Season 17

[Anthony P2]

the episodes from the last couple of days have been really good! one thing I do have to say about this season is the utilization of characters to use. it's not just the eight main engines getting rolls for themselves but characters like scruff, hiro and diesel, flynn and belle, bill and ben, salty, stafford, (soon to be) harvey.....the list goes on. this has to be one of the best series since the classic series (pre season .

[Chaz]

Well here are my thoughts on the next two episodes.  We'll start with Thomas' Shortcut:
This episode has to be another really great one from this season!  Thomas and Bertie racing again was done very well, and I liked seeing the rivalry build up again between the two of them.  In some ways this episode felt a lot like Thomas Gets Bumped in the sense that Thomas felt compared to Bertie, but it didn't really have the plot as exciting as Thomas and Bertie's Great Race since there was no real racing action which I felt would have made the episode a lot more interesting.  Especially since there was no official competition at the time Thomas was taking the shortcut.  However the choice of characters was done well, and it was great seeing Harvey again despite not speaking.  It's a fun episode and if you love Thomas and Bertie episodes, it's hard to avoid this one.  8/10

Now time for the Smelly Kipper (keep an open mind on this one):
This episode was a HUGE missed opportunity for me.  Where it did well was the fact that it revolved around the flying kipper, on top of giving that episode to James of all characters and the bits with the troublesome trucks was great too.  When I read the description I found myself getting excited, thinking this was going to be a new favorite as any episode having an engine pulling the flying kipper is usually a good one.  While I enjoyed parts of it, there's just one problem with the episode, and it's a big one... it's the storyline.  I love Andrew Brenner's work but this episode had way too much going on.  First it was about James proving to the engines he was brave in the dark, then James abandoning the job, then Henry being late, then James owning up to his mistake, then James going back to the docks to make up for lost time, then James going to the docks only to be made fun of by Porter and the troublesome trucks, then James gets covered in fish, then James is briefly shown pulling the flying kipper, and then James goes back to the sheds with the engines laughing at him and goes to the washdown... starting to see the problem?  Sometimes less is more and more is less, this episode proves that.  I would have been a lot happier with this episode if we actually saw more with James pulling the flying kipper throughout the whole episode and not all the unneeded dialogue and dilemmas that were shown throughout the episode.  It would have made it more entertaining and it would have a much better overall flow.  Plus whatever happened to the idea of James proving himself to not be afraid of the dark?  That was what made James pull the flying kipper in the first place and the whole idea of that was forgotten once James got to the docks.  So overall, I found this to be a really silly episode with a lot of uneeded dialogue and sideplots, and I feel this episode could have been so much better if they just made it a lot more of a basic story involving James actually pulling the kipper. 4/10

[DinoNTrains]

My thoughts on The Smelly Kipper: It wasn't a bad episode, and I did like it, though I do have some things about it. 1.) James seemed like a total jerk in the beginning. I don't know, it just irked me. 2.) Why were some of the fish delivered in Troublesome Trucks? At least the fish they carried were in crates, unlike how they were just transported raw and unprotected in previous episodes. And on the note of the Flying Kipper itself, shouldn't there be more cars to the train?

But I digress, I did think that it was an alright episode. It's good to see the Flying Kipper come back

[Chaz]

Well here are my thoughts on Gone Fishing:
Harvey finally getting an episode since season 6 is welcome with wide open arms!  Bringing back Harvey was smart since he remained iconic throughout seasons 6-12 on top of being a character with fair development (A Bachmann model of him would be a huge seller if not for the crane arm).  I didn't exactly love the voice he was given, a little more of a gruff voice would have suited him better.  Hopefully the US dub will give him more of a proper voice.  As far as CGI design goes, easily one of the best ones.  It has a better representation of the tv model than any of the recent comebacks this season on top of having the most accurate face out of the bunch. 
As far as the episode itself goes, this episode was honestly way too predictable.  Harvey proving to be useful by being both a crane and an engine has been done before, but they emphasized it in a different way which made this episode a little more unique.  I thought it was great that they finally made Harvey actually pull a train and giving him a role at the docks was done very well.  At the same time I feel like it could have been more interesting.  It's weird, the previous episode had way too much going on, this episode was the exact opposite!  Not even Bill and Ben could have made the episode more interesting, which is what they have been known to do in previous episodes.   
Plus I don't know about you guys, but I think Porter stands as one of the most bland characters in the series.  Molly and Jeremy got more development than Porter ever did in their debut seasons.  He barely did anything in his debut episode and in an episode where he was expected to play a bigger role, he really didn't serve any justice to that one either. 
So overall I'd say it's an improvement over yesterdays episode but honestly not by that much.  5/10

