S23 Ep.16: Thomas Makes A Mistake

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

THOMAS MAKES A MISTAKE

Written by

Camille Ucan & Rose Johnson

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Plot
Thomas causes confusion and delay by not seeking help when he makes a mistake. 

Air Date

11/09/19 - UK
31/10/19 - AUS

To me this more of a generic overused plot that we've seen for years when it comes to Thomas. One episode that comes into mind when it comes to this plot line is 'Who's Geoffrey?' Thomas creates an accident, covers it up and it escalates to the point where Thomas has to tell the truth. I get why an episode like this exists, to teach kids that it's better to ask for help. But considering that kids have access to episodes from four to five years ago through streaming, digital downloads, DVDs etc. they may have already learnt this plot. Plus the fantasy sequence is another redundant moment that chewed up the running time. I never saw this as the worst episode and I do understand that kids, the target range, will learn something from out of this, it's just an episode that really isn't worth a watch with an overused moral. 

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10
Gordon Gets The Giggles - 6/10
The Other Big Engine - 9/10
Batucada - 8/10
Diesel Do Right - 3/10
Thomas Makes A Mistake - 4/10

Series Rating (So far):
122/160

S23 Ep.15: Diesel Do Right

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

DIESEL DO RIGHT

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Air Date
12/09/19 - UK
30/10/19 - AUS

Plot
When Diesel gets cross, he decides to get the other diesels into trouble by sending Rebecca to do their jobs, badly, but Diesel's trick is found out at the end.

Honestly I am not fan of the fantasy sequence of Diesel's unlike some fans. It was just a parody of the theme song and that's it and it doesn't make any sense in what Diesel was saying earlier. He wants to feel more important so why not make a fantasy sequence of him being a king at Ulfstead Castle and call the other diesels his loyal subjects it would make more sense with him wanting to be more important. Honestly the fantasy sequence in 'Diesel Glows Away' makes more sense than the one we got here, which will be explained later.

I think the episode could've been better if it was about Diesel taking advantage of Rebecca considering how she sees the good in everyone. Diesel could've been jealous of Rebecca getting praise from the Fat Controller while he didn't because he didn't his job right. With Diesel overhearing from say the other diesels or the steam engines that Rebecca is a great engine and sees the good in everyone, Diesel decides to take advantage of her and would get her into trouble by telling lies about her, after all Diesel is devious. This made the Fat Controller cross and Rebecca sad because she thought she was doing something useful but once she'd mentioned Diesel, the Fat Controller taught her that she shouldn't trust him, heck maybe throw Duck for continuity sake and of course this led Diesel into trouble. It would've taught kids that even though we see the good in everyone, we can't always trust someone like Diesel and we must be careful. But I also think that Diesel is getting a bit overused. It's nice to see Davey Moore having a bit of fun with him, but they're pretty much all the same story whether it's Diesel misbehaving or trying to be useful and that's basically it. I much prefer his stories like him trying to better himself or showing other sides to him. They feel fresh and different when it comes to Diesel. Having him as one-dimensional villain could get rather stale in my opinion.

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10
Gordon Gets The Giggles - 6/10
The Other Big Engine - 9/10
Batucada - 8/10
Diesel Do Right - 3/10

Series Rating (So far):
118/150

S23 Ep.14: Batucada

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

BATUCADA

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Plot
Thomas finds a way to take part in the Brazilian carnival music.

Air Date

9/09/19 - UK
29/10/19 - AUS

This is a pretty simple episode but I did enjoy it. I like Davey Moore's episodes where he took one bit of culture and make a nice story around it like 'Thomas and the Dragon'. It's interesting as an older fan to learn about different cultures as well as I never heard of batucada until this episode. The fantasy sequence I feel wasn't too redundant but it was gimmicky, expect Thomas surrounded with musical instruments on your local toy shelf. Although this is a slight nitpick but I didn't like how Thomas forgot that he can whistle. How can he forget that he does that when he's a steam engine? In the end, a simple episode but not really anything bad. 

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10
Gordon Gets The Giggles - 6/10
The Other Big Engine - 9/10
Batucada - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):
115/140

S23 Ep.13: The Other Big Engine

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

THE OTHER BIG ENGINE

Written by

Davey Moore

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue

Air Date
5/09/19 - UK
28/10/19 - AUS

Plot

Thomas meets another big blue engine in Brazil that reminds him of Gordon.

