Springtime For Diesel: ThomasNATION Review

September 19, 2017

Its here. And its glorious. 
Season 21 made its global debut with the episode "Springtime For Diesel" on Channel 5 [UK] Milkshake!, on the early morning of 18th September. 

ThomasNATION has been gearing up for this new TV era - Thomas steams to greater heights in his 21st Season. After over three decades of content spread over many many production houses, under big-name and small-name brands, Thomas begins hit twenty-first adventure, blessed with Mattel as his parent company, under Head Writer Andrew Brenner, and Director Dianna Basso. 
Season 21 debuted with a Diesel and Daisy episode, which was quite refreshing to see. Will the first eleven minutes of Arc and Andrew Brenner's fifth season be as amazing as (almost) all of the last debuts have been?

ThomasFan3000 takes the pen to write the review for Springtime For Diesel. 



>> This time, ThomasNATION will also be including tweets from fans in reviews! To be included, just tweet with the hashtag #TNS21Reviews and tag @TheThomasNATION! <<

I was honestly pumped for this new season. Season 20 left with spectacular episodes, and the previous seasons too like 19 and 18 almost never gave a terrible episode, and I had my hopes high. Let's see if the Season 21 debut matches them. 



The episode starts off at the Dieselworks. Fitting. The start - personally - is a bit too, um, unreal. We've seen Diesel's "bumping into engines trait" quite a few times before, and it was a brilliant idea nonetheless to make a plot out of it, but yet, somehow the starting feels a bit forced. Yet, the Moraghan makes it interesting. "Its just the way he goes about things" was very important, as it tells the audience, Diesel's not necessarily bad at heart.



As the episode transitions to the actual story, the flow now onwards is almost impeccable. While it may not match the second episode of the series (whose review you'll see soon), its certainly remarkably good, unlike some young Brenner era episodes of the past. 

Daisy and Diesel have a really natural pairing. The dialogues flow, and their personalities were top-notch, aced. See, Diesel is not a villain of sorts - not when he doesn't want to be. He'll mess the other engines up, but not because he wants to harm them, just because Diesel is cheeky and likes to irritate other engines, and have a laugh. Diesel 10, or Frankie, or Vinnie, or Sailor John - they don't want a laugh out of it. They necessarily want to harm the engines, or take something from them. 

And that is why Diesel and Daisy's pairing was not only a lovely dynamic, but also significant to Diesel (and Daisy's, I must say) character development. "I was just saying Hello" Diesel clarifies, further adding to the point that he doesn't mean harm. Daisy's dialogues sent me back to those amazing episodes, and I was nostalgic. And I must say, they were better delivered here.



Daisy's springs are actually broken now. She still goes on for the sake of her passengers, but only upto the next station. This felt like something real, that would actually happen. Had this been Season 14, Daisy would've stopped then and there, even though she could carry on - excuse, just a little trouble to her passengers. On that note, the passenger sequence was quite funny. 

Daisy's French was amazing, by the way. I love it. It adds so many layers to her personality.



With Thomas, Diesel now sees Daisy being carried away to get fixed. He's tense, and afraid and guilty. While he'll never - being Diesel - admit it was his fault, he still feels guilty.



The Dieselworks sequence now, was a tad bit dim for me. Except for Daisy's monologue, of course. She was so proud of her built, and you see, here, that she was indeed not just boasting, she loved it. And losing her springs, she was very, very upset. Excellent writing, here. 



Ol' Diesel hears rumors about Daisy's scrapping, and feels ever more guilty. Diesel's talk with Paxton here, was something very funny and enjoyable for me. DIESEL SNAPPED, but you'll still see, that he was guilty. The next scene, night at Dieselworks - was one of the most emotional scenes is a Thomas episode. And trust me, I loved it. Diesel was actually apologising, without someone having to tell him to do so - and it was heartfelt. Really heartwarming sequence. Daisy's smile was cherry on the top, of course. Plus, "Other engines aren't nice to me so why should I be nice to other engines?" this episode just went on increasing dephth. "But I hope you can be fixed... I like you." This was such an emotional monologue. Personally I feel like this is the most character-developing episode for Diesel.



The next morning, Percy brings good news and Daisy's springs. She's fixed and off on her way. Again, a wonderful piece of dialogue between Daisy and Diesel. The poop joke, was not needed, but eh, I'll let it slide. 



As Diesel sees Daisy, he doesn't bump her anymore - and says "Hello!" I see all the brother-sister feeling here, especially. Its turned into an amazing dynamic. The two engines are very happy, and so is the audience.

Now, its certainly not the first time, Brenner episodes have left a smile on my face - especially Davey Moore's. But this one was really good. Really amazing. And it gets better every watch!



Following the same formula of a simple story, with an impeccable dynamic and this time, even some railway realism with the spring fixing - this episode was amazing. It did have its lows, but honestly that would be nitpicking. The animation was 100% top notch, a huge improvement over JBS. The lighting was really amazing. Voice delivery was also incredible, - Tracy-Ann Oberman, the new voice actor ACED IT. She was perfect. All in all, a fantastique episode.

So, from my side, this episode easily gets a 4.5/5.

TWEET REVIEWS! #TNS21Reviews


It received positive reviews from all the members, with the highest rating being 5/5, and the lowest 4/5.

FINAL ThomasRATING: 4.5/5
Season Score: 4.5/5

Check back for more reviews, soon! If you want to feature your tweet review for an episode, tweet with #TNS21Reviews and tag @TheThomasNATION!

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About the author:
ThomasFan3000 - Jainil Devani
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