Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.08: Hooked on Sonics

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.08: Hooked on Sonics
Original Air Date: October 30th, 1993

As I was watching the opening credits to “Hooked on Sonics” – another catchy but meaningless title that's also a pop culture references you goddamn zoomers won't understand – a name seemed familiar. This episode was written by Randy Rogel. Mr. Rogel might be a recognized name to some of the bigger nerds in the audience. Mr. Rogel wrote many episodes of “Batman: The Animated Series” and “Animaniacs.” In fact, he created most of the songs for the latter series and even won an Emmy for his songwriting. In recent history, Rogel has even gone on-tour as a musical performer. Sadly, “Hooked on Sonics” was the only time Mr. Rogel would cross paths with “Sonic,” denying us Antoine performing a musical ode to all the countries of Mobius.

“Hooked on Sonics” begins with a new giant robot of Robotnik's –  known as the Shredder, because this show really wasn't concerned about swiping names from other well-known cartoons of the time -  cleaving down trees and zapping their energy away. Sonic quickly defeats the machine, getting more praise from the Freedom Fighters. This incenses Antoine, who is still vying for Sally's romantic attention. After an innocent comment from Rotor about what could possibly impress the princess, Antoine gets the crazy idea to capture Robotnik. He lures the villain out with a Power Ring, traps him, and immediately has the tables turned. The mad doctor uses the ring to recharge the Shredder and build a special laser cannon that can track the hedgehog, forcing Sonic to approach much more cautiously as he goes to rescue his quote-unquote friend.

If “Harmonic Sonic” had a side-purpose of developing Rotor, “Hooked on Sonics” is partially devoted to beefing up Antoine's personality. Up to this point, the cowardly coyote has just been comic relief. He provides some of that here too, with his ridiculous mispronunciation of “fool.” The character's general mixture of patheticness and ego certainly veers towards humor. Yet Antoine learns a lesson here. After he overvalues himself and nearly gets roboticized by Robotnik, Sonic has to save him... Whether than getting pissed at him for giving their greatest enemy their most advantageous weapon, everyone forgives the guy. It's a quiet character moment that speaks volume. And the episode circles back around to humor at the end, as Antoine let's his ego get in the way while recounting the events from his point of view.

Antoine's plan going wrong and Sonic having to rescue him was probably enough of a premise for one episode. Curiously, “Hooked on Sonics” throws in another premise that an entire episode easily could've been built around. With the Power Ring, Robotnik can utilize a radar that tracks Sonic every time he uses his superspeed. Once again, the episode forces the hero to use something other than his speed to save the day. (Sonic is also without the plot-resolving Power Ring, as they only generate once every 24 hours.) Granted, this is pretty similar to what the show did with “Super Sonic.” Still, it's a concept I always like, to see our hero challenged in a way beyond his usual skill set. Though, to be fair, those massive explosions he gets up from probably should have killed him, twice no less...

“Hooked on Sonics” is another episode I had on VHS as a kid. I can definitely recall watching it many times. Something that always stuck out to me about this one was the design of the Shredder  (Which was given the less copyright infringing name of the Shredbot in the comics.) Those giant spider-crab legs are a neat sight and mesh in an entertainingly incongruous way with the giant buzzsaws at the end of its arms. Another odd but endearing element are the telescoping tentacles that extended from its stereotypical robot face. There are blinking eyes at the end of these red tentacles, another likable design choice. The robots have always had a kind of quirky style on this how and I can appreciate that.

“Hooked on Sonics” does have a notable flaw and, perhaps, it's the reason Mr. Rogel only wrote this one episode of “Sonic.” The action scenes are repetitive, each of them following the exact same pattern. Sonic defeats the first Shredder by leading its tentacles into the path of its saw blades or entangling the legs with the same tentacles. Later, Sonic turns the radar against his opponents, leading the blast in his direction before dodging them, making Robotnik destroy his own robots. Later, he misdirects some SWATBots into blasting an important module. Ya know, if that technique worked once, that would be one thing. Having it worked four times in the course of one episode is a bit much.

Yet I'm continuously impressed with how intimidating the network censors and executives allowed Robotnik to be. After Antoine captures the dictator in his primitive pit trap, the mad scientist simply flies out with his rocket boots. He immediately overpowers the coyote strictly with his force of personality. Later, he takes pure, sadistic joy when announcing that he intends to roboticize Antoine. Naturally, we all know Sonic is going to rescue his buddy but the scenes of the terrified Freedom Fighter being dragged to the roboticizer could've been pretty hopeless and bleak. After all, this show already subjected Cat to the same fate.

Lastly, “Hooked on Sonics” is notable for teasing Sonic/Sally shippers even harder than ever before. After taking down the first Shredder, Sally and Sonic share a kiss in the middle of the village. Which is then followed by an even more extended kiss. By the standards of a nineties kids cartoon, this is basically the equivalent of getting laid. That it's then followed up by some belligerent flirtations between the hedgehog and the princess only furthers the romantic tone. Later, after Antoine starts pontificating, the two run off together... Probably to bone. I mean, come on. These two could not be hornier for each other.

Anyway! “Hooked on Sonics” is a pretty fun episode! It's got a cool robot, some decent writing, fun interaction between the characters, and packs enough ideas int hat it moves along quickly. It's not an especially high-water mark for the series but is, nevertheless, a strong one. [7/10]