Several of the engines are experiencing relationship troubles, the largest of which is between Reginald and his estranged brother.
Tropes:
- Anachronism Stew: Edward has hallucinations of The Banana Splits... but that debuted in 1968. This episode takes place in 1962.
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Reginald once said he would throw a party when his brother died. When his brother does die following a failed overhaul, he regrets it.
- Call-Back: When Oliver asks how Thomas' and Kate's relationship soured, the former says it started back in Secrets, when it was revealed that Henry and Emily were married.
- Foregone Conclusion: That Edward would survive his overhaul, given that he is the show’s narrator and lives to at least 2015 if the original preview is anything to go by.
- Mushroom Samba: While coming down from the green water, Edward briefly hallucinates a quartet of engines resembling The Banana Splits.
- Mythology Gag:
- The engines refer to the new signal technology as 'new fangled nonsense', something Edward thought of Rocky in the episode Edward Strikes Out.
- The wedding package used for Reginald and Samantha's ceremony which consists of Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue is a reference to the episode Happy Ever After.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: It turns out the rumor Terrance heard that Kate was named after the builder's dog was unreliable as the bloke Terrance heard it from was a drunkard. Thomas taunted Kate about it which led to their breakup.
- Precision F-Strike: Thomas and Kate trade these during their breakup.
Kate: Where do you get off calling me a liar?!
Thomas: You told me the day we met your nameplate was dedicated to your builder's wife. But I just found out it was actually the name of the bloke's dog!
Kate: Who told you that?!
Thomas: Doesn't matter, but I think it's funny and appropriate you were going to be named after a bitch!
Kate: Get the hell out of here, Thomas! By the way, we're through!
Thomas: Best thing I've heard this century!
- Rejected Apology: Randolph attempts to apologize for ruining his brother's life by starting the rumor that he liked boys, only for Reginald to harshly reject it. And now that Randolph is dead via Final Firing, Reginald will never get to reconcile with him.
- The Reveal: It turns out, James and Rosie were never a couple. They were just best friends.
- Running Gag:
- James and Rosie's response to the other engines' Ship Tease being "What do you mean?" The shippers respond with "Nothing."
- A tender engine supplying a fourth negative D adjective to Gordon, James, and Henry's "Disgraceful, Disgusting, and Despicable" catchphrase, this time being Geoffrey with "Deplorable."
- Ship Sinking: This is the episode were Thomas and Kate break up.
- Shout-Out: Edwards hallucinations were literally The Banana Splits as tank engines.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Reginald reveals that he doesn't have a problem if somebody is gay or not, he never has, but during his time in the Big Four, a rumor like that during a time of homophobia is dangerous. Reginald's career was ruined, and the jeers were so terrible that it was the reason he transferred to Sodor.
- Thomas' and Kate's relationship turned toxic due to the latter's jealousy flaring up any time Thomas looked at another woman. Like most bad couples, Kate apologized and promised to change, but never did. Thomas says that even if the rumor Terrance said about Kate wasn't true, their relationship was bound to end sooner or later.
- Title Drop: Randolph's line "I strictly meant that because he was such a hard worker, he literally didn't have time for relationships!"
- We Hardly Knew Ye: This episode is the debut of Reginald’s brother Randolph, and it’s also the episode where Randolph dies.
- What the Hell, Hero?: While they don't call Thomas out for cheerfully telling them how his breakup went, the its on Oliver's and Terrance's faces show they don't approve of what he did.
- That being said, Terrance does call out Thomas for using the rumor he told him about Kate being named after a dog, and gets one of his own from Oliver for telling him in the first place since it wasn't true.
