ThomasNATION: Helen Farall

Ah, Percy and Harold...one of the best friendship rivalries from the classic series that hasn't really been seen in the current series ever since Season 6's "A Bad Day For Harold". But that all changes in the first of the five festive episodes for Season 20 - Letters To Santa!

Percy is cross with Harold for thinking that helicopters are better than trains in snowy weather, but when Harold doesn't return to Sodor after delivering his Christmas mail, it's Percy to the rescue! When I first heard about this episode, I was excited to see it because it had been so long since we saw an episode that strengthened Percy and Harold's friendship and I'm happy to say that this episode did not disappoint.

When it comes to the story, it can easily be described as Season 6's "A Bad Day For Harold" done right as it was much more action-packed and intense than that episode and it felt like there was a lot more on the line (no pun intended!) considering the time of year that the story takes place...not to mention that the moral of Christmas being a time of goodwill to people, engines and even helicopters is truly heartwarming - heck, we even got a flashback recreation of Season 2's "Percy Proves A Point"!

As for the animation, the team at Arc truly knows how to capture each time of the year, especially winter and it really comes to play during the dramatic sequences of Harold trying to catch up to Percy and Hiro. But it can also be heartwarming as well like the ending sequence of the Town Square on Christmas Day - not to mention that the score from Chris Renshaw truly knows how to capture each scene in the story.

And when it comes to the characters, Percy and Harold were in top form as they not only played off each other brilliantly, but they learn that they can be useful in their own ways and it strengthens their friendship - bravo to Christopher Ragland and Kerry Shale (and subsequently, Nigel Pilkington and Keith Wickham) for delivering some perfect performances!

Overall, "Letters To Santa" will give you exactly what you want in a Christmas episode of Thomas and gets a rating of a perfect 5 out of 5.

Final Rating: 5/5

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Ah, Gordon and Spencer-even though you two are cousins who were built by the same designer, you two in actuality are bitter rivals to the core who love to try and outdo one another in terms of speed and strength...but will you two learn to put aside your differences for the sake of your passengers on the new year? Let's find out with 'Confused Coaches'!

When Gordon and Spencer's competitive behavior gets out of control on the last day of the year, it may end up causing more confusion and delay than ever. When this episode was announced, I was actually rather intrigued by the concept since it has been quite a while since Gordon and Spencer were given some major screen time together and it felt great to see them get it a bit of the action with the writing being as entertaining as it was. But was it entertaining enough? The answer is...yes, yes it was.

When it comes to the story, even though the main point of the episode doesn't kick in until halfway through and the comedy with Sir Topham Hatt is now starting to become repetitive, the holiday that ties this episode together is one that we haven't seen before. Whereas every holiday-themed episode in the series has always been either Christmas and maybe Halloween, and inevitably Valentine's Day, Helen Farrall actually decided to give us a New Year's Eve episode-that's an idea so obscure that only fans of the show would ever consider trying let alone the corporate company that runs the franchise, so to see a New Year's Eve episode finally make its way into the series was really nice to see especially with the moral of learning to put aside differences and starting fresh again especially when you think about how long of a rivalry Gordon and Spencer have had with each other.

As for the visuals, it's always great to see more of Jam Filled's continued work from Arc Productions with winter-themed episodes and they really got to show what they could do during the sequences of Gordon and Spencer racing each other as well as the editing of the shots when Spencer is scheming to get back at Gordon which reminded me a lot of the series '24' and let's not forget the beautifully animated fireworks at the end of the episode to celebrate the new year and close out the episode with a moment where I just wanted to reach out through the screen and hug Philip.

And when it comes to the two core characters of the episode, it's always fun to see the massive egos of Gordon and Spencer go head to head and I can tell that Kerry Shale was having a field day when voicing for Gordon during the climax. Some have said that Flying Scotsman should've appeared as well to be the voice of reason between the two engines and while I would've loved to see him again since that role would've been perfect for him, it would've been overkill considering that we would've already had an episode like that in this season with 'Emily In The Middle'.

Overall, even though there were some delays in the writing, 'Confused Coaches' goes full steam ahead for the new year and I give it a rating of a perfect 5 out of 5. And with that, I wish you all a happy new year! Let's just hope that 2021 is better than 2020!

Final Score: 5/5

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As the first airing week of Season 21 draws to a close, the fifth episode is Helen Farrall's season debut, Runaway Engine. Involving a conflict between Stephen and Millie - this year marking their fifth year in the show - the episode seems like the most promising one of the bunch yet. Let's see what Megan (MeganMusketeers) thinks:

Read her review for Runaway Engine.

>> This time, ThomasNATION will also be including tweets from fans in reviews! To be included, just tweet with the hashtag #TNS21Reviews and tag @TheThomasNATION! <<

When I first heard that Runaway Engine was the title of Friday's episode, images of a generic out of control engine episode flew into my mind but I was pleasantly surprised by how wrong I was.

The story goes Millie is collecting stone for the Earl's dinosaur park and so can't do her regular duties. Stephen and Glynn are meant to cover for her but they end up far too busy with passengers. Millie notices they never did their work and thinks them lazy. So she does their job of picking up some garden waste, but dumps it outside their berth as revenge. This sets Stephen off who mocks her, but you never insult a French girl.

