Fiery Flynn (Thomas & Friends)

"Fiery Flynn"
"His firebox was on fire!" That's certainly not one of the most famous quotes from Thomas & Friends, but rather, an infamous one.
Series: Thomas & Friends Part of Season: 15 Episode Number: 20 Air Date: March 28, 2011 (UK) June 5, 2011 (US) Writer: Sharon Miller Director: Greg Tiernan Previous episode: Tree Trouble Next episode: Race to the Rescue (Season 16)

"Fiery Flynn" is the twentieth episode and the season finale of the fifteenth season of Thomas & Friends.

Plot

A blue engine is ablaze, and Flynn the Fire Engine speeds to the rescue before Rocky has the chance to inform him which blue engine is in peril.

Why It Fudges It Indeed

1. The main criticism with this episode is that this episode completely insults the intelligence of firefighters in the most distasteful way possible. See Reason #2 if you are curious.
   • It should be noted that the way this episode writes firefighters as incompetent, useless idiots through one character is not funny. In fact, it is insultingly and despicably unfunny. Worst of all, the episode itself never takes itself seriously, and we all thought CGI Fireman Sam was bad?
2. In this episode, Flynn is portrayed as extremely unlikable, moronic, and frustrating.
   • Flynn appears to not take his job seriously, as he continues to talk instead of acting while Thomas is ablaze. A dedicated firefighter would immediately douse the flames without delay. Upon realizing that the other blue engines are not on fire, he should promptly attend to Thomas, who is, after all, the one engulfed in flames!
   • When Rocky announces a blue engine is ablaze, Flynn, instead of waiting to learn the identity and location of the engine, hastily departs. Without this information, he proceeds to douse any blue engine he encounters.
   • Flynn's actions are portrayed as more foolish than those of Thomas in Seasons 12-16, to the extent that it makes characters like Homer Simpson and Patrick Star seem like geniuses by comparison. His inability to discern whether an engine is on fire is a prime example. Furthermore, the episode's depiction of him as unintelligent and inept casts firefighters in a negative light, suggesting that his inclusion in the rescue team is a disservice to the profession.
   • Every time he asks, "You're not on fire?" after dousing an engine with water, it's extremely infuriating since it's clear that none of the engines, except for Thomas, are ablaze.
   • In summary, the episode presents a poor introduction to the character of Flynn.
3. Throughout the episode, there are several grammatical errors, for instance: "All the engines like to be really helpful, as well as really useful" (Helpful and useful essentially mean the same thing!).
4. Edward and Gordon serve merely as talking test subjects, facilitating the progression of the three strikes formula within the story.
5. Referring to the three strikes rule, this is among the numerous episodes from that period to employ it.
6. There are really nonsensical plot holes present during the episode:
   • How is Rocky aware of the emergencies involving Thomas and then Mavis right after the alarm has sounded? We don't see anyone informing Rocky about these incidents.
   • As Thomas is engulfed in flames, Flynn instructs the diesels to douse the fire with buckets of water. This raises the question: why didn't the drivers take this action initially? Indeed, this entire episode could have been averted since Flynn's assistance with Thomas's fire was unnecessary initially, unless the blaze had been too severe for the crew to handle on their own.
   • What caused Thomas' firebox to explode in the first place?
   • By the end of the episode, Flynn thanks the diesels for assisting in extinguishing Thomas' fire. However, it was actually the diesel's drivers who extinguished the fire, not the diesels themselves. Therefore, the drivers should receive the credit, as the diesels were merely onlookers to the incident.
7. The episode overly attempts to sway the audience in favor of Flynn, depicting the diesels as unjust for mocking him. Yet, Flynn's foolish depiction makes it challenging to support him or consider him credible, instead prompting agreement with the diesels for ridiculing Flynn's incompetence.
8. The notorious line from the narrator, "His firebox was on fire!", highlights the subpar writing of this episode and era. Indeed, fireboxes are meant to be on fire—that's their purpose. Without them, the engines wouldn't operate. A more accurate statement would have been, "His firebox had a blowback".
9. It inadvertently conveys an unsound moral that neglecting one's job responsibilities, wasting time, and behaving foolishly is acceptable.
10. The episode concluded Season 15, which was already disappointing, on an unsatisfactory note.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The CGI animation by Nitrogen Studios is nice.
2. Good narration by both Michael Brandon and Michael Angelis, as usual.
3. There are two funny lines to come from this episode:
   • "Fiery Flynn fudges it!", as said by Den.
   • "You're not Fiery Flynn, you're Fumbling Flynn. Ha ha ha ha ha!", as said by Dart, which is that one very speaking line we can all agree with how poorly Flynn was written and portrayed in this episode.
4. Flynn redeems himself at the episode's end by instructing the diesels' drivers to douse Thomas with water and by rescuing Mavis. However, these actions do not mitigate the fact that this episode remains flawed.

Reception

• As of 2024, this episode holds the lowest rating of 1.9/10 on IMDB. Surpassing Wonky Whistle by one star in being one of the lowest rated episodes of Thomas & Friends. On top of that, The Sif Blogspot has a review of this episode which you can click to read.
• The infamous "his firebox was on fire" line that was ridiculed in retrospective reviews inspired many memes pertaining to it.

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