S11 Ep.25: Skarloey Storms Through

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

SKARLOEY STORMS THROUGH

Written by

Neil Richards

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Plot:

Skarloey, Rheneas and Peter Sam are to collect sheep from a hill away from the rain and storm. But Skarloey was afraid of storms. 

PRO:

-N/A

CON:

- Skarloey being a wimp in the whole episode

A typical new series Skarloey episode were you see him young and stupid before he thankfully revert back in his original persona in 'Blue Mountain Mystery'. I hate this episode, easily one of the worst episodes in the series because of Skarloey being a wimp in this episode, they could easily choose Rusty or Duncan, but no, Skarloey is the 'good' choice. I despise this episode and it's definitely not the watch. 

Rating: 0/5

S11 Ep.24: Ding-a-Ling

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

DING-A-LING

Written by

Sharon Miller

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Plot:

Freddie is to take Mr. Percival's new bike, but it was missing a bell. Freddie went around the NG railway to find one. 

PRO:

- N/A

CON:

- You think with all the 'years' Freddie was on the line, he knows what bike bell is like.

Another poor NG engine episode. You think after all the 'years' Freddie had on the NG railway, he knows what bicycle bell would look like instead of being those ridiculous choices and when I say 'years' it pretty much sums up that Freddie was never seen the show in the past before his introduction came to mind. The episode also has the usual three strikes and some rhyming from the character. 

Rating: 1/5

S17 Ep.5: Calm Down Caitlin

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER, CAUTION IS ADVISED

CALM DOWN CAITLIN

Written by

Davey Moore 

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue and Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date:

7/06/13

Plot:

When Vicarstown bridge is closed for repairs Caitlin, a big, fast passenger engine from the mainland, has to spend the night on Sodor. 

PRO:
- 'Please be Considerate' the vocabulary is getting stronger with the new writing staff.
- The lighting of the night and early morning shots 

CON:
- Since the bridge is lowered, wouldn't Catlin go over it anyway? 

The episode was good in my opinion. It was nice seeing Caitlin for the first time, even though her debut is to be 'King of The Railway' due out in September. The plot seems to be a little familiar to a magazine story I have about Duck. In the magazine story, Duck came back from the works and was overexcited to start work. So he asked the other engines if he can do their job like e.g - The Flying Kipper. In the end he was tired and went to sleep. The vocabulary in the episode is really spot on with Percy say 'considerate' and the narrator saying 'disembarked' a great way for young pre-schoolers to learn these words. The lighting of the episode as well was spot on with Wellsworth station at night and the early morning scene. Fantastic work by the animators of Arc. But despite it being good, there is a few spot of flaws. Since the bridge is already down, wouldn't it be safe for Caitlin to travel over it? It would've been better if the bridge was stuck after it got lifted. But despite that, it was a good episode and Caitlin is agood and likeable character.  

Rating: 4/5

S11 Ep.23: Cool Truckings

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

COOL TRUCKINGS

Written by

Paul Larson 

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Plot:

The railway was blocked by snow and Madge, the snub nose lorry, was to take Duncan to the transfer yards to shunt coal trucks, but Duncan wants excitement since it was snowing.

PRO:

- I'm impressed with the skill of making Madge spinning around

CON:

- Madge getting up from the cliff was just unrealistic.

Even though the episode is OK, it's not a favourite of mine though. I am impressed with how the way the people behind the scenes made Madge slip and slide on the road. But the sharp corner was more like a long straight, so what was the point of the slipping if its a curve? That brings Madge getting off the cliff, with the snow and ice, its hard to get back on the road. 

However, it is OK, but its not a watch for me :P

Rating: 2.5/5

S17 Ep.4: Gordon Runs Dry

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER, CAUTION IS ADVISE 

GORDON RUNS DRY

Written by
Andrew Brenner

Directed by

David Baas

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour  (HIT) 

Air Date:

6/06/13 (UK)

Plot:

Gordon's boiler is damaged but is to impatient to get repaired and to make frequent stops at water towers due to a leak. 