When I first saw this episode after it aired in the US back in May 2019, I actually liked it and now five months since its debut I still enjoyed when it had aired in the UK. Gustavo didn't do much plot wise but character wise I do like how he's so different to Gordon, which was the intention of this story. The fantasy sequence even felt less gimmicky and felt like something that played along with the episode, almost feels like something maybe Micheal White can pull off. It's also a good message to teach kids that you shouldn't judge someone before you get to know them.

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10
Gordon Gets The Giggles - 6/10
The Other Big Engine - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):
107/130

S23 Ep.12: Gordon Gets The Giggles

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

GORDON GETS THE GIGGLES

Written by

Becky Overton 

Directed by

Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Plot
Gordon becomes worried when he gets a serious case of the giggles.

Air Date

10/09/19 - UK
27/10/19 - AUS

It's not a favourite episode of mine but it really wasn't anything bad. I think for once it was nice to see Gordon showcasing a side to himself that isn't him belittling someone or being too boastful. I get it that it's his character but it's good to see a side different side to him for once. Watching the US dub, Kerry Shale had done a really good job for Gordon and I really do like him and Keith Wickham equally, the same can be said about Wickham's performance. The laughter he had done for Gordon was hilarious and honestly I do like the fantasy sequence in this episode too. Plus I gave out a chuckle when Gordon called himself 'Big G.' Something that you don't hear from the past but honestly it never bothered me. It's probably too kiddish for some but like I said earlier it wasn't great but it certainly wasn't bad, I tend to see this in line of 'Steamie Stafford'. If there's one nitpick I would say is that the coal hopper scene could've been cut, I think it would've worked better if Gordon was just puffing into the yard looking serious instead. But it's just a nitpick.

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10
Gordon Gets The Giggles - 6/10

Series Rating (So far):
98/120

S23 Ep.11: Out of Site

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

OUT OF SITE

Written by
Micheal White

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Plot

Brenda learns that it's important to work as a team and not just care about her own jobs.

Air Date

25/10/19

I love Brenda's motherly perfectionist attitude. While she'd cleaned the nice solid ground, the other vehicles who act like children started to make a mess of it and want them to avoid her cleanliness. Obviously the moral is about that everyone should use the site for whatever job they were assigned with. Also yeah Mrs. Jenny returned and when I first saw the pictures (above) on twitter, she gave Bob the Builder reboot vibes. I love her design more than her design she was given in S12 back in 2008. 

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10
Out of Site - 8/10

Series Rating (So far):
92/110

S23 Ep.10: Too Loud, Thomas!

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

TOO LOUD, THOMAS!

Written by
Becky Overton

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Ian McCue (HIT/Mattel)
Tracy Blagdon (Jam Filled)

Plot
Thomas wants to perform opera like Lorenzo and Beppe, but finds it a lot more difficult than he first thought.

Air Date
24/10/19

I'll say this, the bouncing in this episode shows why something like that can be needed to give the visual expression. When Thomas lost his voice, he was moving for Stefano to look at the clock and agreeing with about something. If the engines bodies were just static then it would just look awkward. Yes the bouncing isn't something that happened in real life, unless you see a steam locomotive going at speed, but the show was never that realistic for over two decades. 

Anyway, back on the episode, I think it was a really good international episode, especially one written by Becky Overton. Her stories from India, barring 'Tiger Trouble' were not good but I feel she had been improving to write stories within the smaller time frame now. The whole episode maybe annoying with Thomas' screaming but it's to showcase the message that you should not loose your voice and that we can't always be good at something and that's OK. 

I also like Lorenzo and Bepe in this episode when it comes to Thomas singing, especially around the first few minutes of the episode. Bepe doesn't like to hurt his feelings but Lorenzo was all open and honest as he just said 'yes' very bluntly to Thomas. It's a small detail but I just the different character they have. 

Some people might think that the autistic audience will not like this given the loudness. But I don't believe that it would cause controversy because parents and carers have the power to turn down the volume on their TVs, phones, tablets and computers when it comes to loudness. Given that many places of businesses have 'quiet hours' for children on the autistic spectrum.

In the end, this episode was really good and it such good comedy too when it comes to Thomas and opera singing.

Episode Ratings (So far):

Free The Roads - 10/10
Chucklesome Trucks - 8/10
Heart Of Gold - 9/10
Panicky Percy - 6/10

Crowning Around - 10/10
First Day On Sodor - 8/10
Rangers Of The Rails - 7/10
Lorenzo's Solo - 8/10
Deep Trouble - 9/10
Too Loud, Thomas - 9/10

Series Rating (So far):
84/90