THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL
Episode 10: Twin Trouble
Written by Brian Trueman
Now, Donald and Douglas are said to have nearly always worked together, but they have appeared without one another in stories like Escape (which I'll get too soon enough), Mountain Engine, Bluebells of England/Rusty to the Rescue, and possibly more that I may have forgotten. Anyway, while they're taking a goods train, Donald sees Trevor's cart on the crossing (a wheel broke off), and applies his brakes, but Douglas doesn't, and they have a falling out - Donald accuses Douglas for pushing him into the cart, and Douglas argues that Donald pulled him. Sounds like One Good Turn, only the conflict ignites around forty seconds in, and Donald and Douglas are in Bill and Ben's place.
The next day, the Fat Controller needs an engine to help Duck at the smelters yards, and Donald volunteers, preferring to work alone. Here, Thomas' role isn't needed, but it had somewhat of a purpose when he says "Won't you (referring to Donald and Douglas) miss one another? I know I'd miss Annie and Clarabel." Donald works fine with Duck, but when the pannier tank misunderstands by shunting trucks onto the other line, Donald thinks that Douglas would've understood what he meant. Speaking of whom, Douglas is working alone, but he feels lonely and that night, he tries to apologize to Donald, who is still cross, and he asks if Douglas is going to apologize for causing the accident, which gets him angry,
In the morning, Donald is still in a bad temper, and doesn't watch where he's going, and smashes the buffers, derailing completely, much to his crew's annoyance. Duck leaves to find Douglas... wait, what?
Really, Duck? You just left your friend stuck in a predicament just to tell Douglas that his twin is in trouble? Why could you not have pulled him back on the rails yourself?! Or at least, made an attempt to do so? Oh, but then, the ending wouldn't have been happy.
And speaking of the ending, Douglas pulls Donald back to safety, and before they argue over who's sorry, Duck insists that they be glad they're back together and they are.
The episode is good... except for the ending, which wasn't thought through properly; if Douglas had been around at the time, he would've refused to help at first until Duck knocked some sense into him. It might have sounded like Rock 'n' Roll, but at least the ending would've made sense! The first accident was also strange as Donald would've simply gone through instead of derailing, but his second accident looked nice, even if his driver should've been involved. Oh, and Alec Baldwin did a frankly terrible job with Donald and Douglas' voices - he didn't even attempt a Scottish accent here, and yet he did in Duncan Gets Spooked!
The next day, the Fat Controller needs an engine to help Duck at the smelters yards, and Donald volunteers, preferring to work alone. Here, Thomas' role isn't needed, but it had somewhat of a purpose when he says "Won't you (referring to Donald and Douglas) miss one another? I know I'd miss Annie and Clarabel." Donald works fine with Duck, but when the pannier tank misunderstands by shunting trucks onto the other line, Donald thinks that Douglas would've understood what he meant. Speaking of whom, Douglas is working alone, but he feels lonely and that night, he tries to apologize to Donald, who is still cross, and he asks if Douglas is going to apologize for causing the accident, which gets him angry,
In the morning, Donald is still in a bad temper, and doesn't watch where he's going, and smashes the buffers, derailing completely, much to his crew's annoyance. Duck leaves to find Douglas... wait, what?
Really, Duck? You just left your friend stuck in a predicament just to tell Douglas that his twin is in trouble? Why could you not have pulled him back on the rails yourself?! Or at least, made an attempt to do so? Oh, but then, the ending wouldn't have been happy.
And speaking of the ending, Douglas pulls Donald back to safety, and before they argue over who's sorry, Duck insists that they be glad they're back together and they are.
The episode is good... except for the ending, which wasn't thought through properly; if Douglas had been around at the time, he would've refused to help at first until Duck knocked some sense into him. It might have sounded like Rock 'n' Roll, but at least the ending would've made sense! The first accident was also strange as Donald would've simply gone through instead of derailing, but his second accident looked nice, even if his driver should've been involved. Oh, and Alec Baldwin did a frankly terrible job with Donald and Douglas' voices - he didn't even attempt a Scottish accent here, and yet he did in Duncan Gets Spooked!
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Story by Simon Nicholson
Written by Jenny McDade
Rusty, Rheneas and Skarloey are sent to help Duncan with an important job at the incline, but the Scottish tank engine is in a bad temper and demands that the others hurry up so he can get back to the junction. Considering his past accidents (which are shown in flashback), the engines feel that it won't end well. Also, why would Rheneas and Skarloey call him "bossy boots" and "pushy puffer"? They've put up with his behavior before, so why make a big fuss about it now? Also, why four trucks for the incline at a time? We've seen six or seven trucks up there before, so why four? It's probably just me nitpicking again; in fact, I may do a blog post regarding if it's fair to nitpick or not!
Anyway, Skarloey, Rheneas and Rusty feel that Duncan isn't going to listen and give up trying to reason with him, while Duncan claims he can handle trucks. He soon eats his words when his chain is tangled with the front truck's coupling, and he is dragged up the incline just as Rusty arrives. As Duncan reaches the top, the chain breaks and he and the trucks run out of control into a swamp. He is rescued and scolded for his reckless behavior, apologizes to the others for being rude, and is made to work at the incline until he learns to be patient and careful.
So what can I say that I haven't already? Erm, not much, really. The crash was nicely filmed, just another way of showing reckless behavior having dire consequences. Although, I would like if they gave an explanation to the four truck limit; it just came from nowhere. Still, I think it's a good episode.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Thomas & Friends Season 6 Scorecard (out of 10 possible points)
10. Twin Trouble: 7.5
24. Dunkin Duncan: 8
24. Dunkin Duncan: 8
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