Thomas and Friends S18E16: Toad's Bright Idea

OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE SOLELY MY OWN; THEY DON'T REFLECT ON THOSE BY THE THOMAS FANDOM ON WHOLE

THIS BLOG CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS; READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Last week had a few marmite episodes; either you love them or loathe them (I like them, by the way!) This week, it's only one episode featuring our favorite GWR brakevan and co-star to Tale of the Brave. How will their chemistry turn out? Let's find out!

Toad's Bright Idea

Written by Davey Moore

What's really surprising about the episode is that it took place during Tale of the Brave. It's pretty evident by James' first glance of Gator, and running away in fright. Yeah, it was humorous when Gator's lamp turned on and he moans "not again". I didn't think a midquel was possible in a TV episode! We got a few in the annual stories explaining how Diesel came up with the nicknames for Henry, James, and Gordon, but never mind. As for Toad's Bright Idea, it was nice seeing a different side to Gator, and his frustration with Toad's nagging made me laugh, it was presented perfectly. And yes, Oliver's "later, Gator" joke also made me chuckle. Another fantastic episode of the season with great humor throughout.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

So far, season 18 has proved to be excellent. We did have a couple of stinker moments, but the amount of railway realism and the slice-of-life stories more than made up for them. I don't get why people are complaining about this reason; weren't the original Railway Series stories about simplicity? Well, like the moral for Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger says, you can't always please everyone. We've only got ten episodes to go; four as seen on The Christmas Engines, and six from Dinos and Discoveries. I wonder how those episodes will turn out...?

Thomas and Friends Season 18 Scorecard

No Steam without Coal - 10/10
Toad's Bright Idea - 9.5/10

Not So Slow Coaches - 9.5/10

Old Reliable Edward - 9/10

Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger - 9/10

Duck and the Slip Coaches - 9/10

Spencer's VIP - 9/10

Toad's Adventure - 8.5/10

Missing Gator - 8.5/10

Thomas and the Emergency Cable - 8.5/10

Thomas the Quarry Engine - 8/10

Marion and the Pipe - 8/10

Disappearing Diesels - 8/10

Duck in the Water - 7.5/10

Flatbeds of Fear - 7/10

Signals Crossed - 6/10

Overall Score So Far: 8.4/10

Thomas & Friends Season 18: Week 3

OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE SOLELY MY OWN; THEY DON'T REFLECT ON THOSE BY THE THOMAS FANDOM ON WHOLE

THIS BLOG CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS; READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Last week, we had a little bit of controversy surrounding Duck and the Slip Coaches, and we also got some more classic elements implemented. How much more classic feeling can we get this week? Let's find out!

Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger

Written by Davey Moore

After a six-year absence (barring a mention in Don't Bother Victor), Duncan finally returns to complete the Skarloey Six. He was best well-suited for the role, and once again, Thomas didn't appear! Is it me, or is Davey Moore writing all the episodes which the Skarloey engines play major roles? :P I definitely find the grumpy passenger very amusing and I hope we see him again; maybe a clashing with Sir Handel? The plot almost reminded me of A Friend in Deed, only it didn't have a musical number. A solid episode, and the moral pretty much sums up the fanbase's reaction to a certain "flaw" in the episode, which I'll get to later.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Marion and the Pipe

Written by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler

People complain about the episode as they think Marion was "out of character", which I personally don't get. This is her first appearance in a TV episode, for goodness' sake! I actually know a bunch of Marions in real life; they get chatty about stuff I'm not interested in, but for the most part, I put up with it. I really like the spouting water from the pipe, although it might've been nice to see how it would've affected the town... oh well. Long story short, I find this to be another of the underrated episodes, and the same applies to the following episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Missing Gator

Written by Andrew Brenner

Admit it; you've often longed to see someone you haven't for a while, and it's the same case with Missing Gator. I like the continuity with King of the Railway (the recently re-boarded tunnel) and Tale of the Brave (Gator's back on his home railway), and Gator appearing in Percy's vision almost reminds me of Obi-Wan Kenobi's spirit talking to Luke (Skywalker, not the Blue Mountain Quarry engine!) Stafford's remark to Percy accidentally bumping into him made me laugh, and yes, Millie spoke again! The moral is really strong, and it's yet another underrated episode (so what if it's an abridged Tale of the Brave?) Although, what was the point of Thomas' brief appearance?

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

No Steam without Coal

Written by Davey Moore

Out of the third week's episodes, this one has got to be the best. Finally, an episode has knocked Not So Slow Coaches off its perch. For the third time, Thomas doesn't appear, and nor does the whole Steam Team, barring Edward. Timothy almost feels like a little brother to Bill and Ben; they constantly tease him and he puts up with it. Marion was also great too; she's almost like a mother or big sister figure to the twins, and it made her a three-dimensional character. And of course, Bill and Ben's comeuppance was well-deserved as they were playing around and needed Timothy's help. A fantastic episode, and probably the best of season 18 to date!

Rating: 10 out of 10

Spencer's VIP

Written by Andrew Brenner

I'm surprised nobody brought this episode up when it was announced; Spencer's VIP had been overshadowed by the previous four because of returnees and new characters. For the episode itself, it was brilliant, plain and simple. It was actually great seeing Spencer show some remorse for his actions as they resulted in the Sudrian engines showing off and causing trouble. Two fantastic morals in one episode; who'd have thought? Funny how the episode people had the least hype for turned out to be great in every way possible.