[Zorran202]

Idk, I enjoyed his voice since if you think about it, his real-life basis is actually from Scotland, hence having the Scottish accent we hear him with in Gone Fishing.

It was an interesting episode, certainly a lot more better than The Smelly Kipper, in a way really.

[Chaz]

Idk, I enjoyed his voice since if you think about it, his real-life basis is actually from Scotland, hence having the Scottish accent we hear him with in Gone Fishing.

Yeah, but a more gruff voice still would have been my preference, even with a Scottish accent.  Like I said I didn't love it, I just felt it could have been a little better. 

[therailwayinspector]

He sounds remarkably similar to Rocky in my opinion. I'm undecided as to whether I like it or not. A scottish accent though I love as it adds to the variation.

Season 17 has been good for vocal development; Scottish, Brummie, whatever-Stephen's-is, Irish, French... whatever next?!

[chris123678]

Edward looks a-lot bigger, anyone else notice?

[Chaz]

Well the last episode, minus the xmas ones I haven't gotten around to reviewing, the Afternoon Tea Express.
I'll be honest when I first read the brief summary provided I thought this was going to be a boring episode but I found myself to actually enjoy it.  It was really great seeing true polar opposites sharing an episode together, Spencer and Stephen and it managed to play off really well.  Plus the idea of the other engines pushing Stephen around to make him move around faster was actually pretty funny.  That and I actually liked seeing James pulling the express coaches.  We haven't seen any other engine besides Gordon pull express coaches in some time so it was nice seeing some variety.  The crash that was shown at the castle reminded me a lot of the recent episode No More Mr. Nice Engine and it kinda had a similar twist, only I found myself liking this crash a little more than the former.  So overall a nice episode, I won't say this episode was the ideal episode to end the season on (if you've been consistant with watching the episodes on youtube), but I found it to be an improvement over the last two episodes and it's great seeing Stephen play a huge role outside of King of the Railway. 7/10

I'll talk about my thoughts on the Christmas episodes when I have the time.

[seanrail]

Well No More Mr. Nice Engine just aired in Australia, so I figured I would share my thoughts on it.  To those of you who live in the UK/US do not read any further, as this review will contain spoilers.

Anyway the first thing I want to say right off the bat, is I am pretty happy that we are getting 26 episodes this season.  The more the merrier!  Especially when the episodes are in good quality.

For No More Mr. Nice Engine, I found it to be fairly enjoyable.  The moral of the story is to basically keep your cool and control your temper.  The fact they used Diesel and Hiro, who are opposite from each other in that respect was a really clever way.  I think what I liked too was seeing the troublesome trucks in their troublesome ways again.  Now granted, we had king of the railway but I really didn't get that classic "troublesome" feel from them as much as I would have liked.  This episode did that better, which I find to be a very strong point.  
Plus I liked seeing Edward getting a small role in this episode.  Edward hasn't really done so much this season so seeing him speak a couple of times is a plus.  This episode could have worked just as well if not better with Edward just because this kind of plot suits his original character so much more.  Using Hiro though wasn't a bad move at all though, and no complaint on my part.  
The only thing I have to question is Diesel behind Hiro's train... no one at the docks realized this, let alone the workman who coupled Diesel to the pack of Hiro's train...?  I feel like the episode would have worked better if Diesel whispered a plan to the trucks that would cause the extra trouble for Hiro.  It again would have made the episode a little more effective and not as blatantly obvious that it was Diesel's doing, but I guess it really was the only way they could have caught Diesel in the act of sabotaging both of Hiro's trains.  
It's an overall enjoyable episode, a great storyline, and of course a great choice of characters.  Glad to see this season still coming on strong! 8/10


