I also think Gordon really needed a much bigger role in the Great race and that would massively improve his character

I feel like out of all the steam team members in the Nitrogen Era, Gordon is the most consistent.

While Nitrogen is not one of my preferred eras of Thomas, Gordon is also one of the few characters that (for the most part) stays at least consistent just like the RWS and Model era. My favorite moments of it come from Hero of the Rails where he was the first engine to help Thomas fix Hiro and racing Spencer to Maithwaite. As for Brenner's portrayal of Gordon, it also derives from his magazine stories which are one of his blunders both in print and show form - aside from that, he barely got anymore episodes as a main character, and when he was a secondary - he's always portrayed as an annoying punching grump - even BWBA made it worse. The only good episode exceptions I like are Gordon Runs Dry, Confused Coaches and Gordon & Rebecca Coming Through! Even a few S17 bits where he isn't grumpy like Gone Fishing and Smelly Kipper shows a bit of his caring side along w/ King of the Railway, but that was it.

Even Gordon’s spotlight episode “Gordon Takes A Shortcut” from season 12 really shows his character well. I like how at the beginning, he is really pompous and does not ask any help from the characters he meets on his journey to great Waterton. But then he messes up when he crashes into a log flatbed that Ben was pushing. He realizes that those logs are going straight for Stanley and that he will get quite some damage. So he decides to ask help from Ben, a character that teased him on multiple occasions, and Ben happily agrees. I love how Gordon lets bygones be bygones with Ben just so he can save stanley. And then he asks help from all of the other engines he met on his way. And for the best character development scene is when he takes on the less important job to finish his duty. This episode from even season 12, the season with those weird CGI faces and a toddler-like Skarloey, was actually able to get Gordon’s character completely right. I love this episode

I think Spencer was also portrayed perfectly in the Nitrogen era.

I definitely agree Gordon in the Nitrogen era is the best. I really love him in Hero oof The Rails because of not only Thomas praising the big guy, but also Gordon sticking up for the little guy. Also I love Gordon being cheerful in Thomas & The Sounds of Sodor.

I'm sorry but Gordon face on the third picture on the thumbnail got me laughing for 3 minutes. 🤣

Hot take? In my opinion Brenner era Gordon was perfect in KOTR, S17, TAB, TGR and S21. I love that the dynamic between Gordon and Spencer was fleshed out in KOTR. And in S17 the crew brought Gordon's dynamic back with Henry and James and fleshed it out. This was the first time since S11 that we saw the three of them as a trio again. And you can see that he has a heart. And I liked his characterization in TAB. His dynamic James was perfect. After Gordon was more grumpy in S18-S20 he was fixed in TGR. I love his dynamic with his brother. I love when the Brenner era learns from its mistakes. Oliver is also a good example, he was a jerk to Toad in 2 episodes in S18 & S19 then he was fixed in SLOTLT. I wish it had been a Gordon movie and not a Thomas movie. And S21 showed his good side again. And his rivalry with Spencer ends too.

U are right about Gordon looking for Thomas in misty island rescue notice how James is their to he’s concerned an possibly wants to repay the favor Thomas did when he came off the tracks on his first day

I would’ve loved if in CGI there was a bigger character arc for both Scotsman and Gordon. Instead of being rivals it would’ve made more sense that after the Great Race, they ended up being less competitive and more friendly because of the fact that they’re the last of their kind. If only Scotsman and Gordon had more of a chance to truly flesh out their own respective characters by putting them together.

Now, I like Gordon in King of the Railway, Gordon Runs Dry, Gone Fishing, Henry Gets the Express, The Great Race and Confused Coaches. However, I will agree that Gordon was a real d--k in the Brenner-Era (Especially Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure where he was REALLY a big a--hole!). Say what you will about the Nitrogen-Era, at least Gordon was handled really nicely.

It’s funny how much they love to reference down the mine but not mention once how it ended and what the legacy of that story really was besides “haha funny Thomas fell down a mine!” reference for the 1000th time

He's great in the Hit Era too!

