March 2011 saw the eleventh episode of Season 15 of Thomas & Friends - but before the review, the usual disclaimer:
The views below are entirely those of the author and not representative of the Sodor Island Forums as a whole.
On that note, it's time to get this review underway..
Life is full of surprises!
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Surprise Surprise!
Writer: Sharon Miller
Thomas is excited because it is time for a winter party. However, Thomas' friends need help to be fixed so will not be able to make it to the party.
Overall Impressions
About twenty seconds into the episode, the first new character to appear on screen since Bash, Dash, Ferdinand and Captain in Misty Island Rescue appeared. Rolling over the bridge, was the silhouette of a British Railways Standard 4MT...
...yes, it was Belle - whose debut in Day of the Diesels has been slightly undercut by her appearances in the early release Season 15. This was the highlight of the episode for me: despite the ridiculous water cannons, the choice of locomotive was one I took great delight in: it's a British Railways classic and there are no less than fifteen examples preserved in Great Britain - mildly appropriate, given the season's number!
The lack of brakevans on any of the trains in the first minute or so was rather disheartening, given we had both oil tankers, coal wagons, and the bizarre party wagons making their appearances this episode. I can only reiterate my pleas for brakevans to make the trains look real. It's literally one item of rolling stock that makes the whole scene look that much more real.
The quick arrival of Emily behind Gordon at the station in the opening scenes is not something you would get on a railway. Trains on lines are divided into sections so that trains don't meet like this, preventing collisions and other related accidents.
The actual storyline of this episode seemed awfully familiar, so much so that several members of the Sodor Island Forums have picked up on this today.
Previous episode, The Party Surprise - whereby Freddie feels sorry that Colin can't go to the party, and decides to bring it with him without telling Mr Percival...it all goes wrong and Freddie then spends the rest of the episode putting fairy lights everywhere.
That we can replace "Freddie" with "Thomas" and "Colin" with "Percy, Edward & Stanley", and then "Mr Percival" with "Victor" just about shows the level of cutting and pasting that is happening, to an otherwise identical storyline.
The usual complaints - alliteration, rhyming, unnecessary exposition and unnatural dialogue - all rang true today, but seemed to pale into comparison when we consider we've already watched this story, albeit with different characters, before.
Final Conclusions Given that there are more important things happening in the world right now - like the truly devastating scenes in Japan - it seems rather trite to even be writing these episode reviews up everyday.
The perspective of complaining about the quality of a children's television series, when so many children have died in the last five days, and the death toll rising further and further, seems twisted.
To be honest, my heart was just not in it today. BBC News is playing on the television in the corner of my room, and I can see the devastating scenes of destruction almost 24/7. What really brought it home was a man standing on the foundations of his house, and looking down at the ground where a few toys - including a trackmaster Thomas - lay scattered, broken, muddied and alone.
A whole house and his family wiped out in a little under a few minutes on Friday afternoon.
I watched the scenes unfold from Friday until today, and sent a few donations to the Red Cross, and put a few links on the forums I moderate to try and help in some way. I'd like to think we, as a single race, the human race, can all band together when scenes of destruction such as this occur.
That we've seen charities such as Shelterbox spring into action so quickly, and countries from all over the world giving aid and helping with evacuations, does show that this planet is moving towards that desired position: where regardless of creed, colour or stature, the human race is one race and our collective desire to survive overrides everything.
So, in conclusion, while we all indulge in a little moan at the quality of writing and the level it has sunk to, take a moment to reflect on the lives lost this past week: the children who will never see these episodes or upcoming special: the children who will never grow up and out of Thomas & Friends, the children who will grow not old, nor age weary them.
And if you feel you can, and are willing, make a donation to one of the many charities helping the beleaguered Japanese people these next few weeks.
Individual Episode Score: 2/10 - Gordon and Ferdinand 4/10 - Toby and Bash 3/10 - Emily and Bash 5/10 - Edward The Hero 1/10 - James to the Rescue 2/10 - Happy Hiro 1/10 - Up, Up and Away! 3/10 - Henry's Happy Coal 2/10 - Let It Snow 2/10 - Surprise, Surprise
Total Season Score So Far: 26/110
Average Season Score So Far: 2.3/10
Quick Character Stats
Speaking Roles:
Thomas, Percy, Edward, Victor, Kevin, Stanley, Charlie, Rocky
Cameos:
Gordon, Henry, Emily, Belle, Toby, James, Diesel, Rosie, Mavis
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