U.S. Title: Thomas Gets Tricked
Air date: October 9th, 1984
Adapted from: Thomas the Tank Engine, "Thomas and Gordon"
Thomas, a blue tank engine working at Knapford Station, thinks himself as more hardworking than the other bigger engines and constantly teases them by blowing his whistle, with a blue tender engine named Gordon also not being spared. Annoyed by Thomas abruptly waking him up from his nap after pulling his train, Gordon plots to get back at the tank engine.
One day, Thomas's crew has a hard time starting him up, owing to his fire going out and not enough steam being generated. Thomas eventually gets going to pick up Gordon's train, but Gordon enacts his plan, reverses to couple up to his coaches and departs Knapford before Thomas can be uncoupled from the express, dragging Thomas along at breakneck speeds.
When Gordon arrives at his destination, Thomas is left worn out by the sheer speed he and Gordon went to get there. As Gordon teases Thomas about being hardworking, Thomas pays no attention to him, get a drink and wearily trundles his way home, having learnt to not be so cheeky again.
Tropes featured in the episode:
- Adaptational Early Appearance:
- While Thomas debuts in this story from The Railway Series, it aired before the stories of The Three Railway Engines (which he later cameos in) so this episode revolves around the title character.
- James, who made his debut in the story "Thomas and the Breakdown Train" from the books, made his first appearance here before being properly introduced six episodes later.
- An Aesop: Never tease others to make yourself feel important.
- Space Whale Aesop: ...or you'll end up being dragged along the express by another engine.
- Bowdlerise: A few examples.
- In the UK, the narration states that Thomas "likes to whistle rudely at him [Gordon]." while in the US, it's "Thomas likes to tease Gordon with his whistle."
- In the UK narration, it states that Gordon began making his plan and says "Yes, I will." while the US narration states that Gordon began making his plan to teach Thomas a lesson for teasing him.
- In the ending the UK narration states that Thomas returns home slowly learning never to be cheeky to Gordon again, but in the US narration, it’s dubbed "'Maybe I don't have to tease Gordon to feel important,' Thomas thought to himself".
- Bratty Half-Pint: The narrator describes Thomas as a "cheeky" and a "fussy" little engine.
- Break the Haughty: Gordon does this to Thomas.
- Bullying a Dragon: Thomas teasing Gordon can be seen this way, which leads to Gordon getting his revenge.
- Department of Redundancy Department: The narrator introduces Thomas this way:"He's a cheeky little engine with six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler and a short stumpy dome."
- Digital Destruction: The restored version is notorious for the number of errors present:
- Either studio equipment or the top of the set is visible when James and Henry leave Knapford.
- The edge of the set is visible as Thomas leaves Tidmouth Sheds and when the Express crosses the Viaduct.
- Studio equipment is visible when the Express rounds a bend.
- In Gordon's closeup while pulling the Express, there is studio equipment and the edge of the set behind him, Thomas and the Express are nowhere to be seen, and his tender is bouncing.
- A camera stand is visible when Thomas heads towards the turntable at Wellsworth. The 2016 US digital release of the episode attempts to fix this, only to cause a new problem as for this shot only, the narrator changes from George Carlin to Ringo Starr.
- The end of the track is visible just before Thomas moves to the water tower.
- Downer Ending: After getting tricked by Gordon, Thomas sadly returns home, learning his lesson not to tease him again.
- Establishing Character Moment: What you all need to know about Thomas is that he's a cheeky engine who teases other engines, especially Gordon.
- Insulted Awake: This happened with Gordon after Thomas disturbs his sleep for the second time, leading to his plan to pay him back.
- Karmic Trickster: Gordon when pulling Thomas with the Express to pay him back for teasing him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Gordon pulls Thomas along the line after the latter's continuous teasing.
- Name and Name: Averted in the US version.
- No, You: Happens when Thomas arrives late to prepare for Gordon's express.Gordon: Hurry up, you!
Thomas: Hurry yourself!
Gordon: *Plotting his plan* Yes, I will. - The Prankster: As the narration puts it, Thomas thinks no engine works as hard as he does, and likes to play tricks on them, especially Gordon.
- The Rival: Gordon to Thomas.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Thomas thinks no engine works as hard as he does. He doesn't think so now after Gordon's trick.
- Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist: Thomas played this in his constant teasing of Gordon.
