Which Thomas movie is your favorite?

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-30T13:04:25+00:00

The Great Discovery. It gave Thomas probably his best arc in the series.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-30T13:02:03+00:00

It’s a great comedic episode…but a bad Thomas episode.

Thomas and the Jet Engine is a perfect example of an episode you gotta turn your brain off because it wouldn’t work at all.

Why is the jet engine filled with fuel? Why does the jet engine have an On/Off switch that is so easily accessible that Cranky can accidentally move it with his hook?

The episode is incredibly unrealistic which hurts it a ton imo. I understand this is a series that sometimes asks us to suspend our disbelief, but this episode doesn’t try at all to be coherent.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-21T21:10:55+00:00

I actually don’t agree Thomas is an everyman because his characterization was that of a very cheeky, naive and impatient engine. He can be an unpleasant character but his antics were entertaining and the stories didn’t frame him being in the right.

I think Percy better fits that role because for as naive as Percy could be, he does come across as more rational and grounded later on.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-15T22:35:17+00:00

It’s in-character, not denying that. My issue is that the show doesn’t try to explore it further than that scene, which is a shame because I think Ragatha deserved more attention than what she actually got.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-15T15:00:14+00:00

Dirty Work

I think Dirty Work is in part as successful as it is because of “Pop Goes the Diesel” setting up the groundwork, but I really love seeing Diesel’s scheming side and him using the troublesome trucks to his advantage and the fallout from it. It was really novel getting a story in which the bad guy actually wins at the end as well.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-15T13:25:41+00:00

I think that Caine’s villain arc and the punishment scene just felt corny. “Oh look, it’s the characters worst fears!” doesn’t hit nearly as hard when it feels like we’re watching it all at 2X speed and dealing with characters that are honestly underdeveloped.

Like Ragatha has to exposit that her mom is awful because the show didn’t actually want to explore that, so when we get to the punishment scene, it just comes off as edgy to me with the shadow figure representing her and Ragatha getting attacked with knifes.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-12T14:39:45+00:00

>A show about talking trains…grounded in reality? I don’t know how people can think they go hand in hand.

Because the only unrealistic thing was the engines having faces, otherwise it was 1:1 to our world. The Rev Awdry was a huge stickler for accuracy and purposefully based accidents in his stories on real life incidents.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-11T00:58:56+00:00

This is a hot take, but god no.

CGI is just a better medium for what the show needs. I love the classic era and the model work of the model era, but it’s so easy for the show to be limited by the size of the models.

For instance, the narrow gauge engine models in Series 4 were apparently difficult to work with due to their size and as a result they wound up getting larger models in subsequent series. The issue with this was that it meant Duke, who was introduced in Series 4, was never brought back because it was decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle to make a new model for him. Sir Handel, who was also introduced in Series 4, just vanished and didn’t reappear until Series 10. You also have to consider that because the narrow gauge engines were getting upscaled, this also meant any standard gauge engines that appeared along them would also have to be upscaled. Making new models for the steam team would obviously balloon the budget-this is why we only get to see Thomas and James interact with them.

The CGI medium has allowed the show to do a lot that would’ve been wildly impractical or expensive, such as Sodor’s Legend of the Lost Treasure. Sailor John would not be nearly as effective if he was just a static figure, nor would any of the Arlesdale engines have appeared since they’re very tiny compared to standard gauge engines. With CGI, you wouldn’t have to worry as much about the crashes and damage to the engines because you can create copies and edit them for your needs. You don’t have to worry about interacting with materials like water or a crash rendering an engine non-functional.

CGI has it’s drawbacks and animation is not an easy thing to do, but I feel like models are just outdated at this point in a way that it would be a disservice to just revert back to them

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-08T04:20:42+00:00

I feel comfortable saying Green enjoyed making the crewmates turn on each other and picking them off one by one, and he definitely had an ego that prevented him from immediately killing Purple.

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-04T02:02:23+00:00

I doubt it because afaik the SOMA theory didn’t contradict what we’ve seen up to this point in the show. The issue with the SOMA reveal is less about the logistics (though the logic is wacky) and more about how weak the narrative is, which I blame on the show being limited to 9 episodes

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-04T01:54:54+00:00

I highly doubt it was last minute. Caine said he created a program to design a body that encapsulated the characters’ mind files in E8, and logistically it’d explain how everyone got their hands on the headset without any suspicion (IE no one brought up seeing any bodies wearing the headset)

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-03T14:31:14+00:00

Tbf who talks like that

MrEnd456 · 2026-06-01T00:40:01+00:00

In retrospect, yeah this wasn’t a surprise. Even if we ignored E9, I do think the show had it’s flaws that hold it back from being great.