Now I updated this post due to no responses and I wanted to avoid double-posting.  So here are my thoughts on "Away from the Sea"
I think it can be said that the best part of the episode has to be the beginning, the flashback to Salty's secret.  It was done in a very clever way and it really takes fans back to when Salty first came to Sodor.  It's surprising to me that I felt nostalgic while watching that flashback, to think that season six was so long ago from now.  Now despite my praise for the flashback for the episode, is it a good episode?  Well I feel after the flashback I was suddenly underwhelmed by the rest of the episode.
A letdown for me for this episode was Salty's personality in this episode.  He was completely out of character.  While I'm happy they gave Salty a role, it was bizarre seeing a character as optimistic as him overthink a new character like Porter.  Plus seeing him refusing to go to the Dieselworks, being careless and crashing into freights cars full of oil and then confetti just did not work for him.
There are still some positive moments throughout the episode, like seeing Den appearing in this episode, since he was absent in the missing Christmas decorations.  Plus the part with Porter annoying Cranky with the excessive questions was done really well.  Cranky usually makes for good speaking roles and moments throughout episodes, and this episode is no exception.  And of course when credit is due, the mention of how sandboxes work for different engines was pretty enjoyable too.  It's pretty clear Brenner has done his homework! 
As far as Porter goes I must be honest when I say this I found his personality to be a little dull.  But hopefully within the next episode (with the return of Harvey in mind) we can see more development from him. 
Overall though, it's an all right episode, I won't say it's one of the strongest episodes this season but if you like season 6 or are a fan of Salty you may enjoy the episode. 7/10

i have to agree with Salty being out of character in 'away from the sea, chaz. i have thought of one for Salty that would work better. Salty proving to to Cranky that The Little Mermaid, who turned into sea foam after the prince married another princess in the Hans Christian Andersen tale 'The Little Mermaid', still exists and alive after feeling upset about the sad ending.

[DinoNTrains]

i have to agree with Salty being out of character in 'away from the sea, chaz. i have thought of one for Salty that would work better. Salty proving to to Cranky that The Little Mermaid, who turned into sea foam after the prince married another princess in the Hans Christian Andersen tale 'The Little Mermaid', still exists and alive after feeling upset about the sad ending.

I don't know about that one, mostly because of how dark/sad the ending to the original story of "The Little Mermaid" is. But it would be kind of cool if they did an episode of Salty and mermaids

[seanrail]

i was also planning to add bits from the Disney Film of the same name, Dino.

[Chaz]

Well here are my thoughts on the Christmas episodes since now I have time to go through them:
Santa's Little Engine - A huge disappointment.  This episode started off pretty well, the humor with STH and Winston and the beginning went very well at the beginning but I found Winston to look really ridiculous as a sleigh.  From that point though I found the episode to be average, and then it went downhill from there... literally.  I know I shouldn't judge a show like Thomas for realism but can someone please explain to me how the sleigh landed perfectly on the rails?  On top of the branches landing so perfectly on Thomas' funnel?  And more importantly, Why was Winston being decorated as a sleigh was not approved by the Earl since he wanted something a little more suiting for the festival yet Thomas with antlers and a red nose pulling the sleigh was..?  That basically made the whole scene with Winston being decorated completely pointless.  The episode had it's minor funny moments, but for me I just thought it was a really ridiculous episode.  Definitely one of the weaker episodes this season.  2/10

No Snow for Thomas - There is no other way to put this episode other than it basically being a rewritten version of Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough.  The only differences was some minor changes to the plot and Emily's overall personality in the episode.  The episode does not win the originality award on my book, but I do give the episode credit for showing the safety of Thomas wearing a snowplough by just leaving him in the sheds.  That is of course before inevitably he gets stuck in the snow again.  I did like how they gave Emily the caring personality she had in season 7 as opposed to the bossy/sassy personality she was given from season 8 onward.  So while originality is weak I feel everything else was done pretty well.  What you see is what you get, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch this episode more than once.  One of the best Emily episodes we've gotten since season 11, but definitely not the strongest for her, or the season.  7/10

