking it would all go away. I digress.
I still think the episode was made with the idea of a child struggling to accept change but the humour was added in because Mattel wanted the show to have more comedy but the idea of Andrew Brenner writing this with the fandom in mind is also a possibility.
Now onto the episode itself. I will say Gordon not liking the idea of Edward leaving the sheds is a bit strange as he's not usually fond of him in past episodes. 'Old Reliable Edward' from S18 is an example of that. Perhaps Percy could've been a better choice since he had a more childlike character or maybe James since he and Edward had been often paired in the past.
Though Gordon not handling or agree with the idea of change is a part of his character. It was shown in 'Tenders for Henry' from the book 'Enterprising Engines' and in other books too such as where he had expressed his disdain towards modernity, take a look at 'Gordon's Fire Service' in 'Thomas & His Friends' or towards the idea of the speed of high speed trains in 'Gordon the High Speed Engine'. But of course his behaviour in those stories is not the same as shown in the episode but it is a part of his character. Perhaps instead of the fantasy sequence that is just Gordon's wacky version of the Fat Controller making changes, maybe the engines share some flashbacks of Gordon not liking changes, they can be made up or maybe sneak the references that I'd made in for the older fandom, from the other engines and young kids today with the likes of YouTube might now about the stories that I had mentioned thanks to the fandom making remakes of them in Trainz. The fantasy sequence as shown in this episode was just pointless filler.
Perhaps how this episode should've been written is that maybe Gordon was acting all grumpy and cross and kept his reason of it being Edward moving out a secret because he doesn't want to share his feelings. But with him bottling them up he was acting up and getting cross and taking it out on Nia for being the cause of his terrible behaviour but would later on admit to everyone that he was sad that Edward had left because despite being terrible to him in the past, he had always admire Edward for who he is deep down, add in some references from past episodes to further his admiration, and Nia expresses the same feeling about missing one's friend since she had moved from Africa. It would give the two a deeper connection to each other and it would give kids the message that bottling up your emotions is a bad unhealthy thing and that maybe you should talk to someone who can understand your feelings. Sure there won't be a usual Thomas outro to showcase a different episode having the same moral message but this is more in a way of not having that in mind.
Talking about Nia, I never really see her scene talking to Gordon about the changes she was going through as something as she had it worse. It comes off more as her saying that she too can understand Gordon's sadness, despite some differences but that no matter how far or near they are, her friends are still her friends no matter what. She wasn't scolding him or telling him off, she came off as reassuring and respectful towards Gordon and his feelings, at least that's how I see it. The scolding came off more from the Fat Controller and I wish he understood Gordon's feelings too since Gordon has the right to feel upset. The ending though could've been better, after Gordon and Nia became friends. As Gordon being scared of Rebecca's foreshadowing came off as rather forceful for the sake of comedy. Perhaps have Gordon being shocked but then remembers that changes do happen and it's not something to be scared of and he puffs off feeling happy.
I wouldn't be surprised though if there was a different ending planned, don't take my word for it as it's just a theory. Lee Pressman had said in an interview once that the ending from 'Who's Geoffrey' was not his idea, when Thomas randomly crashed into some bouncy balls after leaving Henry's tunnel.
I don't think the episode was bad as some people say it is, and not I'm saying that I like it myself, but it could've been better. However, I'm glad that this wasn't Andrew Brenner's final contribution to Thomas, that would come much later.
Rating: 5/10
THOMAS & THE DRAGON
Written by
Davey Moore
I loved this story when it first came and I still do. I do like how Davey Moore was showing Chinese culture while a story was woven around it to make it entertaining. When this episode first aired I was surprised to learn that the Lion is a symbol of good luck as well it eating the lettuce and scattering leaves is a way of spreading good luck. As a kid who grew up in a town with a Chinese population, I always thought the lion was just another dragon. Even at an older age it's still fun to learn things that expands your way of thinking, especially when it comes to different cultures instead of shielding it off because you don't like them or because some think it's 'politically correct', learning new things isn't just for schools you know. I vaguely remember some people having a problem with Thomas being scared of a dragon because he did it to Percy in the original series' third season but I don't really see the problem with it since Thomas can be frighten himself, we've seen that with 'Ghost Train' in S2 because of his arrogance about not being scared.
Thomas may've tricked Percy with a dragon but that doesn't mean he can't be scared by the idea of one being real. I do remember some people having a problem with Thomas playing as if he was some 'dumb tourist' but they never really bother saying on what should be improved on that. It makes sense for Thomas not knowing everything about another country because he was suppose to LEARN about other cultures since he lived on Sodor for all his life and the only other country outside of Sodor he had ever been too was the UK prior to BWBA. If you have Thomas going to know everything about said country in the show then those same people who have the problem of the former would probably say that maybe Thomas was being preachy or something.
I also like how the fantasy sequence was used in this episode, it never came off as pointless filler like the last two episodes. It felt part of the story with Thomas' fear of this dragon. I still get a chuckle out of the idea that Thomas thought the chicken was talking to him when really it was Hong-Mei, this is funnier than all of the lousy, cheap, boring puns that Percy was making in 'All Engines Go!' that we are forced to think it's funny. I also like Yong Bao in this episode he came off as something with knowledge while also being playful, kind of like Edward and even when Thomas rejected his offer of taking the dragon, he took in stride.
Maybe to some they may've used a generic dragon because that's how some associate Lunar New Year but I do like how they were using the fire dragon, one of the elements, and that the last time it was used was back in 1976 and with Ian McCue setting Thomas in a 50's-70's timeline during the original series run it actually fits. Even if they hadn't thought of that I do love the little detail. A firm favourite of the season.
Rating: 10/10
CONFUSION WITHOUT DELAY
Written by
Davey Moore
Considering this was intended to be for S21 before moving it to see this season and have to be rewritten to fit within BWBA's restricted time frame, I wonder what the episode was going to be like as originally written? I guess we'll never know. Anyway, I remember some people saying Rebecca doesn't have character but from watching this episode she DOES have character, one of which is her being anxious. She was trying so hard to fit in after hearing all about the other engines and what they've done such as taking part of The Great Railway Show or being fast and strong, everything. Something that I think many kids can relate too. Isn't that a flaw that people wanted? But then again I've seen people not liking the idea of a character like Emily having flaws, her bossy persona in S8 is one, because she was 'dumb' and 'unpleasant', despite the fact that engines like Gordon, Henry and James were the same as well.
I've always seen some people, some who may've been telling people to move on their 'AEG hate' but yet can't get over BWBA, saying that Rebecca and Nia were placed in to please feminists and that they, the critics, think that because they are females they're suppose to have no flaws because they want them to be better than males. But here Rebecca has flaws for being anxious, wanting to fit in and getting a bit ahead of herself and from what I remember men also have that trait too so I don't see that as any superiority from one's gender and if those aren't flaws then I don't know what it is.
If anything having her replace Henry with those traits is something I think is what that fans would want because it means Henry could at least retain his original character that they so desire. Sure people didn't want Henry to be replaced but I don't think Mattel nor Jam Filled would want to add extra berths which means remaking the entire yard at Tidmouth to accommodate them because they have a budget to keep. It makes more financial sense to move Henry out and besides the reason they'd removed him is because he wasn't marketable nor easy to write for, especially when it comes to keep Henry in character the way Awdry had done. Take a look at 'Henry Gets the Express' and 'Henry in the Dark', fine episodes but they weren't making Henry that much of a great character in my opinion. He just comes off as a little generic to me.
Perhaps more would've been done had this gone through the production of S21. There are some things from watching this episode that felt like it could've been expanded upon such as Flying Scotsman, maybe Rebecca had heard of him and his record runs and that enhances her anxiety. Gordon, perhaps in the original script, he might've not accepted the idea of Rebecca being in the same berth as Edward as he had done more than whatever she could and when she came into Gordon's defence and had praised him when Scotsman kept calling him 'little brother', he could see just how good Rebecca can be and that maybe he was hard on her and apologises for his behaviour.
