ThomasNATION Reviews - Thomas and the Inventor's Workshop

January 16, 2021

The history of railroading has come a long way, hasn't it...as Stephen explained to the Steam Team when he first arrived at the Sodor Steamworks to be restored, most railways didn't have any engines and the trains were pulled by horses.  Soon, steam engines were soon the latest thing and people were worried about them since they didn't always work right or at all...but being brand new and experimental, they soon proved they were stronger and faster than horses with Stephen's lightning fast speed charging the way for the future of rail travel opening up the world as speed grew faster and the engines grew stronger.  Every inventor in the world has found their own place that they can call home and it looks Thomas is going to help his friend Ruth The Inventor find a place of her own on Sodor, let's go go go on a big adventure as we build something really useful with 'Thomas And The Inventor's Workshop'!


THOMAS AND THE INVENTOR'S WORKSHOP: Thomas helps Ruth the inventor to find a place to live

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PROS:
While the concept of helping someone look for a place to call home is nothing new for the television series considering how we had a similar story like this back in Season 15's 'Toby And Bash' on top of having the overused and tired moral of 'just because it's old doesn't mean it's not useful' that has been repeated numerous times throughout the series, what saves the story to this episode from being a complete letdown is the execution and the cast of characters: not only do we get to see the likes of the team from Arlesburgh Harbor while Thomas plays the role of real estate agent that you'd see on shows like 'House Hunters' where I am so happy to see that Skiff is still voiced by Jamie Campbell Bower three years after his last appearance in Season 20's "Skiff and the Mermaid" along with having a cameo appearance of Rex to let the fans know that the miniature engines are still very much a part of the television series as well as getting a nice nod to both the Railway Series with the famed 'Gate To Adventure' on Thomas' branch line from the Four Little Engines book as well as the return of what could be the famous windmill on Thomas' branch line from the opening credits to the classic series being turned into Ruth's Workshop by the end of the episode with a little and literal 'spark' of imagination through the help of her friend Thomas in the form of a reference to the famed 'Back To The Future' franchise...and of course, the fantasy sequence of Thomas taking to the skies with a sail powered propeller was honestly cute and funny at the same time!
CONS:
While I think that Ruth is a very interesting character not only having an eccentric yet creative personality emulating that of Doc Brown from the 'Back To The Future' film franchise and I am happy to welcome Dominique Moore to the voice cast of 'Thomas & Friends' as the voice of Ruth beginning with this season, the problem I have with her has nothing to do with her character at all but rather the release date of her first appearance...by that, I mean that this episode and 'James The Super Engine' got leaked online a couple months before Season 24 is scheduled to make its official debut here in the United States before the broadcasting across the pond in the U.K. and Australia and especially before Ruth's official debut in the 'Marvelous Machinery' double length two-parter thus it feels weird to see that Thomas already knows who Ruth is and wanting to help her find a place to live on Sodor before we see her officially welcomed into the series with the storyline of the Technology Fair featuring our token newbie Kenji whom I am really looking forward to seeing in action which explains why we see the giant ferris wheel at Ulfstead Castle in the opening.  Not much of a negative regarding this episode, but more along the lines of a nitpick considering the order that these episodes are being released lately...

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Overall despite having a recycled story-line and message along with having a new character appear for the first time before her official introduction into the series mostly due to broadcasting conflicts within the television series in recent years, 'Thomas And The Inventor's Workshop' was still a pretty great adventure of invention and realizing at the end of the day that there truly is no place like home and thus earns a rating of a 4 out of 5.

Final Score: 4/5
About the Author: True Blue 

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