ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Spencer the Grand
February 18, 2023
Anyone who has ever known Spencer the Private Express Engine knows that he is very arrogant and snobby, egotistical and bossy as well as pompous and considers himself to be above doing menial duties such as shunting. He is very proud of his speed, with his ego far exceeding the likes of Gordon and James. Although the engines were impressed by him when he first came to Sodor, he constantly antagonized them, and they would eventually grow to dislike him. His arrogance has also shown that he is not willing to take advice from other engines which only results in him needing help from those he shrugs off. Despite this, he has shown a kind side when he realized his mistakes, especially when reprimanded by The Duke and Duchess of Boxford or Sir Topham Hatt for causing trouble. But speaking of causing trouble, it would seem that it has found Spencer once again thinking he knows better than his fellow engines when trying to navigate through some very foggy weather. Will he find his way or is he in for trouble, let's find out as we meet 'Spencer the Grand'!
SPENCER THE GRAND: Spencer disobeys orders and tries to puff to The Duke and Duchess of Boxford's Summer House in the fog.
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Well, for Spencer's first leading role in an episode, there are sadly only three positives that did not save this from being unrealistically bland. First, I'm sure that many other longtime fans of Thomas & Friends are glad that this episode is not by Sharon Miller. But just because an episode has a different writer, it doesn't save the story from potentially being bad. However, like I said before, I do like how Spencer has his first leading episode instead of being it with another engine we already know like Gordon or Edward or even Thomas. But even if it stars a different engine, there were just way too many downsides to this episode that I almost didn't even bother making a point of watching it to review for you all today. Why would the railway be closed when it's full of fog? Well, many kinds of engines travel in fog whether its thin or thick over the years as "every wise engine knows of course that the signalman works the points to make the engines run on the right lines" Classic Series reference for the win!
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| This is a real screenshot from the episode, by the way. How is anyone meant to watch this again? |
Heck, it happened in the Railway Series book 'James and The Diesel Engines' in the story 'Crossed Lines' despite an accident at the end which would make for a better episode in my opinion! What only proves my point further is that there can be some accidents to the engines in fog like the Harrow and Wealdstone crash in 1952, so why is Percy saying that he is lost? Were the signalmen on holiday or something?! I mean, I can't believe I'm saying this but look at Misty Island. It's filled with fog and the Logging Locos still get to work, so why can't the Sodor engines? Long story short, I think my mind has gone foggy just from reviewing this episode, but I think I'd be a little nicer to this one if I could actually see what was going on, which is why I'm giving 'Spencer the Grand' a rating of a 1.5 out of 5. This, my friends, was not very fast and sexy.
Final Rating: 1.5/5
About the Author: True Blue
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