Wednesday 27 September 2017

S21 Ep.8: Cranky at the End of the Line

THESE ARE SOLEY MY OPINIONS AND ARE NOT INFLUENCED FROM THE THOMAS & FRIENDS FAN BASE

CRANKY AT THE END OF THE LINE
Written by
Lee Pressman

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by
Micaela Winters

Plot
Cranky thinks he will be replaced by a newer, shinier crane.

Air Date
27/09/17

PRO
- I'm OK with Porter having his US voice
- Pretty ballsy to have a character's dream being morbid

CON
- The fear of replacement trope is getting old
- Thomas going to the mainland again despite that this was set before JBS


Although it was obviously an error, since Steve Kynam was credited in the episode, I'm pretty much OK with Porter having his US voice in the UK dub since obviously his basis is from the US, pretty much brings some sense of accuracy. I was pretty shocked by Cranky's morbid dream of him falling into the water. If you follow those dream meaning websites they say that falling in the water is a feeling of helplessness, not being in control and unpleasant consequences and those types of symbolism is what the episode was referring about, so kudos to Lee Pressman for doing a very creative thing it's pretty ballsy considering that there are many oversensitive parents out there trying to wrap cotton wool around their kids. 

But there are some cons such as the fear of replacement trope. While it's coming from a person who made a fan fictional episode of Glynn being scrapped last year, we all know that the TV series on its own would never do such a thing. Rev.W.Awdry may have stated that Coffee pots were scrapped in his Sodor book from 1987, but we all know that there needs to be some light side of things. Plus another thing is the continuity. Since this season is set before 'Journey Beyond Sodor', it's quite odd that Thomas had already gone to the mainland to collect a new crane with Edward and yet the special made like it was Thomas' 'first time', despite previous encounters as well. This is one of the things why I don't like the series before special thing. There's bound to be some errors within the continuation of the series. 

There's not much on Carly since she was only in it for a few seconds but I will say I like her design and the colour yellow was a good choice too since it can easily attract kids with its vibrant brightness, it happened to 'The Minions'. I hope we see more of her character tomorrow as this is a two parter and I this episode was OK but it doesn't have much originality. 

Episode Rating:
Runaway Engine - 9/10
PA Problems - 10/10
Hasty Hannah - 7/10
Cranky at the End of the Line - 5/10

Series Rating (So Far):
66/80