Sonic Boom, Episode 1.07: Double Doomsday

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.07: Double Doomsday

Original Air Date: November 29th, 2014

We still don't know a lot about the island our heroes live on in "Sonic Boom" but this episode makes one thing about it clear: Workers are still exploited here. Sonic and Amy are rudely interrupted by Eggman at fast food joint Meh Burger. The cashier there, a teenage capybara named Dave, is an Eggman fan. He heaps praise on the villain, which impresses Eggman enough to hire the kid as his unpaid intern. The two get along great at first but Dave's lack of patience in learning the ways of evil soon leads to tension. Eventually, the two have activated competing doomsday device. Sonic and Tails have to rush in and stop these antics before they spiral out of control and bring about the actual doomsday. 

One of the things I love about the "Sonic" multimedia franchise is how different the same characters can be across various mediums. Is Eggman a cruelly calculating dictator? A frequently humiliated goofball with delusions of grandeur? A legit super villain with a manic sense of humor? Or is he, as "Sonic Boom" portrays, an antagonist whose evildoing is really secondary to his pettiness? This Eggman is capable of building planet-destroying devices. He likes to wreak havoc with his army of evil robots. But he would much rather harass his archenemy by cutting ahead of him at a shitty fast food restaurant and taunting him afterwards. It's a pretty funny interpretation of the villain, keeping the rampant ego of "AoStH's" Robotnik but pairing him with a much dryer type of humor. 

Eggman's pettiness is used to great effect in the second half of this episode. After Dave becomes impatient, we see the villain butt heads with an ambitious kid. The scene of Eggman demanding Dave come out of the lab obviously evokes a spat between a fussy teenager and a grouchy parent. Like I said, petty ego drives this version of the character so the idea that someone else might destroy the world is intolerable. This leads to the funniest twist in the narrative, where Eggman decides to build a dueling doomsday device to the one Dave activates. He only wants to destroy the world because he can't stand Dave doing it first, which is an amusing twist on your typical super villain motivations. 

Sticks is probably "Boom's" most significant contribution to the "Sonic" legacy. Yet Dave the Intern definitely seemed to be a real fan favorite for a while. Initially, he seems to simply be "Boom's" version of "The Simpsons'" Squeaky-Voiced Teen. He's got acne, a nasally voice, braces on his buckteeth, and works a demeaning job at a fast food joint. Yet his ambitions towards supervillainy gives him a defining gimmick all his own. He embraces interning for Eggman to get his start in mad science, happily doing menial labor for him. Even as his own schemes grow more devious, he can't entirely leave behind his humble roots. He's still acting like a fast food employee when Tails drops in to save the day. In other words: I like Dave. He's a clever, funny idea for a character that is executed well.

There's a lot of good jokes about Dave's status as an unpaid intern, which once again has me focusing on the plight of the lowly worker. Cubot and Orbot don't get paid either. Dave's appearance has them fearing for their safety, which is the right instinct. In a well executed horror movie-inspired sequence, Orbot finds his robotic brother has been dismembered. (Motor oil stands in for blood and makes this scene seem grislier than all the other times these guys have been torn apart.) Of course, even after being rebuilt and kicking Dave out, Cubot and Orbot still receive no respect and are expected to do demeaning labor for no pay. Like Coconuts before them, Cubot and Orbot are beleaguered workers caught in a system that doesn't favor them but which they can't escape. I love it when "Sonic" cartoons decide the kids can have a little Marxist theory, as a treat. 

This is an episode with a really funny premise and a strong narrative construction. What about the actual jokes? There are some good ones, for sure. The appearance of a litter box is subverted in an amusing goofy way. Even though they should be racing against time, Eggman has Sonic do menial things for him while perfecting his own doomsday device. This includes running on a rug to build-up static electricity, peddling on a stationary bike to power a tiny fan, and bickering about PB&J sandwiches. As is becoming increasingly common with "Boom," solid gags stand alongside trite dialogue. Quips about Sonic not understanding science or a doomsday device having an off switch are as leaden as can be. I'd still say the majority of the humor here is successful though. 

This episode continues what seems to be the "Boom" formula, of being 90% comedy and 10% action. The climax has the competing doomsday machines opening a vortex in the sky. Tails open to build a reversing doohickey earlier in the episode, which comes in handy here. This leads to a scene where Sonic has to run upwards into the black hole, bouncing off the debris that flies past him. It reminds me of that neat, very brief tornado sequence in "Sonic Adventure's" Windy Valley stage. it's a cool idea for a finale and in a better animated show, it would probably look bitchin'. Since "Sonic Boom" is stuck with its stiff, CGI animation, we are instead greeted to an action finale that sounds a lot niftier than it actually looks. Dems the brakes, I guess. I appreciate the idea, if nothing else. 

Oh yeah, by the way, this episode also confirms something fans have long debated: Sonic the Hedgehog shits. Tails tests out his reversal generating device on Sonic's toilet, causing the water to flow in the opposite direction and splash out of the commode. Why else would Sonic have a toilet, if he doesn't shit? Why else would he have a plunger, as the very next scene depicts, if he didn't occasionally drop massive monster turds that clog up his plumping? I am forced to conclude, at least in the "Boom" universe, that Sonic definitely poops. Anyway, I think "Translate This" is still the funniest episode of "Boom" so far but this one is a close second behind it. [7/10]