THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL
Season 10, Episode 27
James the Second Best
Written by Paul Larson
The Fat Controller brings a photographer so one of the engines can be on a holiday poster for Sodor, and he picks Edward, much to James' shock. Even when he tries to get in Edward's way so he can have his photograph taken, James is denied the chance, much to his dismay. Considering Old Iron and Edward's Exploit, surely James would at least know by now to respect Edward? I know that sometimes in the Barlow era, plot points don't carry over from episode to episode, but at least show some consistency! If this was SpongeBob, that'd be okay since it doesn't have a set timeline - for example, in Dying for Pie, Bikini Bottom was destroyed by the pie bomb, but in its sister episode Imitation Krabs, it was like the incident never really happened - but this is Thomas and Friends - the writers should keep consistency with past episodes! Then again, it's a Paul Larson script...Back to the episode: James is jealous when the posters are put up, and even more so when Henry, Percy and Thomas point out that Edward is gentle with the trucks, does dirty jobs without complaining, and is always on time - yeah, say that about Edward's Exploit, see what happens! James decides to prove that he can be as good as Edward, starting by shunting trucks at the coaling plant gently as he can be. Thomas jokes that Edward has delivered all of his coal, and so James collects his coal trucks, and he gets dirty in the process.
Soon enough, James is given a washdown, and Percy teases him for being slow for his passengers, so James decides to take Gordon's route instead of the branchline to prove he can be on time. Yeah, Gordon doesn't have his own route; he runs on the mainline! James puffs onto Edward's line - don't do that, it's dangerous! - and then the signal turns red, causing James to stop, but Edward bumps into him and James runs right into the poster, making him the poster engine after all, but not the way he intended. The Fat Controller arrives on Emily and scolds James for causing trouble - why did he not come aboard Thomas? And did he know Edward's cylinder was damaged? How did his cylinder get damaged in the first place? James offers to help Edward by being his back engine after somehow getting back on the rails and the blue engine is pleased with James' help.
Like I said, James should at least acknowledge that Edward is useful - the blue engine rescued him from crashing in the first place! The first half of the story was repetitive, and the second half was very much contrived on a lot of levels. Maybe if the pacing was more smooth, it could've worked better, but the story is a bit of a mess. Not terrible, but not great either - it's just average.
Rating: 5 out of 10
Thomas and Friends Season 10 Scorecard
8. Toby's Afternoon Off: 7.5
9. It's Good to be Gordon: 9
13. Edward Strikes Out: 1
20. Thomas' Frosty Friend: 0
27. James the Second Best: 5
27. James the Second Best: 5
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