TUGS: Trapped

Another day, another review. We're Trapped with the TUGS this time around!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, AND NO ONE ELSE'S

Trapped

Written and Directed by Chris Tulloch

Captain Star explains that there's times when both Star Tugs and Z-Stacks have to work together; one of those times is bringing timber and tanning bark from the sawmills Up River; this year, it's extremely important. (No, that's not a capitalization goof; there is a location called Up River.) Zug has been given the task of hauling a rusty old tramper to the breaker's yard, but this extra task, according to Zak, will get Zorran cross with Zug. Meanwhile, we're introduced to Billy Shoepack the alligator tug who works at Up River - his task his transporting explosives from Mittsville to the logging camp. I'm sure you can bet why O.J. and Big Mac aren't the most comfortable around him.

Meanwhile, Zug meets up with a very annoyed Zorran, who "agrees" to "help" him get to the breaker's yard faster. However, Zorran pushes too hard, causing the tramper to jam the river, leaving Zug trapped with all the Star Tugs... or so he thinks. ("Once it starts to go, you cannot stop it," Sunshine quips.) It turns out Ten Cents had been bringing lumber-cutting machinery to Mittsville, and Zorran tells him up the "accident", so Ten Cents tells him to inform both captains and the salvage team while the Star switcher goes to investigate the scene.

Sunshine runs into Billy and explains about the blockage. Billy decides to use dynamite rather than a crane, much to Sunshine's dismay. Ten Cents encounters Top Hat (who's raised his wheelhouse to talk to him) and the former says he'll get help and later comes across Little Ditcher and asks him for help. Back at the blockage, Big Mac and O.J. decide to use a few barges to form a battering ram... which doesn't work. Then Sunshine and Billy turn up, much to the surprise of everyone else, and when the dynamite is rigged... nothing happens after a countdown. Turns out the fuse got wet. Take two - this time, the dynamite blows the tramper in half, but Zorran had just showed up on the lower side and he ends up on the rocks, much to everyone's amusement. Considering he caused the trouble in the first place, that's very cathartic. Billy is praised for his actions and I believe Zorran is brought back into water with Little Ditcher's help.

Out of the nine episodes that are 15 minutes in length, Trapped is one of those nine. The other four - Sunshine, Pirate, Munitions (which I'll get to later), and Regatta - are all 20 minutes - why all four of them are cut down to 15, I have no clue as sometimes, edits to cut down run-time leads to plotholes. Granted, Magic Railroad made it blatant, but that's irrelevant. The ending is probably one of the funniest and most exciting in any TUGS episode, like I mentioned above. Plus, the fourth wall break with Captain Star and Zorran was also amusing.

Rating: 10 out of 10

TUGS Episode Scorecard

1. Sunshine: 9
2. Pirate: 10
3. Trapped: 10
5. Quarantine: 9.5
12. Regatta: 9.5

TUGS: Pirate

I'm sorry, I kept holding it back due to a bout of writer's block. So, without further delay, we're back in Bigg City Port... and there's a Pirate on the loose...!

THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, AND NO ONE ELSE'S

Pirate

Story by David Mitton; written by Tarquin Cardona

Directed by David Mitton

Captain Star assigns Ten Cents to bring some engineering parts to Scuttlebutt Pete the dredger, but in the night, a mysterious tugboat steals the Star switcher's barge. The following morning, Zip and Zug accuse Ten Cents of stealing it, and Captain Star assigns him dredger detail as punishment, much to Ten Cents' dismay. Further taunting from Zak and Zebedee doesn't help matters, nor does having to do work for the Z-Stacks. You can't help but feel sorry for Ten Cents here - he thinks he's done his job and we believe him, but Captain Star doesn't. No, it doesn't make him unlikable; he's just doing his job as fleet leader, something I wish a certain group of Celestia-haters would take notice of?!

