After the Fact: The Thomas Way

I've decided to rewrite this one from scratch as I wanted to give my review on this a clean start. Not to mention I was a bit of a horse's ass back then. Anyhow, my re-revisit of The Thomas Way!

Season 17, Episode 12

The Thomas Way

Written by Paul Larson and Laura Beaumont

One thing I'm pointing out is that I'm gonna be doing this revisit with an open mind - no attacking characters (especially not in terms of a "bad render"), no annoyances with catchphrases to the extreme, none of that. And in regards to Duck as a character, I'll expand on how my reaction towards a certain scene has waned in an After the Fact of Duck and the Slip Coaches.

Onto the episode itself, the premise is obviously nothing new; Thomas and Skarloey's Big Day Out, Stop That Bus, and The Christmas Tree Express have all done this plot before, but with The Thomas Way? Well, it does that plot a lot better and it adds to chemistry with three characters rather than two. Speaking of which, it also feels like Up, Up and Away done way better.

I did say in the previous review that there was plot contrivance if you look at Sam Wilkinson's map on Sodor - there are no routes without bridges or tunnels. Hell, Thomas' Shortcut, which aired afterward, even confirms that there isn't even an alternate route on Thomas' branchline. It is a problem with the episode's ending as the rest of the episode, in fact, is actually very nicely written.

There are other problems, but they're mostly minor ones, like Duck being lifted by Rocky whilst he was still in steam, the repeating of "Great Western way" being annoying after a while (it doesn't hurt to tone it back a little, you know), the lack of crew involvement... you know, small things.

That being said, Thomas and Duck do play off one another nicely; Thomas' cheekiness vs. Duck's serious demeanor, especially when the former wanted to show Harold what Knapford Station was like from the ground (with a funny bit of dialogue from Gordon!), and the latter ignoring Thomas when he believes he's being tricked again, which leads to trouble.

Reviewing this once more, much as I now like the episode, I wouldn't consider it one of the all-time best, but out of the episodes I've given a 7/10, this would be on the higher end for sure.

Revised Rating: 7 out of 10