Percy's Big Adventures

Another day, another series of reviews. It's time to take on six - yes, six - of Percy the small engine's adventures!

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

Season 6, Episode 18

Percy's Chocolate Crunch

Story by David Mitton

Written by Brian Trueman

The engines are restricted to only one washdown a day because of a water shortage, much to Percy's dismay - he gets dirty jobs and longs for a washdown himself. As he's shunting trucks, they play tricks on him and he ends up under a coal chute... and gets covered in coal, much to his annoyance. Of course, Percy's luck turns from bad to worse when Harold takes off and sprays soot all over him. His driver suggests taking sugar to the chocolate factory, which is a clean job for Percy. However, he ends up slipping on oily tracks and crashes through the factory, ending up covered in chocolate. Poor Percy feels silly when the engines laugh at him, but the Fat Controller praises him for working hard and promises him a washdown.

I love this episode; it's always been one of my favorites when I first saw it years ago. Percy coming out of the factory is downright hilarious, and you can't help but feel sorry for him when he keeps getting dirty through no fault of his own. But in the end, he gets rewarded for his hard work with a washdown.

Season 7, Episode 2

Percy Gets It Right

Written by Paul Larson

Percy is traveling on Toby's line when he comes across a bump in the track; it's crumbling due to erosion (it wasn't actually said, but that's what I'm gonna go for anyway), and so Percy decides to tell the Fat Controller. Not to sure why Percy told Gordon first, but then, considering Percy and the Signal, I'm not surprised that Gordon wouldn't take the little green engine's warning seriously. When Percy does tell the Fat Controller, he's already telling Thomas to pick up the farmer's prize bull... on Toby's line. Does that make him out of character? The answer is no; it's possible he hadn't been there for some time, and since his last visit, the track weakened. I think they wanted to show flaws in the Fat Controller.

Actually, while this is unrelated, I have a theory on the Fat Controller in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure - throughout season 19 so far, he's been portrayed as something of a butt monkey; getting two black eyes, having his trousers ripped, being chased by a bull and going through the worst day of his life, slipping on ice, etc., I think they wanted to balance out his funny moments in the season with his more serious moments in the special, especially when Thomas causes trouble, intentional or not.

Okay, back to the episode. whilst Percy broods over the fact that no one listens to him, Thomas picks up the farmer's prize bull and heads on his way. Suddenly, a landslide occurs and Thomas runs into it, ending up stuck. Percy goes out to rescue Thomas and finds him stuck, so he pulls him free of the landslide and brings him and the bull to safety. The Fat Controller apologizes for not listening to Percy, and vows that they should start listening to him when a situation is serious. There's not much else to say there, other than it's a nice message about listening when it comes to emergencies.

Season 8, Episode 7

Percy's Big Mistake

Written by Abi Grant

One evening, Percy is running late as he arrives at Brendam Docks, and when he overhears the Fat Controller and his driver talking, he fears that he'll be sent for scrap. Despite Thomas' comforting (well, that's one thing they got right), Percy quickly races out of the sheds, afraid of running late. In fact, he's in such a rush that his pipes spill out of his trucks as he races out of Brendam Docks. Later, he takes some tar... on flatbeds, for some reason, but once again, he rushes, causing the brakevan to... ahem, break away, and he crashes into Gordon, getting him covered in tar. Percy is so upset that he runs away to Tidmouth Sheds.

Whilst Harvey cleans up the mess, the Fat Controller arrives on board Thomas, annoyed by the chaos. When Thomas explains what Percy heard, the Fat Controller decides to send his engines to look for Percy. Thomas guess that Percy is at Tidmouth Sheds and so he and the Fat Controller head there. Percy apologizes for running late, but the Fat Controller explains that he felt Percy needed a rest from working hard and that he would take the mail train all week, much to Percy's delight. I feel he let Percy off the hook way too easily; Percy caused trouble and he should've been told off for doing so, but he wasn't. And why would he believe the Fat Controller would scrap him? This is just a bad episode.