Anyway, that night, Grampus the midget submarine, who's unable to sleep due to the music, encounters a mysterious tug and is shocked to find him stealing Ten Cents' oil barge, and later on, the tug steals even more barges. The situation is so serious that the Star Tugs and Z-Stacks have to work together to catch the pirate in the act. This is awfully similar to Calling All Engines, isn't it - where two opposing sides have to work together in a crisis? And yes, I know the difference - in Calling All Engines, the steam engines and the diesel engines refuse to work together from the start, but they do so in the end to finish the airport and help clean up Sodor for the summer rush. In Pirate, the two rival fleets work together as the pirate could try to ruin their respective reputations.

Okay, back to the episode at hand. Some barges are loaded with flares to catch the thief red-handed - or, in this case, red... bumpered? (Is that even a word?) - and bring him to the authorities. Meanwhile, Grampus has found the thief, and discovers that he's under the command of two green-eyed tugboats holding his uncle hostage. Classic movie trope, innit - doing bad things against your will to save a relative's/friend's/lover's/etc. life. Although, this is the only appearance of all four characters, and they're never mentioned again, which is a bit of a shame, as we'll never know what became of the "pirate" (Sea Rogue) afterward. One minor quip here - what's the story behind his eyepatch? It's just... there.

Top Hat's been partnered with Warrior, much to his dismay, whilst Ten Cents works with Sunshine. I like the latter's role in this scene - he's been a similar situation (the previous episode, Sunshine) where he was innocent for something he was blamed for, caused by Zorran, and Sunshine sympathizes with Ten Cents' plight. Grampus emerges, and reveals that Sea Rogue has been forced to steal the barges, much to the switchers' surprise, and they set out to find him, but Zip and Zug think they're stealing more barges. Elsewhere, the green-eyed tugs make a plan to escape Bigg City, and cover up lightships and lighthouses to avoid detection, as well as covering bell buoys. Sea Rogue is confronted by Ten Cents and Sunshine, and explains everything to them, before they hide to avoid being spotted by Zip and Zug.

The Zero switchers find the missing barges, but are caught by the green-eyed tugs and they run off in fear. Grampus rescues Sea Rogue's uncle whilst Ten Cents, Sunshine and Sea Rogue charge at the green-eyed tugs, putting their lights out. Warrior, meanwhile, accidentally hits a flare barge. In the morning, he and Top Hat tow the villains away and Sea Rogue and his uncle head for home. Ten Cents' name is cleared, and Zug accidentally sets off another barge, causing him and Zip to run off again, much to the Star switchers' amusement. Considering they were mocking Ten Cents earlier, I'd say that (as well as the villains' scaring them off) is well-deserved.

It's amazing how they made twenty minutes feel like a movie; Pirate has the right mix of drama, comedy, and action - but then, every TUGS episode could fall under that category - and a brilliant moral on helping others and jumping to conclusions.

Rating: 10 out of 10

TUGS Episode Scorecard

1. Sunshine: 9
2. Pirate: 10
5. Quarantine: 9.5
12. Regatta: 9.5

Which Classic Rail Characters are Likely to Return?

On the Thomas Wikia, there's a poll going on about which classic series rail characters people would want to see come back. I'm going to be listing which characters I feel are likely to come back, from least preferred to most preferred. My choices might cause a bit of a stir, until we get to the top four, but bear with me on this.

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

Least Likely: Smudger (63 votes)

Why would anyone want to wish for him to return? Smudger (or Stanley, if you prefer going by the books) was never intended to be a starring character - he was simply mentioned in passing by Duke to get Stuart and Falcon to behave, and was never mentioned again. Heck, no one gave a damn about Smudger when Duke was found! Unless they recreate Duke in CGI (and hopefully, get right what season four didn't), Smudger's a no-go.

11. S. C. Ruffey (35 votes)

He was pulled apart by Oliver and in the story, S. C. Ruffey was scrapped, and yet on TV, he was rebuilt! Considering the Spiteful Brakevan's death in season two, that's quite hypocritical of Britt and David to rebuild S. C. Ruffey. A mention would be fine, but a full return? Sorry - no can do.

