Friday 21 September 2018

Season 22: The Water Wheel

I don’t give out “You Tried” medals. But if I did, this would be the first recipient of one.


Honestly, there’s really nothing to talk about in terms of the story. They just use an overused trope of Thomas taking a shortcut and things going wrong. This time, however, there’s literally no need for him to do so, other than to contrive a conflict.

Speaking of contrivance, that ending. Of course the water wheel would end up travelling through the water to save Thomas from trouble. It’s just lazy storytelling.

And... then there’s the theme. How does “don’t waste water” correlate to anything that was in the episode itself? Absolutely, it’s important to not waste resources. But if you’re gonna teach these messages (like the show itself did in School of Duck), at least tie them in to the story! And no, just showing water doesn’t count...

Final Thoughts
I can’t wait for the season to be over so I can be done with the franchise for good. I’m doing what I can to get these reviews done, but the fact is it’s wearing me down fast. If it’s shown me anything, it’s that the writing team has zero investment in this little experiment. And if they don’t... well, why should anyone else?

This episode was scrambling to reach mediocrity and it couldn’t even get there. It’s so nakedly contrived and weak that I had zero investment from the get go. They tried to make it entertaining, but with how far they travelled, it feels ludicrous more than it does entertaining.
Rating: Bad (2/10)

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