TUGS: High Tide

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

High Tide

Written and Directed by David Mitton

One morning, Big Mac returns to the Star Dock having worked all night long and is covered in coal dust, much to Top Hat's amusement ("a floating sack of coal, no less"), although Warrior defends his friend. Captain Star has Top Hat work with Lord Stinker the garbage barge, much to his disgust - no wonder many people cast James as Top Hat in Thomas/TUGS parody clips; they're practically alike in personality! Sunshine, meanwhile, is assigned with Ten Cents to help at the storage depot and afterwards, he's to help O.J. to pick up the new propeller from Lucky's Yard (if I'm honest, it's kinda pointless since Sunshine is never seen working with O.J. in this episode). Big Mac and Warrior are sent to pick up the steel for the Steel Company's contract, working against Zebedee and Zak, although the highest tide in years is taking place - surely nothing can go wrong, right?

Big Mickey, the yard's biggest crane, roots for the Star Tugs as they leave whilst Zebedee and Zak decide to take a shortcut through the canal, mostly because Zak's engine sounds unhealthy. They are spotted by Big Mac and Warrior, and knowing that the Z-Stacks' plan is flawed - high tide, tall loads, and bridges do not mix - they decide not to worry about losing the contract - they have every reason not to do so as Top Hat is working with the rail barges Frank and Eddie alongside Lord Stinker, and he has a wider load. Top Hat and Zebedee confront and charge after each other, but everything goes wrong when the Z-Stack's load hits the low railway bridge - "That's real Zero thinking," Top Hat remarks.

Realizing their mistake, Zebedee and Zak race away to find help. Top Hat realizes that Puffa is about to pull the mail train over the bridge, and he uses Zebedee's steel to prop up the bridge just enough so Puffa can pass over the canal safely. However, his troubles are far from over - the bridge collapses, as does the steel, and a goods train is coming through! Lord Stinker then has an idea; he asks Top Hat to position him to save the goods engine from hitting the water. Luckily, Lord Stinker's plan works, and Top Hat now has newfound respect for him, promising not to complain about his smell again. The Steel Company isn't very happy about the damage the Z-Stacks have done to their rig, but they're pleased with the Star Fleet for doing their job properly, and they supply the metal to repair the bridge - everyone (but the Z-Stacks, obviously) wins.

This is the only episode out of the show where Ten Cents isn't the main star - he doesn't even take up a minute of screentime! It was nice to see an episode where other tugs besides him take up the foreground - Top Hat, Zebedee, Zak, Lord Stinker, all of them play off one another nicely. Although, like O.J. needing Sunshine's help, Zak's engine troubles weren't resolved in the end - in fact, it's not known how Captain Zero reacted to the incident. Other than those two problems, it's another really good episode.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

TUGS Episode Scorecard

1. Sunshine: 9
2. Pirate: 10
3. Trapped: 10
5. Quarantine: 9
6. High Winds: 9.5
10. High Tide: 9.5
12. Regatta: 9.5