TTTE Season 15: The Logging Loco Trilogy

Yes, you read that right. For Halloween, I'm going back to the worst era in Thomas history to review three episodes at once... THE LOGGING LOCO TRILOGY.

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

Before I begin, let's knock a few similarities out of the way.

1. All come from season 15 (obviously!), known as the worst season in Thomas history, with season 13 coming in a close second.
2. All were written by Sharon Miller.
3. All feature one Logging Loco paired with a Steam Team member - "X and Y".

Now that we got them outta the way (unless I missed any), let's dig into the actual episodes!

Episode 1: Gordon and Ferdinand

Stock footage to start an episode, what a great way to begin(!) At Brendam Docks, Gordon is annoyed as he witnesses the Logging Locos biffing and bashing without crashing (Augh, the rhyming!) The Fat Controller shows up and assigns Ferdinand to be working with Gordon to take the Lion of Sodor for the Duke and Duchess of Boxford because... reasons. Alright, the Lion of Sodor is a statue being carried on a conflat - ONE conflat. Gordon could've just as easily taken it by himself (with a brakevan to boot), and Ferdinand would have no reason to join him. Also, Thomas has no reason to be in the story; he's just there because why not.

Whenever Gordon and Ferdinand pass by people, they praise the logging loco over the big express engine, the latter whom gripes about having no attention - wow, his arrogance is really over the top! I know arrogance is part of Gordon's personality, but seriously? Can you tone it back a little? And why does Ferdinand not react when Gordon insults him? Speaking of which, at least he does say more than "That's right!" all the time when they're at the fenland track... in which the statue falls off and hits the mud. It's then taken to the Steamworks where it's cleaned up and taken to the summerhouse, happy ending blah blah blah. And it doesn't stop there...

Episode 2: Toby and Bash

I'll tell you what; Toby's portrayal in this episode is a lot better than it was in the last two seasons where he was a downright wuss. Granted, he was seen as a bit idiotic when suggesting new homes for Bash, but he still seemed helpful... sort of.

It was nice that the whole episode took place around Thomas' branchline, and Arlesdale End's return was quite nice; it looks lovely in CGI. Well, for the most part, there's nothing else to talk about here as the episode's only uninteresting, so... at least it's improvement?

Episode 3: Emily and Dash

I'm going to admit it; I can never bring myself to fully hate an Emily-centric episode. With this one? Well...

We start off with Emily arriving at Misty Island and spots the Logging Locos playing Warbling Whistles - their whistles make tweeting sounds like birds. Pointless appearance by Thomas so the Fat Controller can give Emily her task. Dash is to be the star of the steam fair. Emily wants to try making her whistle tweet like a bird, and is sure it sounds easy... easier said than done. On the way, her whistle makes weird sounds (with funny faces to boot), much to the amusement of Gordon and Charlie, and the concern of Hiro (admittingly, I thought it was pretty funny). Along the way, Dash runs low on fuel and Emily carries on without him.

Okay, that's pretty much one of the big reasons the episode is panned; why would Emily be so thoughtless in leaving Dash stranded like that? Just imagine if another train came through; I'm sure Dash wouldn't make tweeting noises after that... not that anybody would be bothered.

Anyway, Dash has run low on fuel, and realizing she can't make tweeting noises alone, Emily picks up some fuel for Dash and they make it back to the fair on time; Emily laughs so hard her whistle actually makes tweeting noises! Oh, and Trevor makes an obligatory cameo and won't be seen again for another four seasons (spoiler alert!) The episode's a bit silly, but it does have funny moments, although I cannot justify ranking it higher than Toby and Bash.

On whole, it's a bad trilogy featuring the three most infamous characters of the show. Again, are they overhated? Well... maybe. It was still a nice idea for Miss Miller to try something that was successful in the classic series so... maybe it was a sign of things to come? I hope you've survived the horrors, but to end this on a cheerful note, I'll leave you with this:

Episode Ratings:

Gordon and Ferdinand: 2.5 out of 10

Toby and Bash: 4 out of 10

Emily and Dash: 3.5 out of 10

Thomas and Friends Season 15 Scorecard

1. Gordon and Ferdinand: 2.5
2. Toby and Bash: 4
3. Emily and Dash: 3.5
6. James to the Rescue: 0.5

8. Up, Up and Away!: 0
9. Henry's Happy Coal: 5.5
10. Let it Snow: 1
13. Stop That Bus!: 6

17. Wonky Whistle: -5

20. Fiery Flynn: -8