Topped Off Thomas (Thomas & Friends)

"Topped Off Thomas"
It's episodes like these that make you want to stop watching Thomas.
Series: Thomas & Friends Part of Season: 10 Episode Number: 18 Air Date: October 10, 2006 (UK) October 29, 2006 (US) Writer: Sharon Miller Previous episode: "Edward Strikes Out" Next episode: "Wharf and Peace"

"I can go faster than you, Mr. Wind!" —Thomas

"Topped Off Thomas" is the eighteenth episode of the tenth season of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends, it first aired on October 10th, 2006 in the UK.

Plot

Thomas and Spencer have a race through Kellsthorpe Station with a gust of wind so strong it blows the Fat Controller's top hat off.

Why It Can't Top Off

1. The episode's premise is pointless and stupid. Sir Topham Hatt cannot go to a tea with the Duke and Duchess of Boxford without his hat after it flies off his head when Thomas and Spencer race against each other, so Thomas goes on a wild goose chase to look for it. Sir Topham Hatt had every right to tell Thomas off for making him lose his hat, but why can't Sir Topham Hatt just get another hat or go without one?
   • In older episodes, Sir Topham Hatt simply comes to terms with losing his hat.
2. Sir Topham Hatt is unlikable as he tells Thomas off for speeding through Kellsthorpe Station, yet Gordon speeds through Maithwaite Station later in the episode. He nor the Duke and Duchess do not even reprehend Spencer nor Thomas for racing each other. Thomas, however, deserved to get scolded by Sir Topham Hatt, but that doesn't mean Spencer is the opposite of being any better than him.
3. It's a real chore to sit through as you can't enjoy it because of how stupid, nonsensical, and boring it is. It also follows the "three-strike" formula: the wind blows Sir Topham Hatt's hat everywhere it goes. First, it lands on Bertie but gets blown away by Gordon's speed. Next, it lands on one of Farmer McColl's scarecrows but gets blown away by Harold. Finally, it lands on a windmill sail and gets blown away by the wind once more. It's one of those episodes that is dull visually while being completely nonsensical.
4. Speaking of Harold, he was only there so the second strike of the episode could happen. That's it. We never see him again after that. He could have helped Thomas find the hat. Of course, the episode would still be stupid, but it would be nice if he played a major part instead of getting 10 seconds of random pointless screen time just because plot convenience has to happen at an unnecessary rate.
5. Thomas calls the wind "Mr. Wind". Sure, Toad the Brake Van calls others Mr. or Mrs. now and again (for example: Mr. Oliver), but he never calls anything like a gust of wind or even animals "Mr." or "Mrs." He could have just said "I can go faster than the wind!" and nothing would be a major problem. But no, we had to have him call it "Mr. Wind," because the episode can write itself.
   • Of course, this is the first instance of this.
6. The episode ventures into the most absurd scenario the series has ever depicted. Thomas converses with the wind after spotting Sir Topham Hatt's top hat aloft in the sky, imploring it to return the hat. In a twist of events not characteristic of a non-character, the wind obliges and Sir Topham Hatt's hat lands on Thomas' funnel. Logically, the hat should have fallen to the ground, allowing Thomas' crew to retrieve it and deliver it to Sir Topham Hatt at Kellsthorpe Station on their return. Moreover, the steam from Thomas' funnel would likely have propelled the hat off, not secured it.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The Autumn setting and sets look really nice to look at as you can see the whole episode is set in such a nice Autumn portion of Sodor. The scenery and cinematography in this one shot of the episode is nice to look at.
2. It's kind of interesting for a Season 10 episode to use Thomas' Season 3 "outraged" face.
3. This is the same episode that introduced the audience to Thomas and Spencer's rivalry for the very first time, which would be used for the first half of this episode and again in "Dream On" and in the movie, "Hero of the Rails" before the two engines do become good friends. The concept idea of a tank engine having a visiting engine from the Mainland is a great concept from the very start.

Trivia

• This episode may have been inspired by the magazine story, "Thomas and the Windy Day".
• The US dub of the episode was never released on home media.
• This episode marks the last of two things:
  • Kellsthorpe Road's final appearance until the seventeenth series episode. "Wayward Winston".
  • The last appearance of Thomas' original tired face used in Season 1.
• In a Chinese book and a behind-the-scenes preview, a deleted scene of Thomas and Bertie at a different level crossing shows that Bertie was intended to have a larger role before Thomas' race with Spencer.
• Thomas and Spencer each gained a new face that only appeared in this episode. However, the face that Thomas had was his unused outraged expression that was originally made for the third series.
• Thomas' large scale model from Jack and the Sodor Construction Company is used for when the hat lands on his funnel.
• The scarecrow is the same one seen in "Gordon Takes a Tumble".
• The music of the engines fighting in "Calling All Engines!" is heard when Thomas and Spencer race to Kellsthorpe station.

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