After Britt Allcroft stepped down, Thomas & Friends veered into a completely different direction. One of them was abandoning the use of "Christmas" in their stories and instead go with "winter holidays" with the purpose of being more inclusive. Despite a valiant effort, the whole atmosphere was definitely Christmas thanks to the decorations, tree, and Christmas setup with "Christmas" scribbled out. The setup was so controversial, after the fifteenth series, Rev. Awdry's late daughter spoke out against what is political correctness gone completely awry. Since then, HiT decided to use Christmas, and under Andrew Brenner's tenure, it's been very blatant to a fault. One of the most obvious is Brenner's Last Train for Christmas, and it's one of the best episodes in the series.

Strengths:

1. Every character is in character. Diesel, Connor, TFC, Thomas, et al. all spoke exactly like they should. Not one moment that didn't make sense or was unlikeable. Whenever they said or behaved, they were true to form.
    
   One of the smaller, yet crucial, elements to the story was Thomas and his snowplough. Since his days in TRS, he hated his plough and tried whatever he could to not wear it. After more than sixty years, No Snow for Thomas finally concluded the arc, and the episode referenced it without hammering you over the head by being comfy in that role. I'll get back to it in a little bit.
    
   Diesel gets an especially bigger piece of credit because he delivered two lines of dialogue that retain his character, but don't reduce him to a good guy. As Thomas tries to persuade the Fat Controller to continue ploughing the snow, Diesel acts as a dissident by saying the train may have to be cancelled and the stations will be closing soon. His words may sound antagonistic, but they're very justifiable, especially due to the safety hazard of the thick, deep snow and erratic snowstorm.
2. Like its continuity, there are two important facts Brenner tells its audience without being obnoxious about it.
    
   a. TFC's railway is privately run. Unlike the railway on the mainland, the anthropomorphic trains run on a private schedule with its own rules and regulations.
    
   b. By having no trains run on Christmas, the holiday's importance is emphasized. Christmas is a national holiday in many Western countries (Britain no exception), and Christmas is one of those holidays where there isn't much activity. (For instance, the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is closed on one day of the whole year: December 25th.) With Christmas Day just around he corner, there's a lot more urgency in getting the passengers to their destinations before it's out.
3. There are five important places of showing the audience and helped make it better.
    
   a. Robert Hartshorne's music has stepped up considerably since Brenner took over, and this is no exception. Throughout the episode, the score dictated the mood and really enhanced the script. One of its most powerful occurs just after Connor crosses the Vicarstown Bridge back to the Mainland to pick up his last passengers. Here, the music got louder and more climactic. The scene switches to TFC hanging up the receiver in his office, and the music suddenly stops. With the background being quiet for just a few seconds, you can tell how much The Fat Controller really didn't want to cancel the last train. To call this composition brilliant is underselling the quality of Hartshorne's musical work here.
    
   b. This little scene that causes TFC to change his mind about cancelling the last train:
    
   
    
   
    
   
    
   All done without Mark Moraghan telling the audience. It's a scene so simple, yet reminds TFC and the audience how important family is for Christmas. If they can get reunited during the dead dark, so can the remaining passengers. It's an extremely mature direction for this show, especially in this stage.
    
   If the show still used models, then you couldn't pull it off, too, and have to rely on narration, which had been very monotonous until Moraghen arrived. But with CGI in place, we could see the whole transition, thus using CGI to its advantage and treating its audience — especially kids — with plenty of respect.
    
   c. Thomas's urgency inside Knapford as everyone met up with TFC. You can tell how much Thomas really wanted that final train to arrive at Sodor on time, and the conviction in his tone made it sound like he really wanted to get the job done. If no one was going to do it, then he was alone. His maturity was organic, and his care for the railway and his friends are obvious.
    
   d. Very early on, you can tell Christmas Eve on the Island was extremely chilly just by the snow. But you usually don't get to see the humans respond to it. Arc took advantage of Christmas's cold denotations (as far as the U.K. is concerned) in two ways.
    
   i. Very early on, a little girl on the right sneezes as she descends the staircase.
    
   ii. Because it's so cold, a boy walking with crutches has pink cheeks and a really red nose. This leaves you a hint about how much the cold affected him without telling you.
    
   e. The ending. In the second half, several engines saw a red light, and Percy and Hiro speculated at first that it was Rudolph pulling Santa and his sleigh, thus leading to a well-done gag. To conclude the episode, Thomas sees this:
    
   
    
   Because he saw Harold exactly like that, he said, "Merry Christmas, Harold!" and went home.
    
