History Recap / ThomasTheTankEngineS2E15BetterLateThanNever

'''Air date''': November 12th, 1986

'''Adapted from''': ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas the Tank Engine]]'', "Better Late Than Never"
[[quoteright:280:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/280px-betterlatethannever11_1_2266.png]]

Work has become hard for the engines on the Island of Sodor. The viaduct on the main line is being repaired, with the arches being strengthened. As the Fat Controller is unwilling to close the railway during repairs, the work is taking a long time and all engines crossing the viaduct must cross slowly and carefully, lest they risk it collapsing under them. Because of this, the engines are often late making it to the junction where Thomas waits for his passengers.

Thomas complains that the engines are just going slowly to make him late; one morning he grumbles at Henry for his lateness. Henry defends himself by telling Thomas that they have to go at a reduced speed during the repair work, but Thomas is uninterested and he leaves to try to make up for lost time.

Normally when Thomas stops at the station, Bertie arrives soon after and his passengers go straight from him to Thomas. However, when the larger engines are late for Thomas, then Thomas is late for Bertie's passengers and now they often find themselves waiting on the platform, causing Bertie to become angry with Thomas. When Thomas arrives that day, Bertie tells Thomas that he thought he could go faster than that. He then remarks they should have another race, thinking he could now beat him causing an exhausted Thomas to become angry and blame the main line engines for "dithering" on the viaduct and claims it to be an excuse for laziness.

Another day, James arrives later than ever. He apologises, a hold-up at the station combined with the delay at the viaduct causing his lateness. Thomas, as usual, has no interest in excuses and leaves grumbling. He attempts to get to the station as fast as he can, but is unable to make up very much time. However, things change when Thomas spots Bertie at the level crossing, where his radiator is steaming. Thomas tells Bertie he is late, but Bertie tells Thomas that he feels dreadful and his driver is unable to repair him. Thomas running so late is a bit of relief, as he can now pick up the passengers here instead of having them be stranded. Thomas no longer feels angry and is sorry for Bertie, and promises to send help at the next station. Thomas leaves and takes the passengers home.

When Bertie is repaired, he and Thomas make up their argument and both agree that sometimes being late can actually be quite useful.


!!Tropes featured in the episode:
* AnAesop: As Thomas states, being late sometimes isn't such a bad thing.
* AnachronicOrder: In the US, this episode aired before "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS2E4SavedFromScrap Saved from Scrap]]". This means that the audience would not know who Trevor is. It also aired before the previous episode "[[Recap/ThomasTheTankEngineS2E14ACloseShave A Close Shave]]".
* BerserkButton: Thomas was furious when Bertie teased him for being late and will beat him in a race the next time they met.
* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When Henry asks Thomas what would he do if there were no passengers if he rushed over the viaduct, causing it to collapse. Thomas responds that he would run his train on time anyways, still disregarding the fact people would be ''killed'' if Henry quickly went over the viaduct.
* LuminescentBlush: Thomas' face has a rather pink tinge after he arrives at the station.
* NoSympathy: Thomas brushes off Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late and sees this as an excuse for laziness. He was later given this treatment when Bertie called him out for being late and teases him about beating him in their next race.
* SeriesContinuityError: Because this is from the book ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas The Tank Engine]]'', the next episode, "Break Van", takes place before the events of this episode.
* StockFootage: Footage from "Thomas' Train", "Thomas and the Guard", "Thomas and Bertie" and a deleted scene from "Thomas and Trevor" are used.
* WhatTheHellHero: Attempted when Henry tries to call out Thomas for his impatience, telling him that if they hurried along the viaduct, the viaduct could collapse and Thomas would have ''no'' passengers at all. This didn't set Thomas straight, however.
-->'''Henry''': [[ArmorPiercingQuestion What would you do then?]]\\
'''Thomas''': [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint Run my train on time, for one thing.]]
----

* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When Henry asks Thomas what would he do if there were no passengers if he rushed over the viaduct, causing it to collapse. Thomas responds that he would run his train on time anyways, still disregarding the fact people would possibly ''die'' if Henry quickly went over the viaduct.

'''Thomas''': Run my train on time, for one thing.

* SeriesContinuityError: As far as the continuity of book ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas The Tank Engine]]'', the next episode, "Break Van", takes place before the events of this episode.

* SeriesContinuityError: In the ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas The Tank Engine]]'' book, the next episode, "Break Van", takes place before the events of this episode.

* NoSympathy: Thomas brushes off Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late and believe they were making excuses for their laziness. He was later given this treatment when Bertie called him out for being late and teases him about beating him in their next race.

