Monday 2 October 2017

S21 Ep.11: Philip's Number

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

PHILIP'S NUMBER
Written by
Lee Pressman 

Directed by
Dianna Basso

Produced by 
Micaela Winters

Plot 
When he is teased about having 68 painted on his side, Philip tries to discover why he was given that number. Later, when he manages to avoid an accident after 68 sheep stray onto the line, Philip decides it is his lucky number!

Air Date
2/10/17

As of this episode, I'm getting rid of my 'PRO' and 'CONS' for good now. There are many things hard to find as a good and bad element from the episodes recently and I feel it was beginning to feel forced. So I'm just going to write down how I feel:

I thought this was going to be an Andrew Brenner script, he had written Philip episodes in the past. I think this was one of the strangest episodes from this season so far and it was average in my opinion. Philip hasn't been the best character among the older fanbase since his debut in 2015. He had one good episode in my opinion and that was 'Toby's New Friend'. The strangest bits were his illusions on the number 68. It was tame at first with him looking at crates and the sky but I think by the time the troublesome trucks came along this is where it starts to get weird. Another thing too is the many errors of characters having their US dubbed voices in the UK dub. Who is responsible with the editing? Sure I understand that there are deadlines but it's just strange how this wasn't looked overed. You think after many years since voice acting had been introduced to the show since 2009.

Philip in the episode was at least bearable to watch and I feel like their was a bit growth in him as a character. So I hope he gets developed more but the production team and I believe mostly Mattel would want his youthful persona still retained. 

Lee Pressman is a good writer but his sole focus on comedy is starting to wear thin for me. Now I know this is a kids show and of course it has to be entertaining for them at least but there was a time that he had written some stories that were stories. Such as 'Kevin's Cranky Friend', there were some comedy in his previous stories but they were tame and sutble. I like him but maybe the show needs a break from it as Thomas is more than just comedy. 

However on the whole, the episode was average like 'The Missing Breakdown Train'. Nothing pretty much happens until the end. It's not an awful episode by any means but it was a bit of a dud to me but there were some funny moments. 

Episode Rating:
Runaway Engine - 9/10
PA Problems - 10/10
Hasty Hannah - 7/10
Cranky at the End of the Line - 5/10
New Crane on the Dock - 9/10
Unscheduled Stops - 10/10
Philip's Number - 6/10

Series Rating (So Far):
91/110