Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.24: Tails in Charge

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Episode 1.24: Tails in Charge

Original Air Date: October 11th, 1993

As the title indicates, "Tails in Charge" has Sonic's little buddy taking center stage. Robotnik builds a machine called the Stopper Zapper, a ray gun that can stop anyone in their tracks by turning them into a stone-like object. He deploys Scratch and Grounder to shoot Sonic with this ray. After a series of zany traps involving chili dogs, our heroes are attempting to escape when Tails goes back for his skateboard. This leaves Sonic vulnerable and he gets zapped. Now, Tails has to protect his petrified pal and defend himself from the two incompetent lackeys. 

Since Sonic's speed is his defining characteristic, and his primary advantage over Robotnik, it only makes sense that various attempts have been made over the years to strip that speed away. This idea was the focus of a "SatAM" episode and an early issue of Archie "Sonic," and probably other "Sonic" stories, so it's unsurprising that "AoStH" would try their hand at this premise too... And have already kind of done it. Though this time he's turned totally inert, instead of merely slowed down. I'm not even halfway through this retrospective and episode premises are already starting to be recycled some. Once again, you can tell how eager the writers were to get these scripts done. 

But it's actually okay, because this episode isn't really about slowing Sonic down. Instead, the premise of this one is Tails having to defend himself while his best buddy is out-of-commission. Which is a good idea for a story and "Tails in Charge" does better with it than expected. No, the episode never addresses how Sonic getting turned to stone is kind of Tails' fault. Where did that skateboard he was suddenly carrying around come from anyway? The fox never has much guilt over his role in that. Yet watching Tails defend himself is compelling. Scratch and Grounder may be jokes but, to a little kid like Tails, they are capable of being intimidating. Most of this episode involves the little fox buddy hiding in a factory, trying to outthink his increasingly brute strength opponents. 

If this show wasn't a goofy kids comedy, it might've been able to generate some actual tension from this premise. Tails and the petrified Sonic hiding in an office, while Scratch and Grounder sulk around outside, might've generated some suspense. Still, it is kind of cute watching Tails follow in Sonic's footstep. At one point, he dons a military police uniform and attempts to trick Scratch and Grounder, much like Sonic has a hundred times before. It almost works too, before Tails' most prominent physical features gives him away. 

I know Ben Hurst of "SatAM" was really invested in Tails' potential. It was a theme the comics touched on often too. Sometimes, Ian Flynn has over-corrected and taken Tails from a scared kid to a hyper-competent badass. "Tails in Charge" doesn't go that far. Scratch, Grounder, and this version of Robotnik are all pretty easy to fool. But this episode is far more compelling when Tails is a little outmatched, then at the end where he's sending the Badniks through a series of elaborate traps and casually munching chili dogs the whole time. 

"Tails in Charge" would still probably be among "AoStH's" best episodes, if it didn't take so long to get to the point. Only about half the episode is devoted to Tails' predicament. There's a long stretch in the beginning, devoted to the typical slapstick shenanigans. There's a huge boulder, a giant slingshot, a gravestone, and yet another fake chili dog stand. Two physical gags strike me as especially baffling. Sonic feeds Grounder a super spicy chili dog which causes his cheeks to blow out, transforming his head into a bulldog's head. He then grows a cat head and what is either chili, blood, or liquid diarrhea spurts from his neck. That was weird but not as inexplicable as a moment where a bird lands on a rock and does a disco dance. No wonder YouTube Poopers loved this show. It was random internet comedy before random internet comedy was a thing. 

Even with the typical stupidity you associate with "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog," this is still among the show's better episodes. It has a clever idea at the center of its story, features a little character development, shakes up the typical formula, and isn't solely focused on weirdo slapstick humor. For this particular "Sonic" cartoon, that's a glowing recommendation. [6/10]