A SURPRISE FOR PERCY: Percy moans about his work in the coal mines and wants something exciting to happen. His wish comes unexpectedly true when a line of trucks breaks away from him on the hill, so he and Bertie must stop them.

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Over the years growing up on Thomas via tapes or the toys, I can say that I have had some pretty fun memories with this one especially when it came to re-enacting this episode's climax with the Wooden Railway or TOMY trains.  I mean, it's Season 5, so you know it's going to look and sound great.  But now, looking back on it as an adult fan, it seems like this episode really isn't that exciting to be perfectly honest.  It may just be one of the most mid episodes I've ever seen in the original series.  And while the plot is very simple, it can also be too simple for its own good.  While I do understand Percy's logic when it comes to doing the same thing over and over again which can become quite boring when it comes to him working in the coal mines feeling more like working in a factory than anything else, I do not understand Percy's logic when he says to Bertie that nothing exciting ever happens on Sodor.  Percy, what do you think happens in the previous or next story depending on what order you as a fan are watching this episode or season in?  What happens episodes from now?  Hell, what happens throughout a majority of this season alone?  And you're really just going to sit there and complain that absolutely nothing ever happens on Sodor? Come on, man.

As if Percy's confusing logic didn't make this episode already feel mid enough, I also don't get the climax.  What is the purpose of Sir Topham Hatt and Bertie being there during the runaway?  First of all, Sir Topham Hatt doesn't even do anything when they reach where they need to be.  Also, how much time would it have taken for him to get in his car and drive down to the hill where the trucks were?  And what, did Bertie just so happen to have the workmen and their wooden blocks with him?  Because they never mentioned that since they just show up out of nowhere.  And what world do we live in where a bus or a car is faster than an engine?  I mean, Bertie is a bus and buses are not really known for moving quickly. 

So yeah, I think it goes without saying, "A Surprise for Percy" is not the best Percy centered story I've seen in any era.  But you know, it's also certainly not the worst one either.  I'm personally just not a huge fan of this one anymore with how by-the-numbers and truly forgettable it is.  If you watch the rest of the season and left this episode out, you wouldn't be missing anything and that's why I'm going to be ranking this one in the middle with a 2.5/5.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

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Well, I'm pretty certain you know the story, but if you don't, let me recap. One rainy day, James is sent away to work at a coal plant to his disdain. The coal dust mixed with rain would get his paint dirty, which would take the yardmen two days to clean up, which James didn't like because he hated being washed...for some reason. But as he's working, BOOM! The coal plant is struck by lightning and fries the system, lifting up a coal truck before James is uncoupled and spilling coal all over the guy. So James is out of commission, so Sir Topham Hatt decides to bring in a new engine. Say hello to E.D., a technologically advanced electro-diesel engine...at first. He starts off really rough and not fast, but before he knows it, BOOM! He gets struck by lightning and...you're not gonna believe this...he becomes superpowered. Even the script doesn't know how to explain it, as it reads "For some reason, the electric shock from the lightning had converted E.D. into Super E.D.!". This is real. Sir Topham Hatt is so impressed that he decides to give Super E.D. a whirl at the express, which he does extremely well. As a result of this, Super E.D. starts to get a big head, causing the other engines to despise him. But here's the kicker, the other engines blame James for this because his accident was the grounds for Super E.D. joining the railway and they don't let him into the sheds...okay. The next day, Super E.D. and Gordon are sat at Knapford when...there will be dramatic turns in the story from this point. You ready? Good. Because...THIRD BOOM! Lightning hits Gordon, which richochets from his buffer onto Super E.D. He starts coughing up black smoke, and when Sir Topham Hatt takes notice, he demands that the engine causing the smoke be scrapped, not knowing it was Super E.D., and that was the last we ever see of him, Gordon is praised for it and James is let back into the sheds. Yep. You saw that right. Super E.D. is dead and Gordon gets praised for killing him. What I find so funny about this is that Sir Topham Hatt doesn't know what engine it is. For all he knew, he could've killed Thomas, or Henry, or even James. He just went in with a "shoot now, ask questions later" mindset, and I gotta respect that.

