ThomasNATION Reviews - Song for Sodor
July 13, 2024
Hoo boy, did Nia have it rough in terms of the fandom's reactions to when she first arrived on Sodor in the "Big World, Big Adventures" rebrand and their problems with her and why Nia felt a bit out of place among the rest of the Steam Team can be summed up in only one reason: she was a bit of a one-note character whose only trait was "Kenya...that's it." That all went away in All Engines Go!, since nowaday, she's a lot more spunky, more adventurous and has an affinity for music, making her a bit more interesting. But with that said, even if I think this new Nia is an improvement from her original series counterpart, she hasn't had the greatest track record in terms of her stories so far in the reboot and it all stems back to her now having a new one-trait personality of always trying to make a "perfect plan" which has honestly gotten really annoying very quickly. So, would our Season 1 finale of All Engines Go actually do something new with her character? The answer to that question is...a little.
I mean, it's literally just Nia's version of Season 16's "Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor" right down to the concept of Nia looking for some musical inspiration for a special event that is happening later in the day but fails to realize until it's too late that what makes the sounds of Sodor such a special place to live is the sounds made from everyday life on the island from the animals at the farms to the sounds that the many different engines make as they go about their work. In the end, she ends up gathering all of her friends to help put on a special performance at the ceremony that everyone loves which...yeeeah, I have to agree with everyone at the start that a ceremony for a new bench isn't anything to write home about. Unless it's a memorial bench to remember someone who was important to the railway or life on The Island Of Sodor in general, keep me out of it.
But with all of this in mind, does that mean that "Song Of Sodor" was a bad way to close out the season? In my opinion, not at all. While it's true that the similarities to "Thomas and the Sounds of Sodor" can be sometimes distracting and the fact that one of the Troublesome Trucks supposedly has a mother which will do nothing but only raise some very disturbing implications about procreation among the engines on the railway (do not question it, you will regret it), I will admit that it was nice to see Nia getting another chance to shine in a leading role and the actual "Song of Sodor" song itself while an "Island Song" wannabe was still a fun sequence to watch showing this new version of The Island Of Sodor in all its glory. So overall while "Song of Sodor" has its flaws, it was still a decent way to close out what has been quite a ride for this season of All Engines Go and that is why I'm giving this episode a rating of a 3.5/5.
Final Rating: 3.5/5
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