What would've worked in "Forever and Ever", is instead of throwing a tantrum about the changes, have him try to adjust to the changes, but deep down he's finding it difficult to adjust. When the Fat Controller notices him looking down in the dumps, Gordon opens up and admits he feels silly for being sad about the changes, but both the Fat Controller and Nia tell him that its perfectly okay to feel unsure about new changes and maybe Nia says she too can relate since she's new to Sodor and how its radically different from Africa, and Gordon would feel a little better knowing he's not alone in this situation and that would give Gordon the strength to try and adjust to the changes.

16:51 I’m pretty sure he was like how he was forced to write of edward and henry because mattel demanded it.

This was the Best Gordon portrayal Ever! and Better then the Brenner Era and BWBA Era!

I don’t understand why people shit on the HIT era of the show an hate Gordon being a popus ass WHEN THE WHOLE MODEL SERIES PICTURES HIM AS THAT

Respectfully, you beat the unlucky tug.

Gordon is my 2nd favourite character. While the Nitrogen Era is bad, he was very consistent through it. The same cannot be said for BWBA (unless if is "Gordon and Rebecca, Coming Through!")

Season 18's "Old Reliable Edward" was a better version of Season 6's "Edward the Really Useful Engine." I think the writers just re made that episode

I already know this video is gonna be good and I like seeing something positive about the nitrogen era for once

From the thumbnail alone this looks like a Tug video! This looks like an amazing watch! Edit: I just finished this and wow it was amazing! You’ve earned a sub!

This sounds very similar to the unlucky tug Gordon video, not complaining, love these style of videos.

I think Gordon was fine in the Brenner era at least in the seasons where he isn’t super grumpy like 17 and 21 and his grumpiness does work at times like with the Flying Scotsman thought that of course is just my opinion and I’ll admit at least in the nitrogen era he isn’t like the others who are basically nothing to their oringal character.

Gordon to me has the most consistency from all the Steam Team engines. My favorite moments of Gordon in the Nitrogen Era are when he tells Thomas and Percy that theyre idiots in "Up, up and away!" when they lose their first 2 balloons and when he speaks straight facts about "Sodor surprise day". I ligit like those moments because Gordon has the most common sense about how dumb the era's writing can be. Gordon has his fair share of good moments in the Brenner and BWBA eras. Examples: Steam Team to the rescue Marvelous Machinery (He and Rebecca try to stop Baz and Bernie from hijacking Kenji with Thomas) Dowager Hatt's busy day (While Emily was helping Dowager Hatt to get Sodor running smoothly again, there is scene where Gordon pulls up next to Percy still struggling to pull the express) Confused coaches Confusion without delay (Warms up to Rebecca after she roasted Flying Scotsman) "James to the rescue" was funny bad to me. "James in the dark" and "Apology impossible" are the only James episodes I dislike. I do agree that Andrew Brenner was forced to write "Forever and ever" and thats why he never came back to Mattel. I find the episode relatable bad since like I said about "Up, up and away!" and "Sodor surprise day" Gordon was speaking the truth about how dumb the writing is.

That's a nice video. You'd think that Gordon's run in the Miller era with good writing would've make his character grander in the Brenner era. At least he's mostly consistent with his main trait alongside James who is still the same as always during the Brenner era. At least fan content has Gordon's other sides and good writing shown together in CGI styled stories to make up for it and I shall do the same to have Gordon's Miller era portrayal shine in my stories of CGI Brenner era with good writing involved like his goodhearted and loyally side as well as his alliance with Thomas. I even thought of a story around Gordon's tricky side from Percy and the Signal and James and the Queen of Sodor that he uses to teach Spencer a lesson when he's being worse pompous as usual, either during or after their rivalry ended despite still on good terms. At least Gordon has one CGI era to be good in.