Frozen Turntable - It was an average episode, a little boring, but not a bad one.  This episode had it's funny moments like Percy trying to get into the shed with Gordon already sleeping inside.  Past that nothing really struck me as anything particularly memorable about this episode.  Gordon was essentially a grump throughout the episode and finally had what was coming to him after making a selfish decision.  It's a rare message throughout the series nowadays to not be greedy and this episode displayed that moral very well, especially with the moment of Gordon being stuck in the sheds not able to come out.  So overall not a bad episode but at the same time I felt they could have done a little better with this one. 6/10

The Missing Christmas Decorations - I'll be honest, I was biased when I first heard that Diesel 10 was appearing in an episode, since I was used to seeing him as a movie/special only character.  So I would have never guessed he would appear in an episode, let alone a Christmas episode.  The episode itself was easily the best episode out of all the winter episodes this season.  Paxton once again said some of the best lines in the episode such as coming in during the confrontation asking "What's the occasion?" worked really well.  Plus I found Sidney to be humorous while hanging up at the Dieselworks waiting for his new wheels.  He's a character who I would love to see more development from.  To add to that, the chase scene with Diesel 10 and the steam team was done really well, but I think what I liked best about this episode was the moral.  The moral was talking about the spirit of Christmas being about giving and even being good to those were not good to you in the past.  It's basically one of those "love your enemies" moments, and with the Diesels giving the steam engines their decorations in return for giving Sidney new wheels really shows that moral even more.  Plus I really like how Percy was given a good role for this episode since it ties in with his role in Day of the Diesels.  Plus Diesel 10 calling Sidney "Twinkle toes" worked really well for this episode!  So not only was this episode the best out of the four, but probably out of the season as a whole.  10/10


So as a season overall I was pretty impressed with what I've seen.  A huge improvement over what we've gotten over the last five years as far as writing has gone from the season.  I won't say it's perfect but it is a huge step in the right direction.  I'm glad everyone liked my insights too and I'm looking forward to season 18.

[seanrail]

Well here are my thoughts on the Christmas episodes since now I have time to go through them:
Santa's Little Engine - A huge disappointment.  This episode started off pretty well, the humor with STH and Winston and the beginning went very well at the beginning but I found Winston to look really ridiculous as a sleigh.  From that point though I found the episode to be average, and then it went downhill from there... literally.  I know I shouldn't judge a show like Thomas for realism but can someone please explain to me how the sleigh landed perfectly on the rails?  On top of the branches landing so perfectly on Thomas' funnel?  And more importantly, Why was Winston being decorated as a sleigh was not approved by the Earl since he wanted something a little more suiting for the festival yet Thomas with antlers and a red nose pulling the sleigh was..?  That basically made the whole scene with Winston being decorated completely pointless.  The episode had it's minor funny moments, but for me I just thought it was a really ridiculous episode.  Definitely one of the weaker episodes this season.  2/10

No Snow for Thomas - There is no other way to put this episode other than it basically being a rewritten version of Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough.  The only differences was some minor changes to the plot and Emily's overall personality in the episode.  The episode does not win the originality award on my book, but I do give the episode credit for showing the safety of Thomas wearing a snowplough by just leaving him in the sheds.  That is of course before inevitably he gets stuck in the snow again.  I did like how they gave Emily the caring personality she had in season 7 as opposed to the bossy/sassy personality she was given from season 8 onward.  So while originality is weak I feel everything else was done pretty well.  What you see is what you get, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch this episode more than once.  One of the best Emily episodes we've gotten since season 11, but definitely not the strongest for her, or the season.  7/10

Frozen Turntable - It was an average episode, a little boring, but not a bad one.  This episode had it's funny moments like Percy trying to get into the shed with Gordon already sleeping inside.  Past that nothing really struck me as anything particularly memorable about this episode.  Gordon was essentially a grump throughout the episode and finally had what was coming to him after making a selfish decision.  It's a rare message throughout the series nowadays to not be greedy and this episode displayed that moral very well, especially with the moment of Gordon being stuck in the sheds not able to come out.  So overall not a bad episode but at the same time I felt they could have done a little better with this one. 6/10

