ThomasNATION Reviews - Nia's Surprising Surprise

May 11, 2024


No, you did not read that "Written by" credit wrong. The same Michael White that brought us "Thomas and the Royal Engine", "Free the Roads" and "Hunt the Truck" is now bringing us an episode of All Engines Go!. It's no secret that Michael White made a huge impression with his BWBA episodes, since it's almost unanimously agreed that his episodes are among the era's best. However, the big question is will he be able to carry that magic over to All Engines Go? Let's begin.

It's the anniversary of when Nia first came to Sodor, and she wants to throw a big party to celebrate. The only issue is, none of her friends remembered the special day...or did they?

At first, Nia's Surprising Surprise's story doesn't offer a lot of...well, surprises. It's a typical "my friends don't remember the big day" plot we've seen time and time again. In fact, there's even a TN fanstory with that very plotline which I'll link below. As a result, the plot at times does get a little predictable. But there is two elements keeping it afloat. One is the heart. The ending of the episode is very wholesome, with a very catchy musical number to boot.

Another element is the humor. This ended up being a pretty funny episode with a lot of solid gags. Not only is there a few laughs to be had from the elaborate excuses the gang makes to hide their plans from Nia, but Cranky's rant on parties feels very in character and the jokes with Percy and the balloons are pretty inspired. It's also nice that the humor doesn't fully rely on references, since I understand that a problem people have with Michael White's writing is that he relies on references a lot, and I think this episode disproves that.

Overall, this was a pretty sweet episode. It's far from the most original episode out there with a fairly predictable story, but it makes up for it with some solid humor, a nice song and a very wholesome ending. If you're a fan of Nia or if you wanna see if Michael White's writing style translates well into All Engines Go!, then I recommend you check it out. Overall, I'd give this one a 4/5. Is it the best episode from this writer? No, but its heart is clearly in the right place.

Share This Story

Tags: , , , , ,

You Might Also Like

0 comments