Millie storms off with Stephen worried for his good friend. When Millie still hasn't returned in the morning Stephen runs off to find her, coaches in tow (much to a certain passenger's disapproval). He runs out of water while trying to reach Crovan's Gate when who should arrive but the Earl with Millie, turns out she was picking up a new motor for the turntable., which was actually heard at the beginning but Stephen talked to Glynn over the Earl when he was telling them.

The next sequence is quite funny, as Sir Robert manages to convince the Grumpy passanger (who made his debut with Duncan in Season 18) that he'd been given an extended tour. It was hysterical - and exhibited the wonderful character we know Sir Noramby is. It ends with free cake and a very grumpy Glynn.

Now I do have a complaint, the episode seems too fast. It feels like a larger episode had to be cut down due to time constraints. Also what happened to the Railway Museum? I understand it's not relevant to the episode but some mention would have been nice. But the problems are few and the quality overall is great.

This is my favourite episode so far for many reasons. One example is the many graphical improvements made since the switch to Jam Filled's servers. The new lighting looks amazing, very subtle glow when engines are in front of the sun as well as new morning lighting conditions help make the series look very realistic. Stephen rocking on his frames was also a nice thing to see. The texturing and set dressing has also seen an improvement. Another amazing thing is that Thomas was no where to be seen in this whole episode. And to top it all a very clever sight gag with Mr. Bubbles.

It's been a good week so far and with Big Mickey on the horizon I think this series will top twenty and maybe even the classic series. The show is getting better each year and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this little E2, all his pals and his adversaries.

Final Rating: 4.5/5

TWEET REVIEWS! #TNS21Reviews:

Helped make Season 21's first week a runaway success, great to see the Ulfstead Castle trio again and no Thomas in sight!#TNS21Reviews
— MLEEP Productions (@mleepproduction) September 22, 2017

The rest of the team loved the episode as well! The lowest rating was 4, and the highest a 5.

FINAL ThomasRATING: 4.75/5
Season Score: 4.47/5

Check back for more reviews, soon! If you want to feature your tweet review for an episode, tweet with #TNS21Reviews and tag @TheThomasNATION!

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Thanks for reading! ThomasNATION will be back soon with more exciting reviews from Season 21! Follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our blog to stay up-to-date on reviews & Thomas News!

ThomasNATION member, Lana M. N. takes the pen for the review of the last (air-order) episode of Season 20, "Skiff & The Mermaid." Written by the talented Helen Farrall, let's see how the episode goes out...

Hi! I’m Lana Naoum and this is my first review on ThomasNATION. I’m here to review "Skiff and the Mermaid". Personally, this episode has made me laugh much more than it should and that’s saying something as the other episodes, I gave a low rating for.

We begin with the narrator introducing Skiff, we see him do his tasks as the narrator describes, for example the rail boat tours for the tourists. Skiff overhears Sir Topham and the museum owner talking about a mermaid coming to Sodor. He then says this piece of news to Duck who doesn’t believe him.

During the day, he looks out to the sea waiting for the mermaid to come. Toad and Oliver come and they tell him Toad’s story about how he saw a whale stranded on the beach. The next day, he keeps on waiting, eventually Duck rolls past him with Topham and the museum owner talking about the mermaid, of course Skiff overhears them - this strengthens his doubts.

Topham’s grandkids comes out and they talk to Skiff about land and water. Skiff notices something flapping in the water, so he rolls into the water hurriedly. Skiff instructs Topham to do a rail boat step, Topham has no idea what he says.

Toad and Oliver are worried for Topham and Skiff being in the ocean. Captain Joe reassures the kids that Topham is going to be okay. The kids shake their head "no" - this was quite funny. We cut to Topham saying “nothing can go wrong”. A seagull lands on his hat and then to the oar, making Topham throw the oar.

An alarm blares out making Captain and Harold come out to find and rescue the both of them. Cut to, Topham going insane and loosing his mind. Topham attempts to start a fire as he wants to prepare for the night time. We see Harold flying by seeing Topham and Skiff. Topham draws a smiley face on a rock and putting his hat on it. Topham sees Harold and Captain and exclaims out. This whole sequence proves to be quite funny.

We see the kids being sad but we see Topham walking in - this scene is very heartwarming. Captain Joe apologies for Skiff’s behaviour. Skiff says he only wanted to see the mermaid. Topham says he got it wrong, we hear Thomas puffing to show the mermaid statue. Topham states that this was the mermaid Topham meant.

It’s not hard to say this is one of my favourite Season 20 episode. My favourite part is when Oliver makes an appearance because he is one of my favourite characters and when Topham looses his mind on the island because it is quite hilarious to see this. Plus the animation was nothing if not fantastic - Arc/JamFilled continues to impress. Personally, I don’t think there's anything wrong with the episode.

Rating: 5/5

The other members also gave it a positive review, while some thought it to be only above average. The highest rating was 5, and the lowest 3.

ThomasNATION Rating: 4.2 / 5

Thanks for reading! We'll be back with new posts soon, including the Season 20 Awards!

