Love the appreciation for season 19! I recently rewatched it and loved it so it’s so nice and refreshing to hear someone else feels the same way :) great ranking!
Great ranking! I haven't finished my ranking yet but, here's how I think mine will go 1) S20 2) S21 3) S17 4) S18 5) S19 I'm doing my ranking as I do watch through threads on Twitter, I've seen all the episodes before but I'm ranking them as I do the watch through threads, currently I'm near the end of S19 that's why my ranking isn't 100% this yet
My ranking of the Brenner Series is more or less the same like yours. 1. Season 20 2. Season 19 3. Season 21 4. Season 18 5. Season 17 Season 17: For Brenner’s first season, it’s not his best piece of work but a decent start for the better. The returnees each make a comeback with excellent stories, Harvey gets some development, Bill and Ben’s cheeky reputation resurfaces, and Duck clashes head to head with Thomas (since they’re polar opposites who don’t get along). I like how this season focused on developing the Nitrogen characters, the one who got it best are Flynn, Luke and Scruff. On a negative note, Season 17 is still a victim of average writing. Some episodes feel like Season 13-16 vibe, like Calm Down Caitlin, Steamie Stafford and Not Now Charlie. I also don’t like Arc’s early animation, it pales in comparison to Nitrogen’s. My favorite episodes are Henry’s Hero, Wayward Winston and Luke’s New Friend. Season 18: The writing is a slight improvement with less three strikes formula and more story variety. There are some lovable episodes that are filled with heart, like Long Lost Friend, Last Train For Christmas, Missing Gator, Duncan The Humbug and Not So Slow Coaches. A couple of episodes are kinda forgettable and not interesting such as Timothy’s episodes. One issue to take here is fan service with Oliver and Duck. They do pop up occasionally, but more just as winks to fans. I hate Samson as a character, he is so insufferable and unlikable and undeveloped, and his episodes are the worst made in the Brenner Era. Season 19: This season is an impressive glow up from the last two in terms of animation and writing. There aren’t any returning engines in this year, but it introduces Philip and he’s an okay character. One thing that really astounds me the most is that there’s an big overarching plot connecting to several events. Salty is sent to the mainland so Timothy helps out at the docks, while Emily is at the Steamworks, and Mavis is at the Dieselworks while Den works at the quarry at the same time. The events of SLOTLT are even foreshadowed with James mentioning he is going to Arlesburgh, and Sir Topham Hatt being in need of a new engine (possibly Ryan). Considering how the episode order is so episodic, it’s amazing how these stories connect together. Aside from the characters being meandering and a few episode duds like Who’s Geoffrey?, Rocky Rescue and Henry Spots Trouble, they are some really enjoyable ones like Two Wheels Good, Den and Dart, Slow Stephen, Toad and the Whale and Snow Place Like Home. Season 20: The peak of the Brenner Era because it feels like a classic season to me, not because it adapted three exclusive RWS stories, it brought back some lovable fan favorites. Donald and Douglas, Daisy and the Pack make their grand comeback and their spotlight episodes are gems. The characters seem to have retained their classic routes such as Henry getting the Express and showing up Gordon, Edward and James having their brotherly friendship, and Percy and Harold’s friendly rivalry, and the characters from TAB, Glynn, Jerome and Judy finally take light. The fan service gig with Duck and Oliver is phased down and Thomas has a fair amount of appearances. With that said, this season isn’t devoid of bad episodes, the weakest ones are Saving Time, Three Steam Engines Gruff and Hugo’s episodes. Season 21: This season despite being the shortest is interesting. For being the last true Thomas season before the BWBA reboot, I applaud it for being the finale for some character arcs, Gordon and Spencer’s rivalry comes to a close, Cranky gets a happy ending, and Edward also got closure even if it is executed poorly. Honestly, I wished this series had been made as it was intended. I would love to see how Rebecca could have been established as the new cast member, and how Rosie could be used now reintroduced. The episodes range between good and bad, but a good finale season overall.
Interesting review as always. I personally loved how S17 kept the 'average' writing quality. It prioritised improving the Miller era before revealing its new qualities, and gradually improved through the next three seasons.
@@TheYellowStryker Yes, I love how the Brenner seasons did with the returning characters, but not so much with Duck and Oliver. I appreciate that Brenner wanted to make Duck as a major character again and he was used to the fullest in Season 18, while Oliver didn’t get much to him at all, but these two great westerners were used more as fan service tools, making brief cameos with not much relevance to the story, and this is apparent in Season 18.
