Don't Go Back (Thomas & Friends)
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 Worst... racing episode... ever!
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"Don't Go Back" is the fourteenth episode of the twelfth season of Thomas & Friends. It aired on September 18, 2008 in the UK.
Why It Should Go Back... and NEVER Return
- Thomas and Diesel are unlikable in this episode as both engines act like childish morons playing around in a dangerous environment, a quarry.
- In general, the episode's plot idea is an example of a Thomas & Friends episode plot that is really horrible and appalling to begin with.
- How has this plot been commissioned to an episode?
- Two plot holes:
- Thomas should have realized that he bumped into Mavis.
- Mavis, 'Arry, and Bert should have told Thomas and Diesel off for their idiocy.
- Instead of adopting the three strikes rule, it employs a three crashes approach, which is not an improvement. This method was previously used in "Thomas and the Big Bang," and it did not prove effective, as both concepts are nearly identical.
- Unlike "Thomas and the Big Bang" (another bad episode), that episode may have been bad for its annoying and repetitive nature, but at least that episode had a good message about why goofing off can get you into trouble. "Don't Go Back" sends a bad message to children: You can play around/in dangerous places, goof off instead of doing what you're supposed to do, and cause major problems without receiving discipline or punishment.
- This episode also shows that Thomas has learned nothing from that episode, and it abandons continuity from the episode.
- Even if Thomas and Diesel set things right in the end, both Thomas and Diesel receive no discipline or punishment at all.
- Sometimes, it's necessary for an engine to fix a mistake to see how they caused confusion and delay, but here, no one would be that stupid to let that slide because Thomas and Diesel were responsible for screwing around at the quarry in the first place, and they were the ones responsible for delaying Henry's train. So no, there is no point in letting Thomas and Diesel go fix the mess both engines made because they should either be in their sheds for the rest of the day, or they should be shunting at another location where both engines are separated from each other.
- This is an episode that is the example of how to NOT write a racing themed episode, and also another example of an episode to start off fine at first until things run downhill to the point the episode itself becomes really awful to watch.
- But in actuality, this episode's plot is really terrible. So, this is yet another one of those episodes that was already horrible from the start.
- The crashes in this episode, all except the last one, aren't even fun to watch at all. They come off as a complete waste of time because of how predictable this episode is with its really stupid plot.
- The first crash for example is not even a "crash" at all for how it calls itself a crash. Okay, it kind of is, but that so-called "crash" is Thomas more likely bumping into Diesel backwards and putting himself on the gravel chute.
- Mavis, 'Arry, and Bert are used as test subjects that serve no actual purpose to the plot other than be thrown into the episode for the sake of the your typical three-strikes formula to let everything happen at once.
- Aside of everything else that's wrong with this episode, the episode in general relies on nothing more but railway "racism", and it tries too hard to be "racist".
Redeeming Qualities
- Great narration from both Michael Brandon and Michael Angelis as usual.
- The shed crash was cool despite being ruined by the constant narration.
- Although Season 12 is notorious for its subpar integration of CGI animation with live-action models, the scene where Thomas' eyes roll under the gravel chute as he gets buried in gravel is quite amusing. Moreover, the use of Thomas's classic shocked expression from the model era is particularly notable, especially since this episode was one of the last to feature it.
Reception
"Don't Go Back" received a 3.5/10 on iMDB.com as of 2021.
Trivia
- This episode's plot and scenario are both somewhat similar to "Thomas to the Rescue" from Series 8.
- This is the last episode to feature Thomas' shocked face without the bucktooth until "Thomas Puts the Brakes On".
- This is the last episode written by Simon Spencer.
- This episode marks Henry, Diesel and Mavis' last appearances in the model series, as well as Mavis' only appearance in the twelfth series.
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