Can this little international experiment just... end after this season? Or, at least, hire writers that’ll actually give episodes like this more of a plot?
I read a quote a while ago. It was from Ian McCue’s press tour, and that quote was highlighted in a tweet.
Also oof pic.twitter.com/HxNKC7hL6S— Jerome (@jerome_spitza) July 19, 2018
Basically, the team is sick of fans complaining about “realism” and all other non-criticisms of the show. He then goes on to say that fans should watch railway documentaries if they’re that bothered about the issue. And you know what? I agree. This show lost the realism argument when the machines gained sentience. And, as much as I love The Railway Series, some of the stories could have done with a bit more entertainment value.
Also, this argument is coming from fans who think season 5 - the most ridiculous, over the top, destructive season - is the best one. Basically, they only pull out the “realism” argument when it suits them. In the same way that misogynistic, bigoted gamers complain about the realism in the latest Spider-Man game. A game that includes Pride flags and rainbow painted buildings. This despite the fact that New York, the state the game takes place in, looks exactly like that. And they’re alao using the “realism” argument for a game about a teenager (well, young adult now) that’s been bitten by a radioactive spider!
Back to Ian’s point, turning a show about talking locomotives/machines into a fucking nature documentary completely undermines it. Surely if fans wanted to watch one of those, they’d seek out something by David Attenborough?
No, wait, that’s not fair. Attenborough documentaries are actually interesting, insightful and worth tuning in to. This... isn’t. At all. Frankly, it’s the most boring episode I’ve ever had to sit through, and this is from a franchise that shat out Thomas’ Frosty Friend and Topped Off Thomas! Genuinely, the reason it took so long for me to talk about this after I’d seen it for the first time (for context, I’m writing this at 1pm BST. I saw the episode at 10:45 BST as I’d recorded it) is because I couldn’t be bothered.
There is so little to enjoy, or even remember, here. The animals are adorable and the scenery is wonderful, but commending Jam Filled for great animation is a moot point: that’s their default setting at this point.
The only thing I really enjoyed was the fantasy sequence. I genuinely laughed at it because it was just so weird and fun. Something the rest of the episode lacked.
Also, that environmental theme that Thomas tried to feed to kids in the Vicarstown segment felt incredibly forced and had no correlation to the actual story. Also, like that Bollywood episode, this completely goes against the show’s design! Surely steam locomotives have a huge impact on the environment as well?
I don’t want to blame the UN for what the show is becoming. It is, after all, the writers’ responsibility to work with what they’re given and try and make something entertaining. But putting messages like this in a show that isn’t designed for them shows they don’t understand the franchise all that well. Although, I’ll swing it back on the writers since they were the ones who made a story that had nothing to do with that message.
The only thing I could take from it was “never give up hope”, but... well, other episodes have focused on this theme and produced a much more satisfying end product.
If you couldn’t tell, I’m angry. This is supposed to be entertaining, and it’s failing. But I’m also disappointed. They had so much to work with taking the show global. They could have told some really fun, interesting stories. But they give us none of it, preferring to make a boring as piss documentary with no character and a theme that’s pulled out of their arse.
Rating: Atrocious (-10/10)
Also, this argument is coming from fans who think season 5 - the most ridiculous, over the top, destructive season - is the best one. Basically, they only pull out the “realism” argument when it suits them. In the same way that misogynistic, bigoted gamers complain about the realism in the latest Spider-Man game. A game that includes Pride flags and rainbow painted buildings. This despite the fact that New York, the state the game takes place in, looks exactly like that. And they’re alao using the “realism” argument for a game about a teenager (well, young adult now) that’s been bitten by a radioactive spider!
Back to Ian’s point, turning a show about talking locomotives/machines into a fucking nature documentary completely undermines it. Surely if fans wanted to watch one of those, they’d seek out something by David Attenborough?
No, wait, that’s not fair. Attenborough documentaries are actually interesting, insightful and worth tuning in to. This... isn’t. At all. Frankly, it’s the most boring episode I’ve ever had to sit through, and this is from a franchise that shat out Thomas’ Frosty Friend and Topped Off Thomas! Genuinely, the reason it took so long for me to talk about this after I’d seen it for the first time (for context, I’m writing this at 1pm BST. I saw the episode at 10:45 BST as I’d recorded it) is because I couldn’t be bothered.
There is so little to enjoy, or even remember, here. The animals are adorable and the scenery is wonderful, but commending Jam Filled for great animation is a moot point: that’s their default setting at this point.
The only thing I really enjoyed was the fantasy sequence. I genuinely laughed at it because it was just so weird and fun. Something the rest of the episode lacked.
Also, that environmental theme that Thomas tried to feed to kids in the Vicarstown segment felt incredibly forced and had no correlation to the actual story. Also, like that Bollywood episode, this completely goes against the show’s design! Surely steam locomotives have a huge impact on the environment as well?
I don’t want to blame the UN for what the show is becoming. It is, after all, the writers’ responsibility to work with what they’re given and try and make something entertaining. But putting messages like this in a show that isn’t designed for them shows they don’t understand the franchise all that well. Although, I’ll swing it back on the writers since they were the ones who made a story that had nothing to do with that message.
The only thing I could take from it was “never give up hope”, but... well, other episodes have focused on this theme and produced a much more satisfying end product.
Final Thoughts
I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it here. These international episodes can be described like this: all style, no substance, the fantasy sequence is the best bit. This is the epitome of that. The animals are adorable, the scenery beautiful and the fantasy sequence is so wonderfully bizarre. But the story is full of nothing.If you couldn’t tell, I’m angry. This is supposed to be entertaining, and it’s failing. But I’m also disappointed. They had so much to work with taking the show global. They could have told some really fun, interesting stories. But they give us none of it, preferring to make a boring as piss documentary with no character and a theme that’s pulled out of their arse.
Rating: Atrocious (-10/10)
No comments:
Post a Comment