THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL
James to the Rescue was one of the candidates for my Top 25 Worst Episodes list, but it didn't make the cut because, to be frank, the other three episodes of S15 were very much how bad the writing was in a nutshell. Whilst Spencer the Grand was an episode with wasted potential and Let it Snow had just about everything bad, James to the Rescue was... my God, where do I begin?
James to the Rescue
Written by Sharon Miller
As usual, it's the totally pointless monologue introducing James to the audience with footage from past episodes and specials. Two things: 1. WE KNOW WHO HE IS BY NOW! Why reintroduce him like we don't know who he is?! 2. Reusing footage from past episodes is very much poor production. Okay, Arc Productions did reuse angles and occasionally edited footage, but moments like that from them are very few and far in between. Intros like these just simply pad out the episode's length to eight minutes and 45 seconds.
The plot really begins with James arriving at the Sodor Search and Rescue Center because he's Sodor's rescue engine for the day. Who's going to do his work, I wonder? There, Percy asks what a "call to acton" is. Seriously; Percy is not that stupid, and he isn't deaf either! That's another complaint of mine; flanderization of characters isn't funny (we're looking at you, Patrick Star) and it can lead to characters being unlikable! However, it gets worse when Toby shows up, saying he's going to be a rescue engine along with James, and after getting the message that Gordon has derailed on the Fenland Track (at least it was a workman and not Rocky), we now we get to the most infamous aspect of the episode...
That's like saying that disabled people can't be useful because of their condition! The racism in Misty Island Rescue and especially Day of the Diesels is abhorrent enough, but calling others not for not being normal?! Who says that's for children?! It better not be for children! What's really infuriating is that although James is scolded by Thomas (by the way, Toby CAN stand up for himself, thank you very much) he isn't severely punished for being discriminatory! Another problem is that Toby is somewhat close to his original persona, but James is a downright arsehole!
Back to what can laughably be called the story, we get more pointless filler with rhyming and alliteration before James and Toby finally meet up with Gordon. When Toby asks about bringing Rocky, James refuses and tries to pull Gordon back on the rails, which only makes the problem worse. Seriously, Toby; why don't you bring Rocky yourself and leave James to keep messing up the rescue?! Also, there's no loop line around the Fenland Track; it's just used as a plot device to pad out the episode. If you cut out a lot of the pointless filler to four minutes and thirty seconds, the episode would be more enjoyable, and it'd be written better as well!
After trying to push Gordon back on the tracks, James causes the bridge to break, and Gordon is more stuck than he already was! Again, this would be better if Toby had brought in Rocky in the first place! James then decides to back up and push Gordon at high speeds, but his plan fails and he ends up stuck as well. Okay, the crash is probably the only good thing out of this mess, but how the hell did his crew survive a potentially deadly crash without any injuries?!
Toby finally goes to fetch Rocky like he should've done ages ago, with pointless help from Thomas, and after Gordon and James are back on the rails, Toby takes both of them to the works while he does all the rescue operations himself and James is scolded. Oh, that would've happened if the episode had the slightest hint of common sense, but nope. James is puffing like nothing happened to him, and he and Toby rescue other engines in "trouble". (I mean, simply bringing oil to a diesel is hardly a heroic thing to do!) The Fat Controller praises James, but he should be scolding him for both his reckless and discriminatory behavior! And why didn't he apologize to Toby, I'd like to know?
This episode is simply appalling; the discrimination, the unfortunate implications (James gets away with his behavior), the abhorrent morals (if someone discriminates against you, you should always help them out), the pointless filler, rhyming and alliteration, just about everything snowballs into a pile of garbage. Seriously, if journalists have their knickers in a twist over the "lack of females", they should be more concerned about the behaviors and actions of S13-16!
In Dirty Objects, James was simply rude to Toby and Henrietta by calling them dirty, but Toby got his own back by reminding James of his bootlace incident. Granted that one line of dialogue is a bit convoluted, but at least it showed Toby was capable of defending himself! As for James to the Rescue, it should NEVER air again, and it just sends out the wrong messages! Don't even try pulling the "it's just for kids" card - IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE FOR POOR WRITING!!! Kids are meant to be taught worthwhile messages and they should understand how bad behavior leads to trouble. The Sad Story of Henry is a great example of that; Henry was bricked up in the tunnel because of his selfishness of keeping his paint dry, and his crew, the passengers, and the Fat Controller chewed him out because of this. It taught us how vanity comes last, and that we should respect our elders.
None of this was shown in James to the Rescue, and if my review (and several others, in fact) can get this message across that kids deserve better than what S13-16 shoveled down our throats - like season 17 onwards with good writing - then it'll be worth it.
