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ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Forever and Ever

August 05, 2023

 

I donā€™t need to tell you about the backlash BWBA had. We all know how it went...also, I went into it more in the 'A Shed for Edward' review. But needless to say, the biggest thing that got on peopleā€™s nerves was how they wrote off Edward and Henry. I previously wrote about how poorly they handled Edwardā€™s departure, but the question remains: what about Henry? Was he written off with any more dignity? Well, letā€™s begin.

The fandom-wait I mean Gordonā€™s still annoyed that Nia is taking Edwardā€™s spot in Tidmouth Sheds, and thatā€™s only made worse when Henry announces heā€™s moving out. Sir Topham Hatt grounds Gordon in his shed, and itā€™s up to Nia to try and help him accept this change.

Iā€™ll start by being fair and say I like the moral here: that despite the changes in life, your friends are still not too far away. Itā€™s a decent message and I like that itā€™s Nia relaying it - since sheā€™s made a bigger move than Henry and Edward combined, it would make sense that she would miss her friends in Africa. However, the way itā€™s presented in the episode is a little clunky, so it doesnā€™t feel like ā€œyour friends are still your friends despite the changesā€, more like ā€œyour friends moved away, so yā€™know what? Cope.ā€
Other than that, I donā€™t think I have that much praise here. To begin, Gordon is astronomically out of character here. Instead of being pompous and grand but still carrying a heart of gold, here heā€™s whiny and fussy about the changes made to the railway, even throwing a tantrum at the mere idea of Henry moving out. And itā€™s so obvious that heā€™s meant a self-insert for the fandom and the response that the changes to the Steam Team garnered, which only comes off as more obnoxious than entertaining, because as many other critics have pointed out, portraying your fanbase as childish as possible is not a good response to criticism.
But now the real meat and potatoes - how they handled Henryā€™s departure. We know how Edward moved out, he had a whole episode about it, and yeah, that episode sucked but it was still something - what about Henry? Did he get a fitting send off? Well, the answer is, he gotā€¦nothing. He just comes up to the station and says ā€œoh hey guys Iā€™m moving to Vicarstown. No big deal. Bye.ā€ And thatā€™s it, no more Henry. He doesnā€™t even get a big role here, in fact, I think he only has, like, two lines in the whole episode. As a result, he feels more like a cameo in whatā€™s supposed to be his big send off.
Every day, I regret listing this as an honorable mention in my "Best of BWBA" list more and more. While not "A Shed for Edward" bad, "Forever and Ever" is still a pretty lame episode. Sure, the moral's nice, but with a terrible portrayal of Gordon and a horrible way of writing off Henry, it ends up being a weak start to this new Steam Team. If you want my recommendation, I'd say the same as "A Shed for Edward" and only use it as a learning tool on how not to write someone out, and as such it gets a 2/5.

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