Sonic Underground, Episode 1.37: Bartleby the Prisoner

Sonic Underground, Episode 1.37: Bartleby the Prisoner

Original Air Date: October 19th, 1999

Let's jump right into this one: Bartleby is just hanging out in his mansion, doing rich people shit, when a SWATBot barges in and arrests him. He's immediately put on trial for assisting the Resistance. Little does he know, this is actually a trap to lure out Sonia and her brothers. Who are on the other side of the planet! The triplets are currently trying to destroy a mine where Robotnik are harvesting ultra condensed rubies, that can be used to create extremely powerful lasers. Will Sonia be able to destroy Robotnik's new resource and save her ex-boyfriend? 

In case you were wondering, and the above plot synopsis didn't make it apparent: No, the two plot lines in "Bartleby the Prisoner" never actually interact. Sonia travels back and forth between helping her brothers out at the mine and checking in on Bartleby. No attempt is made to link these two ideas on a narrative level. Instead of focusing on one over the other, "Bartleby the Prisoner" attempts to make equal room for both. Which means we have two story lines here and they are both horribly underdeveloped. It feels like two vaguely fleshed out plot synopses just awkwardly existing next to each other. Two writers are credited with this script – Eleanor Burian-Mohr wrote an episode of "AoStH" but this is Terence Taylor's only "Sonic"-related credit – and I honestly wonder if both didn't just write their own scripts and then haphazardly mush them together. 

I really have very little to say about the ruby mine portion of the episode. It leads to some extremely underwhelming action scenes, devoted to Sonic and the gang traveling around in a drill-tipped tank and blasting uninspired looking robots. The big moment, when Sonia jabs a ruby into the muzzle of her blaster and produces a powerful laser beam that collapses the mine, is so listlessly brought to life. The animation is weak, which is especially apparent during the odd moment when the drill tank explodes out the ground atop some sort of dirt geyser. Trevor, the hippy-looking Resistance member that has shown up twice before, is also here. He almost dies, when his shuttle is shot down, but the scene has so little dramatic tension that it barely registers. 

And, really, who gives a shit about Trevor? He's just some random guy, that we've never really gotten a chance to know. I hate to say it but I think I'm actually more invested in Bartleby. And Bartleby is a terrible character. Bartleby's haughty attitude, obnoxious voice, and unapologetically bougie personality has made him hard to like. I think the character was meant to function similarly to Antoine's role in "SatAM." Namely, a ridiculous stuffed shirt for our heroes to mock. Yet the semi-prominent role this idle rich idiot has played, especially his connection with Sonia, continued the distressing undercurrent in this series that "maybe the aristocracy isn't so bad." In other words: Bartleby is annoying, both because of who he is and what he means for this show.

Yet, at least after a dozen appearances, he undergoes some degree of character development here. Bartleby being persecuted by Robotnik for helping the Resistance could've led the aristocrat to a change of heart. It could've helped him realize that being a rich piece of shit totally complacent in Robotnik's cruel dictatorship is bad and that he should stop doing that. Instead, it's all just a trap and Bartleby doesn't face any real consequences for his actions. (Even though he actually has helped the Resistance multiple times, meaning Robotnik actually has a point here.) But by the end of the episode, Bartleby does realize that Sonia is never coming back to him. That they have chosen two incompatible paths. So that's something. He's still an obnoxious one-percenter fine with fascism as long as it doesn't affect him but at least he understands where his ex-girlfriend is coming from now. 

The episode chooses to show this growth with a final scene that parodies "Casablanca," for some reason. The other nineteen minutes have nothing to do with the rest of the film. Sonia and Bartleby's relationship isn't really comparable to Bogie and Ingrid Bergman. It's a pop culture reference inserted with no particular point. That is a good representation of this episode, which veers towards dumb-ass humor and weird parody. There are at least two references to the O.J. Simpson trial: Sleet drops the line "If he lies, you must Roboticize," an obvious callback to a notorious rhyming defense, and Sonic obsessively watches Bartleby's trial, even while on the mission, much the same way average Americans were hooked in the proceedings in the Simpson trial. The episode has nothing else in common with the 90s' most notorious miscarriage of justice. Yet at least these moments are funnier, due to sheer randomness, than the other attempts at humor here. Like Dingo being Bartleby's incompetent lawyer or Robotnik wearing a powdered wig. 

Oh yeah, there's a song too. When Sonic Underground shows up to rescue Bartleby, they rock out as they blast Robotnik's court room. Consider this the faintest of praise but the show's songs have gotten slightly better as it's gone along. "Justice Callin'" has childish lyrics but the message they're sending – Robotnik, we're coming for your fat ass – at least makes sense for this world. The songwriters for this show seemed to realize, late in the game, that songs strictly about the Resistance's struggle against Robotnik are a lot more natural than, say, a rap song about mummies. The hard rock backing track is also tolerable. It's not music I would ever listen to in other context but at least it didn't make me grit my teeth and look away in shame. 

If this review seemed unfocused and half-assed, I apologize. This episode is unfocused and half-assed and I can only work with what I'm given. It has a couple of moments that amused me, because of how out-of-place they are, but I can't really recommend it. As far as I can tell, this is Bartleby's final appearance on the show, so at least I won't have to look at this stupid face and hear his annoying voice ever again. [5/10]