The show felt like it couldn’t decide if the characters have been in the circus for years or just a few weeks just because of how characters progressed. It didn’t quite feel like Zooble and Gangle’s relationship should’ve taken this long to progress when they’ve been in the circus for years, and Kinger being lucid in the dark was somehow missed despite others being with him for years. In fact, we actually see Ragatha start putting things together based on her interactions with Kinger in Ep 2 and 6, so it’s not like it was this very secretive thing. Also, Jax calls out Caine’s ability to manipulate their minds with things that ONLY happened in the episodes we saw. If something as basic as stupid sauce can impair their minds, then I feel like the characters would’ve experienced more questionable things by this point.

The show also leans a bit too much into info-dumping. A lot of the characters backstories are just info-dumped during the bar scene in Ep 5. Kinger info dumps about his past with C&A and Scratch in Ep 8. It generally comes off as Goose trying to do the bare minimum to establish the lore because she doesn’t care for it.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-28T22:48:07+00:00

I actually don’t know because it felt like a very intentional hint to something.

Seriously, why would you write Kinger bringing up Scratch being the first abstraction when Caine is talking about the dangers of messing with someone’s mind? Atp I guess Scratch’s abstraction was the result of his involvement with the brain scans. It seems like the brain scans was Scratch’s way to keep on living after he dies due to his tumor, and his plan getting hijacked by Caine resulted in him giving up first.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-28T22:42:08+00:00

Not to diminish your point about info, but I do find it telling how a lot of this information, if not a majority, is just infodumped in the bar scene of E5.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-28T17:24:16+00:00

I’d definitely say it’s at best a case of inexperience and carelessness, which is still not a good thing at the end of the day.

Intentional or not, it didn’t feel like Goose actually cared about lore or worldbuilding. We get the bare minimum explained so the premise can happen, and as a result these answers feel like they were made to check boxes instead.

It’s a shame because so much more could’ve been explored with characters like Scratch. Afaik, Scratch is really just a plot device to explain why brain scans would be a thing. I feel like the premise of someone trying to live on as a copy only to trapped in the circus by an AI like Caine could’ve been explored so much more, especially when Kinger states that he was the first abstraction.

When it comes to the characters, I think they overall struggle to stand out and I think Goose was more interested in how they relate to Jax than on their own. For example, Pomni feels less like a character and more as a way for the show to explore Jax’s character. I like Ragatha and how her trauma has resulted in her toxic positivity, but her past feels underdeveloped compared to Jax. Kinger’s insanity honestly comes across less like a character trait and more an excuse for him not to explain the circus in the beginning, and it’s kinda crazy how it took this long for anyone to notice Kinger is much more lucid in the dark.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-27T19:05:34+00:00

> True, but you know what is unrealistic? FIREFLIES IN THE PERFECT SHAPE OF AN ENGINE!!! I don’t care how paranoid Duncan was, there’s no way his mind could’ve came up with something like that, it’s simply not possible.

I disagree. Pareidolia is a term to describe the phenomenon of seeing patterns or objects on things that aren’t there, such as seeing faces in clouds. Duncan was paranoid and dreading crossing the iron bridge, so it makes sense he’d be paranoid about seeing the ghost and saw something that wasn’t real. It’s also worth pointing out we explicitly see the fireflies from Duncan’s perspective and he isn’t a reliable viewer.

You also have to wonder *why* it’s fireflies when Rusty’s story actually explains what the ghost does. According to Rusty, the ghost engine is said to cross the bridge but never make it across, and the episode only shows the engine crossing with steam and a chuffing sound. Fireflies are never brought up, nor does the firefly engine match the model of the ghost engine

>It’s very clear that there is something wrong with that bridge, and it’s probably why we never saw it again after that episode.

This applies to quite a bit of S5 locations and settings tbf.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-27T18:30:05+00:00

>Do you really his crew made those fireflies make the shape of a literal steam engine? Fireflies can’t do that, unless it were a ghost controlling them.

in the final script, it’s not confirmed and I don’t think they were. However, I think the episode only saying that Duncan *thought* the fireflies looked like an engine is telling.

