Railfan Brony Advent Calendar Day #18: Season 8's Winter Capers

Here's part two to Thomas' winter episodes!

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

As stated by the title, every episode on this group is from season eight. This is gonna be interesting!

Episode 2: Percy's New Whistle

Written by James Mason

At the quarry (yes, I know the narrator said smelters, but due to some bizarre cock up, we're at the quarry instead), after Percy sounds his whistle, Arry and Bert sound their horns, startling Percy. Later, he gets back at the diesels by blowing his whistle from behind them, giving them a fright. Percy gets a bit carried away and when he blows his whistle, he causes Thomas to bump some trucks and Bertie to veer out of control. Thomas scolds Percy for his cheekiness, and he promises not to do it again.

The next day, Percy gives Trevor a surprise with his whistle, and that causes a log to roll out of control and form a snowball that hits Percy. The Fat Controller scolds Percy for his foolishness, and the next day, after being quiet all day, Percy comes across a snow drift outside the tunnel and hears Thomas approaching, so he blows his whistle extra loud to get Thomas to stop. Now, Percy uses his whistle when the time is right. Who knew that even back then, the CGI they used for blowing whistles was brilliant? Sure, it's not Arc Production level, but it's still nice to do so without the constant use of whistle close ups, and we get to see the importance of steam whistles (and horns, for that matter).

Episode 8: Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough

Written by Abi Grant

And we got some controversy for this one!

Now I can answer the pressing question - is Emily actually in character here? Well, let's think about this for a second. It's 2004, and by that point, the original seven engines had been well-established as characters. Meanwhile, Emily had been introduced last year in season seven, and in the few episodes she starred in, Emily was viewed as kind and friendly. Now, we're in season eight, and Emily was shown to be fussy and, at times, a bit bossy and impatient.

This next bit might anger some people, but just bear with me on this - I actually like what they wanted to do with Emily in this episode; no. Seriously. In season seven, she seemed far too cheerful, except when a serious situation was at hand, and she didn't display too many flaws in her character. In season eight, they had to give her flaws to make her well-rounded because... well, do you want to see her constantly cheerful? Look at Marion between Tale of the Brave and season 18 - she can be chatty and, at times, clumsy, but there are cases when she's serious, especially when Bill and Ben cause trouble. With Emily, she might be kind-hearted, but she can get a bit bossy at times - it was even confirmed in her Who's That Engine segment! Before we stray completely off topic, let's just get to the episode.

Thomas gets annoyed when Emily tells him what he's doing wrong, and chooses to ignore her from then on. The following morning, he leaves early to take trucks from the quarry to the docks, and after he leaves, the Fat Controller tells Emily that Thomas needs to wear his snowplough. After she gets hers fitted, she tells Thomas, but he ignores her. Thomas later sets off to collect cream from the dairy, but he runs into a snow drift and gets stuck. Emily finds and scolds him for not listening. After she brings him back to the sheds, Emily admits that she neglected to tell Thomas it was the Fat Controller's orders, much to his annoyance. Thomas is fitted with his snowplough and knows now to listen in the near future.

So, was the episode all that bad? Er, not really. The story itself was actually quite strong, and I did like the shots of the camera on the tracks, to represent an engine's point of view. And Emily? Had they picked Gordon or Henry, it might've been predictable, so I feel she was the only character they had to fit the role. On whole, I'd say it's a decent enough episode.

Episode 9: Don't Tell Thomas

Written by Paul Larson

Thomas has been working hard to clear the lines, and the engines want to thank him for his hard work. He meets up with Toby and Harold, but they leave just as he shows up, much to his disappointment and most likely confusion. He soon sees Percy with trucks filled with presents, but he doesn't speak to Thomas either. After that, he sees Emily with a tree on a flatbed, and tries to follow her, but he's diverted away. Yeah, the three-strikes was in force here, only it takes half the take to get through.

At the sheds, the engines are talking just before Thomas shows up, and they keep quiet, much to his dismay. And before you comment, no, that's not out of character on any level - it was a surprise for him, and they wanted to keep quiet about it as much as they could, so they were ignoring him for all the right reasons. Thomas leaves upset, deciding not to bother finding out, and so Harold is sent to find him. Harold explains everything to Thomas, and so he picks up the children in Annie and Clarabel, and at the village station, there is Thomas' surprise - a huge Christmas tree! Yes, they actually mention the term - anyone who thinks it should be "Winter Holidays" can stuff it for all I care.

Episode 12: Gordon Takes Charge

Written by Paul Larson

The Fat Controller assigns Percy to work on passenger runs - he hasn't pulled any in a long time - and Gordon is to work with him, much to the big engine's disgust. Looks like another episode that wouldn't feel out of place during season one, doesn't it? Percy is a bit rough with his coaches, but Gordon backs down onto his smoothly and carefully. At the station, Percy is so eager he lets off steam and blows his whistle. Gordon once again shows off in front of Percy, and continues to do so even as Percy improves.

Gordon keeps showing off in front of everyone he passes, and at the next station, he slips and runs into a snowbank on a siding. The Fat Controller scolds Gordon for his carelessness, and to further add to Gordon's embarrassment, Percy comes into the station safely. Gordon is soon freed from the snow drift, and humbled by his incident, he lets Percy show how much he's learned.

Episode 23: James Goes Too Far

Written by James Mason

At a signal whilst pulling a slow goods train, James is annoyed that Percy and his mail train go first, even more so when at a water tower, Thomas is in front of him. Later, James is assigned to take coal to all stations on Sodor, and it's an important task, much to James' delight. At a water tower, there's a queue and James doesn't want to wait, so he heads off to his job without taking on water. When Edward asks James to take his slate trucks to the quarry, the red engine refuses, and later, he pays the price for not waiting to take on water.

Edward puffs up with a passenger train, but he can't help because James didn't bother helping him - kinda out of character, but what comes around goes around, I suppose - but he does tell the signalman about James being stranded. Salty comes to help James and scolds him for putting his job before others, but he helps him to the water tower so James can continue on his way. Later, James comes across a broken down Diesel, and remembering what Salty said, helps him to the repair yard. Kind of feels like a callback to Time for Trouble, doesn't it? James at first is sorry for putting his job first, but the Fat Controller reminds him that he did help out Diesel when he was in trouble, and he got his coal delivered on time.

One of season eight's best, and it has a very good moral that you shouldn't put your needs before others'.

Episode Ratings:

Percy's New Whistle: 7.5 out of 10

Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough: 7 out of 10

Don't Tell Thomas: 8.5 out of 10

Gordon Takes Charge: 8.5 out of 10

James Goes Too Far: 9 out of 10

Thomas and Friends Season 8 Scorecard

2. Percy's New Whistle: 7.5
4. Henry and the Wishing Tree: 7.5
5. James Gets a New Coat: 6
6. Thomas Saves the Day: 8.5
7. Percy's Big Mistake: 3
8. Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough: 7
9. Don't Tell Thomas: 8.5
10. Emily's New Route: 9
11. Thomas and the Firework Display: 5.5
12. Gordon Takes Charge: 8.5
14. Edward the Great: 8
15. Squeak, Rattle and Roll: 7.5
16. Thomas and the Circus: 9
18. As Good as Gordon: 8
21. Halloween: 9.5
22. You Can Do it, Toby!: 4.5
23. James Goes Too Far: 9
25. Too Hot for Thomas: 2