Season 9, Episode 1

Percy and the Oil Painting

Written by Abi Grant

Interesting how season eight ended with a Percy episode and season nine began with a Percy episode, isn't it?

The Fat Controller assigns Percy to show a famous artist the sights of Sodor to give him inspiration for his painting, "The Spirit of Sodor". He picks up the artist at Brendam Docks (without a coach or brakevan, for some reason) and shows him Shen Valley, but the artist says it's too green. Then, Percy tries Norramby Beach, but it's too yellow, according to the artist. The viaduct is too tall, the windmill is too round, and Knapford Station is too busy. After the artist says there isn't anything special about Sodor, Percy yells at him protesting that everything about Sodor is special, from it's inhabitants to it's sights. The artist leaves to speak with the Fat Controller - he's decided to paint Percy because he's not afraid to speak his mind (yeah, well, neither am I). Later on, the painting is shown at Knapford to the public of Percy, the spirit of Sodor. Whoever made that painting, you are awesome.

I can definitely relate to Percy; not too long ago, someone on DeviantArt (I'm not saying who, by the way) got upset with some Americans, and declared they were all like devious diesels. Needless to say, and given my hatred for Day of the Diesels, I was angered by his comments and told him off for his rudeness, but I refuse to accept autism as being his excuse - what he said could not be defended. Okay, America may have been screwed up in the last decade or so, but even then, I was born and grew up there, and I'm proud of my heritage, just like Percy was to be a Sudrian engine. The plot itself is a bit simple, but given what recently occurred online, and not to mention the atrocity that occurred in France, I am proud to say this is a good episode because of its message.

Season 12, Episode 18

Percy and the Bandstand

Written by Paul Larson

A bandstand is being built at Great Waterton for a concert... in the evening, bizarrely. Couldn't they have said that it had taken a few days to build? That would've made more sense. Oh, and it's nice to see the Pack (at least, Jack and Alife) make an appearance. Anyway, it's a surprise for Lady Hatt. Percy brings in some trucks of gravel, but they play tricks on him as they arrive, and so he blows his "do as I say" whistle to make them behave. The Fat Controller then sends Percy to pick up his wife (yes, they are married; there's no reason for me to say they aren't) and must arrive by teatime, but he can't tell her where she's going.

Percy meets up with Lady Hatt at Maithwaite, and she asks to take him to the duck pond, and later the windmill. Percy doesn't want to upset her, so he does what's asked of him. And after she asks him to take her to see the bluebells in the woods, Thomas shows up and tells Percy that the Fat Controller is waiting for Percy and Lady Hatt. With that knowledge, Percy blows his whistle to get Lady Hatt's attention and tells her that they have to take her to her surprise, and he manages to make it to Great Waterton on time. The episode... isn't all that spectacular, but it's not great either. There's nothing majorly wrong, it's just... there.

Season 17, Episode 14

Percy's Lucky Day

Written by Davey Moore

Percy is waiting at Wellsworth whilst his mail train is being unloaded, but because he's distracted, he mistakes Henry's whistle for the guard's and a green handkerchief for the flag, so he starts off too suddenly. (Wrong Road, much?) After an unneeded appearance from Mr. #1, we get our favorite tank engine twins... No, not Bash and Dash, but Bill and Ben! And they've got red wheels... Actually, you know what? I am not going to question any changes Arc will make to any future returning characters. If they wanted to make Oliver small, intentional or not, fine. I don't care as long as they return. I'm not gonna argue about this, so let's just move on.

After the mess is cleared up, Percy comes across pumpkins on his line and hits them, causing his wheels to get stuck, much to his dismay. Meanwhile, Bill and Ben are scolded for their carelessness and one of them will have to be at the rear of the train... that doesn't have a brakevan, and it turns out to be Bill going at the rear, much to his disappointment. Percy meets up with Stephen at Ulfstead Castle, and the Rocket engine offers Percy his lucky horseshoe, to bring him good luck. However, Percy loses the horseshoe due to his sticky wheels, but he doesn't notice. The next day, Percy handles his jobs without mishap, feeling as if the horseshoe gave him good luck.

