ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - What Rebecca Does
May 22, 2021
When we last left Rebecca in 'Confusion Without Delay', she had arrived early on the North Western Railway and was so determined to impress her new friends that she arrived and left too early for all of the passengers on the express run that she would share with Gordon who came to like her after standing up for him against his famous brother the Flying Scotsman...let's see how the newest addition to the North Western Railway is getting on with her new job and go go go on a big adventure with our next episode because it's time to find out 'What Rebecca Does'!
Rebecca is so impressed by Belle putting out a fire with her water cannons, Marion's steam shovel and Harvey's crane that her enthusiasm makes her friends feel very good about themselves...but she can't help if she has any special qualities too.
---
When the initial announcement was made that Rebecca would be replacing Henry in the Steam Team, a majority of the fandom were outraged by this decision. But like Thomas said back in 'Forever And Ever', 'sometimes all it takes is a little time to get used to something new'...and once the fandom truly got to know Rebecca, they were singing her praises all over sites like Twitter and Blogspot as they so often tend to do whenever something changes what they envision the series to be. But now that Rebecca is getting used to her new job as an express engine alongside Gordon, will some new friends make her better than ever?
PROS:
What I like about this episode is Rebecca's enthusiasm. Despite Rebecca's large size, we've seen that she is not afraid to stand up for herself and that she isn't intimidated by the other engines...and even though she praises the other engines of the North Western Railway for their special qualities as they go about their work, it is also interesting to see that she feels the need to be on the same level as the other engines so that she can feel special too among them!
Much like Season 19's "Best Engine Ever" and its focus on female characters like Emily and Caitlin along with Marion as well, it is so great to see another episode where the female engines of the North Western Railway get to be in the spotlight as we get to see Marion make her return to the series ever since Season 20's "Over The Hill" along with Belle and Emily. Heck, even Daisy the Diesel Railcar gets to make a comeback to the series as well and she's easily the best of all the returning characters from the classic era of the series!
With this now being one of the major selling points for the series, this episode is packed to the brim with humor and that mostly comes from Marion the Steam Shovel herself with things like how they take Marion's game of 'Guess What's In My Shovel" and turn it into a friggin' gameshow only to reveal that she had accidentally dug up one of the workmen along with all of the dirt in her shovel...and that also comes from the performance by her voice actress Olivia Colman.
The way this episode uses older characters to advance the plot is pretty clever as well. For example, ever since Bill and Ben made their return to the series in Season 17's "Bill Or Ben", they have easily been one of the best cases of how fan service can be done right...and with these two troublemakers having not fully appeared in the series for quite a while ever since Season 19's "No Help At All", it's great to see that the China Clay Twins haven't changed a bit with how they are constantly arguing with each other over who is to blame for the accidents that they get into.
And then you have Harvey. If you guys know me well, Harvey The Crane Engine is my favorite character of the entire 'Thomas & Friends' franchise and I was overjoyed that he made his return to the series back in Season 17's "Gone Fishing" which resulted in several more appearances throughout the series and even getting another episode to himself last season with 'Stuck In Gear'...so it is so great in my opinion to see him return to the series once again and that he hasn't changed a bit with his relentlessly cheery personality as well as how he is still getting used to his newly fixed crane from last season!
And with this now being one of the major selling points for the series, the fantasy sequence of a pimped out and shades wearing Rebecca with things like Marion's shovel and Belle's water cannons while her friends bounce to the funky music orchestrations by Chris Renshaw was friggin' hilarious...but if I had to say one thing about it, it would be this: seeing as Diesel 10's claw Pinchy is also a part of the fantasy sequence, how does Rebecca even know who Diesel 10 is?
CONS
N/A.
Overall for what is pretty much Rebecca's version of Season 11's "Dream On", 'What Rebecca Does' shows that simply being yourself can make a truly amazing episode and I'm proud to give it a rating of a perfect 5 out of 5.
Final Score: 5/5
About the Author: True Blue
0 comments