This is just my theory of what might've been. Speaking of S21, I can see some elements from that season kept in such as the Fat Controller gags with him stopping Winston, being bumped by Rebecca and trying to say 'Confusion and Delay' despite that Rebecca had not caused any delay. Even the joke of Rebecca and Diesel calling each other by the sentences they said to each other feels like something out from S21. I also feel that her persona description that we see on the Wikia was what she was suppose to be in S21 too and maybe we might've gotten more episodes to help her expand or maybe not since a character like Porter showed that he was perfectionist but we'd never really gotten any episode focusing on that.
While I think the episode was great I also think things should've been expanded upon but I can understand why they have to scale it down because it has to fit in with the Thomas intro and outro and song and that Henry moving out of the shed and Nia had to be added in as a reminder. But one thing that we got out from this episode was that Rebecca had character and I feel her hate has been so forced because she'd replaced Henry.
Rating: 6/10
TRUSTY TRUNKY
Written by
Becky Overton
I seem to remember some people not liking the episodes set in India, I did as well storywise, but from looking with fresh eyes, episodes I'd really enjoyed this one especially with some of stuff about India like how the railways are busy, even though they're not the busiest in actual fact but I think its Rajiv embellishing things to make himself look good in front of Thomas since it is his character to be full of self importance because of his crown. I have seen the usual complains that the show was full of stereotyping but when it comes to things like animals, there are wild chickens and goats roaming around India and some can be seen near railway lines, unfortunately they would get killed and it had happened to some elephants in recent years sadly.
The things that are considered as borderline stereotypes in India are things like Apu's 'Thank you come again' quote from The Simpsons, people living in poverty or not speaking good English, the country being covered in dirt, they only eat curry and so. Those things are what a stereotype is and yes while the Indian episodes had showcased locations in dirt they also showcased palaces and forests so the layouts are pretty quite diverse. Even the cow that Ashima waited to wake up was nice and respectful as it teaches kids about how sacred they are in the Hindu community. Considering that the United Nations were part in all of this to help shape the stories and all, I believe much care was taken to not cause any racial offence, even though the UN aren't perfect themselves.
I also like how they've taken something that was real railway practice in India. Elephants have shunted trucks and coaches so research was made by the production team and we kind of seen some growth from Thomas learning about with him saying 'Elephants can't shunt trucks' showing his disdain towards the idea of such thing because he himself had never experienced it.
Even the fantasy sequence had some purpose with it providing set up for Thomas' derailment and seeing that Elephants can shunt. You can call them unrealistic or pointless and for the latter there maybe some, but some do actually provide purpose and comedy since it's a fantasy and the comedy of these sequences is funnier than whatever 'All Engines Go!' was trying to make and you know my reason why.
I know some people had a problem with the elephant shoving Thomas back onto the track with its butt for comedy and I remember that causing a frenzy to some people. Yes Thomas isn't the show were there is crass jokes but then again I remember someone in the fandom making a stupid little video of Madge covered in mud, from 'Wash Behind Your Buffers' from S11, and when she blew out some mud that was caught in her exhaust pipe they'd placed in a farting sound effect and yet I don't recall seeing the fandom getting up in arms about it because they'll just say 'it's a joke!' but yet when this episode did something crass they blow up about it acting as if they are morally superior in some way and besides when we were young we would've laughed at fart jokes and grose out humour like Shrek for example. I'm not saying that butt shove was great, I'm just saying that some people in the fandom should stop being two faced for once.
I also love how diverse the personalities of the Indian engines in just a few minutes. Rajiv was stuck up and full of self importance, Noor Jehan was straight forward and would deflate Rajiv's ego and Shankar who is serious about his work and a no nonsense engine and as I said before, they have more personality than characters like Kana or Carly in AEG even if it is just for a few seconds.
Rating: 8/10
WHAT REBECCA DOES
Written by
Davey Moore
Though maybe if the story were to improve here I would go with her being a big engine that can travel on branch lines. Bring up references to 'The Wrong Road' and have Gordon bringing up the idea of branch lines being vulgar because he was annoyed that he couldn't go down one himself due to his weight and has to wait for Edward to bring them and he said to Rebecca that she can't go down there because she's the same as him, which made her feel sad that Gordon doesn't see her as special, perhaps she fears about going down the branch line because the bridges will crumble and when she got on there for whatever reason that may be, she found out that Gordon was wrong and that she is special. Sure it would contradict that times Gordon was seen down at the docks on Edward's line but it still works for plot reasons.
I do like this episode even though I think there could've been better ways plot wise.
Rating: 7/10
THOMAS GOES TO BOLLYWOOD
Written by
Becky Overton
I remember not being a big fan of this episode when it came out in 2018 and after re-watching it again it's still not a firm favourite. I think what could've been better if it was about Thomas wanting to be part of the film but wasn't needed for it as they already have Rajiv for the role and was to help delivering things to and from the set. Thomas thinks it would've been more useful if he was in the movie for whatever reason but eventually he found that helping out on set is in fact more useful, perhaps for the climax the director ran out of film reels and they need it for the massive climatic part of the film, since it was an action movie and Thomas had to go all the way to the place that houses them. Perhaps to make it more exciting is that the director has to meet the deadline of the film's completion on the day they were filming the climax. It would've been a more straight forward story with the message that the people behind the scenes are the real heroes because without them, movies would never be possible. The whole hero moral that Thomas was telling to the audience would've made at least more sense.
I can see this episode was trying to make that message but it just feels a little jumbled, especially with Thomas thinking the Bollywood actor was about to hurt himself like it just feels out of nowhere offering no build up to it and not to mention the story felt more like about Thomas was trying to act. The way that I think it could've been improved could've at least be the story itself. It wasn't a bad episode but it just could've been better. Though I still had a laugh that Thomas wanting to be in a film because ironically in real life he was in a film about a magic railroad but it was flop.
Rating: 5/10
SAMSON & THE FIREWORKS
Written by
Lee Pressman
I still think it was a crying shame that this episode was suppose to be for Oliver in S21 and was instead given to Samson. Ever since he was brought back to the show in 2014, Oliver never had an episode devoted to himself and most of the episodes he was in were mostly focused on Toad the brake van and he was sometimes second fiddle. It would've been nice to have at least seen Oliver being focused upon. The last time he had a lead role was way back in S7 which now nearly 25 years old! We may never know what the original script was to obtain when it comes to Oliver's reason, it could very likely be the time that he was nearly scrapped on the mainland or maybe it could've been like Samson scared because it was loud. I would've been interesting to know why Samson was chosen instead of Oliver as planned?
Perhaps if someone gets in contact with Lee Pressman that would be nice but despite that I also think it was a bit of a blessing in disguise because most episodes that were focused upon Samson previously had made him one note with his arrogance and stupidity. It's actually nice that we Samson in a different light even though it could've worked for any other engine, I was thinking Toby might've been a good choice. Sure not everyone would like his cowardice persona but it can at least work in this episode since Toby is made of wood and the idea came from the memory of reading this magazine story about it that when I was young. But it was nice that we got something different to Samson instead of leaving him as some one note character. The same can be said about Bradford and as much as I love him as an overzealous, rule abiding brake van I think it was nice to see him comforting Samson and helping him out as well.
I can see some elements of S21 scattering around in this episode which was Cyril the Fogman coming in and out of the fog mysteriously when he was talking about the detonators and Samson's driver playing the harmonica as time passed on which annoyed Bradford.
Though the episode has some faults. Of course Thomas' fantasy sequence of being a rocket felt pointless to add in as it bares no importance whatsoever but I understand it was mandatory to add it in for the show. While Samson's use was great I think any engine would've filled the role just the same but with different reasons in mind. With Oliver it would've very likely been his fear of being scrapped with the flames and bangs and the sparklers, if the original idea was suppose to be a Guy Fawkes night episode. But then again many kids don't like fireworks because they are too loud and scary and I do have memory of being like that until I'd faced my fear as I got older.
Henry could've gotten the lead role and I think he too would fear that a spark might fall on him or possibly Diesel with his fear that a spark might get into his fuel tank. But it was still a good episode nonetheless.