I am very looking forward to this video I love the nitrogen era sometimes

Tbh The Era of Nitrogen did sorta get him right but aswell as messed almost everyone else up tbh

I love Gordon in Gordon Takes a Shortcut as well. I do agree it's the best episode of Season 12.

Gordon is one of my favourite fictional character because of The Railway Series. I love Gordon in the HIT era. That era was mid, but the Gordon episodes are superior. The Nitrogen era, wich is horrible, did Gordon's character supriseingly well. I love the Brenner era, but Gordon is awful... he has one good moment, in S21... The TGR could be a great Gordon story, with a good character development.

As much as I really don't like the Nitrogen Era, I will admit that Gordon's character was handled a lot better there than in the Brenner and BWBA Eras. Somebody should've told Andrew Brenner that there's nothing funny about Gordon being a grumpy dick. Especially in Forever and Ever. Which is unequivocally the worst Gordon episode ever.

I like how Gordon was in the Nitrogen Era because it shows more of his kinder, big brother side of him. I hate how Andrew Brenner turned Gordon back into a pompous, self-centered jerk!

THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING. Brenner is a good writer, but he focuses too much on recapturing early TTTE, which makes him write stories we've already seen before. (Old Reliable Edward is literally Edward's Day Out with a new paint job, I mean come on.) Nitrogen really did well by Gordon. Whether that's because all their stories needed a happy ending or some other reason, I'm not sure. But it's the truth that Gordon is without a doubt a highlight of that era.

I agree

It’s sad when the Miller/Nitrogen/whatever you like to call it era’s portrayal of Gordon was better than the Brenner era’s and, I can’t believe I’m saying it as well, even BWBA’s, even if I don’t hate BWBA as much as most people do.

great work this video gives me theUnluckyTug vibes

As must as I enjoyed the Brenner Era, I was not a fan of how the bigger engines were portrayed. Gordon portrayal in the Brenner Era was so dumb. He acts like a goofy rude grump, when in the RWS and Model series he acts boastful but brave and helpful at times. That's the real portrayal of Gordon. I know some people like Old Reliable Edward and Henry Gets The Express but I didn't like them that much to be honest. Mostly because I didn't like how Gordon was handled in both of those episodes and felt they could have done better. Gordon being streamlined in The Great Race was so ridiculous and pointless. Everything you just about Gordon in the Nitrogen Era is what I completely agree with. They did a so-so better job of Gordon in the CGI series. Now the Brenner Era did do some good things with Gordon like in King Of The Railways, The Adventure Begins, and Confused Coaches but to be honest, Brenner Era Gordon didn't age well at all. And I didn't think I need to explain how Henry and James were in the Brenner Era.

Sth:oh the dignity Gordon:that's my line! Hahhahahahahhahahhahahhahahahhahahahahahaha

Outside of BWBA Gordon was the single most consistent and best character throughout both RWS and Thomas He fell off kinda badly in BWBA but he had been carrying the show for almost 3.5 decades, he deserved some rest

