TTTE S19E4: Henry Spots Trouble

I originally wasn't going to review this episode, but the more I thought about it, there was more to talk about than I initially believed.

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL

Season 19, Episode 4

Henry Spots Trouble

Written by Davey Moore

Let's start off with the basic plot; Henry is afraid that engines will catch chicken pox when he sees the Fat Controller's grandchildren with chicken pox (why he'd let them out with a visible disease, I don't know, but let's just roll with it). Henry becomes more afraid when he sees Thomas, Paxton, and Gordon with spots on them and runs off in fear, screaming his smokebox off. It turns out it isn't chicken pox - Thomas got covered in mud, Paxton in diesel fumes, and Gordon in red paint (by the way, parent activists, it is red paint, not blood; do your research before making false accusations!) and that engines cannot be affected by chicken pox.

I'll give the episode credit where it's due; being afraid of chicken pox - or some other disease like, say, cancer, nausea, obesity, or diabetes - is a decent idea for a story. In fact, this is probably one of the few bad episodes of the show that's close to actually being good. No, really.

However, that brings me to the big green elephant in the room - Henry. In the Railway Series, he was seen as a more cynical character, very much a green Gordon (yeah, the early illustrations showed that which led to confusion, but that's not important). However, come season eight, he was seen as occasionally unintelligent and prone to worrying, and this was shown greatly in episodes like Henry and the Flagpole, Henry Gets It Wrong, and (especially) Henry's Magic Box.

I get what they were going for; they wanted to make Henry a distinct character from Gordon and James, make him the nice one of the mainline trio. Between 1951 and 1968, Henry didn't star by himself very often, even though he appeared in the most stories overall; one can guess that Awdry was so put off by Henry's troubles in the early days and deliberately shunted him aside, so to speak.

Let's look at the other six original engines, shall we? Gordon is pompous, James is vain, Thomas is cheeky, Percy is naive, Toby is stoic, and Edward is kind. Yes, I know it's one word to describe each character, but that's more or less their basic personality. What about Henry? Well, you could say (and I admit to liking this, if I'm honest) that he's a grump, but then, so is Gordon on occasion. In Christopher's books, it adds a bit to Henry's character and it's helped by his arguments with James in stories like Fire Engine and Overhaul, as well as the episode James and the Trouble with Trees. I'll talk about something similar when I get to reviewing Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough, cause I feel like I have some interesting thoughts to share on that episode.

Regarding Henry's worrisome personality, despite what I might have said and/or what you would think, it's not the fact that Henry's a worrier which bothers me; what really gets me is that it just felt a lot like "in your face" in the episode. I get it; he was in a bit of a panic when he saw Thomas and Paxton, and Gordon was very much the stone that collapsed the truck, but do you have to overplay it so much to the point it becomes annoying? Yeah, in the Barlow era, it was flanderized, but still.

Which brings me onto his role in The Adventure Begins - I know what you're going to say; the context said that Henry "was afraid of a few drops of rain". Granted, it did go like that, but in the story, Henry could've also been annoyed. What do I mean by this? If you make a character a worrier, you need to give them something so it doesn't become annoying - maybe Henry was pretending to be arrogant to hide his fears? You can draw your conclusions.

If you want a worrier character in your story, that's all fine and good, but you should ensure it's an established part of their personality and that there is more to him or her than being a worrywart. A good example I can think of is Marlin from Finding Nemo.

At the start, Marlin is carefree and excited about being a father, but when his wife Coral and all of their eggs (except one) are eaten by a barracuda, he becomes protective of the remaining egg, which becomes Nemo. It works because Marlin was concerned for Nemo's safety, and since he's his father, he has a reason to be worried. (That was probably the biggest issue I had with Somepony to Watch Over Me, but I digress.) Of course, besides being over-protective, he's expressed annoyance with Dory and her silly antics, he can't tell a joke without explaining the aspects behind it (remember, he's a clownfish), and most importantly, he loves his son Nemo as he's his remaining family. Throughout his journey, Marlin becomes more brave and confident, and decides to let Nemo live his life to the fullest when he grows up. That's what makes Marlin a likable character; he's three-dimensional.

But Henry in this episode? I would say he's somewhere between that and two-dimensional. (2.5-dimensional, maybe?) His worrywart aspect doesn't allow the rest of his persona to shine through, which is why it comes across as annoying to some people, even me (I'll get to that later on). In episodes like Bill or Ben? and Signals Crossed, he tells off the engine (Connor and Toby) who nearly crashed into him, and he was afraid of ending up in a wreck. In Kevin's Cranky Friend, he demands for Cranky to hurry up, and in Scruff's Makeover, he comments that he'd hate to be as dirty as Scruff.

Getting back to The Adventure Begins (I know this might seem minor or unimportant, but just bear with me on this), there's a line of dialogue that really bothers me; I don't know why, it just does:

"Oh, I don't worry all the time, Thomas; I hardly worry at all!"

Er, yeah, say that to Flatbeds of Fear.

How can I put this? Erm, it kind of feels to me that Henry is either a hypocrite, in denial, or it's some other third thing. When it comes to him hiding in the tunnel, they say he's afraid of having his paint spoiled. That, I can understand, but there doesn't seem to be much of a catalyst behind it. Actually, I think that's something that they didn't explain either; apply paint to a surface and it becomes wet. If the paint is still wet, and if so much as a drop of water hits it, the paint will end up smeared. Maybe Henry heard some workmen that if his new coat of paint were touched by water while it was still wet, it might get spoiled, and when he actually hides in the tunnel, he acts arrogant to hide his fears. (It might not be the best theory, but it's somewhat plausible in my view.)

As for Henry Spots Trouble? How could I fix it? It's actually very easy; if James were teasing Henry about being afraid, Henry snaps at him and claims he isn't afraid, and leaves in a huff. Then when he sees Thomas, he becomes a bit unsure of himself, more so when he sees Paxton, and then when he sees Gordon, Henry finally loses it. Had they gone done that route, I think it would've been much better.

On a side note, I want to talk about Emily's role; she's my favorite character, but does she serve any purpose to the episode? Not really, she just tells Henry that he worries too much, which is very much a complaint with many Thomas fans about Henry. Getting back to my idea for fixing it, maybe she could be one teasing him rather than James. I don't mean like Emily being rude to Henry, just a friendly, harmless tease is all, and he could've taken it the wrong way and left in a huff. And maybe afterwards if she apologized for upsetting him, there's a chance that then, Emily would've had a purpose. (It might also be her way of getting back at him considering Duck and the Slip Coaches, but maybe not.)

Lastly, I know this has nothing to do with anything, but the Fat Controller ripping his pants his not a SpongeBob reference; saying so is like saying breaking into song is a My Little Pony or Disney reference - it happens a lot in media and in real life... maybe. But I digress.

Overall, I wouldn't go as far as saying Henry Spots Trouble is the worst of the new era as I'd originally thought, but it's still pretty bad, and a shame that it's easy to fix as well. I mean, actually bad episodes like James to the Rescue, Wonky Whistle, and Sodor Surprise Day make this episode look like The Flying Kipper in comparison. If you liked this episode, that's all well and good - to each his own. But for me, I find it more groan-worthy rather than funny, but even so, I'd still take this over Henry's Magic Box any day.