Thomas & Friends isn't really known for introducing new main characters with alot of the characters that we met in the first series of the show still being pretty much the main characters of the show when it ended a few years back. Yet n the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today that's exactly what they did and the character in question did stay with the show until it ended and so then join me as I review the episode that introduce Emily with the episode in question being called simply just "Emily's New Coaches" enjoy.
The plot of this episode is when new engine Emily arrives to work on the railway she accidentally takes Thomas's Annie And Clarabel with her having to pick her own coaches. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. The episodes plot whilst it is simple in nature it's not delightfully simple as while yes Emily didn't know that she had picked up Thomas's coaches when she passes Thomas later on he very easily could have told her and yet because of the fact that the episode needs him to be upset with her he doesn't do do it for some unknown reason and while this is something that very easily could have been excused if the episode was delightfully as then you could chalk it to the episode being charming. This is something that just isn't the case with this episodes plot as while yes it is a charming plot it is also plot that really should have been alot more better given the fact that it does gave to set up a new character however in this episodes defense the fact that it's not as delightfully simple as it could have been is something that could also be said for lot of the episodes plots moving forward as alot of them do play it perhaps a bit to safe with there plots and this episode is of no exception to that rule as you do know right away where the plot of the episode is going right away and sure enough the episode does hit all of those same plot beats with the plot of this episode not really being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this episode is Michael Angelis with the man being just as charming in this episode as he is in other episodes of the show. There is no wonder that he in the longest serving narrator for this show as he is just that good at telling these stories ad adding his own warmth and wit to them with this being something that alot of the other narrators at least from the UK side of things do fail to do and whilst yes alot of them do add there own unique charm to them there's no doubt that when Michael is at his best there really is not stopping him with alot of the UK narrators that came after him basically just trying to copy what he did without adding there own unique touches to that part of the show. Whilst the UK did have alot of narrators and whist alot of people will have fights over who they think is the best one surely Michael taking his whole run into account has to be one of the best due to the fact that he does make even the more dullest of stories feel alive with the same thing being true for this episode as he does have the right kind of voice and the right amount of enthusiasm to make this episode and if he believes in this story and its characters then we the audience end up buying into it as well. Even the fact that he does give the characters there own unique voice which for me is always going to be a plus is something that does make his narration standout as it does make it easier to tell just which character is speaking like for example when he's voicing Thomas he goes for a more youthful sounding voice and when he's The Fat Controller he uses a mor booming voice as that makes him sound like someone who does command your attention and with Emily he does something new by giving her a soft speaking voice with a Scottish accent which is something that is fitting for her character and it's something that does make her stand out.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. As was just said Michael really is just that good of a narrator as he has a voice that whilst it is a bit rough is also kind and gentle and that is something that does make him perfect for the job of narrator in this show as he has to not only tell the episodes story but also treat it as if it was actually happening and that is something that with the wrong type of voice could come across as being either to mean or to scary for the episodes kid audience and yet with him it does sound like he knew what kind of performance to give. With the best actor in this whole entire episode of course being Michael Angelis as even tho the episode is about as safe of an episode as you can get for this era of the show his performance in the episode is still really fun to listen to as we do get to hear him put on these really good performance that for Emily at least would define her character as from this episode on she would always be known as being Scottish whilst both Thomas and The Fat Controller would go through alot of voices after him and yet n this episode you can tell that Michael is not only trying his best to turn in a really good performance but is also having a blast in making this episode with that kind of infectious energy shining through in his final performance in this episode. With the acting that's in this very episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bas as it gives this episode actor absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that his actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does harm the over all quality of the acting that's in this very episode.
Character wise it's safe to say that much like the episodes plot its characters aren't that well handled either. Out of Emily and Thomas its oddly enough Thomas that is handled all the more better out of the two characters as he is more jealous and angry self in this episode something which is understandable as he does see Emily with Annie And Clarabel but at the same time this version of the character would just stop and tell Emily that she's gotten his coaches but again because of the fact that the episode needs him to be angry they have him almost acting out of character and not do that when that is something that his character would do while granted its not something that he would have done back in series one but due to the fact that he's grown as a character since then he would still know to stop and tell Emily what she's done wrong. Emily on the other hand was handled really poorly as there is nothing to her character that makes her an interesting and this is something that does stay with her character for alot of the series with it only being changed in the shows final series when she's made in charge of safety on the railway, yet here in this episode she's basically a blank piece of paper as there's nothing to her personality outside of the fact she's Scottish and that's it and even then that doesn't make her stand out due to the fact that the show already has two Scottish engines in Donald and Douglas bottom line being that te makers of this episode should have put alot of thought and effort in making her character stand out as you always want to start out with your best foot forward whereas here it felt like that the makers of the episode had no idea of what to do with her and so they just left her as this blank slate of a character that the audience could then use to project themselves onto with this being something that is always a bad sign of lazy and bad writing for a character.
Speaking of Emily whilst she does get better and better as a character the more that the show goes on here in this episode she does kind of feel more like an afterthought. As the episode doesn't show us why she was needed on the railway in the first place and nor does the episode show us how it's improved since she's arrived the episode literally starts with her already on the island and yet if you look at alot of the earlier arrival episodes alot of them do have one thing in common they always show us why this type of engine is needed in the first place therefor we the audience can have a basic knowledge of what it is that this train is going to mainly be doing on the island a well as whom it is that there mostly going to be interacting with. Yet with Emily they don't do that and that is something that does make her feel more like an afterthought as it tells us the audience that the makers of this episode don't care about the character and therefor why should we invest our time into caring about her this is something that could have easily have been fixed by having the narrator say that the island is busy with visitors even more so then usual and therefor they brough in another train to help out which yes granted isn't that good of a reason to have a new engine in the first place but it's better then what they give us in the episode which is nothing. Emily herself does have a rather unique design to her with her mainly having the one big wheel followed by a few smaller ones and a more softer and rounded face which are both things that does help her stand out a bit as a character as there are no characters on the show that do look like her where as both Thomas and Edward for example do have very similar design features however having a unique design isn't enough to make Emily stand out as a character as the character still needs to be a good character and that is something that she just isn't in this episode.