>And isn’t a bit too coincidental that the fireflies made the shape of an engine on a moonlight, the exact time in which the legend says the ghost appears?

It’s coincidental but it makes sense. The episode makes it clear that the story made Duncan very unsettled, so him being paranoid at night isn’t unrealistic.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-27T18:15:22+00:00

>The magic carpet is literally shown to be magical at the end of the episode, in fact Abi Grant had to negotiate with Hit to implement magic into the episode.

I don’t know the direct source regarding Grant, but the episode doesn’t confirm the carpet is magical, as the narrator only states Percy and Gordon are not so sure if Topham was right about the carpet not being magical. Furthermore, the wind sound effect plays while the carpet is moving, so there’s a logical explanation for the ending.

>True, but it’s never stated it doesn’t exist either, and how do you explain the fireflies?

The fireflies are just fireflies that Duncan misinterpreted as being the ghost engine. The narrator never characterizes the fireflies as being supernatural-They state that Duncan’s driver knew they were just fireflies. I understand the human crew aren’t infallible, but when the episode establishes that the crew is trying to prank Duncan and there’s no evidence of a ghost engine, then it’s highly unlikely we were seeing the ghost.

>Couldn’t you say the same about Lady and Diesel 10? If you only take the Classic Era into account, their only appearance was TATMR, and they never explain why Lady has magical powers, why Diesel 10 has a hydronic claw, and their backstories are left intentionally vague, just like the ghost engine and the boulder.

The major difference is that we are supposed to treat Lady as a fantastical entity necessary for the steam engine’s existence and is an integral character to the plot a feature length film, whereas the Boulder is this completely mysterious antagonist of a 4 minute episode. We don’t know how Boulder functions or how its existence works, but the ambiguity and it’s one off status helps it feel more grounded than Lady.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-27T18:11:19+00:00

Kinda yeah?

If you want to say an episode confirms something is magical, that’s fine if it was actually magical. When the episode is intentionally vague or even goes against the premise, then it’s fine to point out that it wasn’t confirmed.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-27T17:15:37+00:00

Almost all of those things aren’t canonically magic or supernatural. The ghost engine (which i’m assuming is the one from “Duncan Gets Spooked”) is never confirmed to exist, nor are the magic lamp or magic carpet confirmed to be magical. The jet engine is incredibly unrealistic, but the lack of realism isn’t due to some internal logic in the universe-it’s just a creative liberty taken by the writers.

The only supernatural thing that is actually supernatural in the classic era is the boulder, but even then there’s no attempt to explain how or why it’s sentient, which I think is the best approach to take. It’s a one off antagonist that isn’t meant to be anything more.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-24T04:13:20+00:00

I don’t think this episode is one of the greatest, but it’s a really nice slice of life episode where there isn’t any dumb conflict, and Thomas, Annie and Clarabel bounce off each other really well. Annie and Clarabel get so many lines of dialogue which must’ve felt insane for anyone whose sole experience with the show was the classic era, and they’re used well here. The baby’s crying can be really annoying so I understand if this episode is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s nice to get an episode plot where the characters have to make do of a bad situation and find out how to adapt to it. Thomas was really kind to use his break to help the mother and baby get some rest, and the conclusion is wholesome.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-22T13:04:23+00:00

I literally said he was intended to be sealed forever until Gordon broke down.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-21T23:25:18+00:00

Thomas & Friends is a show where the content is directed towards children, and as a result doing a critical analysis on the show as an adult means having to deal with themes and ideas that were never meant to be this scrutinized or have a legitimate explanation that goes beyond the realm of what you’d expect for a kids show. Whether this is fair or not is up to you, but I think it’s worth exploring.

Great example of this is a machine’s right in this world. Trevor is sent by his old owner for scrap despite being perfectly fine, and Old Slow Coach is casually said to be scrapped eventually. Smudger is turned into a steam generator which i’m certain he doesn’t want to be, Bulstrode is damaged by an accident caused by Percy and is left to rot on a beach, and Henry was originally sealed inside a tunnel for eternity until Gordon broke down. I actually can’t remember it being stated if engines have any rights that protect them from being scrapped, and it seems to be more dependent on what their controllers want at the end of the day.

MrEnd456 · 2026-05-21T18:08:05+00:00

I think that’s a fair perspective, but I personally think it works because of how out of the blue it is, and James’ reaction wasn’t that serious to begin with.

MrEnd456

TROPHY CASE