Rating: 7/10
RUNAWAY TRUCK
Written by
Davey Moore
I really don't see much fault in this episode and I don't see what needs to be improved upon. Yes I know Lei's derailment is quite unrealistic and I know some fans don't like that but there are some fans who aren't even bothered by Gordon smashing into a wagon in 'Bye George' that flew up into the sky when, looking at the S5 rushes, there are better ways to show it without the need of something stupid but when BWBA does something unrealistic for the sake of good storytelling it's bad for some reason, I seem to remember someone saying that years ago over Lost Treasure.
'Runaway Truck' was a solid story.
Rating: 10/10
ROSIE IS RED
Written by
Davey Moore
I'll never forget when this episode first aired in Italy in 2018, some people in this fandom had lost their absolute minds that there was an episode focusing on Thomas and Rosie focusing on Valentines Day because an episode focusing on love equals to shipping. My god I remember someone posting the promo picture on twitter years ago saying things like 'disgusting'. Looking back it was just ridiculous and the fandom's hatred of shipping Thomas characters is just making them look stupid as it's not harming anyone nor the show itself. I'm not a fan of it because it doesn't make much sense to me but I'm not going to go round and tell people who do enjoy to stop it when only they're just doing is having fun. It's a weird stigma that still resonates with some people in the fandom today and they need to get over it.
However just because the episode focused on romance does not mean that the engines don't know what love and it can mean more than something romantic. In previous episodes of the original series we had things stating to us Thomas LOVES his branch line and LOVES his two coaches. We've also seen the engines CARING about each other regardless of who they are for their wellbeing which is sign of love whether it's romantic or platonically. Rev.W.Awdry had stated in 'The Thomas the Tank Engine Man' documentary that his engines have human characteristics and I remember some people were saying 'but they're not actual humans'. Yes they're not humans but the man said characteristics meaning they have traits like a human being. The excuses to downgrade this episode at the time for its theming was just ridiculous.
As for the episode itself, I still think it is one of the best episodes we had this season. The teasing that Thomas was getting as well as avoiding Rosie because of it is something that kids actually do when they see someone liking another person and I should know because I had experience going through back in my primary school days, it wasn't fun but the person that I like is still good friends with me to this day. So this episode was something that relate too. The fantasy sequence was funny even the transition of the Fat Controller going at super sonic speed from Thomas to Rosie when he was telling them to go to Vicarstown.
It was a sweet episode too with the Fat Controller going through such effort to please his wife and express his love towards her and I think if the episode had a longer running time perhaps we would've seen a subplot of him getting things ready for it and avoiding his wife so as the surprise won't be spoiled. Another solid episode from Davey Moore. Man it made me miss his writing style for the original series after watching this. One of the best things he had done was pairing up characters that we never thought who had good chemistry together.
Rating: 10/10
THOMAS IN THE WILD
Written by
Davey Moore
In production order 'Thomas' Animal Ark' comes after 'Rosie is Red', according to the Thomas wiki, but for some reason Amazon Prime Australia placed this episode instead as the 11th episode so I'm going with that.
While I think the China episodes were actually top tier, this one however is probably one of my least favourites. While yes it was a way to show kids about the rare animals of China, the episode was basically Thomas stopping and going while finding a Panda. Perhaps to make this episode more exciting is that maybe one of the Panda's from the nature reserve had gone missing and that they got to find it while Thomas wanted to go and see one. It could be good for Thomas to understand why they're endangered, perhaps you could have Thomas misunderstanding the word 'endangered' to 'danger' thinking the Panda might be scary, sure it might be the same as 'Thomas & the Dragon' but it is under different circumstance and Thomas would've at least deserved himself to see the Panda and its cubs compare to what we have in the episode because he'd saved them from harm.
Maybe during their exploration of finding the missing Panda, they'd found traps lying around the wild by hunters, enhancing the endanger message and why Pandas have to be protected at the nature reserve. Panda's aren't hunted today but they can still be captured by accident. It can still fit with the Thomas moral of the day segment over an episode that shares the similar moral about looking for someone's safety, perhaps Thomas recounts his attempt at rescuing James in 'The Adventure Begins'?
The episode we have however wasn't really that entertaining but I do like how they were teaching kids about the Panda bears as well as the other animals of the country. I really didn't think Thomas deserved to see the Pandas because he hadn't done anything to see them, apart from taking the film crew to film them. Though I can understand the excitement of them in the wild, it's the same as how I felt when I saw a wild Koala in the bush here in Australia, and they're endangered too. Most of the time I've seen them in zoos that I had visited over the years.
The fantasy sequence though gave me a chuckle, ironic how they are much funnier than any of All Engines Go's attempt at humour, and I feel it fits well into the story with Thomas picturing this giant black and white teddy bear since he had never seen one. The panda cub were adorable too but I think the episode could've been better if it was about them finding a lost one in the wild before it would get in trouble to enhance the reason why they're an endangered animals and while watching the episode, I do like it how the countryside is like bamboo forest, which are a real thing in China.
While there are some nice things about this episode, it could've been better.
Rating: 5/10
THOMAS' ANIMAL ARK
Written by
Lee Pressman
The idea of animals staying in an engine shed to keep warm is unrealistic because they would likely suffocate from the intense heat of the engines' steam but of course it works plot wise because we had Percy wanting the animals to stay the sheds and because of the large snowdrift blocking the way to Crovans Gate.
The Rev.W.Awdry has created his stories with the idea of adding railway realism, although he had taken some creative license for some unrealistic stuff as well such as Henry stopping by himself in the tunnel so he can be bricked up to learn a lesson about thinking of himself above others or Thomas, being a tank engine built for shunting purposes, taking trucks along the main line so they can push him down the hill so he can learn his lesson that he should've listened to Edward's advice. All that was done because it works to keep the story moving forwards and to help with the plot points overall.
I'd mentioned that because when this episode first aired the old Topham Hatt role playing twitter account bad mouthed the episode for that but, as I said this for years, the show had thrown out railway realism since the fifth series and there had been plenty of episodes that fans over the years call their favourites with very unrealistic scenarios such as 'Rusty and the Boulder' or 'Toby and the Flood' even if they throw excuses that they were done to showcase something when they also claim to care for railway realism. But besides that I do enjoy the episode and considering this was intended to be a S21 episode, most likely one of the episodes that were axed by Jam Filled due to accommodating this iteration's production thanks to 'The Adventure Begins', I wonder what the original script had before they'd cut it down to size to fit in this season's run time. I do believe the fantasy sequence would've made it in because it felt natural with Thomas trying to think and that the humour of it all feels like something from S21.
Talking of which you can tell that this episode was from S21 with its Fat Controller gags such as him thinking the Steamworks would be a great place for animals to keep warm despite Henry suggesting the same thing before he thought of it as well as the ostrich taking his top hat as well. I'll say this again and I bet I can sense the eyes rolling here but the original series' attempt at humour is much better in comparison to AEG's. The humour is a bit slapstick but it's not as cartoony as AEG's it respected the world of Thomas by keeping some of the weight of the characters to make them feel heavy, to an extent, we've seen that with Winston in Rebecca's debut episode and there was no need for every episode or two to give us a pun joke that we're suppose to find funny.
James' lines in this episode gave me a chuckle when he was being annoyed by an ostrich and having to baby sit the egg. Much better than Percy saying 'What happens when a train sniffs a flower. Ah-Ah choo choo train.' We had something like from Day of the Diesels and even that was lame but for some reason it's suppose be funny because they want it to be.
The episode itself was nice and serves a good message that even at Christmas we should share the goodwill to everyone and that includes the animals. It was a lovely story and one that I see coming from a book, perhaps from the likes of those mini books by Christopher Awdry back in the 90's, perhaps with a more realistic setting but then again we had a story where Thomas' driver had a birthday party in an engine shed. Even James being gushed by the baby ostrich was cute and I have a feeling maybe that was planned in the S21 script before they had to shorten it.
Rating: 9/10
THOMAS AND THE MONKEY PALACE
Written by
Becky Overton
One I'd noticed in this episode without realising the first time was Thomas being depicted is kind of like the way Awdry had depicted him in an interview for Good Morning Britain sometime in the early 90's where he said that Thomas is like an eternal child as quoted:
"Thomas is the eternal child! Thomas is given a prohibition; naturally, as all children do when they're told not to do something, they want to know why and they find out why by doing it."
