Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.09: Sonic's Nightmare

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 1.09: Sonic's Nightmare
Original Air Date: November 13th, 1993

Before we go any further, I want to talk about that writer credit on the title screen for a minute. Every week, I listen to Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast, mostly because the screechy-voiced comedian loves classic monster movies and old showbiz stories as much as I do. (And the show usually has pretty good guests, in addition to being consistently hilarious.) Gilbert's co-host is Frank Santopadre, a longtime writer in daytime television with an encyclopedic knowledge of vintage pop culture. So when I saw Mr. Santopadre's name flash up as the writer of this episode, I was truly surprised. That Frank Santopadre? What are the odds!

It turns out, yes, years before he was gabbing on the internet about Cesar Romero's unnatural interest in orange wedges, Mr. Santopadre wrote a teleplay to an episode of the best “Sonic” show. It was Frank's sole contribution to “SatAM,” presumably robbing us of future hedgehog-related John McGiver references. However, Frank has a number of other writing credits for animation including a nine episode run on “The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries” and selected episodes of “CatDog,” “The Angry Beavers,” Eek! The Cat,” “Toonsylvania,” and “Archie's Weird Mysteries.” (But more on that show in a few days...)

On with the actual review! “Sonic's Nightmare” is an episode of SatAM I have very distinct memories of. As I've mentioned before, despite my love for it, “Sonic” was never a series I got to revisit as much as I wanted to. I had those VHS tapes, containing all of six episodes which I watched ragged, and would catch the occasional rerun. But most of these episodes I only saw once as a kid. I definitely only saw “Sonic's Nightmare” once but the image of the titular phantasm – of Sonic racing towards Sally as she's roboticized before his very eyes – really stuck with me.

I remember I was distractedly playing with some toys on the family rug when I looked up just in time to see Sally scream in agony, which made me freeze in my spot. It's a moment I've never forgotten, even though I didn't see the episode again until the DVD release in 2007. That memory alone is the real reason this episode ranked on the list of spookiest “Sonic” moments I put together a while back. Making it all the more appropriate that this review should get posted in the back-end of October, officially the spoopiest time of the year. (Though ABC, in their infinite dumbassery, originally aired this one just after the Halloween season ended.)

So what exactly are the details of this particular episode? Sonic is awoken by a startling nightmare, where he's repeatedly delayed in rescuing Sally from the roboticizor, her mocking voice ringing in his ears, before he stumbles to his death from a collapsing bridge. The hedgehog is seriously shaken, though he won't admit it. That day, Nicole discovers a Robotnik broadcast that he's planning on seeding the clouds above a near-by island with pollutants, creating acid rain. Sally, Bunnie, and Antoine go undercover in SWATBot disguises but are soon captured. Sonic has to race into action to rescue his friends but finds himself shaken by the memories of his nightmare.

“Sonic's Nightmare” has a really interesting premise. Once again, it's cool to see Sonic face a mental, rather than physical, challenge. Especially one that originates entirely in his own mind. The hedgehog is suppose to be unflappable after all, far too fast and cool to be shaken by anything, so there's definite value in seeing him so shaken. That's the kind of thing good writing is suppose to do, put its characters in new situations that expand their personality and history. Once again, Sonic being so vulnerable is exactly the kind of thing Sega would probably never allow today, with their ridiculous corporate mandates about how the character can be portrayed. And that gives this episode a lot of value.

However, I wish “Sonic's Nightmare” handled things with a little more balance. I suppose a deep dive into Sonic's psychological trauma would be too much to ask. However, the episode really skims over the importance of Sonic's nightmare and what it means to him personally. Obviously, he's scared of loosing Sally, of failing his friends, and loosing the war. Instead of really exploring his personal connection to these ideas, the episode just lets it lay. Clearly, he's really upset by these thoughts because, later in the episode, a reminder of these events – which are very different from what he actually dreamed – causes him to freeze up. I wish “Sonic's Nightmare” utilized the trauma of that nightmare and how it reflects Sonic's personal fears a little more deeply.

