I was pretty harsh on Season 21 when it came out because we were aware of the Bwuhba stuff coming. I've been rewatching episodes and man... if you just remove A Shed for Edward from it, and view this as a finale season instead a transition, S21 really isn't that bad.

A thread:

The episodes vary in quality, as per always. Hasty Hannah and Philip's Number are pretty bad, but the rest I'd say have their merits. Love all the Xmas episodes, the Daisy eps are bangers, and PA Problems is easily the best ep of the bunch. THIS is a perfect conclusive Edward ep.

Even the Cranky and Carly eps aren't that bad on rewatch. They go over the top with the cartoony visuals, yeah. But if you view the season as a final one, this shot right here is the last time we ever see the Brendam gang. What a note to end on!

I love some of the conclusive ends of character arcs too. Gordon and Spencer put an end to their 14-season-long rivalry. And while it's out of order, I love that there's an ep that ends implying Diesel is finally going to change (they didn't stick to this in Bwuhba, sadly)..

..and James has the worst crash ever as a result of doing that screeching brake thing he's been doing for seasons that we all hate (which he hasn't done since this!)

And of course, some old faces we never would've guessed show up to be seen one last final time before it's all over.

Ignore Bwuhba. I say If you want a nice end to CGI Thomas, the proper way to watch is watch everything in order S17-20 as usual, then jump to S21 directly after S20, skip A Shed for Edward, and finish everything with Journey Beyond Sodor. Continuity-wise, it checks out.

I think this makes for a much better final scene than Edward leaving Tidmouth, eh?