And so, the end is here. The last episode of series 20, the last small railway episode of the trilogy and the last proper episode review of this 13 post marathon. But will Useful Railway end things on a high?
To be fair, it would be hard to top
Tit for Tat and
Mike's Whistle's adaptation and... it didn't.
But it's definitely just as good as those two, and that's perfectly fine by me.
The first downgrade is Thomas' appearance. While his first two were fantastic, and I'm more apathetic to him being included everywhere than I used to be, I
still think that his appearance here added nothing that another character couldn't. He simply reverted to his usual bland, helpful persona which is actually rather jarring considering how cheeky and fussy he was in the previous two.
The second is the lack of any real interaction during the wool collection. This episode is much more reliant on the narrator than the characters and while that's not bad, it doesn't really give Rex or his driver to interact with anything during the journey, which is a real shame since the other two had some brilliant interactions.
All of that, coupled with the lack of humour, means that the slower pace that these stories have is
much more noticeable here. The music does what it can to liven things up, but it's still kind of dull around the middle.
It's not awful though; the first act does allow humans to interact with the railway, and those were great. Their patronising tone to something they don't understand made sense and the reactions were entertaining (especially Rex's).
I also really liked the theme that the episode presented: don't judge a book by its cover. So many people, even today, just shrug others off solely because they're a bit different, not bothering to get to know the person or care about their feelings. And that's really sad, since there are so many interesting people out there that none should be ignored. Well, except for Nazis and other terrorists, but that's for another day..!
Willie was a really fun character as well.The narrator's description fit him to a tee and he was given a great performance by Keith Wickham. On a side note, does anyone else think he sounded like a less gruff Willie Rushton?
Also, yes, that crash was absolutely amazing. It's so overblown and ridiculous that it's become one of my favourite of the entire show. I wasn't much for many of the slow motion incidents during series 8-12 as it felt more like they were lessening the impact, whereas here you're right in the middle of the action, so the slow-mo feels more like they're trying to add drama and comedy, which they pulled off brilliantly.
Finally, I love that this episode shows off the whole range of the Arlesdale engines' dynamic. I've said it in the
Tit for Tat review but it bears repeating: it's the most genuine one of the current era. They enjoy teasing each other, but at the end of the day they're always there for each other. I'm just hoping they keep these three acting this way as it'd be a shame if they became just another trio of happy go lucky friends. Maybe add Frank and Jock in the future too? Or characters that were mentioned in complimentary
Railway Series books?
Final Thoughts
While this is the small railway adaptation that I like the least, it's still a brilliant episode in its own right, and a great way to end a superb trilogy. While it's disappointing that Rex and his driver didn't interact as much as Bert and Mike did with theirs previously, there isn't as much humour and Thomas is just kind of... there, the story is still great, the few character interactions there are are still entertaining enough that crash is absolutely fantastic.
But all in all, I just want to show my respect to Andrew Brenner. He didn't
have to adapt these stories at all. He could've just written his own and things could've been different for the small engines. But it's a testament to how much he cares about the character and the franchise's roots that he thought this was the best way to properly cement the Arlesdale Railway into the show, and he was absolutely spot on.
So thank you Andrew Brenner and co. Keep up the good work no matter what the higher ups at Mattel throw at you. I have faith that you will make their ideas - good or bad - work, so please don't let your fans, young or old, down.
Episode Ratings
Final Rating
195/280
While Mike's Whistle is my favorite of the trilogy, and of the season as a whole, this is tied with Tit For Tat for second place. While a little bit too close to the original story than the other two, it's still a brilliant adaptation, and a great way to end the trilogy, as well as the entire season. I, too, hope that Frank and Jock come along in future episodes, but what I really want to see how the little engines can play off against Marion in an episode. Maybe some day.
ReplyDelete10/10