Thomas was curious to know about the monkey palace and had asked Rajiv about it. Rajiv told him not to go there because it is riddled with cheeky monkeys and once tried to steal his crown, potential foreshadowing maybe, and Thomas ended up going there anyway, even though before and after he met Rajiv he was putting his duties first which shows some character growth from him. It's interesting to note that the palace is based on Galtaji, according to the Thomas wiki, that is inhabited with monkeys today! So it's good to see the show giving the countries some accuracies despite there aren't actual rail lines to the palace in real life. It was also a nice addition to show kids that they're also provide coconuts as well as selling them as drinks too.
But then again, the show had thrown all of that out since the 5th season. When I first saw this episode I thought it wasn't that great but after watching it again with fresh eyes and without the nagging of the show's critics, I actually enjoyed it. I love Thomas' character in the episode a blend of his younger, curious self but with some of his growth such as him trying to put his own job first. It also gives off the message about misconception, without having the need of telling the audience that the monkeys were nice and friendly and helpful, although in real life some monkey can be trouble and there had been stories of them stealing stuff from tourists or throwing rocks at them. But even so it's a good message and something that some people need to learn about in this day and age.
The fantasy sequence was funny and while I don't it serves for anything other than Thomas having a funny thought. I think the fandom, as well as myself, had really underestimated the India episodes.
Rating: 8/10
AN ENGINE OF MANY COLOURS
Written by
Michael White
I remember liking this episode when it came out and it was because on how the way the fantasy sequences were utilised as part of the plot rather than, some, being there for the sake of there. It still a stand out episode for doing that, despite me saying before that some of the fantasy sequences have serve some progression to the story like Thomas embellishing himself in front of An-An and Ying Yong or Thomas thinking about Elephants running the railway so he could derail himself or Thomas thinking of himself as a hero when trying to save Lei but in reality he just derailed him.
The fantasy sequences in this episode help serve to James' character progression for not showing off though while I like that Michael White snuck in a reference to 'James and the Coaches' when the Fat Controller threatened to take away his red coat and have him painted blue, I think maybe you can showcase that with the Fat Controller being angry at James and giving him the same threat. You don't need to say it'd happened a long time ago you can just do it and it can work both ways.
Younger fans can see it as the usual and older fans will get the reference as well. I would usually say that young kids back then and even today would not get the older series references due to lack of access to the older material but when I was thinking over 'Thomas and the Royal Engine' and the reference to 'Gordon Goes Foreign' I realised that in this day and age kids to have access to the older stuff, depending on location, whether it's official or fan made material.
Before Mattel, despite rightfully, deleted ThomasClassicsHD's channel, there had been multiple uploads of classic series content for all to see. There's also access to the original episodes from S1-7 on Amazon Prime in the UK and US, sadly as of writing this post Australia's Prime doesn't have them yet. I have them on DVD, this is why physical media and streaming should co-exist, but I can't say the same for those who don't. Australia I think has the worst access to older content in comparison to the UK, US and Japan. Though I think Mattel should do more with their classic series content than just streaming especially in the US since their last compilation release of a Thomas series was back in 2004!
But I digress, while I don't many kids would be interested in seeing episodes of model trains running around they might at least know where the reference of James threatened of being painted blue had come from. The same can be said about the other references that were made from S17 onwards.
I remember, as well as other members of the fandom, thinking that this was one of the discarded S21 episodes to make way for BWBA's production thanks to 'The Adventure Begins' being a last minute addition. But Michael White later confirmed when he was on twitter that it wasn't. But despite that I think it would work well with S21, especially how comedic things were in that season. Even the fantasy sequences from this episode would work well in S21.
Though the dreams were a bit repetitive it at least it'd helped with James' progression in this episode and I thought it was quite ironic that Gordon and Spencer told James to stop showing off despite that those two characters have a history of showing off themselves. It gave me a good chuckle when watching the episode. I think the episode was good. I also think how the way the dream sequences for the colours green and silver were used as well with James seeing Henry passing by from the window for the green and the camera panning towards the moon for silver. I really don't see that much of improvement expect for the classic series reference. It was a good episode and a stand out to this season.
Rating: 10/10
OUTBACK THOMAS
Written by
Tim Bain
I will say this as an Aussie myself I love Shane and he's pretty much any Aussie that you might see in this country. Sure not everyone in Australia may be like him but there are some who are like him. Boisterous, a joker and laid back kind of reminds me of the late Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter. I also like how he called Thomas 'Thommo' which is a diminutive we do in Australia where we end things with 'o', 'ie' or 'a' etc. such as 'Maccas' and you can find them being called that in some parts of Australia. I know one in Melbourne, Victoria that calls it that heck we call ourselves 'Aussies'. Not everyone says words that way but Shane represents those people who do and the other Aussie characters are different to him. While I am all for for positive media representation, I think representing people one way can be a problem because everyone is different.
I don't really think that is stereotyping the way some people in the fandom depict the show, I mean the episode was written by an actual Australian himself. If you want to have a negative Aussie stereotype then you would want someone who swears like a sailor, a drunk, a chain smoker, uneducated, racist as hell, yells at the TV every weekend while watching the football, whether it's AFL or NRL (National Rugby League), wears a tank top in an unflattering way, mullet hair and who speaks so much slang that it sounds like a different language to those who don't get it.
Shane's not really any of those, as of course it is a kids show. In fact neither any of the international characters are a negative stereotype after watching these episodes. Sure Shane's actual basis doesn't live in the outback as his basis is from South Australia but his basis did make trips to Port Pirie which is the gateway to the Flinders Ranges and the Outback in South Australia, so it's almost accurate. The outback is not one place, it is a vast landscape.
I'm surprised that the Thomas fandom hadn't said that Stanley from 'Duke the Lost Engine' was an negative American stereotype for being cocky, arrogant and rude for how the way he's been depicted.
I also remember someone saying Shane's livery is a stereotype because it's green and gold which is our national colour which represent our natural greens and minerals and beaches for the gold but the one thing that they'd either forgotten or deliberately left out is that Shane's actual basis is painted in those colours as show in the Port Pirie photo that I'd shared. Hell 3801, Australia's most famous steam locomotive, has the same colours as well! It seems some people would throw that word around to try and make BWBA look bad without understanding the context of it all.
I also remember hearing from someone that Shane being called that name is a stereotype and that made me facepalm for a bit. Shane would've likely been given that name for two reasons. One because of his voice actor Shane Jacobson, an Australian actor and two, and I believe it would've been the very likely reason, he was named after the late Australian cricketer Shane Warne who is a familiar name for people in countries where the game cricket is big, the UK included. But Shane is a moderately common name you would find in any country in this day and age such as Australia, New Zealand, America, the UK, Canada, the Caribbean etc.
I also think that there is nothing wrong with the outback being used. It may not be like Sydney in New South Wales or Melbourne in Victoria but the outback is part of Australia and is one of things that many people know about thanks to years of advertising it to international travellers. I'm also not offended by how the way it looks in the show as well. Parts of the outback is like that with trees, some green and mountains. Uluru made an appearance as well, given that it is one of Australia's most well known landmarks, despite no actual railway lines being near it but the show was never that railway accurate since S5.
I think in terms of storytelling the Australian outback provides a better range of things and I think there might be limits on what you can do in just say just Sydney and Melbourne. The outback has animals, which is something that the show was pushing with for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, and ,on some occasions, cyclones. If you just have Thomas in those two capital cities you won't have much, in context on what BWBA was trying to push.
Sure you have those Australian Football League (AFL) shorts set in Melbourne that were uploaded to the official YouTube channel, but I don't think the AFL would do much for the UN's goals especially when it comes to Sustainable Cities goal though maybe Goal number 5 when it comes men and women playing the game. Though I don't think Mattel nor Jam Filled at the time might want to fork in more money to create sets and assets for one city that would just appear in one episode. The only other place that Thomas had visited that wasn't the outback was Kuranda in Queensland for its rain forest setting.
I know not everyone is going to see the same thing as me but I'm just putting it out there as an Australian myself and as an individual. Not many Hispanic-Americans were offended by Speedy Gonzales from Looney Tunes, despite Warner Brothers' worry, but I believe there are some who maybe offended and that's OK. People are allowed to express themselves how they feel over something they like or don't like.