In the model. Series Gordon has 2 brake coaches

Please, list every running gag, phrase, flanderzation, and errors in this era

Very nice analysis with Gordon's character during the CGI era. I'll admit, since I kind of have a bias towards the CGI era, I don't have many of the problems with Gordon's potrayal during the Brenner era, as well as few others like James and Henry that most would say got "flanderized" at this same time too. I can certainly understand why people don't like how they were written at this time and to those who feel that way, more power to you. It just never really bothered me, and I'm a little ashamed to admit that I do prefer a few of those CGI potrayals over their model series. I will say for Gordon, I kind of consider both eras of him as equal. I have noticed that when it comes to shows like Thomas that go on for as long as it does, characters do have the chance of getting well flanderized, as some would say. A few examples that I can point to are shows like Family Guy and SpongeBob, and while I've only watched about half of Family Guy and I'm still content with the new episodes that SpongeBob pulls out, I can see the problems that people point to when it comes to writing for the characters from those shows that have gone on for a long time. Usually when it comes to shows like that and Thomas, the characters might go through some kind of character growth, have multiple layers to their character to make them unique or at least have a consistent quality of what their character is for the first few seasons, but the longer it lasts and with most episodes being episodic, there's only so much that they can really do with certain characters and because of that, the characters don't really grow as well, a character. Then there's also the fact that new writers come in, and it all comes down to how they're writing the character or what they've been told of the character that they're writing for. And that is something that is apparent in the Nitrogen era for how they handled Thomas and Gordon's relationship. Now there's a common misconception or maybe at least a headcanon that Thomas and Gordon's alliance from Down the Mine was revived as the two are a lot more kinder to each other and seen to look out for each other's needs most of the time. Now, I do really like Thomas and Gordon's friendship during the Nitrogen era. However, I wouldn't say that it was the writer's intention for it to be their alliance resurfacing. That was only ever brought up twice during the show's run and them being more polite to each other all came down to how they were writing the two in the episodes where they were interacting with each other. I would also argue that the same could be said for someone like Henry who was written as a wuss throughout most of his appearances in the Brenner era but then there's people who will say that his original character was brought back in Series 20, when in reality they were just writing stories where Henry wasn't actually scared of something because that timid persona was still apparent in future episodes. Anyway, I'm not sure what else to really say regarding Gordon in the CGI era. Yeah, you can say that he got flanderized to being a grump who picks on Thomas most of time in the later seasons, but it's something that a lot of long lasting shows suffer from and with something like Thomas that had already went through a downfall over a decade prior, it was bound to happen to them eventually. But it doesn't really affect me. Sorry about this comment being extremely long.

Oh in indignity 14:54

Here’s my theory. Maybe the different eras of Thomas represent different stages of life. For example as a show progresses, all the engines seem to fall deeper into more childish ways. Maybe that’s some metaphor for aging and becoming more helpless and childlike as you get older? Maybe the engines all have a form of mental decline. Aside from bad riding, that’s the only way I can justify. All the engines are becoming crazy and senile.

It’s so astonishing how the era that gets almost everything wrong manages to maintain one perfect character, whereas the following era that gets everything right ruins that one perfectly written character. It’s clear to me that the writers in the Nitrogen era loved to use Gordon. Although the episodes are written in frankly the worst way possible, they are able to utilize Gordon in the best way possible. The Brenner era just tends to keep things the way they were, but the writers don’t have a clear idea of what to do with Gordon so they keep defaulting to the same trope of him being an ungrateful, incompetent moron. Hence, Gordon feels more like an artificial tool when he’s in supporting roles, he would act rude to an ex-character and then ex-character would win him over and the trope repeats. And you know what’s worse, he never learns from his mistakes.

Gordon: Fastest and best fastest and best Cleanest and finest and pulls the express

Please list every gag and phrase in this era

Kings Cross Houston Paddington St Pancras it's all of them

I think you should put a bit more energy into your voice when reading the script. You sound a bit too much like AI. But overall, good video. Hopin' to see more.

and Hiro of the rails and Blue Moutain were Good sorta BUT MISTY ISLAND CAN BURN IN HELL I SWEAR TO GOD ITS ONE THING MORE CURESD THEN MAGIC RAILROAD

Hmm. Maybe I am way too harsh in the Hit Era. I can see now why I’ve started to love Gordon.

Have to disagree about the sibling dynamic…I personally found all depictions of siblings toxic with the exception of Ary and Burt…FCM might have come around in The Great Race but was still disrespecting Gordon and that continued for the rest of the series

Tbh you sound like you don’t care you should have more energy

Gordon: *1945-2012* > *2013-2020*

I guess Brenner was like a trade off . Sure, the writing "got better," but at the same time , some characters were worse than in nitrogen , plus the quality of the toys started to go down (Not to mention Forever and ever is literally just Gordon being used as a Mouth peice )

During his trial run I guess and I forgot 💀

It’s not.

Ur voice sounds so robotic, why

I cant stand gordon and james in the brenner era