Here we are! The last installment of The Good, The Bad & Toby - a four review series by ThomasNATION members, MeganMusketeers and MichaelSth1995. In this series, the two members took two episodes - both from Season 5, both about Toby - and explained what they think about it, and why, in two reviews - one positive, one critical.



Last time, MeganMusketeers explained why she thought the episode, "Toby & The Flood" was quite good, and now, MichaelSth1995 tells us why he thinks its... downright terrible. Which side are YOU on? Read & find out...



Read MeganMusketeers' side on the episode - why she thinks its a good one!

Hey guys, its me! In the last post of The Good, The Bad & Toby, I'm here to tell you - why Toby & The Flood was... a fail... (do you agree?)

Like I've said, I do not hate the classic series; (in fact S1 is my all time favourite) but unfortunately it just has some duds here and there. This episode is one of them. 

So It's been raining heavily for days, and the river close to Toby's branchline has risen due to the rain, and Toby has been sent to inspect the dam, which prevents the river from overflowing. Why they couldn't ask for inspectors and they ask for Harold instead, I'll never know. Oh, and a railway is built over the dam because... screw logic - am I right?



All of a sudden, the dam begins to break. 

Now, At the old wooden bridge, Percy waits anxiously for Toby, and he slowly crosses the bridge and stops... because the plot demands for him to do so. Why? If he'd run out of coal or water, it would've made sense, but this doesn't. Anyway, the dam collapses and the bridge breaks with Toby on top. How? Granted, he isn't as weighty as Percy, but he's not a sack of feathers either - another plothole!


Anyway, Percy and Harold go off to rescue Toby from going over the edge of a waterfall. Harold lowers a rope to Toby's crew... Get this, over his buffer instead of, oh I dunno, the literal bridge? That would certainly be the logical thing to do. 



And another talk-about-lack-of-logic: why a rope? Why not a chain? That would be the stronger, safer option any day. 

Now, Toby is safe; and when the rain finally stops and the dam is repaired, he's praised for his courage. Wait, what? Did I watch a different episode? Percy and Harold did all the rescuing! And Percy says he could've never been so brave, they must have forgotten about the previous episode (Put Upon Percy, to be exact.) Continuity torn to shreds, I guess.


Yeesh. The plot's a real mess right there. Unlike Snow, it does treat a serious issue like a serious issue, and Percy showing bravery to help his friend is admirable. But that's it. It is seriously flawed, plot-wise, I don't like it at all - because it all comes down to the plot, when you're looking at an episode. But there's more points as well, in this episode - its other aspects:

In my opinion, Apart from that dam, the model makers did a great job with the sets and the realistic waterfall was great too. Moreover, If there's one thing I can't fault, it's the music. Even though their S1-2 music was far superior, the music afterwards was pretty good too; not as good as Chris Renshaw but better then Robert Hartshorne. The music played the situation well and... well that's it, really. Quite good music for the situations - that's a plus point.


But, and I'll be blunt here, I intensely dislike Alec Baldwin's narration - in Season 5 it sounded like he was trying too hard, in Season 6 it sounded like he was falling asleep, as far as I'm concerned Michael Brandon is lightyears ahead of him. The UK dub on the other hand - another thing I do like about Season 5 is Angelis' amazing narration - it's superb and fits the tone perfectly. So, overall, its 50/50, I guess.

But that wasn't the worst they gave Toby for several years... (That's something for another time, though.)

Concluding, I rate it 1/5, I don't hate it as such like I do Toby's Discovery, but the story needs drastic edits.

Rating: 1/5.

But Megan didn't agree. Read her review here, if you haven't already.