Later, he comes across Bill and Ben, the latter having derailed, and they're arguing as to whose fault it was. To Percy's horror, he finds his horseshoe is gone. Bill struggles to help his twin, and so, horseshoe or no horseshoe, Percy helps out and gets Ben back on the tracks. The Fat Controller turns up aboard Winston, and after Percy speeds off to Ulfstead Castle, the controller questions Bill and Ben, who argue over whose fault it was... again. I laughed a lot, especially when the Fat Controller groans and thinks something along the lines of "why do I bother?"

Percy arrives back at Ulfstead Castle to find Stephen with his horseshoe; it turned out Percy didn't need the lucky charm as it just came and went naturally. This is another favorite from season 17; Bill and Ben's return made plenty of sense here, and the role felt like it was made for them both. I'm not concerned about their wheels being red - a wheel is a wheel, and with every render for the characters, you get what you get. Besides, they returned, and that's what's important.

Episode Ratings:

Percy's Chocolate Crunch: 9 out of 10

Percy Gets It Right: 8 out of 10

Percy's Big Mistake: 3 out of 10

Percy and the Oil Painting: 7 out of 10

Percy and the Bandstand: 6 out of 10
Percy's Lucky Day: 9 out of 10

Thomas and Friends Season 6 Scorecard

7. Jack Jumps In: 10
8. A Friend in Need: 10
10. Twin Trouble: 7.5

12. Scaredy Engines: 3

17. Gordon Takes a Tumble: 8.5
18. Percy's Chocolate Crunch: 9
23. Edward the Very Useful Engine: 7.5

24. Dunkin Duncan: 8

25. Rusty Saves the Day: 2.5

26. Faulty Whistles: 8.5

Thomas and Friends Season 7 Scorecard

1. Emily's New Coaches: 10
4. The Old Bridge: 5.5
5. Edward's Brass Band: 6
11. Bad Day at Castle Loch: 7

12. Rheneas and the Roller Coaster: 0

23. Gordon and Spencer: 10

Thomas and Friends Season 8 Scorecard

4. Henry and the Wishing Tree: 7.5
6. Thomas Saves the Day: 8.5
7. Percy's Big Mistake: 3
11. Thomas and the Firework Display: 5.5
14. Edward the Great: 8
15. Squeak, Rattle and Roll: 7.5
21. Halloween: 9.5
22. You Can Do it, Toby!: 4.5
25. Too Hot for Thomas: 2

Thomas and Friends Season 9 Scorecard

1. Percy and the Oil Painting: 7
2. Thomas and the Rainbow: 1.5

7. Respect for Gordon: 8

10. Rheneas and the Dinosaur: 1
12. Toby Feels Left Out: 1.5

16. Henry and the Flagpole: 2.5

22. Skarloey the Brave: 1
23. Saving Edward: 2

24. Thomas and the Golden Eagle: 1

Thomas and Friends Season 12 Scorecard

5. Henry Gets it Wrong: 1

9. The Party Surprise: 3

10. Saved You!: 3.5

13. Tram Trouble: 5

14. Don't Go Back: 1
15. Gordon Takes a Shortcut: 3

16. The Man in the Hills: 1.5
18. Percy and the Bandstand: 6

19. Push Me, Pull You: 0.5

20. Best Friends: 10

Thomas and Friends Season 17 Scorecard

4. Gordon Runs Dry: 8
7. Henry's Hero: 5.5
12. The Thomas Way: 6
13. The Phantom Express: 7.5
14. Percy's Lucky Day: 9
16. Too Many Fire Engines: 9
20. The Frozen Turntable: 3

23. The Afternoon Tea Express: 8

24. The Smelly Kipper: 8