Bye George!

"You're a useless blue puffball!"

- George to Thomas

Bye George! is the seventh episode of the fifth season.

Plot
George has been working with the little engines and is waiting for Percy to take him to a new workplace. George is insulting Skarloey and Rheneas when Percy arrives. The two engines were pleased to see George go. George grumbles all the way to an old branch line, much to the annoyance of Percy. The branch line was to be turned into a new road. Percy is still fuming when he meets Thomas. Thomas and Percy agree to just ignore George's rude remarks.

George is enjoying himself when Thomas races by. George calls to him, but Thomas could not hear George. Thinking he was being ignored, George grows cross. When he comes to a crossing, George deliberately tarmacs the rails. Thomas soon runs through on the same line; the signalman had forgotten to warn his driver about the tarmacked crossing. Thomas derails and crashes into a barn.

The next day, Percy explains to Gordon about what had happened but Gordon takes no notice. Later on, George is working in a station yard when Duck arrives with some trucks, but George is blocking the way and a truck is still on the main line, but the signalman had already set the points for Gordon. Before Gordon and the express can be alerted, Gordon rushes through and hits the truck. Duck is horrified. Gordon is worried that the Fat Controller will be cross. He was, but with George. He sends George to the timber mill for a week as punishment and takes away his rollers so George can learn manners. Thomas and Percy arrive to see him and Thomas jokes that George will just be rude as before.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Gordon
 * Percy
 * Duck
 * Skarloey
 * George
 * Sir Topham Hatt
 * Rheneas (does not speak in US version)
 * Edward (cameo)
 * Butch (cameo)
 * Stephen Hatt (cameo)
 * Jem Cole (cameo)
 * Farmer Trotter (cameo)
 * The Refreshment Lady (cameo)

Locations

 * Wellsworth
 * The Fishing Village
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Windmill
 * Boulder Quarry
 * Crosby
 * Shunting Yards

Trivia

 * Duke's old shed can be seen in the background when Thomas and Percy talk to George at the mill.
 * The picture of Duke from Bulldog is seen in the signal box.
 * In the US narration, Rheneas' line, "Rollers are rubbish! So good riddance!" is missing.
 * This episode marks George's last speaking role to date.
 * This is the first episode in which a character with a flywheel is used to power another machine. The only other episodes this happened in are Salty's Stormy Tale and Toby and the Windmill.
 * This episode most likely took place during the events of Rusty and the Boulder, as Boulder Quarry was seen in this episode. However, in the aforementioned episode, it was stated it was brand new and was also closed in a short amount of time. Furthermore, George is seen at the Thumper's digging site, meaning he served his week-long punishment and brought back to the quarry to help.

Goofs

 * When Percy passes through the fishing village, his train gains a brakevan.
 * When Thomas breaks through the barn, his wheels appear to have no movement at all.
 * In a long shot of George in the yard, the tracks which Gordon runs on dead ends.
 * Wires are sticking out of George when he blocks Duck's way and when he is yelling at Thomas.
 * When Gordon races through with the express, studio equipment is visible in the shot from Gordon's point of view.
 * In some shots of Gordon, he is not pulling any coaches.
 * Gordon has Duck's whistle sound when he whistles at the station.
 * Rheneas and Skarloey are smiling when the narrator says, "George was being rude to Rheneas and Skarloey".  Then, when the narrator said that Skarloey and Rheneas were pleased to see George leave, they appear to be cross.
 * A freeze frame is used when the narrator says "But the signalman had set the points to let Gordon speed through".
 * Studio equipment is visible at the top of the screen just before Gordon runs into the truck.
 * A brakevan should have been added to Duck's train.