Sonic Boom, Episode 2.49: Eggman Family Vacation

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.49: Eggman Family Vacation

Original Air Date: October 28th, 2017

"Eggman Family Vacation" begins like many "Sonic Boom" episodes: With the mad scientist suffering another crushing defeat. This time, Steve/Morpho changing into a giant rock monster proves ineffectual. The quasi-brothers bickering is broken up by Mombot announcing that she bought a timeshare in Roboken. A family trip to the floating city of machines ensues. While the others sightsee, Eggman is miserable... Until he thinks of an evil plan. Working with his "brother," he steals the microchip from Bolts that is responsible for his intelligence. He heads back to the surface world below and quickly installs the chip in his regular Badniks, which make them an extra formidable threat for Sonic and his pals. (Who have been experiencing their own miserable vacation while Eggman has been off on his trip.)

"Sonic Boom" has managed to spin so many episodes out of the inadequacies and insecurities Eggman feels, usually based in his need for a sense of belonging. Despite that, one of the funniest ideas season two has explored is giving the villain a family. I've noted before that the extended "Sonic" universe is full of Robotnik relatives, a mother, some brothers, the stray nephew or niece. That doesn't mean we saw the villain interacting with Snively or Dr. Warpnik in the way you and I typically interact with family. Because of its sitcom style though, Mombot and Steve have relationships with the doctor that are much more down-to-earth. Mombot splits time between encouraging and guilting her boys, equally proud and disappointed in them. Steve and Eggman are always getting into stupid arguments together but still insist on working together. Most refreshing of all is how this family has evolved organically out of otherwise standalone episodes of "Boom." It's like we've actually been seeing Eggman evolve as a character! What a concept! 

Now that Eggman has a very non-normal normal family, he can experience all the average difficulties and victories of existing in such a unit. I don't know about you guys but I've certainly been dragged along on a family trip where I end up being utterly miserable. Watching in dismay while everyone around me is having a good time. Perhaps I'm a miserable bastard in general. Nevertheless, I definitely relate to Eggman grumbling and slumping his shoulders while Steve, Mombot, Cubot and Orbot have a good time. They swap refrigerator magnets and all Eggman can do is sigh. When we are used to seeing the character scream at his minions and make pithy comments to his enemies, sticking him in a scenario that produces a totally different – yet still very true to the character – reaction makes for a good time. Honestly, "Eggman Family Vacation" probably could have gotten a whole episode out of Eggman merely feeling sorry for himself while Mombot and Steve enjoy their time together. 

As much fun as watching Eggman grousing on a vacation is, watching him and Steve actually bond is better. The brothers argue a lot, as brothers tend to do. The two Eggmen getting into slap fights has become a reliable running joke. The two seem to dislike each other so much that they repeatedly point out that they aren't actually brothers. When they successfully work together though, capturing Bolts and swiping his chip, high-fiving and doing a secret handshake, that feels earned. This is how it is when you have a siblings. They are, somehow, both your greatest rival that annoys the ever-loving shit out of you on a regular basis and also your best bud in the whole wide world. Seeing "Boom" capture that dynamic so accurately is refreshing. 

A whole episode devoted to Eggman and Steve learning how to bond on a family trip would've been fine with me. The setting of Roboken can still be explored. The flying city has its own version of Sonic too, the cyborg copy appearing in several scenes, fulfilling any obligation that "Boom" might have, where every episode must feature Sonic. However, writer Reid Harrison cooked up a funny way to keep Sonic and the usual band of heroes involved in this story. Namely, the heroes try to have their own vacation while Eggman is away but this immediately goes awry. Type-A Amy plots out a specific journey, which soon devolves into one exhausting detour after another. Rather than showing this series of unfortunate events, "Eggman Family Vacation" turns it into a collection of amusingly bafflingly non-sequiturs. What's funnier, depicting the events leading up to Sonic and the others being in the coils of an enormous snake or cutting right to that with zero explanation? The episode probably could have gone further with this. I want more inexplicable scenes of Sonic and friends trapped in bizarre encounters with no explanation! I suppose there's a ceiling to that kind of wackiness. It makes for good laughs here and I can't help but feel like that episode could have milked it a little more. 

One assumes that there are certain expectations for action scenes in this show. "Boom" has definitely done whole episodes without any robot smashing or high-speed pursuits. However, I wouldn't have been shocked if there was some sort of percentage the show runners had to meet for every half-hour. This means "Eggman Family Vacation" must end in a big action sequence. On paper, it's a good idea. Bolts' processor makes Eggman's normal minions smarter. This soon evolves into the strategy of the Badniks constantly tossing the chip back and forth, whenever its current "host" is about to get thrashed. The idea of an enemy that doesn't have a permanent body, that can toss its consciousness around different whatever able-bodied being it can fight, is not an unusual one in superhero comics or action/adventure settings. That's not exactly what this is – the chip contains no personality beyond being really, really smart – but that's how it plays out. That makes for a perfectly satisfying foe for an action scene, forcing our heroes to think outside the box a little bit. In execution, it needs some work. Namely because both of these supposedly super-smart Badniks do not seem all that more elaborate or thought-out than Eggman's typical approaches. "Boom's" animation being as sluggish as ever, the attacks don't seem smarter than usual. In effect, it seems like Sonic and the rest are sucking for no particular reason during this confrontation. 

Far more satisfying is how this big action scene concludes, with Eggman revealing that he's learned a lot about family. This is played as a joke, naturally, and a good one too. Unavoidably, we seek to protect the people we are bonded with and sometimes we don't know why. That's what unconditional love and all that shit is about, I guess. Hearing Eggman verbalize that, after an episode devoted to showing the agony and ecstasy of having a family, makes for a good laugh. Lots of chuckles in general in this one. Sonic's growing exhaustion with the increasingly unlikely events he's been forced into is a good gag. Sticks asking to bump the senseless violence up, Amy reflecting on the serenity of nature, and Knuckles admitting he misses Eggman all got a chuckle out of me. Surprisingly, the sound design and soundtrack produce some laughter too. While sneaking around Roboken, Eggman and Morpho walk around tippy-toes, the Hanna-Barbera dingly-ding sound effect going along with it. I did not expect that. Definitely a missed chance not to play some bongos when a person is attempting to run though...

A running joke throughout this episode is missiles or rockets repeatedly taking off, accompanied each time by a musical sting that sounds like "Another Part of Me" by Michael Jackson... But specifically the 16-bit version of that song from the Genesis port of "Moonwalker." That's such a specific reference that I have trouble believing that wasn't exactly what they were going for. A "Sonic" show containing a shout-out to another best-selling game from the same console he debuted on is not inconceivable. One imagines the "Boom" staff were aware of the weird connection the blue hedgehog and the Prince of Pop have had for decades. The thought that someone who worked on this show also got stuck on the graveyard level of "Moonwalker" as a kid, making sure that ten second riff is stuck in their head forever too, does give me the warm-and-fuzzies. A real brotherhood of man moment. Anyway, "Sonic Boom: Season Two" has continuously shown that its weirdo reoccurring cast was a real boon to this show, repeatedly resulting in fresh and funny episodes like this one. [7/10]