ThomasNATION Reviews - Backwards Day
May 07, 2022
I'm sure you guys all know the story of 'All Engines Go'. Without going into too much detail, the fandom didn't react well to this new storytelling formula, and soon everywhere you went online, you'd see it: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, you name it, they were ticked beyond belief. But now that the fandom's flames of hatred for this controversial reboot seem to have settled down for now and now that some time has passed since the first season wrapped up, are their views still valid? Let's find out as we dive into another episode of the confusing world of 'All Engines Go' with Backwards Day.
BACKWARDS DAY: Thomas misunderstands the Backwards Day game and accidentally delivers the wrong cargo to the wrong places.
I think it's safe to say that once the Classic Series of Thomas ended and Hit Entertainment took control of the television series, one of the things that many long time fans feel like they threw out the window was the sense of railway safety: no brake vans at the end of trains, leaving your train in the middle of the tracks, not covering open topped trucks filled with food were just a handful of these but the one that I think really pushed long time fans to their limits was when the engines and other vehicles were having fun in a dangerous working environment like a workshop or a quarry with one of the most infamous examples that comes to mind is Season 12's 'Don't Go Back' where Diesel challenged Thomas to race him backwards around the quarry instead of arranging a train of stone trucks for Henry resulting in all sorts of confusion and delay from not seeing where they were going rather it be smashing into engines at the hopper and the washdown or sending 'Arry and Bert right through the back of the sheds and what's worse is that only Thomas is the one who gets punished whereas Diesel just gets off easy for starting trouble in the first place? Where were their drivers and firemen, why weren't they the ones being the voice of reason for the engines, and where the frick frack snick snack diddily dack patty wack crack pack slack mack quarterback crackerjack ducky quack biofeedback backtrack nutshack thumbtack sidetrack mystery shack tic-tac is the discipline? This episode is one of the many prime examples of how bad 'Thomas & Friends' had become at that time due to the production team caring more about the toy sales than they did in actually making a memorable series.
But you might be wondering; Mr. Friedel, why are you talking about "Don't Go Back" when you should be talking about "Backwards Day"? Well, I hope you all are ready for another bumpy ride!
Remember all the way back in my review on my blog of 'A Thomas Promise' when I said that despite the episode sharing similarities to Season 12's 'Don't Go Back', I was happy that Thomas and Diesel didn't decide to race backwards all the way to Whiff's Recycling Plant? Well, that turned out to be the most outdated thing I've ever said in my reviews of this reboot...boy, was I naĆÆve back then, am I right? Because now we have an entire episode where everyone (and I mean everyone on the Island of Sodor) is celebrating a holiday where they not only talk backwards but also do their daily work backwards too thus bringing back the commonly hated element in modern Thomas The Tank Engine of throwing any form of railway safety right out the window - I mean, did y'all seriously learn nothing about not playing in a dangerous working environment?! What's worse is that after Thomas and Percy mess up their deliveries by doing them backwards, you'd think they would learn that Backwards Day is silly and just move forwards for the rest of the day. But no, they somehow managed to fix their problems while still moving backwards thus only adding to the fact that the two of them have learned nothing from this adventure! It's honestly sad when Gordon of all characters is the only one with even an iota of something resembling a brain cell in this episode which is so great to see considering that many long time fans remember him thinking Sodor Surprise Day was silly in the original series especially after Thomas spoiled his delivery of fireworks. I mean, even in a controversial reboot, Gordon is still the franchise's most important character!
Just when I thought that this controversial reboot was finally getting back on track, episodes like this come along to remind me that we're in a completely different world of Thomas The Tank Engine now and we're just gonna have to accept it whether we want to or not. Granted, the idea of turning the concept of Opposite Day into a holiday for the engines on Sodor was a bit of a creative idea, but the fact that it had to throw railway safety and common sense out the window just to make it happen really brought this episode down for me and I'm sure that it will for many long time fans of Thomas thus I have to give 'Backwards Day' a rating of a 2.5 out of 5.
Final Rating: 2.5/5
About the Author: True Blue
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