The Missing Christmas Decorations - I'll be honest, I was biased when I first heard that Diesel 10 was appearing in an episode, since I was used to seeing him as a movie/special only character.  So I would have never guessed he would appear in an episode, let alone a Christmas episode.  The episode itself was easily the best episode out of all the winter episodes this season.  Paxton once again said some of the best lines in the episode such as coming in during the confrontation asking "What's the occasion?" worked really well.  Plus I found Sidney to be humorous while hanging up at the Dieselworks waiting for his new wheels.  He's a character who I would love to see more development from.  To add to that, the chase scene with Diesel 10 and the steam team was done really well, but I think what I liked best about this episode was the moral.  The moral was talking about the spirit of Christmas being about giving and even being good to those were not good to you in the past.  It's basically one of those "love your enemies" moments, and with the Diesels giving the steam engines their decorations in return for giving Sidney new wheels really shows that moral even more.  Plus I really like how Percy was given a good role for this episode since it ties in with his role in Day of the Diesels.  Plus Diesel 10 calling Sidney "Twinkle toes" worked really well for this episode!  So not only was this episode the best out of the four, but probably out of the season as a whole.  10/10


So as a season overall I was pretty impressed with what I've seen.  A huge improvement over what we've gotten over the last five years as far as writing has gone from the season.  I won't say it's perfect but it is a huge step in the right direction.  I'm glad everyone liked my insights too and I'm looking forward to season 18.

Quite so, Chaz. the days of the Three-strikes are over and so it the Henry's special coal continuity contradicting and personality change on the nicer engines, notably Edward and Toby.

My suggestions for improving the story lines is some more action and a bit of drama.

now, what episode title suggestions should we have for Season 18 and its synopsis?

here are some of my suggestions

Sprang a Leak: Diesel teases Thomas about his leaky tank after Thomas' siderods snap and punctured his water tank, but leaks turn on Diesel when he springs an oil leak.

The Boat Train: a boat train called 'The Brendam Ferry' has started up to take passengers to Brendam Docks to catch the ocean liners. When Henry is chosen to take the train, Gordon will do anything to pull the train, but it becomes a sail against time when the ocean liner, RMS Cunard of Sodor, is due early. (note: RMS Cunard of Sodor is recycled from TUGS' 'The Duchess' model.)

The Stephen Chief (based on Walt Disney's Peter Pan and the fairy tale by James M. Barrie): When Peter Pan is the chosen pantomime at the town hall, Bridget Hatt wants to see the pantomime, but her brother Stephen Hatt is scared of the Red Indians in the pantomime for an apparently grizzly reason. Can he overcome his phobia before the pantomime and before Bash, Dash and Ferdinand find out and use it as an advantage for mischief, which can result in a potential fire on Misty island?

what do you think of my suggestions? feel free to give them the pros, cons and a rating out of 10.

[Fergusfan17]

Well here are my thoughts on the Christmas episodes since now I have time to go through them:
Santa's Little Engine - A huge disappointment.  This episode started off pretty well, the humor with STH and Winston and the beginning went very well at the beginning but I found Winston to look really ridiculous as a sleigh.  From that point though I found the episode to be average, and then it went downhill from there... literally.  I know I shouldn't judge a show like Thomas for realism but can someone please explain to me how the sleigh landed perfectly on the rails?  On top of the branches landing so perfectly on Thomas' funnel?  And more importantly, Why was Winston being decorated as a sleigh was not approved by the Earl since he wanted something a little more suiting for the festival yet Thomas with antlers and a red nose pulling the sleigh was..?  That basically made the whole scene with Winston being decorated completely pointless.  The episode had it's minor funny moments, but for me I just thought it was a really ridiculous episode.  Definitely one of the weaker episodes this season.  2/10

