Middle Engine (Thomas & Friends)

Middle Engine
Even the Classic Series era of Thomas & Friends had some lousy episodes... such as this one.
Series: Thomas & Friends Part of Season: 6 Episode Number: 14 Air Date: October 3rd, 2002 (UK) February 25, 2003 (US) Writer: Brian Trueman Director: David Mitton Previous episode: Percy and the Haunted Mine Next episode: James and the Red Balloon

Middle Engine is the 14th episode in the 6th Season of Thomas & Friends and is the 144th episode of the Thomas & Friends series overall. It aired on October 3, 2002, in the UK and on February 25, 2003, in the US.

Plot

'Arry and Bert shunt trucks in front of and behind Percy to make him a "middle engine", which leads to Henry accidentally pushing him onto the coal tipper. Following the incident, James takes over Percy's duties and falls for the same trick.

Why It Caused Confusion and Delay

1. This episode is four minutes of torture for Percy and James, as both of them fall victim to 'Arry and Bert's antics.
2. 'Arry and Bert are very unlikable, as they act like complete jerks towards Percy and James. Granted, this was most likely intentional, but still.
   • It should be noted that this episode is only 'Arry and Bert's second appearance in the series. Their first appearance was in the episode "Stepney Gets Lost" from Season 5. However, in that episode, they were depicted as threatening and frightening monsters who brought other engines, particularly steam engines, to the Smelter's Yard to be scrapped, but in this episode and all of their appearances after this one, they are depicted as just regular bullies, which is a VERY buzzer change.
3. James' side plot is far from any better. As said in WIS #1, he goes through the same treatment as Percy and has done very little to deserve this. Yes, James did tease Percy in the first half of the episode, and he was a bit argent thinking that he could outsmart 'Arry and Bert, but that doesn't work when you realize the same thing happening to him is used the wrong way.
4. The infamous scene where Percy accidentally gets pushed into the lift by Henry, which causes the horrified Percy to get lifted, tip over to have all of his coal dumped, and brought back down again only to then get yelled at by the dock manager, this scene in particular is very painful to watch, especially considered that this happens to Percy, one of the most fun-loving characters in the show.
5. Speaking of Henry himself, he acts like the Karama Houdini in this episode as he pushes Percy in which he is lifted and brought back down with his coal dumped out, and he is used for the non-speaking role of the episode because the episode does so.
   • To be fair, Henry didn't mean to do it as he was unaware that Percy was behind him, so it's technically an accident, but even then Henry should have apologized.
   • Has anyone forgotten that Henry feels utterly useless in terms of the episode? He only appears in this one scene and is never seen again after that.
6. Neither 'Arry and Bert get punished nor have they received their comeuppances or consequences at all.
7. The Fat Controller is extremely unlikable, he unfairly punishes Percy for the accident rather than punishing Henry and/or 'Arry & Bert, which comes off as unacceptable because Percy did absolutely nothing wrong. He was just doing his job until Henry accidentally backed up and messed everything up instead of taking the blame for him.
   • On that topic, the Fat Controller never apologized to Percy, so this was REALLY out of character for him.
8. This episode sends out 2 bad morals.
   • One moral states that you can get away with something you do and you will not be blamed, as shown with Henry.
   • The other moral shows how or why you think it's okay for bullies to pick on you and that you won't get punished for that either, as shown with 'Arry and Bert, which is seriously messed up.
9. It doesn't help that Alec Baldwin does an awful job narrating this episode, as he sounds more bland and uninterested like always when it comes to the US dub of Season 6.
10. The production of the episode looks off-looking and terrible, from being rushed to being given a bad story to the final product looking half-baked and half-unfinished.
    • If you watch the 16:9 version of the episode which involves the first shot of 'Arry and Bert, you can see James on the side of both 'Arry and Bert. This is not a good thing because the two shots with 'Arry and Bert are from where James talks with 'Arry and Bert near the end of the beginning of the episode, which is one of the worst errors in Thomas's history.
    • In Alec Baldwin's narration, you can easily notice the fact that whenever Baldwin mentions the word "coal", the editor uses the same clip because Alec Baldwin didn't say "coal" in other lines that have to do with coal cars, not only is it lazy, but that's an example of bad editing.
    • In general, the plot itself feels very unfinished and feels something more out of another show than an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine.
11. The ending is just awful: As James is coupled onto his train thinking that he outsmarted 'Arry and Bert, they play the same trick again, but this time it's James. Percy comes to help, he is coupled to the trucks on the back of him and hauls the train and James with him. When he and James arrive, Percy jokingly tells the dock manager that James is learning to be a middle engine, which results in poor James to now feel angry and embarrassed.
12. Just like every Season 6 episode, the lighting is very bland and dull to look at.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Percy and James are still likable in this episode like always.
2. The shots are very impressive, especially the ones in the beginning.
3. 'Arry and Bert do get some well-deserved comprehension in later episodes.
4. Wonderful narration from Michael Angelis.
5. The models are still good as well as the music.
6. Percy being sent to take James' train when James refuses to move suggests that The Fat Controller might've reversed his unfair punishment on Percy.
7. Plots of this episode have been ignored in later episodes and the events from this episode is never mentioned again.
8. The foreman's Bronx voice in the US dub sounds better than the other voices given by Baldwin.

Reception

"Middle Engine" was given complete backlash and was heavily panned by the Thomas & Friends fandom, with many deeming it the worst episode of the 6th season, one of the worst episodes of the classic era, and one of the worst episodes of the series in general. It received a 5.2/10 on IMDb.

Comments

Loading comments...