Excellent Emily

"All of your engines are excellent engines!"

- Emily

Excellent Emily is the eighth episode of the twelfth series.

Plot
Following a terrible storm, many engines are stuck, except for Emily who is the only one to finish her jobs on time and is thus called "excellent" by the Fat Controller. The Fat Controller tells Emily that she must take Trevor from Farmer McColl's to the airport as some metal tanks are blocking the runway, making Jeremy - who is carrying Dowager Hatt - unable to land. Just as the Fat Controller leaves, Murdoch arrives; he is going to Farmer McColl's also and he advises Emily to take the Wellsworth track due to flooding. But Emily refuses and decides to take the forest track as it is much quicker. Emily goes through a flooded track on the forest track which now made her late, but it does not stop her.

In the forest, Emily meets Thomas, who warns her about a fallen tree on her line and tells her that she must wait for Harvey. But Emily says she does not need Harvey's help, so she finds the tree herself and decides to push it out of the way. However, the tree sticks on her front as Emily pushes it uphill. Once at the summit, the tree rolls out of the way and Emily is now completely covered in leaves but still carries on.

At a junction, Emily meets Duck, who tells her that not only is Trevor waiting for her, but there is danger up ahead; the tracks ahead are very muddy and she must avoid it. But once again, Emily's belief that she is "excellent" causes her to ignore him. Due to this, she carries on regardless which makes Duck worried.

As Emily races through the vallies, she thinks she is nearly at Farmer McColl's. After turning around the final bend, Emily plunges into a dip of muddy water damaging the tracks, she seemed to be standing on top of the surface and determines she’ll easily puff through it, but then, the damaged track collapses from her weight and Emily derails sinking down into the water until coming to a stop up to her buffers. Emily is now stuck and doesn't feel "excellent" anymore, feeling sad for what did and cries that she'll now never get Trevor to the airport. She then sees Murdoch already at Farmer McColl's and realises that she should have listened to him. Whistling to get his attention, Emily apologises to Murdoch, and he pulls her out of the flood and back on track. After collecting Trevor from Farmer McColl's, Emily is about to leave when she remembers to ask Murdoch about which track to take to the airport. Murdoch tells her to take the valley route as Gordon's Hill is still being cleared of fallen trees.

Emily goes along the valley route, but soon sees a telegraph pole blocking her way. Remembering Thomas' advice, Emily waits for Harvey to clear the telegraph pole. Then, at a signalbox, Emily is told by the signalman that the shortcut is muddy; remembering Duck's advice, she takes the longer track. Once at the airport, Trevor clears the runway and Jeremy is able to land at last. The Fat Controller is happy to see his Mother and praises Emily again, but Emily tells him that all of his engines are "excellent engines."

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Duck
 * Emily
 * Murdoch
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Gordon
 * Harvey
 * Trevor
 * Jeremy
 * Dowager Hatt
 * Farmer McColl
 * Henry
 * Annie
 * Bulgy
 * Cranky
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Assistants

Locations

 * Brendam Docks
 * Sodor Shipping Company
 * The Forest Track
 * McColl Farm
 * Sodor Airport
 * Wellsworth
 * Gordon's Hill

Trivia

 * This episode marks the first of a few things for Duck:
 * His first appearance since the seventh series episode, Not So Hasty Puddings.
 * His first appearance in completely original footage since Peace and Quiet.
 * His first speaking role since James and the Queen of Sodor despite him groaning with Thomas, Gordon and Percy in that episode.
 * His first major speaking role since the sixth series episode, Toby Had a Little Lamb.
 * His first interaction with Emily.
 * This episode also marks the first of several things:
 * Dowager Hatt's first appearance in CGI.
 * Murdoch's first speaking role since the seventh series episode, Best Dressed Engine.
 * The first episode to feature Kiyonobu Suzuki in the Japanese cast.
 * The first episode where Duck is called as "Ankkanen" in the Finnish dub.
 * The first episode since the eighth series episode Emily's New Route, where Emily derails and/or gets into an accident.
 * The first episode where an engine cries since the second series episode, Dirty Work and the first without tears.
 * This episode marks the last of several things:
 * Bulgy's last appearance until the twenty-first series episode, Unscheduled Stops.
 * Trevor's last appearance until the fifteenth series episode, Emily and Dash and the last time he is referred to by name until the twentieth series episode, Three Steam Engines Gruff.
 * Jeremy's last physical appearance, not counting the TrackMaster model toy of him used in the twentieth series episode, Letters to Santa.
 * Murdoch's last speaking role.
 * The final appearance of the Sodor Airport, though it was later mentioned in the twenty-fourth series double length episode, World of Tomorrow.
 * This is the only episode to feature Ryoichi Fukuzawa in the Japanese cast.
 * Duck gains a Liverpudlian accent while Murdoch gains a Scottish one in the UK dub.
 * This episode has similarities to Something in the Air and Emily's Adventure.
 * The town Emily passes is made up of buildings from Great Waterton.
 * This is the second time an engine cries after getting into an accident, the first was the first series episode, Thomas, Terence and the Snow.

Goofs

 * Throughout the episode, Emily's driver and fireman are not in CGI.
 * When Murdoch arrives at Brendam Docks, his steam platform is visible.
 * When Emily chuffs through the flood track, the tracker for her CGI face is visible in the water's reflection, this also happens when she sinks into the muddy water.
 * When Emily plunges into the muddy flood, either the driver or fireman is not seen in her cab, both of her crew are also then completely absent when she leaves the farm with Trevor.
 * When Murdoch pulls Emily out of the muddy flood, her driving wheels are not moving.
 * When Trevor trundles across the runway, his driver is steering him whilst sitting in his coal bunker, which is empty.

Merchandise

 * Take-n-Play - Emily Stuck in the Brush
 * Books - Excellent Emily

UK

 * The Complete Series 12

US/CAN/LATAM

 * Railway Friends

US DVD Boxsets

 * Adventure Pack
 * Full Steam Ahead
 * Extraordinary Engines and Railway Friends Double Pack

AUS

 * The Party Surprise
 * The Complete Series 12

DVD Boxsets

 * The Essential Collection

MYS

 * The Party Surprise and Other Adventures

FRA

 * A New Arrival

IND/THA

 * Henry Gets it Wrong

JPN

 * Unaired Video Collection

KOR

 * [[Thomas the Little Engine and Friends Season 7 Vol. 2]

TWN

 * Come On! Thomas

HK

 * Thomas and Friends Volume 43

Excelente Emily אמילי המצוינת Wspaniała Emilka Отличная Эмили