Season 16 - Episode 7: Thomas & The Rubbish Train

February 2012 saw the seventh 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...

---

Thomas Toots The Crows

Writer: Andrew Viner

It's Thomas's turn to work with his good friend Whiff the Rubbish Engine! He has to be Whiff's back engine and push a very heavy rubbish train, but Thomas is happy to help.

Overall Thoughts

More identical title scenes in terms of music and setup. I must have been slightly off the mark in Season 15, which (to my eternal damnation) I went back through today to check to see if Season 16 was repeating some mistakes of the previous episodes.

Thankfully, thus far, there's only been a few really dire episodes compared to where we were with Season 15 last year, but there's still a few of questionable quality.

This is one of them. Thomas controls the points and runs away at random, shows little to no understanding of poor Whiff's duties, and once again you're left feeling like Thomas, the central character, isn't really cheeky or fussy anymore so much as being completely unaware of anyone else other than himself in the world.

In short, the really selfish slant to the tank engine's character is rather draining. It's been happening far too often in the CGI era when you compare his character to the seasons 1-12 counterpart.

It's probably the one thing of the CGI era I have never really got on with. Thomas as the perennial selfish character who learns not to be later on in the episode.

The graphics on the other hand, were stunningly beautiful. The coastal route in particular needs utilizing more. But the number of junctions and branchlines which meander, it seems, all over the place...not very railway like and far too convenient for the storyline!

Railway realism was poor today too. "Back engines" are always coupled if the intention is to "top and tail" locomotives. "Banking engines" for pushing up hills were uncoupled in the days of steam.

More research and thought required for this episode.

Thoughts From Other SiF Members

Christopher (Mod):

Don't have a lot to add, other than I can't really understand why it's gone down so well. If it's because of the crash - to be honest, I found that ever so slightly underwhelming. Otherwise, Nitrogen's visuals were the highlight. Hope we get to see more of their coastal route in future episodes.

Final Conclusions

The title is very apt. This particular episode did have rubbish trains.

There's nothing wrong with centring on rubbish as a focal point, but it wasn't handled very well, and Thomas as a character is just unlikeable when he's being overwhelmingly selfish. I get that we see the bad behaviour disciplined, but then it all gets negated with Thomas gets his own way in any event.

It also suffered from being particularly bland, storywise, with all of the alliterative problems and to be frank, a very uninteresting cast of characters.

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

Total Season Score So Far: 26/70

Average Season Score So Far: 3.7/10

Quick Character Stats

Speaking Roles:

Thomas, Diesel, The Fat Controller, Whiff,

The Duchess of Boxford, Gordon, Emily, Rocky

Cameos:

Hiro, James, Henry, Scruff, Lady Hatt