Sonic X, Episode 3.03: H2 Whoa

Sonic X, Episode 3.03: H2 Whoa

Japanese Title: The Water Planet Hydo

U.S. Air Date: September 24th, 2005

Japanese Air Date: March 27th, 2020

"Sonic X's" intergalactic voyage truly begins with the third episode of season three. Using the Master Emerald as a tracking device, Knuckles determines that the near-by planet of Hydo is home to a Chaos Emerald. Sonic is appalled to find what was advertised as a world full of flat, runnable terrain is actually almost entirely covered by water. This is a result of the Metarex army already stealing Hydo's Planet Egg. While Knuckles, Cosmo, and Cream search for the Blue Chaos Emerald, Sonic attempts to battle the local Metarex. When his hydrophobia inevitably gets the best of him, Amy and Chris swing in to save the hedgehog. 

It's still early in the season, so who's to say, but I can suspect the direction "Sonic X" may be going in from here on out. In this episode, Sonic and the gang's search for the Chaos Emeralds brings them to a planet defined by a singular gimmick. While there, they fight the Metarex army and restore the world by the end. This is an easy enough premise to repeat every week, changing the gimmick of the new planets accordingly. I'm sure the show will mix it up but I bet we have quite a few more of what TVTropes calls "Planet of Hats" episodes to come. 

I actually have no issue with this set-up. I like "Star Trek" after all and there's lots of fun that can be had with this idea. "H2 Whoa" does indeed amuse me with its variation on the "water planet" premise. That means lots of blue and some beaches. The Metarex minions on this world wear bipedal fish-like armor. This makes them resemble the Deep Ones of Lovecraftian lore a little bit and I can dig that. The info cards even inform us that these guys are called "Metarex Gilman," making the horror connection even more obvious. What we see of native Hydolians shows them to be batfaced humanoids. Which makes it funny that they named their world after the Latin word for "water." 

Aside from giving our heroes a chance to tango with some fish men, this episode's premise works for another reason: It brings up Sonic's fear of water once more. The "Sonic X" version of our hero has already gotten a big downgrade this season, no longer blasting through enemies with ease. The hedgehog is challenged even more by once again encountering his fear of the deep. I support this, as a hero that has the odds stacked against him is more compelling than a hero who can bulldoze through any threat. The episode mostly plays this for humor, as Sonic gets seasick inside the little personal submersibles Tails builds for everybody. He still gets to fight off some Gillmen, so Sonic isn't a total joke in this one either. 

Sadly, humor and mixing up the expected story beats a little is all the hydrophobia angle is really used for. Sonic does not face and conquer his fear of deep water in this episode. Instead, it ends with him plummeting to his doom when Chris shoots a new pair of sneakers at him. With these shoes, Sonic can run on water. He uses his new ability to kick some Metarex ass and that's pretty much where we wrap up. This reminds me a lot of the early episodes of the show, where the plot essentially ended with Sonic grabbing a Power Ring and becoming an even more unstoppable bad-ass than usual. 

Sonic doesn't get any character development but another member of the cast does. Chris Thorndyke continues to undergo a serious redemption arc. We learn that, in the last six years, Mr. Tanaka trained him in karate. He learned to drive multiple kinds of vehicles. (Which explains why he’s such a casual pilot now.) He patented several inventions and even had a part-time job at McDonald’s at one point. Good on the rich kid for pretending to be normal. Despite all he’s accomplished, he’s still stuck in his childhood body now — which is amusingly demonstrated when he tries to karate chop some fish men — and Sonic still perceives him as a child. While young Chris would’ve just moped about this, mature Chris decides to do what he can with the skills available to him currently. Which is when he builds those cool shoes for Sonic. Honestly amazed and impressed Chris grew up to be this functional!

While Chris is the only cast member to really grow here, others do get some fun stuff to do. Sonic is captured by the Gilman Boss — the official name for the big blue leader of the Gillmen, though I don’t know if the comparisons to a video game boss we’re intentional — after he falls in the water and freaks out. Amy sees this as an opportunity to, once again, earn Sonic’s love. She goes running into the Metarex base, swinging her hammer, and knocked lots of fish folks aside. I always like it when Amy displays her considerable superpowers and action hero capabilities. I especially like it when that is balanced with her girlishness, such as when she has an extended fantasy here about Sonic admitting his love for her after she saves him. 

Previously, I characterized the set-up for this season as rather bleak. The Metarex have been waging a campaign of destruction and conquest across the universe, seemingly wiping out the entire populations of whole planets. In this episode, we learn that things aren’t quite that hopeless. If a plant’s egg is retrieved and returned, the world will return to its previously fertile status. One assumes that millions of lives were ended when Hydo was flooded but I guess there’s still hope to rebuild and repopulate… At least for the worlds were everybody hasn’t already starved to death, I guess. The impression I got is that the Metarex have been at this for quite a while, so presumably their collective body count is still way higher than you’d expect for “Sonic” bad guys. 

I wish the supporting cast got a little more to do in this episode. Knuckles is reduced to a joke scene involving his shovel claws. Tails gets a largely superfluous (though admittedly nicely animated) sequence where he flies the X-Tornado. Cosmo spends most of the episode napping in a hill. There’s a brief scene set back on Earth, showing Chris’ friends and family pretty freaked out by his departure. (And also shows that his parents and grandfather have aged in no discernible way.) Still, this is a relatively fun one. It’s obvious that the change in premise has reenergized “Sonic X.” [7/10]