Now with all that out of the way I think the episode was good. We were introduced to Shane and we got to know his personality well as well as Aubrey and Aiden we see them as sensible coaches with humour as well and I do like the friendly teasing they gave to Thomas it really reminds me of the friendly teasing between us and the British whether it comes to sport or just in everyday life, even if Thomas doesn't like it. However I think if the episode had more breathing room we could at least see Thomas wanting to be like Shane and wants to do the tours of the outback on his own but Shane told Thomas that he can't because the outback can be dangerous if he gets lost and doesn't know the route and that he had only just came to Australia so it's best to leave it to Shane and that way it could transition to Thomas taking the tour train while Shane was away, perhaps a reason could've been given instead of him not being there to pull the train is just because. Like maybe he was called away to collect iron ore since South Australia has that mineral amongst others there to mine.
I do love the Kylie Minogue reference, 'Queen Kylie', since she is popular to people in Australia and the UK. I don't think many Americans would know who she is she but she had some success there. I remember betting on a reference to her considering how popular she is in those countries.
I also like Thomas' character here, very Awdry like. Sure the story is not what you see in the Railway Series but it's great how Tim Bain made him the way how Awdry sees Thomas as a character. He is like a child who wants to do something but he would find out why by doing it. I just wish he was warned by Shane, Aubrey and Aiden beforehand which would further increase Thomas' goal to be like Shane only to get his comeuppance in the end by taking the wrong track and putting his passengers in danger. Shane could've given Thomas a bit of a stern talk but not too harshly as he could see Thomas was sorry in the end.
This was a good episode but I wish it could've been better had the running time been a bit longer.
Rating: 7/10
SCHOOL OF DUCK
Written by
Lee Pressman
Considering we don't know what the last two dropped S21 episodes are, apart from the ones revealed by Ian McCue through email, I don't think this episode was one of the discarded scripts that was recycled for S22-24 as the episode has the theme about recycling, which is one of the UN goals that the show was using. But it does feel like something out from S21 such as Toby saying Henrietta was at the Steamworks in 'Hasty Hannah' or how they were using Duck of all characters as the main character when this could've been given to any engine from the steam team. I honestly see Rebecca having the lead role in the episode, perhaps her anxiousness for being late to pick up the children would've played a role while trying to find a coach. I do love Dexter his jovial, bubbly, happy, positive and not fussy character was enough to warm me up. Although I think his flaw could be him rushing engines about, as we've seen with Duck and that he could have too much energy when he's excited and we can see with Duck visually how he feels about him when watching the episode.
Mark Moraghan sounds like he was having a great time playing Dexter and at the time when BWBA first aired it was great hearing him again after they'd made Thomas the storyteller instead of him because the Thomas life lesson videos on YouTube were popular with kids, they'd also broadcasted them on PBS and Nick Jr in the US and UK too and had them as bonus features on the DVDs here and in the UK too. But I'm glad too that sometimes he would come back to do Thomas projects, we know he's doing a part for the 80th anniversary this year though we don't know what it is just yet.
However, as much as I love the episode, I think Duck realising that Dexter should be a temporary school classroom being the goal was kind of out of nowhere. Sure there was some build up from Rex talking about repairing things and reusing them as something different. Maybe it would've been different if it was about Duck trying to find something to reuse as a school classroom until the one at Harwick was fixed or you can have the same story but Duck finally gets some coaches, maybe Annie and Clarabel since Thomas had to collect some trucks, but when he took the children to Harwick, Daisy was sad that she would have to take them again since Duck might be busy the next day and the day after that and so on and that's when Duck realises that Dexter could be good use as that. Maybe it could've worked had the show still retain their usual running time from the previous season.
No disrespect to Lee Pressman, the man is an excellent writer and I love the stories that he had written for Thomas. It's just that Duck thinking of using Dexter as a temporary school classroom could've been done differently to make it as more natural outcome in my opinion.
Rating: 8/10
TIGER TROUBLE
Written by
Becky Overton
I like that Shankar has more character. We saw him as a no nonsense diesel engine but he has a heart as shown with his concern for tigers and not wanting them to be hunted. The hunters were typical evil bad guys that got their comeuppance but were alright all the same, it's a shame that some people who do hunt get away with it in real life. However I feel this story could've been focused on two characters, particularly Thomas and Shankar. Thomas did play a role in the episode but it didn't feel like it was an episode for him with the addition of Rajiv. Yes Thomas wanted to see a tiger but perhaps a better way to have him find a tiger is that maybe he could take the hunters without realising that's what they are? It can still work with just him and Shankar and you can have the hunters maybe trying to find the tigers themselves while Shankar thinks up of a plan to stop them.
Not only it provides a moral that hunting is bad but that you shouldn't listen to strangers no matter how dashing or good looking they are. I remember liking this episode out of the India episodes this season but now I feel that maybe it could've been better. It wasn't a bad or terrible episode just alright.
Rating: 4/10
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Written by
Andrew Brenner
And so we come to what is to be Andrew Brenner's final script for Thomas the Tank Engine unlike 'Forever and Ever' being the supposed 'final' contribution that some people in the fandom believe for some reason. One thing is this, SiF had said years ago that the reason Brenner left was because he was pursuing other projects away from the show, I know that one of them was a documentary about a writer who has autism. For some reason some of the fandom assumes that Brenner left because of the changes to show, which doesn't make any sense because Andrew Brenner was head writer for this season as well as for the next before it was revealed that David Stoten was his replacement for S24. If it was over the changes he would've left during its production. Sadly that story had been going round for nearly six years at this point and some people would rather believe that instantly for some reason and yet this is the same show that taught kids not to jump to conclusions or tell lies.
Before writing this post I had been re-watching this episode on Amazon Prime once or twice and while Percy's search for Merlin felt a little short, I do really like how he was depicted here. Percy has always been a naïve engine and we've seen that with the likes of signals, danger boards, fruit vans etc. this was also the case of how conceited he was too but Percy thinking he saw Merlin does play with the naïve trait with his childlike wonder that it gave me a good giggle when watching it.
The story also feels like something out of the Marvel comics that he wrote for Thomas between 1987-1992. Like the first half of the episode from the start to Percy fall a sleep at the sheds after his fantasy sequence moment feels like the first half of the story at the start of the magazine and the scene from when Percy was coupled up until the end felt like the stories you would find at the end. I know not everyone would have the same feeling because they never had those magazines, you can still find some on eBay if you're lucky that is if you're willing to pay what the seller is offering them for.
I also like the ending, even though the other engines knew that Merlin wasn't hiding, they didn't want to spoil Percy's happiness, despite trying to tell him the truth about it. It feels a lot like a kid saying they've seen something and would not back down from it because they actually believe like maybe Santa Claus. So it's best to leave it because it makes them feel very happy. You can debate all you want about whether it's right for parent to say whether a child should believe in something like Santa but if it makes them happy why bother them? As a kid myself I use to believe in Santa but as I got older I didn't have any meltdowns or told my parents off that they'd lied to me, like some people assume they would do. Some kids are different and they will react to it one day in whatever way possible but don't try and spoil it for other kids who do believe it.
I think this was a nice end to Andrew Brenner's contribution to Thomas. It's a shame that he had left the show since 2019 but I never expected him to stay for so long. This was a nice story.
Rating: 9/10
KANGAROO CHRISTMAS
Written by
Tim Bain
Before Bluey's two Christmas episodes in 2019 and 2020, this was the closet Australia had ever gotten to have a Christmas special for children that represent an Australian Christmas. I remember reading about it in an article around the time the episode had aired from the Australian Children's Television Foundation about how there wasn't many children show's made locally and with that never gotten the chance to showcase an Australian Christmas that could potentially be shown to kids around the globe.
I like Thomas had a culture shock moment after Shane told him that we celebrate in the summertime and to be honest Thomas' reaction to that information has some reality to it. One time, when I was in the US in early 2018 to see family, I was at a T-mobile store and the shop clerk asked me where I've come from. I told him Australia and he'd asked me if it's winter there too, and he wasn't joking around. No his surprise wasn't exactly like Thomas but there are some people around the world who are like that. It's thanks to this episode that it shows kids how different the world is.