No Snow for Thomas - There is no other way to put this episode other than it basically being a rewritten version of Thomas, Emily and the Snowplough.  The only differences was some minor changes to the plot and Emily's overall personality in the episode.  The episode does not win the originality award on my book, but I do give the episode credit for showing the safety of Thomas wearing a snowplough by just leaving him in the sheds.  That is of course before inevitably he gets stuck in the snow again.  I did like how they gave Emily the caring personality she had in season 7 as opposed to the bossy/sassy personality she was given from season 8 onward.  So while originality is weak I feel everything else was done pretty well.  What you see is what you get, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't watch this episode more than once.  One of the best Emily episodes we've gotten since season 11, but definitely not the strongest for her, or the season.  7/10

Frozen Turntable - It was an average episode, a little boring, but not a bad one.  This episode had it's funny moments like Percy trying to get into the shed with Gordon already sleeping inside.  Past that nothing really struck me as anything particularly memorable about this episode.  Gordon was essentially a grump throughout the episode and finally had what was coming to him after making a selfish decision.  It's a rare message throughout the series nowadays to not be greedy and this episode displayed that moral very well, especially with the moment of Gordon being stuck in the sheds not able to come out.  So overall not a bad episode but at the same time I felt they could have done a little better with this one. 6/10

The Missing Christmas Decorations - I'll be honest, I was biased when I first heard that Diesel 10 was appearing in an episode, since I was used to seeing him as a movie/special only character.  So I would have never guessed he would appear in an episode, let alone a Christmas episode.  The episode itself was easily the best episode out of all the winter episodes this season.  Paxton once again said some of the best lines in the episode such as coming in during the confrontation asking "What's the occasion?" worked really well.  Plus I found Sidney to be humorous while hanging up at the Dieselworks waiting for his new wheels.  He's a character who I would love to see more development from.  To add to that, the chase scene with Diesel 10 and the steam team was done really well, but I think what I liked best about this episode was the moral.  The moral was talking about the spirit of Christmas being about giving and even being good to those were not good to you in the past.  It's basically one of those "love your enemies" moments, and with the Diesels giving the steam engines their decorations in return for giving Sidney new wheels really shows that moral even more.  Plus I really like how Percy was given a good role for this episode since it ties in with his role in Day of the Diesels.  Plus Diesel 10 calling Sidney "Twinkle toes" worked really well for this episode!  So not only was this episode the best out of the four, but probably out of the season as a whole.  10/10


So as a season overall I was pretty impressed with what I've seen.  A huge improvement over what we've gotten over the last five years as far as writing has gone from the season.  I won't say it's perfect but it is a huge step in the right direction.  I'm glad everyone liked my insights too and I'm looking forward to season 18.

Quite so, Chaz. the days of the Three-strikes are over and so it the Henry's special coal continuity contradicting and personality change on the nicer engines, notably Edward and Toby.

My suggestions for improving the story lines is some more action and a bit of drama.

now, what episode title suggestions should we have for Season 18 and its synopsis?

here are some of my suggestions

Sprang a Leak: Diesel teases Thomas about his leaky tank after Thomas' siderods snap and punctured his water tank, but leaks turn on Diesel when he springs an oil leak.

The Boat Train: a boat train called 'The Brendam Ferry' has started up to take passengers to Brendam Docks to catch the ocean liners. When Henry is chosen to take the train, Gordon will do anything to pull the train, but it becomes a sail against time when the ocean liner, RMS Cunard of Sodor, is due early. (note: RMS Cunard of Sodor is recycled from TUGS' 'The Duchess' model.)

The Stephen Chief (based on Walt Disney's Peter Pan and the fairy tale by James M. Barrie): When Peter Pan is the chosen pantomime at the town hall, Bridget Hatt wants to see the pantomime, but her brother Stephen Hatt is scared of the Red Indians in the pantomime for an apparently grizzly reason. Can he overcome his phobia before the pantomime and before Bash, Dash and Ferdinand find out and use it as an advantage for mischief, which can result in a potential fire on Misty island?

what do you think of my suggestions? feel free to give them the pros, cons and a rating out of 10.

No Bash...blabalablabla EVER AGAIN. They were the worst characters ever introduced to Thomas. What about Bill and Ben?
The story with the humans... Don't you think it should revolve more around trains? Just thinking.
8/10