Sonic Underground, Episode 1.28: Getting to Know You

Sonic Underground, Episode 1.28: Getting to Know You

Original Air Date: October 6th, 1999

As I learned from my "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" retrospective, syndication packages air shows in whatever fucked-up order they want. For "AoStH," this really didn't matter too much, as the series had little in the way of continuity. "Sonic Underground," on the other hand, actually did have some serial elements, including two three-part story arcs. When the show was originally aired in the U.S., these three-parters were chopped up and distributed throughout the show's forty episode run for reasons I can only speculate on. Perhaps this is because the show's official order is equally mixed up. When Shout! Factory released "Sonic Underground" on DVD, they put the show – and the three-parters – in actual sequential order. This far more reasonable pattern is the one I will be following.

Which is why we are talking about the second entry in the "Origins" arc today, "Getting to Know You." The royal triplets have taken resident in an obscure corner of Robotropolis but Robotnik remains hot on their tails. Sleet and Dingo soon track them down, forcing Sonic and his siblings to flee. Following a map the Oracle gave them, which was lost in the attack but Sonia memorized, they head to a forest. There, a fellow named Gandar trains them in combat before sending them onward to a mysterious monastery. They learn further lessons there, including unlocking the secrets of their medallions. 

The first episode of "Sonic Underground" was so focused on introducing the show's premise that it didn't really have time for the triplets to get to know each other. As the title indicates, this is the main point of "Getting to Know You." Sonia was raised in the lap of luxury, so she bristles against the rough and messy lifestyles Sonic and Manic are used to. Sonic and Manic bond more easily but the green brother has something of a confidence problem, wondering if his highly skilled brother and sister even need his help. Sonic, meanwhile, learns a lesson about his own impulsiveness. It's not high art or anything. Sonia's typically girlish interest in fashion and disinterest in trampling through a sewer is pretty hacky. But at least the show is taking its time in developing these characters before rushing forward. 

Unfortunately, I still can't shake the hokey nature of how "Sonic Underground" goes about this. Inevitably, the idea of the triplets learning to work together coheres into a "playing in harmony" metaphor. Because, ya know, they're a band. Yet getting together to play music doesn't really fit the premise of a group of royal exiles/freedom fighters hiding from the regime that dethroned their mom. You'd think the show would connect the idea of rebels on the run with the premise of a touring band. Instead, the two premises – "SatAM"-lite and the "Sonic plays in a magic band!" idea – co-exists in an incredibly awkward way. Not to mention the idea of a band also being crime-fighters with magical instruments that double as weapons is fucking hokey. Hanna-Barbera did that shit back in the sixties, man. 

And it doesn't help that the show literalizes the pun in the most obvious way. Yes, this all leads up to the episode's musical number. When the triplets learn to work together, they spontaneously learn to play as a band. The song is literally called "Working Together in Harmony," smashing the viewer over the head with the point. The song starts out with some Gregorian monk style chanting, due to the monastery setting, but quickly segues into a doo-wop number. Which just makes the harmonizing pun even more brutally obvious. Never mind that kids in 1999 had no interest in doo-wop. Never mind that a rougher, punk rock sound would probably make more sense for these characters and their instruments. All that aside, the song just sucks. The instrumentation is tinny and cheap sounding and the lyrics – which includes mouthful rhymes like "wait" and "communicate" – are dreadful. 

All of this points towards how un-"Sonic"-like this show is. Sure, Sega had originally planned for Sonic to play in a band but I doubt that was on DiC's mind when they developed "Underground." Being a rock star has nothing to do with Sonic as we know him. And, similarly, "Underground" is packed with generic sci-if/fantasy tropes that have little to do with Sonic. Gandar is a mishmash of different ideas, swinging on a vine like Tarzan, dressing like some weird barbarian hero, and instructing like Yoda or something. He doesn't even look like he's from the same show as Sonic, having totally different proportions. A monastery in the sky setting, populated with wise monks that send our heroes on lesson-teaching vision quests, is a similarly well-worn premise. Say what you will about Archie "Sonic's" bizarre deviations from Sega lore but at least they usually made it feel like it fit with Sonic's world. "Underground" already feels like an unrelated sci-fi/fantasy show that stars Sonic for some reason. 

I guess I'm just going to have to get over how different "Underground" is from established "Sonic" lore, since I've got 38 more of these fucking things left to review. So let's focus on the show's unique cast members, like Sleet and Dingo. Those two get more development in this episode. Dingo is established as more of a big strong dumbass. Upon seeing her, he develops a childish crush on Sonia, which she utilized to trick him. Sleet is more devious, even pointing a laser gun at our hedgehog heroes. If this show leans into this idea, that Dingo is a super strong overgrown kid that's being manipulated by the genuinely sinister Sleet, that could be interesting. But they'll probably just become the next Scratch and Grounder instead.

As with "Beginnings," there's an inkling that this show could be better. Ben Hurst and Pat Allee's script tries to develop the heroes, hinting that there was potentially room for a more character-oriented story here. Unlike the farcical "AoStH," at least there are actual stakes to this premise. The heroes are outmatched and outnumbered by the villains, who mean them real harm. There's even a hint of the environmental angle that characterized "SatAM," in a scene where a forest's trees leap to life to defend themselves from interlopers. Yet the focus on the obnoxious pop band angle and a world that feels equal parts generic and bizarrely unrelated is still resulting in an annoying, unpleasant show. [5/10]