ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Scaredy Engines

October 14, 2023

 

Ever since Percy the Small Engine first came to the Island of Sodor to help out Edward in the yard when the big engines went on strike in the original Thomas & Friends series, he has made so many great friends whether they ride the rails or roads or hover in the air but his best friend on the North Western Railway has always been the number one engine himself Thomas.  Sure, they may get into disagreements from time to time but they always find a way to strengthen their friendship in the end with a happy toot of their 'best friends whistle' as they tell each other everything. As for Thomas and Percy's friendship in the original series, there's still a ton of episodes where this friendship is put in focus - Season 12's "Best Friends", Season 23's "Wish You Were Here", even a few episodes of All Engines Go! But in today's spooky review from the original series, let's see how Thomas and Percy's friendship gets tested this time 'cause we're about to meet a pair of "Scaredy Engines"!  

SCAREDY ENGINES: It is Halloween, and Thomas keeps teasing Percy about being a "scaredy engine". However, the tables turn when Thomas gets a scare at the Smelter's.  

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For the first Halloween based episode of the series, it's another one of many that's both fun and exciting.  Once again, that creepy and chilling atmosphere was really touched upon for this story.  But with that said, do I think it's better than some of the other spooky themed episodes we've previously had?  Well, not exactly.  The story is pretty simple as you can get for a Halloween themed story. You got your typical background story of some kind of ghost to help set the tone, characters either being scared of said story then proceeding to get teased, and then said instigator gets their payback.  Again, a really simple plot-line that I've seen in dozens of other shows.  And I know some people once again are not very fond of Alec Baldwin's narration here and some get their coupling rods in a twist because of the music coming from "Duncan Gets Spooked" just at a different pitch.  
But to be honest, the music change doesn't really bother me.  In fact, I actually think it works better here in its favor with the Smelter's background.  This music even as a kid always creeped me the hell out.  And while it may not sound entirely perfect, Alec Baldwin is once again trying to have fun to an extent.  And call me crazy, but I think this is another case where he is at his somewhat best.  What sort of saves this episode is, ironically, the bonfire and firework scenes.  Like, when is the next time we are ever going to see beautiful shots as this?  
Overall, "Scaredy Engines" is an episode where all three of its main characters are written wonderfully.  It's a story with a great moral about friendship accompanied by great nighttime and spooky cinematography.  It's an episode I've grown to really love more and more over the years. It's just a feel-good story that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside by the end.  All gripes aside however, this might not be as spooky as some of the Season 5 episodes we've already seen.  But whether it's dumbed down or not, I can tell you for a fact this is easily one of my favorite episodes of Season 6 and as such, I'm ranking it a perfect 5/5.

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