ThomasNATION Classic Reviews - The Water Wheel
August 15, 2026
Out of all the international episodes, the China episodes are the ones that I tolerate the most. That doesn't mean I like them, aside from a couple of episodes, on average, they're normally pretty mediocre. But even then, they aren't without their dud episodes, as is the case with our next offender, The Water Wheel. I've gone on record saying this episode was...a real doozy. So much so that I put it on my list for the worst BWBA episodes. Does that ranking still hold up? Let's begin.
Thomas has to take a water wheel made of bamboo to Tu Zi Quan, but it gets knocked off the flatbed, resulting in a wild chase around China.
Back in my Top 10 Worst BWBA Episodes list, I described this episode as one that was stuck in the wrong franchise. And...yeah. That statement still holds up. One of the major criticisms of BWBA is that it became way too cartoony for Thomas, and nowhere is that more present here. The way the bamboo wheel bops around town feels like something you'd find in a Merry Melodies cartoon. Even by BWBA standards, the leaps and bounds the wheel would...well, leap and bound, is straight up ridiculous, even by BWBA standards. The whole chase plays more like one of the fantasy sequences. It doesn't feel like it's made of bamboo at all, it feels more like the wheel is made of Flubber. The one positive I can list is that there is a brief appearance from the one-off characters from the BWBA movie. Their appearance doesn't affect anything, but it's the thought that counts.
This may have been one of the shorter reviews, but it is because it's so easy to pinpoint where this episode went wrong. It's way too zany and absurd to the point where it's hard to really take seriously, or even recommend. Overall, I'd recommend you just skip it, since it's all fluff and no substance, and that's why I give this a 1/5.
Final Rating: 1/5
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