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Oh, finally a new post! I've been busy preparing the quiz, but here's the new episode review! By ThomasFan3000.

"All In Vain." It seems not wrong to say that this batch of episodes - "All In Vain" and "Buckled Tracks & Bumpy Trucks" got overshadowed by the last three episodes, whose excitement is hard to keep quiet. But, anyways, the episodes have come! And while the counterpart of this broadcast is a bit dull in my opinion, "All In Vain" stands to be an almost-perfect story! Let's get on with the review:

James is a wowza engine, with that air of pride, awesomeness around him - a character you'll instantly fall in love with. He's got that packed charm, and that "perfect and awesome" air around him... He feels lovely, and every time he comes on screen, it mostly proves to be a good story.

Helen Farrall, the writer who wrote masterpieces - the likes of "Henry Gets The Express", "Lost Property," "Over The Hill" - gives us a wonderful story for this episode as well.

The story begins with the star, James. The Fat Controller comes to the conclusion of letting him pull a special train for him and The Mayor to go to the Ball at Callan's Castle. This results in the unfolding of a good, jolly funny sequence, quite amusing at some points. Edward's disappointment is registered in a comment, which was nice to see. The start proved to be quite entertaining, yet missing something I can't quite put my finger on - so that's that.

Moving on, James has to finish all him jobs on time, now, so he can make time for the special train. This is when the episode goes good, and goes where its meant to be - explore James' personality, his reactions and actions when placed in quite a peculiar situation - and the output is marvellous. When James goes about to do his jobs, he meets Cranky. The addition of "Here's James" felt only natural. Cranky's reaction is spot on. He doesn't care where the boastful engine's got to go, or what he's gonna do later - He doesn't care about James' special. And his snorts here were perfect.

The way he reacts after spilling sugar is only obvious - he feels satisfied that he's managed to hinder James' day, and his dialogues and tone deliver it very well. Slowly, as we move on, the sugar becomes sticky, and naturally, James goes to be dirtier and dirtier - at the end he's completely covered.

But an important thing the team did here was - James doesn't lose heart! He does get fed up, but he still isn't pouty as before! He gets over it quickly - He isn't sad, complaining... he isn't pouty. It was an incredible work, incorporating James' previous lessons to this episode.

He's worried, he still has lots of jobs - but he's confident he can do them, and denies Edward's help. This shows how pumped he is about his job, and he's willing to work harder and faster to make it all fine - but little does he know, its all in vain.

So, James goes on - exhausted, dirty but still with heart - at the Washdown. The cleaning is done, and James is 100% positive. But then comes the breaking point - A SCRATCH ON HIS PAINTWORK! This felt more than natural - it felt automatic, perfect - James' character in this episode was SPOT ON. He was positive, happy and full of heart - he worked through it all, like he learnt to do in "Pouty James" but no! This is breaking point! No scratch on my paintwork, sir! And so the engine now finds a solution and chases it, in hopes of doing his job perfectly...

James rushes off to the Steamworks, once again confident that he'll be able to get everything done in time. He asks Victor to repaint him, and says that the wind and his speed would dry him. But that's where he's wrong, of course. Twigs, branches and leaves are stuck to his paint, and he's no longer able to collect the Mayor and The Fat Controller. At this point, you feel bad for James. He was commited to his work, fought through it all, and even after getting a scratch he tried to be perfect - but he couldn't - it was all in vain. But couldn't he have ignored that scratch?! That's the lesson we learn.

Edward now pulls the Mayor and The Fat Controller's train. It was really good to see him get this supporting role - it suited him. The next morning, The Fat Controller tells James that he could've been perfect - had he not been so stuck up about that scratch. This is a really valuable lesson. Up to that point, James was perfectly ready - full of heart, ready to go. But his goose chase about that little scratch rendered all his hard work in vain!

So, James is taken to The Steamworks again, and repainted. The Mayor offers him to pull his train for a dinner at Vicarstown (Don't these people have cars?!) and James gleefully agrees. He's happy. The Fat Controller's nod was wonderful to watch.

The episode is concluded, and the end is wonderful as well! James says "Thank You" but also adds cheekily - "I know..."

This episode explores and portrays James' character exceptionally well. He hasn't forgotten what he's learnt from his previous days (Pouty James) - and that's why I give this team kudos for this episode. He also retains all his characteristics seen before, and the whole story is beautifully written.

The Dialogue delivery was spot on, and the animation was as always, breathtaking! The music was wonderful as well!

All in all, Season 20 gets yet another wonderful episode! I give it a whole solid 4.7/5... I just loved it so!

Rating: 4.7 / 5

The other members had great to average ratings to offer to "All In Vain."
The Ratings:

Andy (Wellsworth1888): 5 / 5
Dan (Dakeslayer11): 5 / 5
Jainil Devani (ThomasFan3000): 4.7 / 5
Jack Frefigs (JFtheLOLZOR): 4.1 / 5
Chris (BlueSunil): 4 / 5
Ollie (MrOliver1997): 3.75 / 5
Lana Naoum: 3 / 5

ThomasNATION Rating: 4.22 / 5

See You soon for another review! Bye!

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