And how does that nightmare sequence, which made such an impact on young-me, hold up? Parts of it are still very effective. In one particular reprise, we actually see Sally's body turn into a machine. Her face locks in a scream and Kath Soucie gives us her absolute best blood-curdling shriek. That moment is pretty great. However, some of the other nightmare scenes are kind of goofy. There's a certain cliched quality to Sonic getting his feet caught in Mega Muck. The reframe of Sally repeating “Where were you when the brains were handed out?” becomes campy pretty quickly. The nightmare sequences are all depicted in a blurry, “dream” quality, which really distracts from their effectiveness. Overall, it's frustrating that “Sonic's Nightmare” isn't scarier because it comes really close to being genuinely creepy.

In general, I'm sad to say, Mr. Santopadre's script leaves a bit to be desired. There are a number of questionable writing decisions made throughout “Sonic's Nightmares.”  The action sequences are somewhat underwhelming. At one point, Sonic is outrunning a hedgehog-tracking giant fireball, which he defeats by leading into the water. That's the kind of action beat I feel like the series has been leaning on a little too much here of late. Not long after that, he drops some SWATBot into the same water, causing them to short-circuit. Shit, are you telling me that Robotnik doesn't waterproof his death-machines? The climax of Sonic burrowing into the earth to activate an old oil well, which then splatters the cloud-seeder out of the sky, is perhaps not the most elegant solution to this particular problem we could've gotten.

In the last act, several dramatic events happen one after the other. Once again, the Power Ring is used as an all-purpose plot fixer, when Sonic uses it to short out the electrified force field holding his friends in their cage. After that, the island most of the episode is set on begins to sink into the ground for no identifiable reason I can see. While escaping the falling cloud-seeder, Snively and Robotnik fly off in one of his hovercrafts that just happens to have perfect stealth abilities. Gee, why couldn't Robotnik outfit more, if not all, of his weapons of war with that particular piece of technology? That seems like the kind of thing that could utterly devastate his enemies! Yet it's just something introduced to weasel out of a plot hole at the very end – the Freedom Fighters and the bad guys going their separate ways, so the battle can continues next week – not because it actually contributes to the deeper lore or logic of the setting.

Some of the episode's flaws might just because it was a writer-for-hire job. Santopadre really piles in on the character's catch phrases. Sonic talks about juicin' so much in this episode, you'd think he was a professional baseball player. Tails even uses that particular line, after being momentarily convinced by the sight of Sally in a SWATBot helmet. Bunnie, meanwhile, spouts off far too many folksy slang terms for my taste. She repeatedly calls Sonic “ol' sugar-hog” in a way that proves a little distracting. She even gets a bad pun about a “sinking sensation” as the island begins to be consumed by the earth at the end.

The series' ecological element plays a large role here too. The entire plot of the episode, after all, revolves around the Freedom Fighters trying to prevent Robotnik from purposely creating acid rain. That I have no problem with. What bugs me is we never actually get a motivation why Robotnik wants to do this so much. What strategic advantage is there in making corroding chemicals rain from the sky? I thought maybe this would've been another way to strip the Great Forest and reveal Knothole but, if it is, that's never mentioned. Mostly, it seems Robotnik wants to do this because he's a bad guy in a nineties kids cartoon and destroying the environment for no reason is just their thing

Yet, like even the weakest episode of “SatAM,” “Sonic's Nightmares” is still worth watching for a number of really adorable character moments. While disguise as the SWATBots, the fearful Antoine has to work extra-hard to keep his knees from shaking, which is a cute touch. The episode concludes with an adorable scene of Sonic having a sensual dream, Sally reacting with blushing... Before she realizes he's dreaming about a chili dog. Also, when Robotnik thinks he has a chance to fire a missile at the Freedom Fighters, the mechanism won't operate. This is also a bullshit writing decision but it does lead to Jim Cummings' screaming in deranged, frustrated rage which is always fun to witness.

Also, there are some noticeable animation errors in this one. SWATBots are seen repetitively milling about in the background of one scene. All the characters go weirdly off-model at one point, getting stretchier out of the blue. I really wish “Sonic's Nightmare” worked a little better for me on this rewatch. You have no idea how ashamed I am to give this anything less than a 7/10. It's possible my childhood memories of this one are a little too big and bold, making the real thing seem less impressive in comparison. [6/10]