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed to care about Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late, believing them to be excuses for laziness. He was later given this treatment when Bertie called him out for being late and teases him about beating him in their next race.

-->'''Henry''': What would you do then?\\

---

* WhatTheHellHero: Attempted when Henry tries to call out Thomas for his impatience, telling him that if they hurried along the viaduct, the viaduct could collapse and Thomas would have ''no'' passengers at all.

The engines are having a hard time working due to the viaduct being under repair, often making them arrive late at the junction with Thomas' passengers. However, Thomas believes that the engines are trying to make him late on purpose, with Henry being one of the engines currently late. Despite Henry's protests, Thomas remains uninterested with his reasoning and leaves with his passengers.

Later, Bertie is waiting to pick up Thomas' passengers, but because of the big engines' lateness, Thomas himself is late. This makes Bertie lose patience with Thomas, saying that he thought he could go faster than that. He makes a joke that because of his lateness, he can beat him in their next race, making an exhausted Thomas furious and blame the other engines for "dithering" on the viaduct.

The next day, James arrives with his passengers later than ever before thanks to a hold-up at the station along with the delay at the viaduct. Still uninterested in excuses, Thomas leaves grumbling. Thomas tries to hurry to the station as fast as he can, just until he spots Bertie at a level crossing. His radiator is steaming and his driver isn't able to repair him. Thomas, who is no longer angry, fells sorry for Bertie and agrees to take his passengers home. When Bertie is repaired, he apologizes for teasing Thomas and both friends agree that there are times being late isn't such a bad thing after all.

'''Air date''': November 12th, 1986 (UK), May 7th, 1989 (US)

'''Air date''': November 20th, 1986 (UK), May 7th, 1989 (US), June 8th, 1993 (George Carlin US)

The engines are having a hard time working due to the viaduct being in repairs, often making them arrive late to the junction for Thomas' passengers. However, Thomas believes that the engines were trying to make him late on purpose, with Henry being one of the engines currently late. Despite Henry's protests, Thomas remains uninterested with his reasoning and leaves with his passengers.

Later, Bertie is waiting to pick up Thomas' passengers, but because of the big engines' lateness, Thomas himself is late. This made Bertie lose patience with Thomas, saying that he thought he could go faster than that. He later makes a joke that because of his lateness, he can beat him in their next race, making an exhausted Thomas furious and blames other engines for "dithering" on the viaduct.

The next day, James arrives with his passengers later than ever before thanks to a hold-up at the station along with the delay at the viaduct. Still uninterested in excuses, Thomas leaves grumbling. Thomas tries to hurry to the station as fast as he can, just until he spots Bertie at a level crossing. His radiator was steaming and his driver isn't able to repair him. Thomas, who is no longer angry, felt sorry for Bertie and agrees to take his passengers home. Later that day, Bertie apologizes for teasing Thomas and both friends agree that being late isn't such a bad thing after all.

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed to care about Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late, believing them to be lame excuses for laziness. He was later given this treatment when Bertie called him out for being late and teases him about beating him in their next race.
* SeriesContinuityError: Because this is the third episode of the ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas The Tank Engine]]'' novel, the next episode, "Break Van", takes place before the events of this episode.
* WhatTheHellHero: Attempted when Henry tries to call out Thomas for his impatience, telling him that if they hurried along the viaduct, the viaduct could collapse and Thomas would have ''no'' passengers.
----

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed to care about Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late. He was later given this treatment when Bertie called him out for being late and teases him about beating him in their next race.

* SeriesContinuityError: Because this is the third episode of the ''[[Recap/TheRailwaySeriesB30MoreAboutThomasTheTankEngine More About Thomas The Tank Engine]] novel, the next episode, "Break Van", takes place before the events of this episode.

'''Air date''': October 16th, 1986 (UK), May 7th, 1989 (US), June 8th, 1993 (George Carlin US)

'''Air date''': October 4th, 1986 (UK)

Later, Bertie is waiting to pick up Thomas' passengers, but because of the big engines' lateness, Thomas is late as a result. This made Bertie lose patience with Thomas, saying that he thought he could go faster than that. He later makes a joke that because of his lateness, he can beat him in their next race, making an exhausted Thomas furious and blames other engines for "dithering" on the viaduct.

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed to care about Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late. He was later given this treatment when Bertie teased him for being late and said he hope to beat him in their next race.

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed pleased with Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late. He was later given this treatment when Bertie teased him for being late and said he hope to beat him in their next race.

* NoSympathy: Thomas didn't seemed pleased with Henry and James' explanations on how the viaduct made them late.