TTTE S20E08: Pouty James

Alright, I'm going to review another episode from Season 20 of Thomas and Friends. This time, I'm reviewing a pouty episode starring our number 5 red engine.


(Special thanks to TTTE Wikia for the images)

474. Pouty James.
Written by: Andrew Brenner.
Aired: CAN: 14 November 2016. UK: 23 November 2016. AUS: 9 April 2017.

James the Red Engine likes being the centre of attention and is always showing off to the others. This often leads to him overshooting the platform or undershooting it. One day, the latter happens to James and he is told off by the stationmaster, but James just shrugs it off. He continues to show off for the rest of the day and the Fat Controller has had enough. He tells James that it is time that he changes his attitude and takes his coaches away, which horrified James.
At the sheds, the engines are settling down for the night. They notice James' pouty face and proceed to make silly faces to mess with him. Percy thinks that whatever is bothering James will be better in the morning, but Percy is wrong; James is still pouting. The Fat Controller tries to persuade James to work, but James refuses to move. Emily explains to him that it is not fun to stay in the sheds all day and the engines continue to make faces at him.
It is not much fun sitting in the sheds, so when the Fat Controller comes back, James apologises for his grumpy mood and tells the Fat Controller that he will be on his best behaviour. That is, until he sees that he has to pull dirty waste trucks to Whiff's Waste Dump. James wants his coaches instead of trucks. Stanley explains to him that Edward took his coaches by the Fat Controller's orders. For the rest of the day, James not only returns to his pouty mood, but takes his time to get from place to place. The Fat Controller finds him down at the docks and once again tells him to change his attitude. Everyone starts making faces again, but James soon finds it amusing. Thomas and Emily see that James is changing his attitude.
Whenever James began to sulk again, they remind him with a silly face to brighten his spirits. He begins to enjoy himself, even without coaches. However, this does not last long before he goes back to his old ways again.


Before I give away my fully fledged opinion on this episode, I would like to make an observation on one of the faces James makes in this.

Tell me these faces aren't too different.

But overall, this episode proves that Andrew Brenner has taken a fall when it comes to writing his own stories and it makes me feel as though he should just stick to adapting Railway Series stories from this season on. I mean they've heavily flanderised James the Red Engine here, sending him back to his Railway Series persona instead of keeping his character developed! Same can be said for Gordon the Big Engine and Fat Controller being jerks when it comes to the latter telling off his engines and the former belittling little engines and being as pompous as ever, but at least Gordon got what was coming to him in Henry Gets the Express, which I will review when the time comes.

So overall, this was a weak James episode overall.

My rating: 3/10.

Season 20 scorecard:

8. Pouty James: 3/10.
25: Tit for Tat: 10/10.

26. Mike's Whistle: 9.5/10.

27. Useful Railway: 9.5/10.

Season 20 rating so far: 8.3/10.