Sonic Boom, Episode 1.05: My Fair Sticksy

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.05: My Fair Sticksy

Original Air Date: November 22nd, 2014

I commented in my previous "Sonic Boom" review that Sticks was the big introduction for this show, a main character that didn't exist before. Which meant she had the most room for exploration and expansion, compared to the Sega-created gang that we are all very used to. This is probably two episodes in a row have focused on her. In "My Fair Sticksy," the badger's paranoid defense system helps protect the village from plummeting meteors. After this, she is nominated for an Awardy Award, the yearly award ceremony devoted to honoring the notable individuals in the community. Wacky, feral Sticks, of course, is not really suitable for a fancy environment. So Amy and the others put her through a crash course in polite society, attempting to civilize the wild child. Once Eggman crashes the ceremony though, it becomes necessary for Sticks to give into nature. 

Like I said, Sticks is not as defined as the other "Sonic" cast members. It seems to me, at this point, that the badger is defined by two main characteristics. That's her role as a wacky conspiracy theorist, prone to bizarre paranoid delusions and beliefs, and her status as a perpetual outsider even among her friends. Which element gets focused on more really depends on the writer. (The Archie comic definitely preferred the latter.) I really like paranoid Sticks — I've always thought "nutty conspiracy theorist" was a pretty funny archetype, up until real life ruined it — and it leads to an amusing gag early on, concerning the specificity of her various defense systems. 

Yet this episode is mostly built around Sticks the Outsider and that's, perhaps, the more fruitful characterization. Sticks is the resident Cloud Cuckoolander, with her love of digging through garbage and lack of social graces. Yet, like all outsiders, she does long to be accepted too. When first invited to the award ceremony, she's insecure and apprehensive. She doesn't believe herself fancy enough to attend such a gathering, knowing she want be accepted. And though she tries her best to reinvent herself as a proper lady, she ultimately can't suppress her true nature for too long. This same quality is what makes her a hero, naturally, and it's better that she embraces herself than what people want her to be anyway. It's a nice little arc, shoved into an eleven minute cartoon, and handled well enough.

Another nice thing about this is, even though this episode has Amy and Sonic trying to convert Sticks to polite society, they aren't doing that because they are assholes. They are doing it because they like Sticks, know she does want people to like her, and see this as a rare opportunity for her to be recognized for her heroism. Too many sitcoms, in my opinion, fall into this pattern of the cast members constantly being snarky assholes to each other in pursuit of stuffing as many funny lines into an episode as possible. I can tell "Sonic Boom" does this sometimes too. So it's nice to see an episode that repeatedly emphasizes that these characters like each other. There's even a cute little aside of Sonic and Knuckles joking around together, showing that these two really are friends. (Even if there are jokes about Knuckles being dumb.)

As the title makes clear, "My Fair Sticksy" is playing on a well known story type. Obviously, "My Fair Lady" was a big inspiration. (Which was, of course, inspired by "Pygmalion," itself inspired by Greek mythology. Because there really only are seven types of stories.) Like most stories of this form, the episode eventually comes around to deciding being true to yourself is better than fitting in with everyone else. The stuffed-shirt types that make up the island's upper crust are extensively mocked. Their banquets and rituals are pointed as built on self-serving ego. The award ends up going to some guy who didn't save the village, whose contributions to society don't make a difference. It's totally expected but it works well in a story like this. Being a garbage obsessed feral badger who saves people is better than being upperclassmen who do nothing but show off how much better than everyone else they presume themselves to be. 

Sticks' arc and her interaction with the upper crust of the island is compelling enough that the entire episode could’ve been built around it. When I realized Eggman hadn’t appeared yet, I wonder if this would be the rare episode without him. The villain does show up in the last act, marching into the party and making a nuisance of himself. Luckily, Eggman justifies his appearance in this episode by being pretty funny. He doesn't remember who Sticks is at first, an amusing joke that also displays the character's all-consuming ego. That line pays off in a solid way when he does remember where he knows her from. Eggman's robot-of-the-day is one designed to stuff ballots — that's how he got into the gala — which, in one of my favorite gags in this episode, proves to be a difficult skill to weaponize. 

In fact, this episode is consistently funny. The opening scene features a good exchange, where Amy compares the falling meteors to shooting stars. Comedian Chimp puts in an amusingly random pair of appearances. (And it’s apparently his first appearance in the show too. His “Worlds Unite” buddy, Fastidious Beaver, has a little cameo later.) Knuckles' blunt honesty and dismissal of fancy things makes him an unexpected hit at the gala. Amy's attempts to teach Sticks about the finer things in life leads to a few decent jokes. Even the badger's weird fixation on dumpster diving is brought back up at the end. This is definitely an episode that balances character stuff with silly gags and pithy one-liners. Some of those even made me laugh, like a one-off from a fish in a glass bowl about "irritable bowl syndrome." 

Doug Lieblich is the credited writer here. He also did the first two episodes, suggesting he’s pretty good at episodes that balance character development with absurdity and zingers. While I’m definitely still trying to get into “Sonic Boom’s” rhythm — the eleven-minute runtimes for each episode really makes it tricky for a good pace to form — “My Fair Sticksy” is a marked improvement over the previous Sticks-centric episode. [7/10]