Jamesblogging 'til I die

#5: S1E23 "James in a Mess" / "Dirty Objects"

This is, as far as I remember, James and Toby's first interactions with each other. Of course, James being James, he's rude and fussy, and Toby immediately puts him in his place. In typical James fashion yet again, he gets put on a slow goods train, his brakes don't get set on the hill, and he runs out of control right into some tar wagons, busting them open and getting into a terrible mess. Toby and Percy see everything, and James is in shame and dismay. He really gets his comeuppance in this one, and he's the episodes main character, he's not in the right at all and deserved it. I love Toby and James interactions, they're so funny to me.

#4: S19E11 "Pouty James"

I've seen people rag on this episode because it's a bit dumbed down, and while I agree with it, I think it's cute. It's a typical 'James hates goods trains' episode, but there's character growth there. He gets grounded for whining and talking back to Sir Topham, and when he's finally allowed to work, he has to pull garbage trucks and starts being fussy again. But thanks to the others making fun of him and showing him he's acting like a toddler, he realizes he can have fun pulling goods and non-passenger trains, and his attitude does a full 180 by the end of the episode. I think it's cute and a great lesson not just for kids, but young adults and teens too.

S19E16 "All in Vain

This one to me is a continuation of that arc from episode 11. James wants to take the Mayor to the party and has to finish his work first. He still doesn't like doing goods work all that much, but he at least tries to keep a smile on while working. He gets sugar dumped on him at the docks, which ends up sticky after a wave crashes on him. When Edward tries to help him finish so he can be ready for the night, he refuses because he wants to prove he can finish his work. Of course, in his egotistic ways, after he gets told his paint is slightly scratched, he panics and immediately rushes to get repainted. His paint doesn't dry, he gets leaves, twigs, and dust (oh my) blown all over him, and he asks Edward to take the Mayor in shame. It all ends well, though, after a second repaint, he gets to take the Mayor on other business. This episode is just overall a great storyline, and I love that they tried to have some continuity from before.

#2: S5E5 "James and the Trouble with Trees"

A typical James model series episode. James is boasting how he deserves his new coat of paint, and the other engines are tired of hearing him as always. The next day, while on his way to be repainted, Henry has an accident and James berates him and tells him he should go to the forest instead. Henry retorts, as Sir Topham was doing an island inspection for trees to close to the line, saying they may cause trouble. James scoffs, saying if he ever came upon a tree, he'd push it aside. He leaves, later passing Percy and Terence, who both warn him to look out for trees, but he disregards them. When he arrives to collect the express, Sir Topham sends him to collect goods trucks instead, and he fusses over it. When he reaches the docks to collect them, though, the weather changes for the worst. As he's going along, he comes to a hill, where a tree has been loosened by wind and rain. James skids to a stop, and is rescued by Thomas just before the tree falls atop him. This is another great episode where James gets his comeuppance, and while he wasn't damaged, he learns he should heed others warnings and stop being so proud (obviously this is backtracked a lot, thanks HiT). This episode also has my favorite line ever because Baldwin's James voice is so queer (oh help😨💅🏳️‍🌈go away😨🗣️🏳️‍🌈‼️‼️)

#1: S2E5 "Old Iron"

Is this really a surprise? C'mon. James complains Edward is old and slow after having to wait for him at the station. He complains to Thomas and Percy, who retort back in defense of Edward. Later, while pulling a train, his driver falls ill and has to leave. While waiting to be shunted away, some boys climbed in the cab and, from what I can assume, turned off James's brakes and ran off when he began to move. His fireman was talking to a signalman when this happened, and the inspector calls the box to ask the fireman to prepare a shunters pole with some rope. James, on the ither hand, is excited to be traveling along at high speeds. When he tries to slow, however, he realises he has no driver and begins to panic. His fireman and the inspector are aboard Edward, who is pushing himself to the limits to catch up to the runaway red engine. They eventually catch up, and the inspector nooses James's buffer to slow him down. The two engines come into the station side-by-side, and James thanks Edward for saving him and praises him. ("You were splendid, Edward" 🏳️‍🌈🤭). I love this episode with all my heart because it's so daunting at times. Also I realized its episode 2/5....🏳️‍🌈‼️🗣️

Top 5 James Quotes

#5: hello gordon 😃🗣️ is it tomorrow? 😃😃😃 (specifically Carlin's dub)

#4: shut up😡🤬 its not funny😡‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

#3: sandal 🩴 fly 🤨🤨🤨boo 👻 fly 🤨🤨🤨🤨shoo 👟 fly🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️, thats it! 🗣️‼️

#2: you weren't concentrating thomas ☝️🤨 lucky for you 🫵🤨 that the buffers were there 🤭🤭