...what the hell was that? I remember showing this to my friend and his first reaction was "no wonder Britt threw it out, this sounds like bad fanfiction". And honestly, he couldn't have put it better. This script is so...fascinating. The fact that E.D. just randomly gets superpowers because of lightning like he's in that one Family Guy episode (imagine that, Super E.D.'s power being turning every engine into Robin Williams), the fact that James is just randomly shunned, lightning being the biggest "deus ex machina" of the episode, or the fact that this episode contains a brutal on-screen death of an engine. It's so terrible, yet I can't look away. It's like watching a trainwreck in slow-motion. It's a little ironic that Britt questioned this episode's believability while also working on Thomas and the Magic Railroad, but who am I to question that? But the question is, now that Thomas has seen an era where realism has been thrown out the window, could this episode be made today? Um...no? Okay, Super E.D. getting superpowers could be plausible in the BWBA era since we did get an episode with a flying car, but the randomness of the lightning and Super E.D.'s death? I don't think that would fly. And here, we close the book on James and Super E.D., a truly baffling chapter in Season 5's history.

Anyone who has ever traveled along the Skarloey Railway and met Rusty knows that he is trusty, tame and friendly for being so little. He (or she? Where did we land on that? I dunno, that's a different bag of worms) is a dedicated worker, often maintaining the line, while understanding and respecting the importance of his duties. He also has a rather distinctive two-tone horn which annoyed the other engines at first, but we never speak of that episode. Rusty is quick to remind others with regards to proper conduct, particularly Duncan, who was initially very suspicious of the little diesel. But despite their arguments, they both seem to make amends in the end because of how kind and tolerant Rusty is...that is until "Trusty Rusty" in Season 7, but that's a story for another day. Rusty has a good working relationship with both Skarloey and Peter Sam in particular. Caring, calm, and quick-thinking, Rusty is modestly a credit to the Skarloey Railway.  And when it comes to today's story, it looks like this little diesel has become quite the talk of the railway...albeit maybe not for the best reasons, but let's see what happened on that day while listening to some "Tuneful Toots"!

TUNEFUL TOOTS: Rusty often gets judged about his horn, and when he takes the Brass Band on a tour of the hills, he proves how special it can be.

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Let me tell ya, if you thought that Duncan's newfound friendship with Rusty from Season 4 getting tossed out the window was bad back in Season 7, then try having the entire fleet of engines on the railway turn against Rusty simply for the special sound of his two-tone horn which carried over into the CGI Era when the narrow gauge engines made their return.  Granted, I think it sounds more realistic in the CGI Era than it does in the Model Era which to me sounds like they just lowered the pitch for the second note.  But still, it feels weird that everyone would act this way towards Rusty especially those who are already friends with him like Skarloey and Rheneas or even Duncan.  But yet, we have shockingly Peter Sam of all characters as the one to make the rude remark to Thomas about how Rusty thinks his horn is special while the other engines don't. I mean...yeah, because all your whistles sound so much better, right? Really loving the friendship here, guys, good job!

However, it's not the sound of the horn that makes me really not like this episode.  It's the fact that it is blasted so much over the seven-minute span of the episode that it ends up becoming one of the many sounds that is sure to get under your skin.  In fact, I even did a tally count (or in this case, a "Talyllyn" Count) of every single time that Rusty sounds his horn over the course of the episode, and this little diesel sounds his horn a total of 52 times.  Yeah, you heard me right. 52.  If you and your friends in the fandom made a drinking game where you take shots every time Rusty sounds his horn, you would inebriated, or even dead within the first few minutes (just a disclaimer, I don't encourage this sort of behavior at all whatsoever, but if you're into doing this stuff, then more power to you, yet I ask you all to please drink responsibly if you decide to make this into a game).

But yeah, "Tuneful Toots" is anything but a game in this case as it is one of the defining examples of how far the narrow gauge engines had fallen in terms of their portrayals during the HIT Era as it makes Rusty who used to be a fan favorite among many into one of the biggest annoyances on Sodor.  It's no wonder why all your friends turned on you, you made yourself an "annoying orange"!  And this was only a couple season before the real "annoying orange", Billy, came to Sodor.  But anyway, it's time to end this symphony of suffering as I'm giving "Tuneful Toots" a rating of a 1.5/5.

Final Rating: 2.5/5

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