PRO:
- 'The local train' and how the way Gordon explained it 
- A Station announcer 
- Thomas, James and Percy's cheekiness
- Percy shunting coaches
- 'Big engines don't fetch their own coaches' 
- No pointless introductions

CON:
- N/A

This is one of the best episodes of Gordon's I've ever seen since season 11, I love how they mention 'The local', something that was never heard in the television series at all and how the way Gordon was saying about local trains, albeit in a boastful way, teaching kids the differences between express and local trains. The station announcement was a great feature too and I love the revival of Thomas, James and Percy's cheekiness and Percy shunting coaches as well and Gordon mentioning that tender engines don't get their own coaches, in canon with the classic series. The story was great as well, I love how Gordon mentioned all the station names as well, even the ones that were never mention nor seen in the past. Plus the episode's introduction, all we know that it was a hot day and Thomas was helping with the local and that is were our story begins. Much more better then 'On the Island of Sodor, there are lots and lots of trees...' all the awful tripe that was under the Miller era of the show. 

Everything in this episode was just great and hardly not one flaw in site, though it is repetitive of Gordon to stop at Water towers, but it wasn't as annoying as S17's predecessor like an engine messing up their jobs three times and then realised what needs to be done. Here it's just Gordon stopping for water because he was running low and it would've been better if Gordon just moved on just after the stone hit his boiler, but I tend not to make a big deal of that. Besides there is an episode like 'The Sad Story of Henry' that has the three strikes formula and yet I don't hear any complaints about that episode, despite it's from the classic series but that can't be an excuse. But I've enjoyed this episode very much. Plus this would have to be the only episode, in my personal view, that has a solid 5/5. That goes to show that the new and improved Thomas series is working well for many of the older fans of the series with its good stories. Kudos to Andrew Brenner for making his debut as head writer with a good episode. 

Rating: 5/5 

S11 Ep.22: Sir Handel In Charge

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

SIR HANDLE IN CHARGE

Written by

Simon Spencer

Directed by

Steve Asquith 

Plot:

Sir Handel tells the others what to do in Mr. Percival's absence, with disastrous results.

PRO:

- N/A

CON:

- What is wrong with Skarloey and Rheneas being wise?

- A rehash of 'The Green Controller'

- Wouldn't the Thin Controller have a personal assistant or a railway board?

Another poor episode, this a really much of a rehash of 'The Green Controller' only with the NG engines. I hate it how they said Sir Handel is wise when really Skarloey and Rheneas, along with Duke, are the only wise engines on the NG railway, despite that Duke was never seen since S4. The episode is bad and boring and not worth the watch. 

Rating: 1/5

S17 Ep.3: Wayward Winston

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND NOT FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE 

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILER, CAUTION IS ADVISE 

WAYWARD WINSTON 

Written by

Lee Pressman 

Directed by

David Baas  

Produced by

Kallan Kagan (Arc)

Ian McCue & Halim Jabbour (HIT)

Air Date:

5/06/13 (UK)

Plot:

Winston is frustrated of the Fat Controller's driving and so decides to go drive less. But things turn to worst for it. 

PRO:
- A bit of a mash of 'The Runaway' and 'Old Iron' in this episode
- The Fat Controller realising his own mistakes

CON:
- How did Winston move by himself?
- American bells heard on British level crossing gates
- Two engines running on the same track 

The episode was alright, but its not a big wow factor for me, but that's in my taste. I never liked Winston at first, but he grew to be a likeable and a simple sort of character and he did show that in this episode. The runaway scene kind of reminds me of 'The Runaway' and 'Old Iron' mixed together and I love it how that despite Winston running away, the Fat Controller realised his own mistake. But there are flaws in the episode. First off, how did Winston just move off by himself? Sure his brakes were off, but how is he accelerated? Was there something on it that made him move? I don't really know too much about his basis unfortunately. Sure I know, if we don't have that we'll have no plot. But it seems illogical for a car to do that. 

Plus American bells can be heard when Winston and Thomas are near, the sound effects people should know that British level crossings have no bells there is a difference. Plus the ending was unrealistic as well, why are all the engines are running the same way? There is a railway consultant for this show now and should know how a railway runs. I may sound a bit harsh to this episode, but I think this episode is OK and it's better then the writing from S13-15.

Rating: 3/5