It's fair to say that Wonky Whistle is one of, if not the, worst received episodes of the show. I personally think there are worse ones from writers with more experience than Neil Ben had, but that's another story.
I recently made a Twitter poll as to whether fans would appreciate another episode written by him and the result was... interesting:
If Neil Ben was given another opportunity to write a Thomas episode, would you give it a fair chance?
— Chris Tomson ♿️ (@ChrisTomson2013) January 29, 2016
It was actually very close, but 39% of fans polled were unsure whether they'd give it a fair chance, which is understandable. There's still a lot of animosity towards that episode and him (why against him, I don't know. You may not like his work, but don't attack him). However, it's nice that fans are willing to give him a chance.
38% of the vote said that fans would give him a fair chance, which is very surprising considering all the hate I mentioned. However, considering he wrote only one episode with some very tight restrictions from those higher than even Sharon Miller, we can't really say whether he'd be a good writer or not, and it would be a huge shame if we never found out what he could really do.
Only 23% of the voters said they wouldn't be giving him a fair chance which. while it's a shame, I can also understand. To be honest, I thought that was going to be the runaway winner, so it's probably a testament to the writing set up the show has now that "no" came last in the poll. Like I said, though, with the one episode he did put out, he didn't leave a positive impression - whether that be all his fault is probably up for debate should we ever know what happened behind the scenes during that period.
Personally though? I'd give him a chance. Yeah, he wrote a bad episode, but I've seen worse, even from the current team (spoiler alert for a future episode review, by the way). Speaking of which, I'm reminded of the lesson from Spencer's VIP: everyone deserves a second chance. Should Neil Ben return, I'd be more than willing to give him that. I just hope the team actually give him that chance..!
Okay yes, I hate how he wrote "Wonky Whistle", but why make him a social pariah? I just see no point of it. He apologized after watching The Engine Inspector's review on said episode, but come on! He said he is sorry, it's not like he went full Adam Sandler or Michael Bay mode (GOD NO!), both are far worse! I just hope everybody can give him another chance because he deserves a second chance. But did I attack on him and deny his apology in the comments? No! I forgave him and that was that. But sadly, it was easier said than done.
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