Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.04: Blast to the Past: Part 1

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.04: Blast to the Past: Part 1
Original Air Date: October 1st, 1994

If you need further proof of how serialized “SatAM” was becoming in its second season, one need only look at the “Blast to the Past” two-parter. This was the first time time the show had done a two-part story. The episode’s plot is built heavily upon the show’s up-to-then lore, showing Robotnik’s coup of Mobotropolis — the events that triggered the Freedom Fighter’s guerrilla war — that was previously only depicted in the opening title sequence. (Though this episode clarifies that this happened when Sonic was a child, while he’s his normal teenage self in the opening. But theme songs are typically not canon.) In fact, reasonably sure this two-parter might have introduced my own childhood self to the concept of TV show’s continuing their plot across multiple episodes. I definitely recall seeing this story line play and, in the period afterwards, insisting every show I watched after that actually ended on some sort of cliffhanger. Kids are weird.

As is typical, the episode begins with the Freedom Fighters heading into Robotropolis to sabotage some new facility of Robotnik’s. This time, the team is made up of Sonic, Sally, Bunnie, and two Freedom Fighters that we have never seen before this moment. The big difference this time is that the heroes fail. The unnamed horse dude and bear guy get captured and Roboticized. The named characters barely escape. Sally feels great guilt over this failure and Sonic wishes the war could be ended before it began... Which is when Dulcy mentions the Time Stones, mystical artifacts that allow time travel and reside on the Floating Island. (The names of two Sega plot devices being used is probably a coincidence.) Sally insists such things are legend but Dulcy claims to have discovered the Island. She takes Sonic and Sally there and, after some traps and tests, the two are successfully whisked back to Mobotropolis. They meet their childhood selves, a still organic Uncle Chuck, and King Acorn. Despite their warnings, Robotnik’s coup still seems to be occurring and earlier than expected.

“Blast to the Past” is a Ben Hurst episode and continues the new head writer’s commitment to inserting heady Big Ideas into a children’s cartoon. I’m not just talking about time travel, though “Blast to the Past” briefly grapples with ideas of pre-destination and causality. Only briefly, as Sonic and Sally do not graphically melt into a puddle of goo when interacting with their past selves. It’s certainly hinted that Sonic and Sally fucking around with the timeline may have sped up the pace of Robotnik’s takeover. However, Hurst seems more concerned with the idea that the peacefulness of childhood most inevitably give way to the upheaval of adolescence. Mobotropolis seems idyllic but the threat of Robotnik’s domination is always lingering in the background. The darkness is coming.

This idea is most evident in Sally’s reunion with her dad. All throughout the show, this is what she has been fighting for, a chance to be reunited with her lost father. When right outside the throne room, Sally is racked with anxiety, fighting back tears. Naturally, she softly coos and cries when finally seeing him again. This should be a joyous moment but it’s not. The trauma of that loss, of fighting through it all these years, still weighs on Sally. The idea of finally overcoming it brings with it more stress, not relief. And whatever joy can be found here is impermanent, about to be torn away. An idea made all the more literal when Robotnik smashes his war ship right through the castle wall.

More than just thematic concepts, this is also an episode full of wacky fantasy ideas. I certainly always remember “SatAM” being more of a sci-fi show but this rewatch is making it increasingly clear that the series was more rooted in wacky, eighties-style fantasy. A hidden temple, guarded by a pair of ill-tempered gargoyles, definitely seem like something out of a Conan the Barbarian comic. While traversing the temple, Sonic and Sally step through a surreal, M. C. Escher-style collection of interlacing, physics defying staircases. (An image that was also used in “Labyrinth” and “A Nightmare on Elm Street 5,” so that visual language was all over the place at the time.) The idea of a riddle-telling guardian is also as old as Greek mythology, though a floating owl head is a lot less intimidating than Oedipus’ Sphinx. One of the things worth loving about “SatAM” is how casually it introduces crazy shit like this.

As a young “Sonic” nerd, I think I most liked “Blast to the Past” for delving into the history of this fictional universe. In retrospect, it’s weird that the show didn’t do this sooner. We know Sonic and the gang are fighting to restore this great city, that was lost and destroyed when Robotnik took over. It’s odd that, two seasons in, we are only just now really seeing what was lost. And Mobotropolis does seem pretty nice, though law-enforcing robots still roam the skies and, ya know, it’s still a monarchy for some reason. Hearing Uncle Chuck invented the Roboticizer to help the elderly and infirm certainly fills a void in the backstory. Watching the soft-spoken and regal Julian reveal his true self, the megalomaniacal Robotnik, is worthwhile too. The sequence where he plans the coup and belittles Snively is a great display of how sinister and intimidating Jim Cummings’ voice work can be.

It’s also just fun seeing Sonic and Sally interact with the younger versions of themselves. We see the roots of Sonic and Sally’s belligerent bickering/flirting when little Sally calls little Sonic a stinky, dumb boy for gulping down countless chili dogs. (And his response that being a stinky dumb boy is awesome is also mildly amusing.) Sonic racing and bantering with himself - he introduces himself as Juice, presumably because he's playing with the Queen of Hearts - is also really cute. Later, we get introduced to the entire Freedom Fighter team as kids. While we don’t see much of young Bunnie or Rotor, we do learn that Antoine has always been a cowardly weenie and that the group has always had a propensity for adventure. This episode also introduces Rosie the nanny, a minor cartoon character who would become a slightly less minor comic book character.

Even in an episode handling some heavily ideas and emotions, you can still feel that network executive edict that “SatAM” be wackier and funnier. Though Dulcy proves herself useful by taking Sonic and Sally to the Floating Island, clearing out the fog, and saving them during the fight with the gargoyles, she still curls up like a bat and falls asleep mere seconds after the duo arrives. Apparently she didn't find the sight of a mysterious temple and a magical floating island very compelling. This is also an episode that leans way too hard on snarky banter. It seems every other line that comes out of Sally's mouth is negging Sonic, with the hedgehog having a sarcastic catchphrase on his lips just as often. All of this jives badly with what is otherwise a pretty serious episode.

The animation is also slightly off in this one. Sally and Sonic both look mildly off-model in many scenes, their heads being too big, smiles fixed oddly on their faces, bodies too chubby. The action scenes are often very flat in their movement. The gargoyles just disappear after being led off the island. The unnamed, unimportant Freedom Fighters just float weightless by the side of those weird flying SWATBots as they are escorted to the Roboticizer. The animation quality picks up a little after the story moves to the past, but everyone still seems slightly stretchier, slightly goopier than usual.

Still, it can't distract from what is obviously a pretty good episode. And, hey, Tim Curry also shows up to voice both King Acorn and the guardian of the Time Stones. (Who Flynn would later dub “Nicholas O'Tyme” in the Sonic Comic Encyclopedia, though he never got to use the actual character in any stories.) It's sort of funny how many kids cartoon shows an actor best known for playing a hyper-kinky space transvestite would show up in during the nineties. That is always a treat. [7/10]