History Recap / ThomasTheTankEngineS3E13TrustThomas

'''Air date''': April 28th, 1992 (UK), November 25th, 1991 (US)

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/250px-trustthomas38_6683.png]]

Thomas finds out that Bertie is upset that the railway failed to deliver tar to mend the bumpy roads. Thomas assures that he will find the solution to the problem. Meanwhile, James is complaining about having to shunt trucks while Percy is away at the harbor, but Gordon advises him to pretend to be sick, so he does so. Thomas agreed to take James' trucks, but the trucks, as usual, decide to play some tricks...

!!Tropes featured in the episode:
* AlliterativeTitle
* BreakTheCutie: After getting snapped at by Bertie, manipulated by James and pushed into a river by the trucks, Thomas' positive outlook starts to fade. [[EarnYourHappyEnding Luckily things get better from there]].
* FantasticRacism: Bertie's attitude on the railway failing to deliver the tar, but he soon became happy that the roads are mended in the end.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gordon and James, who, despite tricking Thomas into doing James' work, apologize to him when he ends up having an accident.
* MisplacedRetribution: James angrily bumps the Troublesome Trucks, but instead, they decided to play tricks on Thomas since "one engine's as good as another".
* NiceGuy: Surprisingly, it's Thomas who agrees to take James' trucks, despite the fact James was faking his illness. He even [[EasilyForgiven showed no hard feelings]] when James apologized for tricking him. This was a large pivot into Thomas' CharacterDevelopment into a wiser and more altruistic engine, compared to the arrogant BrattyHalfPint he was in the previous seasons.
* PlayingSick: What James does to get out of shunting.
* TakingAdvantageOfGenerosity: James plays sick to get kind natured Thomas to pull his workload. He feels bad when it leads to the trucks pranking Thomas.
* VerbalBackspace: James nearly messed up his trick on Thomas.
-->'''Gordon''': He's sick.\\
'''James:''' Yes he is- I- I mean, I am!
----

'''Air date''': November 5th, 1991 (UK), November 24th, 1991 (US)

* RecycledScript: The plot is based on "Trucks!" from TheRailwaySeries (which was adapted into the following season): Gordon suggests that an arrogant engine should pretend to be sick, and the engine who offers to do their work for them falls victim to MisplacedRetribution from the angry trucks.

* NiceGuy: Surprisingly, it's Thomas who agrees to take James' trucks, despite the fact James was faking his illness. He even showed no hard feelings when James apologized for tricking him. This was a large pivot into Thomas' CharacterDevelopment into a wiser and more altruistic engine, compared to the arrogant BrattyHalfPint he was in the previous seasons.

* NiceGuy: Surprisingly, it's Thomas who agrees to take James' trucks, despite the fact James was faking his illness. He even showed no hard feelings when James apologized for tricking him.

Thomas finds out that Bertie is upset that the railway failed to deliver tar to mend the bumpy roads. Thomas assures that he will find the solution to the problem. Meanwhile, James is complaining about shunting trucks, but Gordon advises him to pretend to be sick, so he does so. Thomas agreed to take James' trucks, but the trucks, as usual, decide to play some tricks...

* MisplacedRetribution: James had banged the trucks, but they instead decided to play tricks on Thomas since "one engine's as good as another".