Rating: 9 out of 10

This week of episodes has surpassed the previous two by a fair margin. After the... ahem, minor slip-up in Duck and the Slip Coaches, the writing in the episodes of week three more than made up for it to a certain extent. Remember what I said about the moral and a certain "flaw" in Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger? Well, people weren't happy just because Sir Handel didn't appear. Who cares if a character appears or not?! You wanted Duncan back, but now you want Sir Handel back? Make your minds, people! He made a cameo in Disappearing Diesels! It's not like he's been forgotten about entirely!

After three whole weeks, we're only getting Toad's Bright Idea on Monday, and in October (for The Christmas Engines on DVD) and possibly December, we're getting four winter/Christmas themed episodes. Then, come 2015, we get the final six episodes for Dinos and Discoveries. Hmm, we had a similar set up with season 17; sixteen regular episodes on TV, four winter-themed episodes, and six DVD exclusive episodes equals 26 episodes a season. Am I sensing a trend here?

Week 1 Rating: 7.9
Week 2 Rating: 8.3
Week 3 Rating: 8.9
Overall Season Rating So Far: 8.4 out of 10

September 15

Toad's Bright Idea

October 28 or December
Last Train for Christmas
Long Lost Friend
Duncan the Humbug
The Perfect Gift

2015
Dinos and Discoveries

Thomas & Friends Season 18: Week 2

OPINIONS IN THIS BLOG ARE SOLELY MY OWN; THEY DON'T REFLECT ON THOSE BY THE THOMAS FANDOM ON WHOLE

THIS BLOG CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS; READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

Last week, we had a good start on season 18, despite the hit-and-miss episode known as Signals Crossed. Can this week have matched last week? Let's find out!

Toad's Adventure

Written by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler

Out of the episodes from Trouble on the Tracks, this one received a fair amount of hype; even I was eager for this episode. It's very surprising that Mark and Nick improved that quickly from Signals Crossed. Personally, I didn't mind Oliver's bragging; he's intended to be a character with flaws, after all. It was interesting seeing Toad interact with James and Thomas, although why did Thomas pull express coaches? Then again, I've never seen anyone dine aboard Annie and Clarabel either. :P The runaway was quite dramatic, ending with a simple "tink" when Toad's buffers touched Thomas', and the ending was nice with a variety of characters like Rosie, Harvey and Charlie all listening to Toad's tale. I really enjoyed this episode, but there were faults here and there.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Duck in the Water

Written by Andrew Brenner

Wait, what's this? A standard gauge episode without Thomas in it? That is so amazing! We haven't had that since Gordon Takes a Shortcut! As for the episode itself, it was simple but humorous at the same time. Duck's expression above when actual ducks swim past him practically spoke for itself, and James' impatience resulting in Rocky swinging about did remind me of Wonky Whistle (ugh...) but here, it was that episode done correctly; it showed James was actually in the wrong, and he owned up for his mistake. Plus, the fallen signal did remind me of Crossed Lines. A nice, simple episode with good duck jokes on whole. I wonder; how does the Fat Controller keep James around with all the destruction he causes?

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Duck and the Slip Coaches

Written by Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler

Just to get this out of the way, I wrote this blog post because it's ending shot felt like it was fan service done badly and it came off as mean-spirited. Rather than rant on about it, just read the above post and you'll understand. Anyway, this episode was really good too; the concept of slip coaches was just brilliant! Why didn't Awdry (Wilbert and Christopher) come up with this?! Imagine the story potential! I was also surprised that the slip coaches were sentient, and had speaking roles (provided by Jonathan Brodbent, Rebecca O'Mara, and Steven Kynman)! We haven't had sentient coaches since Thomas, Percy and Old Slowcoach from season five. It was a good episode on whole, but that last ending shot... yeah...

Rating: 9 out of 10
(mostly for the concept, but Emily's treatment in the episode prevents the episode from getting a whole 10, even if it was only for a few seconds)

Thomas the Quarry Engine

Written by Andrew Brenner

We haven't had Mavis play a major starring role since season three, and that was 23 years before! Time flies, doesn't it? :P Onto the last episode from Trouble on the Tracks; this was another really good episode. I liked how they used Toby and Henrietta (and her new face by the time of DVD release) to take the workmen home, and the balloons on Mavis were pretty random. How'd she get them? That runaway scene was very Thomas and the Trucks-esque, although it may have been nice if Diesel got punishment for getting Mavis to play hooky. The musical number at Brendam Docks was something I didn't expect either, almost like a song out of My Little Pony! :P

Rating: 8 out of 10

Thomas and the Emergency Cable

Written by Andrew Brenner

Definitely another nice, simple story. The plot reminded me of the annual James' Traffic Jam, only it was for a bird and not a cup of tea. :P Thomas' tree inspector line gave me a few good laughs, as did Annie's line referring to Harold. Although, why was it Annie who had a flat wheel and not Clarabel as seen in the description? Then again, you need a brake coach for every passenger train. On whole, it's another brilliant episode from Andrew Brenner; it appears he can do no wrong.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Week two is more or less on par with week one. Even if I changed my rating for Duck and the Slip Coaches, I still don't have anymore interest in Duck as a character. We seem to get a lot of James this season; isn't it time we had more of Stanley, Rosie, Henry, etc.? If not this season, then hopefully season 19.

Week 1 Rating: 7.9
Week 2 Rating: 8.3
Overall Season Rating So Far: 8.1 out of 10

Next Week's Episodes

Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger

Marion and the Pipe

Missing Gator

No Steam Without Coal

Spencer's VIP