What's the Matter With Henry? (Thomas & Friends)

What's the Matter with Henry?
More like "What's The Matter With This Episode"? Simple really, this episode is just too mean to Poor Henry.
Series: Thomas & Friends Part of Season: 7 Episode Number: 6 Air Date: October 13, 2003 (UK, ITV1) February 16, 2004 (CA) September 26, 2004 (UK, new music) October 19, 2004 (AU, ABC) November 6, 2004 (US, PBS) Writer: George Tarry Director: David Mitton Previous episode: Edward's Brass Band Next episode: James and the Queen of Sodor

What's the Matter with Henry? is the sixth episode of the Seventh Season of Thomas & Friends, it aired on October 13, 2003

"What's the Matter with This Episode?" Qualities

1. This episode is a 4 1/2 minute Henry torture episode as he goes through Thomas and Percy's malicious antic.
2. Thomas and Percy are extremely unlikable in this episode as they ask the yard manager at the coaling plant to give Henry more trucks.
   • To quote Thomas1Edward2Henry3: "What they did was like leaving a person in a wheelchair to climb up the stairs".
   • Why couldn't they have used Bill and Ben or 'Arry and Bert instead?
3. Plot holes:
   • How did Henry get sick in the first place?
   • Why would the yard manager at the coaling plant simply agree with Thomas and Percy in giving Henry more trucks instead of asking Henry himself or his driver if he needed more trucks?
4. Thomas and Percy's trick on Henry is very mean, and you would rather feel angry towards them instead of Henry because of all the pain he went through. Granted, Thomas and Percy are cheeky (mostly Thomas), but here the way they plan on Henry being given more coal trucks is malicious and shallow than funny and cheeky.
5. Though unintentionally, this episode's moral secretly says that you can come up with plans to cause more pain for others.

Good Qualities

1. Thomas and Percy do get their punishment and are forced to get Henry's trucks at the end of the episode.
   • Speaking of Thomas and Percy, they both apologized to Henry for their actions.
   • In episodes after this, Thomas would show concern when Henry got sick in some way, which shows that at least he learned a lesson from what happened here.
2. The music from Mike O'Donnell and Junior Campbell, and to the more lesser extent Robert Hartshorne (for the US and some UK versions) do a good job, even if the Season 8 music did seem off for the US version of Season 7.
3. Some funny moments.
   • The part where Thomas says "Maybe it's grumbling at you" in response to Henry's boiler grumbling is funny. (Despite being mean-spirited)
   • The end where Henry complains that the workers didn't check his gauges, brakes, or squeaky wheels is a funny note to end the episode on.
4. Henry, Emily, and Sir Topham Hatt are likable.
5. Despite everything stated in WTMWTEQ #5, the episode does have a valid moral about how we should take people's sicknesses seriously.

Reception

What's the Matter with Henry wasn't well received by fans with criticism directly going to how unlikable Thomas and Percy were. However, It received a 6.3 on IMDb.

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