Great video mate! Although I disagree with you on season 21 as I think it’s great and Terrence breaks the ice is one of my favourite episodes from that season however, I pretty much agree with everything else 👍
Not bad! Not bad at all, mate! This may come as a shock for some, but the Brenner-Era is my 3rd favourite era of Thomas (The Classic-Era being my 1st favourite and the HiT-Era my 2nd favourite). It is a good era, don't get me wrong, but I do many problems with it. For a start, the episodes don't do well at playing with tone. Most of the episodes are light-hearted, nothing wrong with that, but it gets a little bit boring sometimes. Also, the spooky are nowhere near as creepy as the Model-Era episodes. Plus, Gordon and James' personalities were cranked up to 100% (Even though I still love James) and the relationship between Thomas and Gordon was ruined (Especially in SLOTLT). Not to mention is that it gets really frustrating when characters are going through some development only to reset again by the next season (Or in some cases the next episode). But the biggest problem I have with this era (And the CGI Series as a whole) is that it doesn't have as much charm as the Model Series. So once again, the Brenner-Era is great, but it's not as good as the Classic and HiT-Era. Sorry, guys... However, I will say that the Brenner-Era is a lot better than the Nitrogen-Era and especially... *Cough-Cough* ...the BWBA-Era... My rankings: 1. Season 21 2. Season 18 3. Season 20 4. Season 19 5. Season 17
This was a nice review. My ranking would go like this: 1. S18 2. S20 3. S19 4. S17 5. S21 As for favourite episodes of this era, then there are several to list including Henry's Hero, Luke's New Friend, The Thomas Way, the Duncan episodes, the Arlesdale episodes, The Missing Christmas Decorations, Slow Stephen, Henry Gets the Express, Den and Dart, Terence Breaks the Ice, Runaway Engine, Unscheduled Stops, the list really does go on. Though I respect your opinion on Terence Breaks the Ice. I personally don't think Terence is out of character in that episode. I mean, he barely had a character to begin with so I think giving him a flaw was a nice idea.
When S21 and its cut episodes (that were pushed to BWBA) are added together to see which writer has written the most episodes, you'd be surprised that Lee Pressman has written the most episodes of that season and 0% of Andrew Brenner despite being headwriter.
Intresting opinions Here’s my ranking of the Brenner seasons #5 Season 20 - I already know I’m gonna get a lot of hate for this, but I’m not a fan of this season, I find it severely overrated, the really bad episodes are really bad, Thomas appears to much, the Skarloey engines barely appear, and the season is kinda boring too be honest #4 Season 19 - mostly same reasons as Season 20, although this time Henry is a wimp in this season, and there is some expansion on side characters. #3 Season 17 - I know I’m probably gonna get some hate for this, but I believe this season is decent, It has some great episodes, and some expansion on older characters, although the animation is a downgrade from the previous seasons, the writing is the opposite. #2 Season 21 - i respect your opinion on this season, though i feel if those cancelled episode had been released this would have been almost flawless, however, despite that, I still really enjoy this season, it’s the last true season of Thomas before everything tumbled down the hill in 2018. #1 Season 18 - I don’t love this season, but i enjoy it, it has a lot of great episodes, and the animation is an improvement from the previous season. My thoughts on this era are that i think it’s a mixed bag in terms of quality, it’s nowhere near as bad as the eras that came before and after it, but it’s nowhere near as good as the Hit Era and especially the Classic Series, there are still loads of bad episodes mostly in Seasons 19-21 but it’s clear that Brenner was trying, and I do wish that they stuck too the quality of the era, but unfortunately, they didn’t
You pretty much summed up why I think Season 21 is overrated. And like you said, it's not terrible, but it is pretty mediocre. Also, here's my ranking: 1. Season 20 (Peak CGI Season) 2. Season 19 (Criminally Underrated) 3. Season 18 (Nothing much to say except it's pretty good) 4. Season 17 (Good, but nothing special) 5. Season 21 (The most overrated Season of the show)
I'm not sure what my top and bottom ten lists would be, but here are some eps that would make the lists: Best: Henry's Hero (#1 best) Gone Fishing Last Train For Christmas Not So Slow Coaches Slow Stephen Two Wheels Good Blown Away Letters to Santa The Railcar and the Coaches Love Me Tender Worst: No Steam Without Coal Emily Saves the World Henry Spots Trouble Three Steam Engines Gruff Pouty James Runaway Engine Both Cranky episodes from S21 Emily in the Middle Terence Breaks the Ice (#1 worst)