However in reality an engine like Thomas or Shane, in this day and age, would never travel under their own steam during Australian summer as it is usually bushfire season and Australia is often dry that any spark can cause an inferno. Back in the days of steam however, when steam engines were working in public service, they would still carry on. So considering Ian McCue's timeline for the show is set around the 50's-70's I guess it's safe.
As for the episode I will say, for reality sake, Thomas' driver picking up a joey is not that easy as it can stressed from the handling and should be left to professionals who know how to handle them, perhaps Aubrey and Aiden try to tell Thomas' driver not to do it but he did it anyway. I wish the episode made that clear but I also understand that it was done for the sake of moving the plot along.
Perhaps you could have the mother kangaroo looking shocked that her baby is being held by Thomas' crew, after Isla led the mother Kangaroo to them, and was coming towards Thomas angrily, enough to scare them away, which could bring up the message that you mustn't do that because the kangaroo would think you're harming it. But once when the joey was all safe and sound, the mother kangaroo discarded the toy away and left with her real joey which would lead to the toy being given back to Madeline. However, it was a nice inclusion to teach kids that Kangaroo make clicking noises.
The episode was nice but I still think the ending was a bit strange while yes Thomas was sad that he doesn't get to celebrate Christmas the way he usually does it never really was the focus of it. Most of the episode was about Thomas chasing a Kangaroo and then we get the message that Christmas was about spending time with the ones you love.
Why not make a story about Thomas being homesick? You can have Shane and Isla trying to make it feel like home but to Thomas it isn't just the same, kind of like 'Daisy's Perfect Christmas' from S21. Maybe in the end Thomas met someone who was also faraway from home and is also feeling homesick but they manage to get use to it and they enjoy celebrating it with new friends while also bringing some of their old traditions with them, whatever that maybe. Sure it won't be inspired by the UN's Global Goals but you can still make one as something relevant to those who are homesick when it comes to Christmastime.
I do like the episode but I feel Thomas being cultured shocked and then later chasing a Kangaroo that was even relevant to the opening was a bit of a whiplash just so it could it fit the UN's global goal about life on land. It's not bad just that it could've been better.
Rating: 6/10
APOLOGY IMPOSSIBLE
Written by
Becky Overton
I remember the fandom hated this episode when it first aired and I remember not liking it too. It's your typical CG era James being a dick to an engine and he then get his comeuppance for it in the end. After watching this again for the first time since 2018 I will say the episode could've worked for someone like Diesel. We've seen him in 'Diesel and the Ducklings' from S20 acting a bit like James and it's consistent with his character from this era of the show. I also thought Gordon could've worked as well, as I did back in 2018. Give Philip a whole new perspective of him, the engine that he idolised with his usual boastful behaviour. I do like how Philip was able to stand up against him as well since in 'The Great Race' he was seen as a coward when going up against Vinnie. Though I think instead of Philip going back with the others why not try and push James back to his end? You can still have the same outcome and it would further enhance the moral message about standing up towards someone who is being rude or disrespectful to you.
I do I hate this episode still? All I can is is that it was meh. This episode could've been better if it were Diesel or Gordon instead of James because I think you can do better with them. We never saw Diesel and Philip interacting with each other, as far as I'm aware and as I said before with Gordon, it would give Philip a new perspective of him teaching kids that your heroes aren't always what they seem to be.
There are some good moments like, as I said earlier, Philip's character development and Paxton's comment during the fantasy sequence but it could've been better.
Rating: 3.5/10
THE WATER WHEEL
Written by
Davey Moore
I remember not being a fan of this episode because of the cartoony nature with the bamboo water wheel but I now understand why it was done like that so that Thomas can learn just how strong and light bamboo really is since he didn't think so highly of it at the start of the episode in comparison to the water wheel on his branch line. It also woven the UN goal about the importance of water since water is needed for the rice to grow. But you can also use that for steam engines as they need water and it's important for them because it helps to make the steam to make them move. I said that it should've been Hong-Mei focused episode and given her character traits that we've seen in her debut episode perhaps a heat wave had come across the China and there was a lack of water due to a drought and with that the steam engines have to stay in the shed but Hong-Mei doesn't want to stay in the shed she wants to be useful and, given her one track mindedness, says she has plenty of water but she then ran out of it and couldn't move and there was a lack of water in the nearby stream. But in the end rain clouds came and the rivers were filled and Hong-Mei had enough water to get home and learns just how important it is to her.
I do like them showcasing what things can be made out of bamboo, including a bike, which is real though not in the way that it was depicted in the episode. The fantasy sequence, while not important enough for the episode did give me a chuckle and at least Thomas leaping into the water was just a fantasy pre-All Engines Go! thing. I think the episode was alright, despite the cartoony nature but I understand why it was done like that now even though I think there are better ways to teach kids about the importance of water.
Rating: 6/10
HUNT THE TRUCK
Written by
Michael White
I remember people were theorising that BoCo was to make a return based on one image and probably because BoCo took their trucks in 'The Diseasel' from S2. But alas the big green diesel was still living in the land of obscurity Thomas characters since 1998. However despite that I still love this episode today as I did back in 2018. This is such a Bill and Ben episode with its entertaining premise and I feel everything fits in place well. The pacing was nice and flowing and the fantasy sequence added to something and I especially love as how it progressed the colour began to degrade to black and white representing the sadness of the joy being sucked out of the people within it.
I also love how Edward was depicted here with his way of teaching the twins a lesson about hiding trucks away from engines. I still think he works better as a secondary character compare to him being a main because we get things like this that we hadn't seen in years as being sarcastic towards the engines as a comeuppance is still a part of his character.
Edward is a great character but I strongly believe he can't hold a story all on his own because of his wise, mature, level headed persona and the only we ever get for Edward was him proving his worth and he's more of a plot device and its more of a Gordon or James centric story which is why I will always love 'A Shed for Edward' and consider it to be the best Edward focused episode because he is still in character but he managed to create things worse for himself. Say whatever you want about that episode but I'll take it any day over the likes of 'Edward Strikes Out'.
I also love it how Edward was interacting with Nia too despite she was the engine that replaced his berth in the sheds for the show, even though it was Edward's choice to do so. Nothing big but it's a little gem that I liked. I think out of all the episodes from this season this one is the best of them all and I had given some episodes from this a straight 10. Everything was great and I can't seem to find any problem with it. To be honest this could've been a S21 episode.
Rating: 10/10
CYCLONE THOMAS
Written by
Tim Baine
When watching this episode I realised that after all these years Thomas had been working on the old North Australia Railway line in the Northern Territory since actual places like Katherine and Darwin were mentioned. Pine Tree was made up but I believe it had been misworded for the actual Pine Creek station, which was also part of the old route. So big points for the production team for some railway accuracy. Now the actual route was a 3ft 6in narrow gauge line but you can't make Thomas that because he had always been standard gauge and I don't think the fandom would take that too kindly. The whole route was opened in 1929 and lasted until 1976, due to low iron ore traffic, which adds more to Ian McCue's 50's - 70's timeline. Talking of iron ore, the mine Thomas was at at the start of the episode would very likely had been an iron ore mine, which is a rock mineral that can be found in the North Territory, most of it can be found in Western Australia. So while the route was not 100% accurate, and they had that expectation for it to be, it's great that they'd used something that is real and accurate. Even the eye of the storm scene shows this as well confirming this to be true.
As for the episode, Isla had character as well. While everyone thought she was amazing and cool we don't see her bragging about it herself as she takes the job very seriously. We see her like that when Thomas was trying to be like her because he was bored of collecting rocks. However she has her limits as a plane as we've seen in the episode when she was trying to help the people at Katherine and that an engine like Thomas can battle through the storm, although there had been some cases of trains being blown by the wind, even in Australia. But for the purpose of story Thomas has to prove that he too can be just as good even if he's not as fast or quick as Isla is. I like that Isla is different to characters that were boastful about themselves, it felt refreshing.
