Sonic Prime, Episode 1.7: It Takes One to No Place

Sonic Prime, Episode 1.7: It Takes One to No Place

Original Release Date: December 22nd, 2022

The penultimate episode of "Sonic Prime's" first half remains committed to the multiverse premise, even we left the stakes in a pretty raised place last time. While running towards Nine and the Chaos Council's ship, Sonic unintentionally zaps himself into another ShatterSpace. He drops into No Place, a world where Green Hill is submerged under water and pirates roam the endless sea. He's quickly picked up by Knuckles the Dread and his crew, a curiously carefree group of pirates. After deflecting an attack by Dread's old crew, Sonic learns that the pirate lost his fearsome reputation when he wrecked his ship searching for the Devil's Lighthouse: The red shard of the Paradox Prism. Sonic's quest to find the jewel is interrupted by a familiar face...

Since I'm nearly done with the first batch of "Prime" episodes, I think I've determined when this show works and when it doesn't. The dimension hopping premise means it's hard to ever build up much familiarity with the cast or generate forward momentum with the story. Yet there's fun to be had in dropping Sonic into another colorful setting each week, populated with wacky variations on his old friends. Just seeing the traditional "Sonic" cast mashed up with the pirate premise in this episode provides some entertainment. Knuckles as a goofy pirate that has lost his mojo, with his beleaguered crew made up of other "Sonic" cast members, is an amusing enough idea on its own. 

If this show was more episodic and just focused on Sonic leaping around various zones, aligned by the goal of him collecting all of the shards, it would be a lot better. It's fun to imagine various archetypal settings Knuckles, Tails, Amy and Rouge could be slotted into. My brain immediately goes to gothic horror, steampunk, and superheroes as three that could easily work. And there's literally a hundred more you could think of. That was the fun of Archie's old multiverse and a whole show loosely inspired by that idea could be laidback entertainment. Jumping back and forth between that set-up and a serialized story, where we are expected to care about things like character development and an on-going narrative, is why this show feels so half-formed to me. "Prime" needs to play to its strengths.

Focusing on the latter is probably why I enjoyed "It Tales One to No Place" the most of any of this show's episodes so far. Knuckles and the crew as fearsome pirates is a cute idea by itself. This one further twists things by making Knuckles the Dread the wimpiest pirate you can imagine. He likes to throw parties every day, singing and dancing and tossing confetti into the air like the high-seas version of Rip Taylor. He hides when his old crew appears to ransack his ship. His partners are exhausted by the constantly carefree lifestyle and eager to do actual pirate shit. It's a twofold subversion. We expect pirates to be fearsome and Knuckles is fearsome too, despite being a big softy on the inside. Dread is a character that nicely defies both those expectations. 

Also helping this episode is its status as maybe the best animated installment of "Prime's" run so far. I was worried at first, as Sonic emerging from the water makes him look like wet latex. I also can't say the other original designs seen in this episode – limited to Dread's former crew, one of which is voiced by a prominent YouTuber for some reason – are all that memorable. Yet the fight scene that follows, where Sonic is leaping around the ship and floating on the water on his hovercraft shoes, is neat. Mostly, it’s the flashback to Dread’s attempt to take the red shard that looks really good. The water effects are much stronger in this scene and the stormy night lighting is quite atmospheric. 

This is not the only animated highlight of the episode. Upon meeting Dread, Sonic recalls the first time he met his reality’s Knuckles. As in the flashback with Tails in the first episode, this scene is done in Sega Genesis style 16-bit graphics. This one is also directly based on the boss battle between Sonic and Knuckles in the Hidden Palace Zone in “Sonic & Knuckles.” It even uses the music! While I supposed an animation style like this would wear out its novelty quickly, an old school Sega nerd like me still really gets a kick out of these moments. I would probably love an entire series that looked like this. (Though if the events of "Sonic & Knuckles" are more-or-less canon to "Prime," it really makes me wonder what the status of the Master Emerald is and why Knuckles hasn't been on Angel Island at any point throughout this show.)

While the exact circumstances surrounding what's happening with Shadow still aren’t totally clear, this episode does provide a little more insight into what’s happening there. Turns out, Shadow Chaos Controlled the minute the Paradox Prism shattered and Sonic was caught up in the big dimensional wave. This seems to explain why the so-called ultimate lifeform is blipping in and out of realities here. What purpose this will serve in the story, I still don't know. Seems like Shadow appears when he needs to say something mysterious, to trick the viewer into thinking the overarching narrative here actually has some greater purpose. But at least we have an explanation of sorts now. 

Like every episode of "Prime," this one also ends with an action-packed cliffhanger that promises to open the next installment on a big fight scene. At least the story, as it is, seems to be moving towards something of a climax for the Season One, Part One finale. (Or whatever you want to call it.) A solid episode like this really throws my issues and criticisms with "Prime" overall into sharper detail. The chance for "Prime" to be a satisfying overall experience, at least in this first collection of episodes, has passed. Yet I can still enjoy a goofy time with some silly pirates. [7/10]