As for Rheneas? Well, he wants to try again, does so, and is allowed to take the dinosaur himself. Yep, definitely the point where Skarloey went backwards. Rheneas shunts some trucks carefully, but Skarloey is reckless and smashes into the trucks, spilling coal. Percival needs two careful engines to take dinosaur skeleton to the Transfer Yards (why was it transported whole and not in pieces?) so it can be taken to the Sodor Museum. Doesn't he have his branchline to run? Oh wait he's the only large scale model they had, I understand. So one day, some archaeologists find some dinosaur bones, and Thomas is sent to pick up the photographer and take him to the Transfer Yards to photograph the dinosaur skeleton. Seriously, how on earth is he able to write good episodes like Gordon and the Engineer and Emily Saves the World - to be fair, it was a team effort with Laura Beaumont on the latter - and yet he can also write episodes like both piles of garbage?!
Out of all the characters who suffered from character derailment in the Miller/Barlow era, Skarloey and Rheneas were possibly among the worst - it started with a few, erm, missteps in seasons six and seven, but when they came back in season nine with Peter Sam, Rusty, and Duncan (Sir Handel would come back the following season) their characters had been completely wrecked. In short, if you want something that both you and the kids can watch and truly enjoy together, you can't do any better than SpongeBob, in particular the seasons where creator Steven Hillenburg was involved.THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, NOT THE THOMAS FANDOM IN GENERAL Anybody out there who has worked for a living will recognize Squidward as the fellow employee who wants to do the required minimum because he believes he is somehow destined for greater things. In Squidward's case his tragedy is that Bubble Buddy "forced him to provide excellent customer service". In "Squidville" well-deserved fun is poked at the dull uniformity of planned communities and homeowners associations.Anyone who lives in the DC area knows EXACTLY what I am talking about! Another classic is "Bubble Buddy", in which Spongebob has an imaginary friend who has been causing problems around Bikini Bottom all day. Patrick: Now you must develop a taste for free-form jazz. (SpongeBob puffs out his chest) Patrick: Now say, "tax exemption." SpongeBob: Tax exemption. "Grandma's Kisses" has some of the most memorable quotes in which Patrick assures Spongebob that being a man consists of doing three things: Patrick: Allow me to demonstrate. Anyone who has owned or been owned by a cat will enjoy "Dumped" and "Gary Takes a Bath", both of which deal with Spongebob and Gary, his pet Snail. The creator of this show has obviously befriended a Texan or two. My favorites include "Survival of the Idiots" in which Patrick and Spongebob get trapped in Sandy's treedome during her hibernation. My stepdaughter introduced me to this series, and I have to say not since Rocky and Bullwinkle have I seen a cartoon that both kids and adults can greatly enjoy and find humorous on their respective levels.