The plot really begins with James arriving at the Sodor Search and Rescue Center because he's Sodor's rescue engine for the day. Who's going to do his work, I wonder? There, Percy asks what a "call to acton" is. Seriously; Percy is not that stupid, and he isn't deaf either! That's another complaint of mine; flanderization of characters isn't funny (we're looking at you, Patrick Star) and it can lead to characters being unlikable! However, it gets worse when Toby shows up, saying he's going to be a rescue engine along with James, and after getting the message that Gordon has derailed on the Fenland Track (at least it was a workman and not Rocky), we now we get to the most infamous aspect of the episode...
"Toby, Sodor rescue engines are steam engines! You are a steam tram! Steam trams can't be rescue engines!"
That's like saying that disabled people can't be useful because of their condition! The racism in Misty Island Rescue and especially Day of the Diesels is abhorrent enough, but calling others not for not being normal?! Who says that's for children?! It better not be for children! What's really infuriating is that although James is scolded by Thomas (by the way, Toby CAN stand up for himself, thank you very much) he isn't severely punished for being discriminatory! Another problem is that Toby is somewhat close to his original persona, but James is a downright arsehole!
Back to what can laughably be called the story, we get more pointless filler with rhyming and alliteration before James and Toby finally meet up with Gordon. When Toby asks about bringing Rocky, James refuses and tries to pull Gordon back on the rails, which only makes the problem worse. Seriously, Toby; why don't you bring Rocky yourself and leave James to keep messing up the rescue?! Also, there's no loop line around the Fenland Track; it's just used as a plot device to pad out the episode. If you cut out a lot of the pointless filler to four minutes and thirty seconds, the episode would be more enjoyable, and it'd be written better as well!
After trying to push Gordon back on the tracks, James causes the bridge to break, and Gordon is more stuck than he already was! Again, this would be better if Toby had brought in Rocky in the first place! James then decides to back up and push Gordon at high speeds, but his plan fails and he ends up stuck as well. Okay, the crash is probably the only good thing out of this mess, but how the hell did his crew survive a potentially deadly crash without any injuries?!
Toby finally goes to fetch Rocky like he should've done ages ago, with pointless help from Thomas, and after Gordon and James are back on the rails, Toby takes both of them to the works while he does all the rescue operations himself and James is scolded. Oh, that would've happened if the episode had the slightest hint of common sense, but nope. James is puffing like nothing happened to him, and he and Toby rescue other engines in "trouble". (I mean, simply bringing oil to a diesel is hardly a heroic thing to do!) The Fat Controller praises James, but he should be scolding him for both his reckless and discriminatory behavior! And why didn't he apologize to Toby, I'd like to know?
This episode is simply appalling; the discrimination, the unfortunate implications (James gets away with his behavior), the abhorrent morals (if someone discriminates against you, you should always help them out), the pointless filler, rhyming and alliteration, just about everything snowballs into a pile of garbage. Seriously, if journalists have their knickers in a twist over the "lack of females", they should be more concerned about the behaviors and actions of S13-16!
In Dirty Objects, James was simply rude to Toby and Henrietta by calling them dirty, but Toby got his own back by reminding James of his bootlace incident. Granted that one line of dialogue is a bit convoluted, but at least it showed Toby was capable of defending himself! As for James to the Rescue, it should NEVER air again, and it just sends out the wrong messages! Don't even try pulling the "it's just for kids" card - IT'S NOT AN EXCUSE FOR POOR WRITING!!! Kids are meant to be taught worthwhile messages and they should understand how bad behavior leads to trouble. The Sad Story of Henry is a great example of that; Henry was bricked up in the tunnel because of his selfishness of keeping his paint dry, and his crew, the passengers, and the Fat Controller chewed him out because of this. It taught us how vanity comes last, and that we should respect our elders.
None of this was shown in James to the Rescue, and if my review (and several others, in fact) can get this message across that kids deserve better than what S13-16 shoveled down our throats - like season 17 onwards with good writing - then it'll be worth it.
Rating: 0.5 out of 10
(just for the animation, voice acting, and the crash; the episode was otherwise terrible)
Usually, I don't give out ratings in negative territory, but Up, Up and Away, Wonky Whistle, and Fiery Flynn are so awful that I'll make an exception for them.
Thomas & Friends Season 15 Scorecard (out of 10 possible points)
6. James to the Rescue: 0.5
8. Up, Up and Away!: -3
17. Wonky Whistle: -5
20. Fiery Flynn: -3
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