Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.09: The Odd Couple / Ro-Becca

Sonic the Hedgehog (1993), Episode 2.09: The Odd Couple / Ro-Becca
Original Air Date: November 5th, 1994

“Sonic SatAM” only ran for two short seasons, which you wouldn’t think would produce enough episodes for a consensus to emerge, as far as best and worst installments goes. Yet one episode is generally agreed upon as the worst of the installment. As is often the case, we have executive meddling to thank for this. Following “Fed Up with Antoine / Ghost Busted,” another two-in-one comedic episode would be produced in a continued effort to lighten up the show’s supposedly dark tone. While I can’t say I’ve ever heard much good about the first time “SatAM” tried this, fans are definitely united on hating “The Odd Couple / Ro-Becca.”

The comedic device of two people with opposing personalities being forced to co-habituate is a well worn one. So the “Odd Couple” premise is a common one and Len Jansen didn’t even feel the need to think of a new title for the segment detailing this scenario. So who are our odd couple? Why, Antoine and Sonic, of course. Yes, both segments in this “funny” episode also revolve around Antoine as, I guess, the “SatAM” writer’s room couldn’t think of any funny ideas that didn’t involve the cowardly coyote.

Long story short: During a blizzard, Dulcy makes a rough landing and smashes through Sonic’s hut. (This is partially Antoine’s fault, as he was watching Dulcy and directing Sonic on how to direct her.) Since Antoine has the biggest house in Knothole apparently, Sonic moves in with him. Neat freak Antoine doesn’t respond well to Sonic’s slovenly habits. Soon, the two are driving each other absolutely nuts.

Since this is suppose to be a funny episode, the question must be asked: Did I laugh? No but there are one or two mildly amusing gags here. Let’s consider Antoine’s interior decorating skills. While he does have a portrait of Sally on the wall — let’s not think about the things he’s done in front of that portrait — the painting above his bed is of... Himself! At one point, we also see he has a bed full of stuff animals, which was cute. We also learn in this episode that Sonic’s socks are the same red and white color as his sneakers. Rob Paulsen in general has a good time goofing it up as Antoine. The song he sings while polishing his boots is mildly amusing.

However, this episode is mostly devoted to some truly pedestrian slapstick. Antoine being a neat freak is new information, though hardly out-of-character for him considering his general prissiness. We also learn Sonic sleep-runs, which leads to predictably zany results. Considering how irritating Sonic has always found Antoine, it’s mildly clever that Sonic ends up being the annoying one. Yet it’s hard to get too much joy out of the eventual mental breakdown Antoine suffers or the massive mess Sonic somehow manages to create in his kitchen. The episode hits its nadir with the scene of Antoine being splattered with chili, after it bounces around the room. That was just too wacky for me.

And that raises another point. And this is truly the nerdiest of nitpicks. Antoine’s kitchen includes a fully functioning stove and a wide collection of pots and pans. While making himself chili dogs, which leaves a disproportionately large mess behind, Sonic opens a can of pre-packaged chili. So is Mobius a post-industrial country or what? Was that chili cooked up with ingredients that came from a farm somewhere? Which was then preserved, sealed, and packaged? And then sent somewhere where Sonic could purchase it? Are we to assume this is what happened? Because where does a Freedom Fighting waging a terrorist campaign against an insane dictator buy his groceries? I’m overthinking things again, aren’t I?

So “The Odd Couple” isn’t really good. Yet this two-fer is widely disliked more for its second segment, “Ro-Becca.” It seems adverse weather is the other theme that links these two segments. During a thunderstorm, Rotor assembles a vaguely feline robotic assistant. Antoine is trying to help him but, being a huge klutz, that’s when he drops some nuts, bolts, and screws into the robot. That’s when Ro-Becca springs to life and immediately falls in love with Antoine. It’s the obsessive, smothering, crazy type of love. Antoine is basically tortured for a while by Ro-Becca before Rotor intervenes... Which still doesn’t stop the machine’s uncontrollable passion.

It’s easy to see why “Ro-Becca” is so disliked. The titular robot has to be among the most unappealing characters across the entire “Sonic” franchise. Visually speaking, she’s hideous. She speaks through a radio grate, which is made further uncanny by the addition of lips around it. She has a plume or white-streaked “Bride of Frankenstein” hair atop her head. (That, along with Rotor’s castle-like lab and the thunderstorm, suggest a classic horror atmosphere that I would’ve loved if the rest of the segment wasn’t so bad.) Her body was seemingly made up of junk Rotor had around his workshop, so her left foot is a tricycle wheel and her torso resembles a purple trash can. Add the cat-like face and tail for an all-together unpleasant. And then she speaks in a nasally, obnoxious, Fran Drescher-like voice.

Not to mention her behavior, which is deeply comfortable. Antoine’s unwanted robot girlfriend is, essentially, abusive. She flattens a door atop him during a manic chase. Later, she force-feeds him a grey slop with more nuts and bolts inside it. This leads to Ro-Becca attempting to massage Antoine’s sore body, which feels like it’s seconds away from escalating to something much more assault-y. Heaping abuse on Antoine is the primary gag here. He’s also struck by lighting at one point. Yeah, sure, Antoine is a weenie and somewhat annoying... But this quickly starts to feel cruel. The combination of a relentlessly wacky tone, with the horribly obnoxious Ro-Becca, results in a painful ten minutes.

I want to give writer Pat Allee some credit. The conclusion is so bizarre, it borders full-blown absurdity. Antoine deduces that his suave French style is what makes him so irresistible to Ro-Becca. So he adopts a Schwarzneggerian accent, which succeeds in driving the robot away. When Sonic mockingly imitates Antoine’s natural voice, he becomes the new object of her obsession. This could’ve been spun into some sort of moral, if Sonic getting some of his own medicine after picking on Antoine so much, but the episode’s comedic sadism and questionable gender politics makes that hard to assume.

Thankfully, Ro-Becca did not become a regular cast member of “SatAM.” In fact, outside of Archie’s slapdash “Ghost Busted” adaptation years later, none of the jokey “SatAM” episodes had any lasting effect on the overall “Sonic” franchise. I’ll admit, when I use to daydream about stealing Ian Flynn’s job, I thought about trying to redeem Ro-Becca. Even then, I dropped the creepy Antoine obsession in favor of the idea of a newly created robot learning to experience the intricacies of the world for the first time. But that’s all besides the point. “The Odd Couple” gets maybe a [5/10], if I’m being nice, while I must shame “Ro-Becca” with a [4/10].