Season 16 - Episode 15: Muddy Matters

March 2012 saw the fifteenth episode of Season 16 of Thomas & Friends...

...but before the review, the usual disclaimer:

The views below are entirely those of the author and not representative of the Sodor Island Forums as a whole.

On that note, it's time to get this review underway...

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Muddy Matters

Writer: Max Allen

James is taking Farmer McColl's sheep to the fair, but how can he keep them and his lovely red paintwork clean when the shortest route means puffing along muddy tracks? Isn't he vain!

Overall Thoughts

First and foremost. What?

Cattle wagons – any railway van, in fact, does not have a basic door locking mechanism like that. Especially not a teeny, tiny one which would snap off at the merest jolt.  It looks more like a lock you'd put on a bathroom door than a railway wagon!

Then there was the missing brakevan. Nitrogen must be sick to death of me by now! Brakevans were wonderfully, on every other train, other than James' – which is incorrect for railway operation.

Yes, you do require a brakevan for an unfitted freight vehicle, which is what most cattle wagons are. Explaining this in laymans terms, “Unfitted” refers to the lack of a “continuous brake” which in modern trains, and specific vehicles and train formations in the steam era, meant that every vehicle had a brake which the driver could put on by applying the brakes in the locomotive.

The cattle wagon does have a handbrake, but this is applied by hand, by a shunter and can't be put on when a train is moving. This is why you have brakevans on all “unfitted” stock such as on the cattle wagons. It helps decrease the overall braking distance of the train and makes it safer for trains to proceed, for example, downhill.

So although it's a really minor point in the great scheme of things, I am afraid I have to insist that James should have had a brakevan at the end of his train. I am also of the feeling that it would be nice to see a guard in the brakevans – you could even write a story about a guard in the brakevan, one day...

Returning to the episode at hand - HAVEN'T WE ALREADY HAD THE ANIMALS BEING LOST OUT OF A TRAIN BEFORE?!

That's RIGHT (ARGH, Ferdinand's catchphrase) – we had that last year with Wonky Whistle. Well, this time around, James' adventure isn't quite so dangerous and badly written as Thomas' was, but it comes close for overall blandness and extreme repetitiveness. It was something of a surprise to see some continuity with Katie the Dog making a reappearance, but if that was a highlight then it serves to illustrate how poor this effort was.

Then there's the question of livestock being near the line. We've had this addressed in previous seasons so many times it's unreal. “All traffic halted” and so on and so forth. You would make sure the section of line is clear and free for traffic to proceed by removing the sheep before allowing trains to enter the section.

Then of course there's the “I can choose whatever track I want” which is always contrived, always wrong, and very, very tired in terms of storytelling. The convenient locations for puddles, muddy tracks, and so on and so forth never fail to amaze me.

Yet the thing which aggravated the most was the rather pointed cameo from Thomas and Percy. Was that really necessary?!

Thoughts From Other SiF Members

Eric (SiF Second in Command)

I remember there being a great line from James which suit his character, but then this episode took a nosedive when James was able to go in every direction to get to a field. I was hoping for some smart and logical method of getting the sheep back, (a la the cleverly written straw truck in Big Strong Henry) but nope. I liked the consistency of keeping the dog's name, Katie, which I had long since forgotten from the earlier seasons.

Christopher (ERS Mod):

Another story where James avoids getting dirty…?

COME ON.

Between James choosing whichever tracks he likes and the lines themselves being flooded close to erosion, I can't decide which made me face-palm the most.

Kids should know by now what has already been established in "Thomas & the Birthday Mail", "Steady Eddie", "Time For A Story", etc, etc. If the track is unsafe, don't take it, for goodness sake!!

To add, railway lines are NOT like roads. There isn't a convenient Junction every five minutes and the engines themselves can't choose their own way. That's what Signalmen are for.

Plus, why didn't / couldn't Farmer McColl travel with his dog and sheep? Would have been a brilliant sight seeing him AND James's crew trying to round up the sheep when they had come loose. Once more, it would be putting the people of Sodor in the spotlight for at least a full minute and take full advantage of the animation quality already at hand.

However, I will admit, James was more-or-less in-character just about throughout; though still overly vain even I chuckled at the "…in the background…" remark.

And I say - was that Belle doing ACTUAL RAILWAY WORK? Great! Just remove those water cannons, repaint her completely and she'll fit in with reality much better!

Ian (ERS Staff):

OK, nice to see Belle hauling a proper train for once, and the closing shot of the man reading the newspaper was a lovely touch.

But that really is it for good points.

Aside from the seemingly now typical 'engines chooses where he/she goes at random' issue with the points and signals, I take issue with-

James instructing a sheep dog, that travels in his cab?

James hauling a one van train?

Yet another party / show affair?

Puddles only in certain locations, rather than an entire section of line?

James concerned about getting dirty, again?

Thomas shoe-horned in- twice! First for a cameo then again for a one line role?

What makes these things so disappointing is that the writers probably can do a lot better than this, and there are lots of people who would do anything for a writing job like that, knowing full well they could offer education, interest and fun all in the same package.

That this is the only major contribution from James this series, much like Henry and Emily before him, is a crying shame.

Final Conclusions

It was baaa-ad. Ewe wouldn't believe how bad. I'm not trying to pull the wool over your eyes with this review, honest.

Anymore for anymore? No? Sorry, it's been a long day. I thought a few baaa-ad sheep jokes might lighten the mood. This episode didn't.

Maybe it's because I'm so close to the real railway in terms of my day to day reading, and also down to how well the early Thomas & Friends series' dealt with the problems of storytelling in railways, but when you watch episodes like these, you feel a very special kind of despair. You could say, a special special kind of despair (groan).

The new writing team needs to get it established pretty firmly that railways don't operate like this. Thomas & Friends was at its absolute best – even in the later HiT owned model series, to be fair – when they remembered that it was a working railway first, and talking trains second. This meant that the characters stayed close to reality whilst also offering that entertaining aspect of characterisation, which is what is really at the heart of Thomas & Friends, after all.

So I leave you with this final thought on this episode: by hook or Shepard’s crook, things can only get better. And with only five more episodes left of this seasons, it surely can't get any worse?

Individual Episode Score: 1/10 - Fiery Flynn 3/10 – Ol’ Wheezy Wobbles 7/10 - Express Coming Through 3/10 - Percy & The Monster of Brendam 2/10 - Ho Ho Snowman 8/10 - Flash Bang Wallop! 2/10 - Thomas & The Rubbish Train 1/10 - Thomas Toots The Crows 1/10 - Bust My Buffers 9/10 - Percy & The Calliope 2/10 – Thomas & The Sounds of Sodor 5/10 – Salty’s Surprise 1/10 - Sodor Surprise Day 1/10 - Emily's Winter Holiday Special 2/10 – Muddy Matters

Total Season Score So Far: 48/150

Average Season Score So Far: 3.2/10

Quick Character Stats

Speaking Roles:

James, Sir Topham Hatt, Emily, Thomas, Percy

Cameos:

Stanley, Charlie, Henry, Edward, Gordon, Belle, Farmer McColl, Katie the Sheep Dog