Well, this is gonna be fun..!
I had my reservations about this one, to be honest. Not because I’m insulted or annoyed by the changes, but because I know how bad episodes that seemingly attack the critics can be. Fame and Misfortune from MLP is a prime example on how to do it wrong. The episode was three years too late, it addresses criticisms that have already been addressed, it uses their purple mouthpiece (Starlight Glimmer) to pin the blame on the town (and, by extension, the fans) for their own mistakes as a writing team and the song was basically them sticking their fingers in their ears and saying “I’m not listening!”. And to top it all off, it supposedly bored its target audience.
This episode has none of those problems. Sure, you could argue that Nia is a mouthpiece for Mattel, but I disagree. Because they’re playing off what Nia is actually going through in her own mind, it feels much more natural to the story rather than having a character with no character spouting nonsense because the writers are incredibly petty.
But let’s be honest here, Gordon was absolutely amazing here. His reactions are the perfect caricature of conservatives (conservative Thomas fans especially), and anything that upsets them is perfectly fine in my book. They even had him imagine that the track was going to turn rainbow. I genuinely want that so much now!
The story itself is... fairly thin. It’s another plot about an engine learning to accept changes in their lives. Daisy had to go through the same in Daisy’s Perfect Christmas last year (which I’ve since found that fans have forgotten about, which is a shame). But, I feel this episode can be forgiven of that since they tweak it enough to make it feel fresher.
And... then we come to the theme. I’ve been going back and forth in my head before and after the review originally went up, thinking whether it was a good lesson to teach to children. I’ve now reached the conclusion that yes, it is a great lesson for kids. In fact, it’s an important one. Friendship never dies no matter how far away you are and how often, or little, you see of each of each other. My best friend and I haven’t been in touch that much since he started his new job last year. But every time we catch up, it’s like we were never apart from each other.
There are a few issues though. When Gordon realises there could be a new addition to the sheds, he acts the same way he did at the start of the episode. It makes his whole arc feel pointless and reinforces my idea that his behaviour needed to be dealt with in a more direct, less coddly way.
This also could’ve been fixed by them acknowledging the benefits of these changes as well. It’s all well and good saying “change happens, it’s OK to feel bad about it”, but when you’re not told what the plus sides of these changes are, and something else happens to change things further, the cycle will begin again. The episode does a good job of understanding change and its effects, but it doesn’t go into the acceptance of change and why that’s a good thing.
Also, Henry’s leaving is completely glossed over. After A Shed for Edward, I was thinking they’d do something similar for Henry. Heck, maybe that was the original plan before they decided to cut 8 episodes out of the last season. But to treat it as an afterthought for another character’s story is... well, kinda sad. I know Henry never really had a fair shake in the leading roles, but he deserved a far better send off than this.
It’s never explained why he wants to stay at Vicarstown, he just... does. It’s basically what fans thought A Shed for Edward’s ending was; something pulled from the writers’ backsides in order to accommodate a new character in the shed.
I was also a tad disappointed that they didn’t tackle the theme of toxic masculinity either. A lot of anger from people comes (apart from taking a book as gospel and using it as an excuse to be a terrible person, ignorance, stupidity or a combination of the three) from the terrible gender roles that society has arbitrarily placed on itself. But it’s a 7 minute episode that was focused enough as it is, so it was silly to assume they’d add something else to the mix, in hindsight. Although, considering the ending leads on to the next episode, there’s still a (slim) chance..!
I honestly still prefer Daisy’s Perfect Christmas in certain areas, especially in terms of the theme’s execution. But this is more entertaining, makes Nia more loveable and Gordon entertaining as hell. Seriously, writers, make fun of conservatives more! That’s the sugar daddy likes. Oh, and a rainbow railway would be lovely as well..!
Rating: Average (5/10)
I had my reservations about this one, to be honest. Not because I’m insulted or annoyed by the changes, but because I know how bad episodes that seemingly attack the critics can be. Fame and Misfortune from MLP is a prime example on how to do it wrong. The episode was three years too late, it addresses criticisms that have already been addressed, it uses their purple mouthpiece (Starlight Glimmer) to pin the blame on the town (and, by extension, the fans) for their own mistakes as a writing team and the song was basically them sticking their fingers in their ears and saying “I’m not listening!”. And to top it all off, it supposedly bored its target audience.
This episode has none of those problems. Sure, you could argue that Nia is a mouthpiece for Mattel, but I disagree. Because they’re playing off what Nia is actually going through in her own mind, it feels much more natural to the story rather than having a character with no character spouting nonsense because the writers are incredibly petty.
But let’s be honest here, Gordon was absolutely amazing here. His reactions are the perfect caricature of conservatives (conservative Thomas fans especially), and anything that upsets them is perfectly fine in my book. They even had him imagine that the track was going to turn rainbow. I genuinely want that so much now!
The story itself is... fairly thin. It’s another plot about an engine learning to accept changes in their lives. Daisy had to go through the same in Daisy’s Perfect Christmas last year (which I’ve since found that fans have forgotten about, which is a shame). But, I feel this episode can be forgiven of that since they tweak it enough to make it feel fresher.
And... then we come to the theme. I’ve been going back and forth in my head before and after the review originally went up, thinking whether it was a good lesson to teach to children. I’ve now reached the conclusion that yes, it is a great lesson for kids. In fact, it’s an important one. Friendship never dies no matter how far away you are and how often, or little, you see of each of each other. My best friend and I haven’t been in touch that much since he started his new job last year. But every time we catch up, it’s like we were never apart from each other.
There are a few issues though. When Gordon realises there could be a new addition to the sheds, he acts the same way he did at the start of the episode. It makes his whole arc feel pointless and reinforces my idea that his behaviour needed to be dealt with in a more direct, less coddly way.
This also could’ve been fixed by them acknowledging the benefits of these changes as well. It’s all well and good saying “change happens, it’s OK to feel bad about it”, but when you’re not told what the plus sides of these changes are, and something else happens to change things further, the cycle will begin again. The episode does a good job of understanding change and its effects, but it doesn’t go into the acceptance of change and why that’s a good thing.
Also, Henry’s leaving is completely glossed over. After A Shed for Edward, I was thinking they’d do something similar for Henry. Heck, maybe that was the original plan before they decided to cut 8 episodes out of the last season. But to treat it as an afterthought for another character’s story is... well, kinda sad. I know Henry never really had a fair shake in the leading roles, but he deserved a far better send off than this.
It’s never explained why he wants to stay at Vicarstown, he just... does. It’s basically what fans thought A Shed for Edward’s ending was; something pulled from the writers’ backsides in order to accommodate a new character in the shed.
I was also a tad disappointed that they didn’t tackle the theme of toxic masculinity either. A lot of anger from people comes (apart from taking a book as gospel and using it as an excuse to be a terrible person, ignorance, stupidity or a combination of the three) from the terrible gender roles that society has arbitrarily placed on itself. But it’s a 7 minute episode that was focused enough as it is, so it was silly to assume they’d add something else to the mix, in hindsight. Although, considering the ending leads on to the next episode, there’s still a (slim) chance..!
Final Thoughts
After a lot of thought and rewatches, I think this one is... alright. It’s a good way to ease kids into the meta changes by making a story that they can relate to. But it simply doesn’t go far enough in saying why change will be beneficial.I honestly still prefer Daisy’s Perfect Christmas in certain areas, especially in terms of the theme’s execution. But this is more entertaining, makes Nia more loveable and Gordon entertaining as hell. Seriously, writers, make fun of conservatives more! That’s the sugar daddy likes. Oh, and a rainbow railway would be lovely as well..!
Rating: Average (5/10)
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