Respect for Gordon

"Gordon's a mess, Gordon's a mess! He's the largest and jammiest!"

- Thomas

Respect for Gordon is the seventh episode of the ninth season.

Plot
Gordon is suffering from a spot of bother; his firebox is rattling whenever he cools down at night, which has resulted in teasing from Thomas and Percy. Gordon tells them that tank engines have very bad manners, though he feels quite embarrassed about his problem.

The next morning, Gordon finds Percy still teasing him. When he arrives at Knapford, the teasing continues, this time by Emily and Diesel. Gordon has had enough; he decides to make demands in order to stop the teasing. So he pulls up ahead of James at the water column, tells Percy not to hang around at platform one as it is his platform, and finally he tells Thomas, James, and Emily to give a polite "toot toot" of their whistles the next time they see him - all because he is the fastest and best.

However, when Gordon sees Emily passing him, he does not get the polite "toot toot" that he expects - only to miss a red signal and crash into a train of jam tankers ahead of him. Whilst waiting to be rescued, Gordon gets teased again by Percy, Thomas, and James. Soon Edward arrives with the breakdown gang and he takes Gordon to the Works to be mended.

Meanwhile, Emily and Henry take turns in pulling the express and they quickly realise that Gordon must be quite strong to do it regularly. Even Percy misses Gordon as the rattle helps him to get to sleep. A few days later, Gordon is mended with all the jam cleaned out of his boiler and his firebox no longer rattling. That night, Gordon apologises to his friends for his rattling firebox and for his "toot toot" demands because he did not deserve it. However, Thomas and the other engines now know that Gordon deserves a polite "toot toot" as he works very hard indeed as the express engine.

And, since that day, all of the Fat Controller's Engines greet their friends with a polite toot of their whistles for being really useful.

Characters

 * Thomas
 * Henry
 * Gordon
 * James
 * Percy
 * Emily
 * Diesel
 * Edward (does not speak)
 * Annie and Clarabel (cameo)
 * Sir Topham Hatt (mentioned)

Locations

 * Knapford
 * Sodor Suspension Bridge
 * Tidmouth Sheds
 * The Works
 * Sodor River Bridge

Trivia

 * In the US, this episode aired before Thomas and the Toy Shop, meaning the audience would not know about the toy shop yet.
 * Gordon's crash is similar to James' from Dirty Objects.
 * In Germany, this episode is titled "Gordon Wants to be Admired". The Japanese title is "Amazing What Gordon!".
 * The plot point of Gordon wanting the others to whistle at him is similar to the magazine story Thomas and the Whistle.
 * In the UK version, Thomas teases Gordon by saying "Gordon's a mess! Gordon's a mess! He's the largest and jammiest!". In the US version, he says "Gordon's a mess! Gordon's a mess! He's the largest and jelliest!"

Goofs

 * How did Emily get to Knapford before Gordon when she was last seen asleep at Tidmouth Sheds?
 * Gordon wanted all the engines to give him a friendly "Toot Toot", but all the engines already do that when they see each other.
 * The narrator says that Gordon thought he was the strongest steam engine on Sodor, but Murdoch is the strongest.
 * The narrator says the workmen need to clean the jelly out of Gordon's engine, but Gordon is an engine.
 * Edward pushes Gordon to the Works, but in some shots Gordon's bogey wheels appear to be broken.
 * The narrator says it was hard to remove the jam from Gordon's engine, but Gordon is a steam engine and doesn't have an engine.
 * How did Thomas, Emily, and Percy all have time to get in front of Gordon and turn around?
 * Why was there a train of tankers in the middle of the main line?
 * Would the passengers and crew not have been injured?
 * Henry has pulled the express many times before and, according to The Flying Kipper, has not had any trouble with it.
 * When Gordon cuts James' line to the water tower, his whistle is low-pitched.

Quotes

 * Percy: Rattle box is awake at last!


 * Emily: Oh, look rattler Gordon's here! He's pulling the "click-clong express"!


 * Diesel: I hope your "click clong" gets better. Ha ha ha ha! See you later, rattler!


 * Percy: You're a boastful, bossy, big, blue boiler!