   
    
   But by having "Harold" be Santa Claus instead, it does two things.
    
   The gag is resolved and doesn't go too long. The joke works because the gag is reversed, and you don't expect Santa to appear in the shot, seeing as Harold looked exactly like him earlier.
    
   There's an excellent payoff to the story. With everyone back to Sodor in time for Christmas, they can wait for Santa's humble gifts to arrive while knowing everyone is home. The solid conclusion makes the tiring, stressful journey of clearing the tracks for Connor's last train worthwhile even when they don't know it.
4. For the first time in so long, a Thomas Christmas episode actually feels like a Christmas episode. Series 17 had two Christmas episodes themselves, but they kinda felt a bit hammered in and weren't as well constructed compared to Bill or Ben? and Gone Fishing.
    
   Last Train for Christmas really captures that Christmas essence completely. With the well-done atmosphere in place, the characters' conversations about Christmas is a sprinkle on top. Connor really can't get the passengers home by himself. He needed every single engine to help him, and the engines knew this, especially Thomas.
    
   Part of what makes Christmas special is the ability to give. The steam engines worked tirelessly to give Connor the ability to get back to Sodor and beat the snowstorm.
    
   As such, LTfC contains plenty of urgency in the conflict with no gimmicks. The well-done musical score, dialogue, and expressions in their voices really sold the conflict and showed their dedication to Connor and the passengers. It's subtle, yet brilliantly done.
5. The slippies weren't one and done. With them appearing, Brenner and Arc told both kids and the older and more dedicated fans of Thomas that they're not just gimmicks. They're a unique component of Sir Topham Hatt's Railway, and their purpose fits exactly not only Connor's desires, but also the urgency in the situation.
6. In TtTE, snow is sometimes treated as a very huge nuisance, and for good reason. Snow can be extremely heavy, and they've caused plenty of accidents in the past. Having Paxton get stuck in the storm and Emily feel dismayed over being unable to clear the track by the Vicarstown Bridge are great ways of showing the storm's impact.
7. Once more, the CGI is absolutely brilliant. The CGI has been one of the series' bigger pluses since its complete transition in Hero of the Rails, and Arc's attention to detail is no exception. We have the beautiful snow, the treacherous snow, the snow on the engines/wheels, the tracks, human interaction, and beautiful camera shots.

Weaknesses:

1. The exchange between Duck, Thomas, and Oliver felt somewhat forced, particularly this part:
    

   Quote

   
   Oliver: What are you two talking about?
    
   Thomas: Tomorrow is Christmas, silly. And there are no trains running all day.
    
   Oliver: Great! I like keeping warm. *toots*

   Oliver's been around for a very long time now, so he knows about Christmas. His ending reply makes it sound like he doesn't know about the holiday. To let you know, it doesn't sound like it, but it feels like it. It would've been better if he said he forgot about the holiday and then feel happy about it.
2. Earlier this season, Connor was shown pulling five coaches. Here, he was pulling three and needed the slip coaches. By having two coaches inexplicably missing with no reason why, it makes his need for them contrived.
    
   Fortunately, Brenner et al. were able to use that to their advantage and make it feel like it belongs.
3. One bigger bugaboo that's there is the lightning quick switching of the points. Just after Hiro and James chug to the sidings, Connor was able to speed on by. Two big problems.
    
   a. Points don't switch that quickly. They take a little time to pull/push and change, and Connor is not far behind each time. By having the points switch with little room for error, there risks a very huge accident.
    
   b. More importantly, neither the levers or signalboxes are in sight. That's very dangerous considering the "arm's length" between the trains and Connor's speed.

Last Train for Christmas continues one of Thomas's well-known traditions of using the winter holidays for their stories. But instead of "winter holidays," Brenner writes in "Christmas," reviving an older tradition dating back to prior the sixth series. Christmas is a national holiday, and the narrative treats it with utmost respect thanks to Hartshorne's excellent music, Brenner's careful treatment of the narrative, and well-executed sense of urgency. Thomas, TFC, and everyone want to serve the public until the very last train arrives on Sodor and worked hard to clear the tracks for Connor and his remaining passengers. Even with the flaws, it's written so well, they don't distract from the audience, and its heart really captures the beauty of Christmas. In all, it's one of the best Christmas episodes in Thomas history.