ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Steam Team to the Rescue!
November 14, 2020
Hey all, JF here, and now that we’ve had a look at the specials of Season 24, it’s time we glance at the one that started it all.
Steam Team to the Rescue is the first 22-minute long special of both Season 23 and the franchise, sharing the season with Digs and Discoveries. But the big question here is how does it hold up? Is the writing team truly putting their best foot forward, or is it off to a rocky start? Let’s begin.
After Salty is put out of commission, a freak accident causes the Dieselworks to go on lockdown leaving the diesels stuck in their sheds. And soon after Porter is put out of action (yeah, not a lucky day for anyone here), it’s up to the Steam Team to come to their aid, especially when Brendam Docks is sent into chaos.
I’m just gonna start plain and simple, the special ain’t too great. There are some things to its advantage, but it mostly just feels bland and uninspired.
Let’s start with the positives, and there’s not too much to praise here. First, the song, “Don’t Stop” is really enjoyable and pretty catchy. It serves as an upbeat, motivational song that Thomas uses to encourage the team. The reprise during the grand rescue at the end is really entertaining as well. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot. Some of the jokes are decent, the lighting at the end is surprisingly good, and it was fun seeing cameos from a whole plethora of engines. There is one thing left I have to praise, but that'll come later.
But now let’s get into the real meat and potatoes: the episode is just kinda stupid. Not only are the crashes, particularly the one at the beginning, surprisingly over-the-top and goofy, but some of the dialogue is just idiotic. The best example of this is Sir Topham Hatt’s line “we simply don’t have enough engines”. I mean, are there really no other engines on Sodor besides the Steam Team and the diesels? I could name at least 20 other engines in this episode alone that could take their place. Like, instead of them, why not just ask Edward and Henry?
Actually, this is an unrelated note, but let’s talk about them. As you already know, Edward, Henry and Toby were kicked out of the Steam Team to make way for Nia and Rebecca. As pointless a move as this is, the producers promised they’d still be prominent in the series regardless, and that seemed to be the case, as they still had appearances in Season 22. But in Season 23, we only really got that with Toby, while Edward and Henry barely appeared, and in this special about the Steam Team, it feels unfair to leave those two out. I even counted, and Edward and Henry’s appearances in Season 23 combined don’t even add up to a full minute. But I am glad that they are getting the screen time they deserve in Season 24.
Other than that, there’s not much to add. Most of the scenes are just there to pad out the runtime, which unfortunately includes “Don’t Stop”, and the premise of the episode is boring and unoriginal. Hell, the episode is about the diesels being trapped in their sheds, and we don't even see them get out. But I do have another point in which I have to give this special credit: it at least justifies the Steam Team. From Season 22, there was really no reason to have a Steam Team, since the show only needed to be about Thomas and that’s it. It didn’t need any other core characters aside from Percy and maybe James. Here, the core theme of the special is teamwork, and it proves to be a danger Thomas can’t face on his own, and I love that.
So to conclude, Steam Team to the Rescue is a pretty mediocre special. It has some good elements, but overall, it just makes for a messy and uninteresting time. If you’re interested, go check it out, but set your expectations low. And on that note, I give this episode a 2/5. It’s not World of Tomorrow bad, but I wouldn’t find myself rewatching this one.
Final Score: 2/5
About the Author: JF the LOLZOR
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