Sonic X, Episode 2.25: Friends ‘Til the End

Sonic X, Episode 2.25: Friends ‘Til the End

Japanese Title: Chris' Long Journey

Japanese Air Date: March 21st , 2004

U.S. Air Date: March 19th, 2005

It seems to me that “Sonic X” is fairly well regarded in the “Sonic” fandom, especially by the people who grew up watching it. This is, of course, with the exception of Chris Thorndyke, who is seemingly despised by the majority of fans. I’m betting TMS did not anticipate this because, truthfully, Chris is more the main character of “Sonic X” than Sonic is. Sonic’s emotional state remains largely the same throughout the series. Chris’ angst is what really drives the story more times than not. That becomes very apparent in the penultimate episode of season two, “Friends ‘Til the End.” The Japanese title even gives Clingy Chris top-billing by naming the episode “Chris’ Long Journey.”

After an extensive recap of the last episode — this one has a lot of stock footage in general — we return to Chris slamming the stop button on the Stargate thingamajig. He grabs Sonic’s hand and tears off into the night, running through the forest. The two embark on a road trip that, slowly, takes them to a vacation cabin the Thorndykes spent one summer together in. Chris’ parents are frantically searching for him the entire time, but Chris doesn’t want to return to them. He just wants to have Sonic. Around a campfire, Sonic and Chris talk out the boy’s issues and he seems to find some level of catharsis. 

All the time in these reviews that I’ve spend analyzing Chris Thorndyke’s clear neuroses, I wasn’t being entirely serious. Obviously the show didn’t put that much thought into it… Or did it? Because this episode begins with a lengthy flashback to Chris’ early childhood, to what seems to be the first time his parents left him alone in the mansion. He innocently asks his parents if they’ll return “if he’s good.” This proceeds a Christmas that Chris spent almost alone, as Ella gave him the gifts his parents delivered to him. No wonder this kid has such intense abandonment issues and no self-worth! He’s tied his entire confidence to his parents being there for him, which they’ve refuse to do his entire life. I feel validated that my arm-chair head shrinking of this cartoon character was right on the money. 

Since this episode is so focused on Chris’ psychological trauma, it forces Sonic into an unexpected role: Therapist. The hedgehog seems to understand immediately what the boy is going through and chooses to go on this journey with him. He listens to him, which I’m betting most people don’t. During that climatic scene around the fire, Sonic makes Chris understand that he is being selfish by forcing the blue hedgehog to stay on Earth. He does this mostly by getting the kid to talk it out himself. More importantly, he points out that many of the amazing things Chris did during the series was entirely his own actions. He doesn’t say “The greatness was inside you all along, boy” but might as well. He finally gets Chris to realize his own worth, gets him to see that it is not tied to his status as Sonic’s friend. Damn, Sonic, I never would’ve guessed that you were so good at the Talking Cure.

Amusingly, this scene does not really contradict my personal theory that Sonic actually dislikes Chris and avoids him most of the time. Throughout their meaningful discussion, Sonic reveals that he mostly puts up with Chris because the boy saved his life in that first episode. He feels obligated to spend time with him, which makes the kid cry. Presumably, that’s because he also assumes his grandfather, maid, and butler pay attention to him out of a similar sense of personal, professional obligation. The episode zips right pass this, to Sonic helping Chris out, but I definitely noticed. It was nice of Sonic to let this poor little rich boy down easy, instead of just saying “You’re weird kid but I’m sorry that happened to you.”

This episode also does something else I never expected “Sonic X” to do. It acknowledges that Nelson and Lindsey Thorndyke fucking suck. The billionaire, of course, expends no dollar in the search for his heir. He’s calling in the fucking military and robots and shit. Lindsey, ever image conscious, demands that they prepare a party and gifts for Chris’ return. Neither seem to consider that the boy ran away because of their failings. That’s when Chuck barges in and points out that, hey, maybe if they weren’t working all the time, Chris wouldn’t feel so lonely. Chuck even blames himself, pointing out that he was similarly work-obsessed when Nelson was a lad, that his son learned this behavior from him. All of this ignores that rich people don’t actually work but I still didn’t expect “Sonic X,” of all programs, to acknowledge the generational failures of parenting. 

When not deconstructing the psychological issues of the Thorndyke brood, this episode focuses on Sonic and Chris on the road. I’m partial to road trip stories so I kind of enjoyed those parts. The scenes of Sonic and Chris hanging out in a roadside dinner. Or Sonic committing breaking-and-entering when he snaps the lock on the old Thorndyke vacation home. (Which has apparently sat completely unused all these years, which is such rich people shit.) There’s even a scene of them hitching a ride with a very confused truck driver, after Nelson sics the black helicopters on Chris. There’s a coziness to these scenes that I really didn’t expect. 

In fact, this whole episode is much more laidback and character-based than I expected. There’s many quiet scenes, of Sonic chilling in the hay-filled bed of that truck. Or the two dudes gathering wood for the fire. I guess with Eggman out of the picture for now, it’s not like “Sonic X” had a super villain to drive the story. What else was there to focus on besides Chris’ childhood trauma? I really wonder what American kids watching this on the Fox Box for the first time in 2005 thought of such a slow-paced episode, when they probably expected something more action-packed for the penultimate episode of the season. I guess episodes like this is why so many people deride Chris Thorndyke as “whiny” (which is a fair criticism) or “taking the focus off Sonic.” (Which I don’t care about so much.)

But kids are stupid, so who cares what they think. I went into this show expecting to hate Chris, like everyone does, and have become surprisingly invested in his personal development. I didn’t expect that! That’s probably why an entirely character-centric episode like this hits a lot harder with me than maybe it does with other viewers. Either way, I’m glad Chris finally got some closure and emotional support. He may be a rich little fuck but I still felt sorry for such an obviously broken child. Hopefully this ending will prevent him from growing up into a super villain or, worse, another Jeff Bezos. [7/10]