This is also the reason why I think they'd chosen the outback because cyclones can happen in the Northern Territory. I remember someone saying that this is like 'Thomas and the Jet Plane' from S10 but what else can you do with a story about Thomas trying to save people from a massive storm because a plane can't? While also trying to represent a part of Australia that are prone to cyclones too?
In the end, this was probably the best Australian episode although I think we could at least have seen Thomas battling through more of the storm and overcoming obstacles while trying to save people before the cyclone starts up again had the running time had been not shorten to accommodate the Thomas segments. However this was more entertaining than any 'All Engines Go!' episode that I sat through.
Rating: 8/10
THE CASE OF THE PUZZLING PARTS
Written by
Davey Moore
Another episode that was planned for S21 but was later pushed aside due to 'The Adventure Begins' being a last minute decision and you can tell it was for S21 because Sidney mentioned Diesel bumping into him as shown in 'Springtime for Diesel'. While I do like Davey Moore's unusual pair up of the characters, like Sidney and Paxton since they bounce off well here for comedy, the story was still overall meh to sit through but at least they kept something a mystery until the end with clues during the story for the viewers to pick up unlike 'All Engines Go!' where it's just boring to sit through because we know what happened to the character that became a mystery. I don't know how this would expand for S21 given that the episodes back then had bit of room during its longer running time.
It's also strange how Sidney was to take the flatbed of parts with him only for him to realise that they were for him. I know it's a plot device to help keep the story going and to help with the mystery plotline but it could've been done in a pretty believable way for Sidney's character. Perhaps Dart was trying to tell Sidney the parts were for him but then Sidney forgets and thought it might be for someone else while he was falling apart, kind of like 'Sidney Sings' from S20.
I think even if this didn't get pushed aside for S22 I think it still wouldn't be a great episode even by S21 standards. I found it boring back then and I still do today.
Rating: 4/10
BANJO & THE BUSHFIRE
Written by
Tim Bain
I still think the title of the episode was a bit misleading. The story was called 'Banjo & the Bushfire' but Banjo the koala did nothing more than just existing. Although this was written prior to 2022, when Koalas were officially an endangered species, the Koala population in Australia was decreasing by 30% in the year this episode had aired. Perhaps it would've been better if were about Thomas trying to find a new home for Banjo and the other animals after a horrific bushfire.
However unlike this episode Koala's do not live in rainforests, they live in the eucalypt forests since they eat the leaves and while this episode was set in Queensland, the Kuranda Rainforest is real and does have a rail line running through it, I think the depiction of it all comes off a little weird as despite being a rain forest it also feels like it was part of the Australian outback given that Cairns railway station in this episode has been depicted as a small outback station and is really a bigger station that's within the coastal city. Surely the people at Jam Filled could've find more better reference pictures then two random country stations from two random Australian states.
From looking on google you can find plenty of pictures of the Cairns station as it is today. Even photos from the station's early years are much different compare to how Jam Filled made it. It's a bit disappointing to see what the animators made because they made an entire rainforest setting for the Brazil sequence for the movie of the same name so why couldn't they'd used that with some tweaks to make it look more Australian? And for Cairns they could at least maybe base on the actual station instead, that is if they had enough money in the budget to do so at the time or they could at least make it look more coastal as mentioned in the episode. They could houses and all they'd made for previous seasons and maybe a seaside too.
I don't know what the animators were thinking and I wish they've done better. As for the episode, it could've been better if were set somewhere in the Australia bushland away from the outback, perhaps it could've been an anywhere part of Australia, and Thomas had to help a park ranger to find a new home for all the animals that were affected by a big bushfire, especially the Koala's. The ranger would've told Thomas that due to things like bushfires and land development, including railways, Koala's have not many places to live. This made Thomas feel bad because although railways are getting busier they should also help the animals to find new homes as well and so Thomas tries to find many places for the animals to call home but to no avail until the ranger told him that there is a new sanctuary for the animals so they can be protected away from harm. After all the episode mentioned about how some animals are endangered.
Bushfires are common in Australia during the summertime so I'm glad to see that being depicted and the Kuranda rainforest had some history with fires, especially from the railway line. While I don't see this iteration of the show as a negative stereotype I do think Jam Filled should've done better research for things like the rainforest and Cairns station and the story could've just been Thomas helping the animals out finding a new home instead of mish mash of things about the Australian wildlife and it would help with the UN's goal about respecting life on land still.
Rating: 3/10
COUNTING ON NIA
Written by
Lee Pressman
And now we come to the finale of S22 focusing on Nia and I'm surprised that despite the hard push Mattel made in promoting her alongside BWBA back in 2018, she only had one episode. She had cameos, secondary roles and all in previous episodes focused on Sodor but she didn't get an episode for herself until the last. While I think it was a nice episode with a way of Nia understand what numbers look like and managed to overcome it with her own way showing what a problem solver she is.
Watching the episode for the first time since 2018 I can see Nia's flaw as a character. She doesn't understand numbers but instead of admitting what it is, she decides not to admit it because everyone praised her as being a clever engine and we see that in the opening part of the episode with her solving problems easily. I think it could've been enhance a little more with maybe a reason why Thomas couldn't pull Annie and Clarabel and the engines praising her for her cleverness and maybe we might've seen her gaining some full on confidence which would lead to her not knowing numbers and with the idea of what can happen when you have peer pressure. But the shrunken down run time prevented the breathing room for something like that. But the story managed what it wants to say.
I remember ever since Nia was announced as the replacement for Edward prior to BWBA some were labelling her as a 'Mary-Sue', a term that regards a female character as too perfect, no flaws or weaknesses whatsoever and while more could've been done with her as a character I feel we have seen at least one weakness coming from her from this episode and that is her not wanting to admit to get some help because everyone thinks highly of her and it's a shame too that we never see more of her being expanded after this episode, not even in the Bright Idea episode from S24, since Mattel canned this show in favour of 'All Engines Go!' instead of improving BWBA to try and make it better.
Sure her AEG character may've given her some character but the only thing that stands her out from the rest was her interest in music. The rest of her AEG character comes off as generic to me. We never see anything else coming from her as a struggle, interest whatever. Nothing was that unique compare to what some people of the fandom had been saying. I'm not saying she was great or better in the original series but here at least she's a little more relevant with her not wanting to admit that she needs help. Though it is a bit strange that she was the on who said to Thomas in the movie that everyone needs help sometimes.
I remember not everyone being too fond of this episode because they think it could've been a little YouTube short or something but I think it was a nice charming little episode.
Rating: 6/10
OVERALL
Do I think S22 is perfect? No. Did I enjoy it at least? Yes. Do I think it's better than what 'All Engines Go!' is despite what the fandom says otherwise? undoubtedly yes! Now I'm not here to change people's minds, that's not why I created this post. I created this post because I'd said that I would like to look back at these episode and see if they have aged and I think they'd aged fine. Does this show have negative stereotypes that the fandom says it does?
Honestly, I can only say for myself that I don't see any negative stereotyping of the international characters that were shown here. I do see a different range of characterisation from the international engines like how Hong-Mei having a one track mind when racing with Thomas despite not showing much care for train with the rocks flying but was still concerned when Thomas fell off the track.
Yong Bao being wise and kind but with a playful side such as him scaring Thomas by saying 'boo', Shane being boisterous while also sympathetic to Thomas putting himself down about not being like Isla. Isla takes her position seriously as a flying doctor's plane. Rajiv being boastful to the other engines but cares about them, Noor Jehan being stern but down to earth and calm as well as Shankar being straight forward but concerned for the tigers. Even if they are shown little they are still diverse. If they were stereotypes wouldn't they all act the same or sound the same as something that was typical in media?
I've seen people trying to put down Bruno from AEG as being stereotypical when really his depiction of being on the spectrum is nothing like what his critics are saying and would very likely been made because they'd replaced the original show with it without even watching it to give a fair assessment. Now even though I am not a big fan of AEG, Bruno is the only good thing coming out from it for me. It just feels to me people would just throw that word around to make something they don't like look bad because they don't like it, not that I'm saying they should not dislike anything but it seems unfair to judge a character or an iteration of the show without seeing it. That's why I'd reviewed AEG because I don't want to go around and judging it unfairly because I hadn't seen it. Even if it means going through so many episodes that end having the same usual, bland storylines I'm one of those people who want to be fair.