10. Fergus (43 votes)

I'm hardly shocked that Fergus ranked pretty darn low. He's pretty much Duck and Ferdinand mashed with a rail-counterpart to Trevor (don't take it the wrong way) and he barely made any impact in the three episodes he appeared in! I would've preferred to have Toby in his place in Bill, Ben and Fergus.

9. The Diesel/Class 40/D261/D4711 (50 votes)

Like S. C. Ruffey and Smudger, D261 (or "Bowler", if you prefer) was intended to be a one-shot character. He was boastful in front of the steam engines, and he got his comeuppance when a bowler hat was sucked into his air intake. If he does return, they should restrict him to being a mainland engine only - maybe as a foil for the likes of Connor and Caitlin?

8. Stepney (238 votes)

Just make him a visitor to Sodor. His TV portrayal is just bad, and it ruins what made him a great character in the books. I have absolutely no idea why he ranked third on the poll.

7. Bertram (40 votes)

Wait, what?

Despite him being a Duke repaint, I feel Bertram does have a bit of potential - maybe he could be working at the Blue Mountain Quarry alongside Freddie and Mighty Mac, should they also reappear. I mean, it can't just be Luke working there all the time, y'know? Plus, doesn't Prince (Duke's counterpart) have/had a few sisters of her own?

6. Derek (58 votes)

Huh, this reminds me that I should take a look at Double Teething Troubles. Despite the criticisms season five has gotten in recent years, I do like a number of episodes - some even feel like RWS leftovers, and Derek's sole starring role is a prime example of this.

5. Old Slow Coach (34 votes)

Come on, people - why did she rank last? She could really work in the new series! With the appearance of the Slip Coaches, anything is plausible in CGI. Not too sure who she could work with though...

4. Murdoch (168 votes)

Now we're getting to the ones I'd go for too. We've got a lot of small engines on the NWR - isn't it time we brought in some bigger ones to balance things out a bit? We've already got Hiro, yes, but he's a visitor. The NWR needs a permanent strong goods engine, and Murdoch perfectly fits the bill.

3. BoCo (737 votes)

Yep, BoCo, the most well-loved absentee only ranked third. Why is he there? Well, he doesn't have much persona other than being good-natured, which is a trait shared by many characters. Yes, he'd complete the Wellsworth branchline crew, but his persona on whole is a bit too similar to Edward's. Add some more to BoCo's character, and he's good to go.

By the way, for those of you bashing Daisy and wanting BoCo instead - who cares?! Daisy came before BoCo; it's the writer's choice - live with it!

2. Arthur (148 votes)

Even though I prefer some characters over him, Arthur does have a ton of potential, especially since the Fishing Village has made a reappearance in the 15th season. Since Paul Larson did a great job with him in season seven, I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote for him again in the new series.

Most Likely: Duke (278 votes)

I bet many of you saw this coming, huh? Here are the reasons why Duke ranks the top spot:

1. The adaptations of his stories in season four were incredibly poor - even the good ones had problems. With the appearance of the Arlesdale Railway in Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure, there's a chance they'll re-adapt Duke and get it right.
2. Very Old Engines was never adapted for TV. That was another issue with season four; the Skarloey engines' introductions very much took up half the season and they could've been used for seasons two and three. Another reason is that Very Old Engines was a perfect build up to Duke, but instead, the latter was adapted first, and the story Little Old Twins from The Little Old Engine was left out completely.
3. The Mid-Sodor Railway didn't get much exposure. Should the writers ever feature the old railway, they could tell it in flashback and give the other Mid-Sodor engines a chance to shine, even if they only appear for one episode.
4. He completes the trio of himself, Peter Sam and Sir Handel. They are the three (known) survivors of the Mid-Sodor Railway, and as the Railway Series shows, they have a bond like you wouldn't believe - it even brings out a more sensitive side of Sir Handel!