ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - Toby Feels Left Out
January 20, 2024
Anyone who has ever traveled along Thomas' Branch Line and met Toby the Tram Engine knows that he is one of the most unique and special engines on The Island of Sodor. He is a steam engine, but his wooden boxy outline and covered wheels make him look more like a garden shed than an engine. Toby is indeed old-fashioned and looks outdated, but looks are deceiving. Anyone who's ever met Toby knows he's as wise, brave and energetic as he ever was with a contagious sense of humor. An engine that doesn't feel his age, he's essentially Sodor's Dick Van Dyke. Wise he may be, Toby is also prone to worry. Sometimes a little too much for his own good, but of course, that depends on the season you're watching which is unfortunately a lot of them. A hard and sensible worker, Toby works the tramway to Ffarquhar with his faithful coach Henrietta. But with that said, I think it goes without saying that his character journey has been turbulent because Toby's definitely had more bad seasons in the original series than good unfortunately. But in those seasons where they get Toby right, boy do they get him right. Toby is a character that over the years has sort of faded away from the spotlight. He's kinda schlubby, old-fashioned, a little weird looking, kind of a square and may be somewhat forgettable. But that's the point, Toby's true character never craves the spotlight. In the modern world we live in where everyone is obsessed with self-image, Twitter clout, hot takes, ratioing and subscriber counts, Toby's humbleness is something worth championing. He is absolutely content in his little corner of the world and completely fine with who he is and I think all of us should strive to be more like him.
Now, when it comes to today's episode about Toby, "Toby Feels Left Out" (isn't that a title and a half)...wow! I mean...come on, man! I may have enjoyed this episode back when I was a younger fan of Thomas whether watching through televised broadcasts or home media, but man has this episode not aged well to the point where it should be the thing that is put in the museum instead of Toby. I'm serious, this was a poor episode and that all comes down to the fact that Toby is out of character in this episode. Why, you may ask? Back in the old days of Thomas & Friends, Sir Topham Hatt saved both Toby and Henrietta from the closure of their old railway. Why on earth would Toby be scared that Sir Topham Hatt would put him into the museum? All this does is give out the message that old people have no hope in the modern world, which I have to say is a horrible message for kids. I've seen many old people not just in my family and not only are they wise and friendly, but I also love to hear about their days when they were young. They may not know a lot, but I still enjoy hearing from them.
The only positive I have for this episode is that the museum carriage is great, but yet it was nothing more than just a repainted red carriage when you look at it. Despite the spot-on look of the carriage, why couldn't Toby use Henrietta to take the visitors to the museum for the grand opening? That is his carriage and he takes her everywhere, but I guess the museum coaches must've been popular enough among the fandom because Sudrian Railway Modeling suggested to the folks of Bachmann Trains during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 that they make the museum coaches for their HO Scale range of Thomas & Friends products and his wish actually came true over a year later. Nicely done.
So between Toby being out of character while presenting a harmful moral for the kids and the fact that the museum coach while very beautiful exists purely for merchandise purposes, it's no wonder why "Toby Feels Left Out" because it's this kind of bad writing that proves that the franchise owners really didn't like the old and wise characters that we fans have adored for years. I really didn't want to have to do this, but I'm giving this episode a 1.5/5.
0 comments