I also think the landscapes of the countries that Thomas had gone too weren't really as bad as some people point it out to be. They all had variety. China was seen with green countryside but also rivers and mountains. India was full of lush green trees, mountains, lakes, paddy fields and Australia while a vast desert has trees, mountains, fresh greenery and other things that can be seen in the outback. Plus like some of the the countries, the places were based on real places despite not being 100% accurate, they feel like they fit within the TV series world, but Bridlington's goods yard was a reused asset of the showground in 'The Great Race' and no one went nuts over that and very likely it was done because it was cheaper to reuses assets then trying to make brand new ones from scratch to save time and budget. Sure it would be great to see places like Shanghai, Sydney and all being depicted in the Thomas world.
But given some of the UN global goals they were using as a form of their partnership such as Life on Land it wouldn't make sense for some of them to be set within big cities like Sydney since you don't see many wild animals running around there, apart from pigeons. For a country like Australia it makes sense to have it in the outback given that some Kangaroos live there as well as the bush and rainforests.
I also think the UN goal about Sustainable Cities was a bit weird when Thomas, in those YouTube shorts that were uploaded at the time in promotion, was talking about pollution when he, a steam engine, is a contributing factor to it all, depending on what timeline the series was set in. I've seen people calling the sets as wastelands or never even pointing what else makes it stereotypical, sure Australia looks like a giant desert but the old North Australia Railway had gone through the outback in the Northern Territory but it would've been nice if Jam Filled had added in some towns within the stations as seen in the episodes to make it look more alive. But I don't see any sense of superiority in the international episodes visually. The episodes were based on facts such as India with coconut trees, China with rice farming and Australia with its animals natural habitats. This is why I feel that people would just throw that word around to make it look bad because they just simply don't like it. The UN had a part in this too and I think they would know what is stereotypical but I wasn't there when the show was in production like everyone else in the fandom.
With Nia it's a shame just how under utilised she was in this season after such a hard push by Mattel when this new iteration was being promoted during 2018. I believe she had so much potential to be explored as a character like what are her struggles or strengths or when it comes to African culture what do those patterns on her paint work mean? We had a back story on Yong Bao on how he was given an emblem of a tiger. If Mattel hadn't been so hell bent on the toy sales maybe we could've seen improvements made to make the show more better. Because it sure as hell not helping with 'All Engines Go!' at the moment, looking at the lack of toys in the stores and the really bad marketing.
Rebecca had more character then what people gave her credit for especially with her struggle of being anxious because she really wants to fit in with the other engines or putting herself down because she's an ordinary engine in comparison to the likes of Harvey, Belle and Diesel 10 for some reason. She really became a firm favourite of mine after watching her episodes. I wish we'd gotten more of her, especially with her overcoming her slippery wheels that was seen in this season.
I remember Mattel saying through a Q&A, that Edward and Henry would still be around but not everyone was happy with the way it turned out. I think some people in the fandom thought they would still have stories but Mattel had never said that they will have stories to themselves and their answer would've be interpreted in a different way. They had cameo appearances and some dialogue here and there, more than their muted roles in 'All Engines Go!' I will add and I thinks the older fandom should've thought of that instead of thinking of the things that they want. Edward and Henry were removed because they were hard to write for and, in Mattel's case, they weren't marketable enough.
Yes they were the first characters to be created by Awdry himself but there is a difference between creativity and legacy. Yes I know what the characters had gone through that made them interesting but after Henry had overcome his illness and Edward proving to everyone of his worth, they didn't really offer anything new much after that. The last story about Henry written by the Rev.W.Awdry was 'Super Rescue' in 1968 and Henry didn't get anything to himself in the Railway Series until 'Henry and the Express' in 1993 by Christopher Awdry, 25 years later and even that book didn't really offer anything different to Henry. It could've been interesting to see Henry overcoming his dread of being an old engine since the Railway Series progressed with time. There were elements there but sadly it'd lost that potential of being a better book in my opinion.
Most of Edward's stories in the Railway Series and in the TV series were mostly about him proving his own worth to shut the likes of Gordon up for doubting him over his age. Edward's book was not even about him as a character and we'd only gotten stories where he was just there on the side, still a good book though. He was on side as well in other books too. He's not one note as he is an emotional character like him getting annoyed that Thomas hadn't shown up at the junction in 'Bertie's Chase' and would tease Gordon for his big headedness in 'Cows' and caring about his passengers as shown in 'Edward's Exploit' which are a part of his personality but when it comes to character development he just doesn't offer anything. Sure you might say his stories during S9-16 offer something new but 'Saving Edward' is just another Edward is old story but that he felt weak but really he knows that he can't help that and proves to be useful. 'Edward Strikes Out' was a bizarre episode because Edward hated a crane for being new for some reason which could've gone to a character like Harvey.
'Edward and the Mail' makes him look like an idiot not knowing about the mail run and established that Edward knows everything about the railway which doesn't make any sense to his character. Perhaps that could've gone to Billy instead refusing to take his advice? 'Steady Eddie' was out of character for him to try and show off a water wheel when that could've easily have been a James episode and some of the stories from S13-16 that was focused on him could've gone to other characters that would fit better.
This is why 'A Shed for Edward' was, to me, the crown jewel of Edward episodes because Lee Pressman still kept him in his original character while Edward created the conflict for himself still in the episode, which is something new that I could only see working once because they never made an episode like that ever again. He didn't try to prove his worth or anything that we've seen before. A highly underrated episode that has been disparaged because Mattel wanted him to be replaced with a more marketable character and, for the production team, a character that could be easy to write with.
Them having secondary roles and cameos just make more sense to me because they will still have their original personas still in tact.
The international stories didn't feel pointless to me but maybe some work could've been done on them to make them more entertaining while also educating young viewers about the world around, as I had said in my views points of episodes like 'Banjo and the Bushfire' 'Thomas Goes to Bollywood' and 'Thomas In The Wild'. There are some really solid ones too as I had mentioned above and even though many of them aren't what you see on a railway in real life, the show is about learning other cultures.
Sure it would've been nice to showcase many of these countries different railway practices and engines like China's rapid transit system or Australia's variety of different gauges or India's mountain railways but with the UN goals and some episodes focusing more on culture there wouldn't be room for stuff like that. Plus the general audience might not be interested in that. Yes Thomas is a railway oriented show but railway realism and accuracy has not been thing since the show's 5th season in 1998. Magic Railroad existed and it had gained Thomas to a wider audience, despite its badness, so I don't think the lack of railway realism is going to be on every single person's mind.
But maybe had the show been given a better chance by Mattel at improving we might've gotten something like that down the line. But no Mattel is so hellbent on Thomas toy sales improving that they just prematurely cut it off because it wasn't the success they'd hoped for and went with a downgrade 'improvement' when that hadn't seen much success in the long run.
It was actually nice watching this season again even though I wish they'd improved some of the stories to make them better, there wasn't really much point in having those Thomas segments at the start and end. The ones after the intro reminds me of the Island of Sodor intro that were at the start of every episode during the HIT model era that it's only worth skipping because it's all the same and offers nothing new and the ones at the end doesn't need to there because kids can pick up on what message is without the need of being stated to them. If you delete those out the stories would have extra breathing room.
I think the season could at least have been a story arc of Thomas and Nia trying to get back home to Sodor after the BWBA special and along the way they stop by at the other countries to help out and learn about the different cultures along the way while still basing things off from the UN's Global Goals. It would at least give Thomas a reason to be in the various countries while on Sodor we have the adventures of the Sodor engines dealing with work while Thomas was away. In the aftermath you could still have Thomas working in other countries if there is a reason and have the international engines visiting Sodor as well, yes as unrealistic as that sounds railway realism had been thrown out at this point.
However it was a nice to watch without the need of some nagging voices behind me saying that's bad either because someone said it was bad and they'd eat it up without having form of critical thinking or they just have bad memory.
This season was not perfect but more enjoyable than a formulaic episode of 'All Engines Go!'
OVERALL RATING:
180/260
Coming soon my viewpoints of S23.