The idea of Thomas getting jealous that someone has taken out Annie and Clarabel instead of him is one that is perfectly fine idea. Where it not for the fact that we've already seen him being happy that someone else was taking them out back when Daisy joined the show but given the fact that she never actually took them out does kind of negate that with the idea itself being a really good idea as it does open up the idea for more interactions between characters that would normally never get the hance to meet in the first place there is however one thing that does let the idea down and that's the fact that we are never given a reason as to why Emily needs to get her coaches in the first place as we are told by The Fat Controller himself that Emily and her driver need to learn the line but we are never told why she needs to get her own coaches first. Then you add in the fact that Thomas does get jealous of Emily quite quickly it does make this idea feel a bit tacked on as if the makers of this episode suddenly realized that they needed to have some sort of conflict and therefor they just added in the fact that Emily picked up the wrong coaches as a way to create some tension between her and Thomas when it really isn't needed as you very easily could have had him get jealous over the fact that the passengers seem to prefer over him something which would work as she was sent to learn the line and it is something that would remain true to Thomas's character and would have felt true to both characters as Thomas is known for getting jealous at other engines and Emily can at times be a bit to proud and seeing them over come those and learn to be friends would make for a really good episode but its something that we don't get to see in this episode with it being something that does make this episode feel about as safe and generic of an episode as it possibly could have been despite it having all pf the potential there to be a really fun episode.
Whilst there are alot of things in this episode that do make it feel a rather safe and generic episode there are signs in this episode of it having the potential to be a really fun episode. Like for example the fact that we get to see other smaller known engines like Oliver appear in the episode whilst more of the well known engines like Percy and Edward are given cameo roles with this being something does allow for the possibility of more unique interactions as we don't usually get to see Emily interacting with Oliver much like how she very rarely gets to interact with both Annie And Clarabel and to the episodes credit it does take as full advantage of that as it could have dine by having Oliver be the one to tell Emily that she's got the wrong coaches. Whilst this does yes bring up another issue as Emily does pass both Edward and Percy you can forgive them for not telling Emily that she has the wrong coaches as for all they could know she might have been told to get them but moving on to the other good thing in this episode that being the fact that we do get to see some really nice country scenery which is something that does add a more calming and relaxing fee to the episode with the episode feeling like a safe episode that you could watch with your kids as unlike alot of series 5 episodes where the engines were put in alot of danger there's none of that in this episode with the episode itself having more of a picture book look to it and whilst yes it could be argued that this does make the episode look safe and generic that is also something that could also be applied to alot of the later episodes of the model era as well with it being something that is put to good use here as its an episode that is meant to feel more relaxing in nature due to the fact that we are seeing a new character for the first time and those don't typically require the look of say series 5 in order for them to work as all they need is a more generic and relaxing look to them and that's exactly what this episode does have going for it.
Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly four minuets and thirty seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is pretty much the bogstandard running time for this ear of the show in the first place and the episode does need that amount of running time as it does have to set up a new character and still tell a decent story and while it does fail in this regard as the episode could have done with being a minuet or two longer just to properly set up Emily as a character given its current running time the episode does do the best with what it was given to work with in the first place with the episode even having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place. However tho the episode really doesn't use its running time all that wisely as the episode really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot with the episodes plot feeling more like an afterthought as it does come across as the makers of this episode were just feeling lazy when they came up with this as they do throw so many things at you plot wise and yet they don't give any of them the room that they need to be fully developed with this having the add on effect of making the episodes main plot feeling like an afterthought with it being made clear as day that the makers of this episode were more focused on having Thomas almost act out of character then there were in creating a good plot. Whilst this is something that doesn't necessarily effect the episodes character development what does effect it is the fact that the episode really doesn't give the characters any scenes where they can grow as characters and while it could very well be argued that that they didn't need it in this episode as they have any of other episodes of the show to get there character development that is something that really only works for a character like Thomas whereas for a character like Emily there really should have been some level of thought and effort into giving her even the smallest amount of character development as that would have made her character stand out but its clear that the makers of this episode put more thought into giving us pointless cameos then they did character development but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episode not really having any laugh out loud moments in it with the episodes comedy instead being cute little moments between the characters like for example Tomas getting up at the thought of having new coaches or Emily getting confused as to why the engines aren't talking to her when she has the wrong coaches none of these moments are laugh out loud funny but they are things that do feel true to who these characters are as characters. With the best joke in the whole entire episode being Thomas just saying that he doesn't won't new coaches and that he won't pick up after he's been told to do which is something that does feel true to his character as it does harken back to the fact that he does truly love and care about Annie And Clarabel and therefor of course he wouldn't want to get new coaches as to him there's nothing wrong with the ones that he has now and him getting upset about it is something that does feel very true to his character but in saying this tho this is something that very easily really could have been sorted out just by having him talk to Emily with the joke itself being one that is a cute joke that does show you just how really angry and jealous that Thomas could get as a character when it involves something that he's truly passionate about with the rests of the episodes jokes being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Overall its been said quite a few times in this review and its going to be said again but this episode is a really safe an generic episode of the show as it gives you all of the things that you expect from this show at time point time and nothing really new to make them seem fresh and new again in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well the boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Blogger and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very post being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them really being really better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images really are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.






























