Sonic Boom, Episode 1.11: Cowbot

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.11: Cowbot

Original Air Date: January 31st 2015

The eleventh episode of "Sonic Boom" begins simply enough: With Knuckles tossing Sonic through the air on the beach, in an attempt to dislodge as many coconuts from the trees as possible. This joyous activity is interrupted by Eggman appearing with his latest machine of mass destruction: Cowbot, a slow-moving droid patterned after our bovine friends. While Sonic and the others are initially unimpressed, Cowbot's fearsome cud missiles and the fact that he's full of "Mootonium, a pun-based radioactive compound" that threatens to contaminate the entire island if he's exploded, makes him a more serious threat than assumed. Tails' attempt to reprogram Cowbot instead reverses his programming, causing the mechanical cattle to seek out and destroy Eggman. Amy convinces Sonic and Tails to protect their greatest enemy, leading to an unexpected evening of bonding as the duo help Eggman rebuilds his defense capabilities. 

If you are my age, you may recall a time when cows were positioned as these inherently funny animals. They were the perfect avatar of Gary Larson's absurd humor in The Far Side. "Diablo II" included a secret joke level populated entirely with cows. Aside from the occasional anatomically incorrect Nickelodeon cartoon, the only remnant from this bovid obsessed era is the mascots for the homophobic chicken restaurant. Maybe this was more of an American obsession, where cattle farms are pretty much everywhere and you can easily stare into the mindless eyes of a common heifer just by stepping outside of your city. Or maybe the various mad cow disease outbreaks rendered pop culture unable to laugh at our dairy producing friends.

I get it though. There is something about cows that are kind of innately funny. They are big, slow, simple-minded creatures that don't seem to do much beyond eat grass and get milked. They have big silly looking udders and make a goofy noise. The average Bessie's docile nature gives them a certain deadpan quality that amuses me. A cow is never going to respond to anything with more than a blank glare and possibly a random moo. Building an entire episode of "Sonic Boom" around a large robot cow may seem like a reach but, ya know, it works. The contrast between a giant missile spraying machine and a common cow, as nonchalant and plodding as ever, is pretty funny. It helps that the script is filled with above-average puns like "cud missile" and "mootonium." 

Of course, only about half of the episode is devoted to the eponymous udder robot. The second half is largely focused on Eggman hanging out with Sonic and Tails. At first, this whole sequence is kind of weird. Eggman is being really nice to Sonic and Tails. He serves them hot cocoa and cookies, even if the hedgehog finds the recipes distasteful. They play the same cocoanut related hurling game that Sonic played with Knuckles earlier. They roast marshmallows together. It's all very un-Eggman-like behavior and this, of course, is exactly the joke. At this point, "Boom" has exaggerated the hero/villain codependency in the Sonic/Eggman relationship that it barely counts as antagonism now. These two are just weird-ass friends of some sort. Even though this buddy-buddy stage is just part of another extremely petty plan on the villain's behalf, I really am getting the impression that Eggman just wants to be friends with Sonic. 

It does not, however, appear to be a mutually exclusive feeling. In fact, Sonic comes off as far pettier in this episode than Eggman does. As soon as Amy goads him into rescuing the doctor, Sonic is acting extra pissy. He snarks at the doctor's offering of cocoa. He snarks as the doctor gets excited while watching a horror movie. His eyelids are at half-mast for nearly the entire episode, as he just grouses through the adventure. Again, I get that this is the point. Sonic is being forced to interact in a friendly way with his archenemy and he hates it. In execution though, this just makes him look like a grouchy jerk. A gassy little bitch. I think there was a better way to execute this admittedly funny idea. 

Which isn't to say this episode didn't make me laugh. In fact, there's a number of funny, small gags here. An awkward pause occurs during the first fight with Cowbot, at which point Sticks randomly mentions that she believes her breakfast is plotting to kill her. A scene where Sonic sneaks up to Eggman's door, fearful of a defense system, made me laugh way too hard. As did the reoccurring gag of the villain doing his laundry. Mad scientists: They're just like us! Of course, the presence of Cowbot leads to an inevitable gag about cow-tipping. The absurdity keeps mounting throughout this one, building to molten marshmallows being plot point in the last act. Funny stuff.

This episode also, at least in passing, confirms that the "Boom" version of the "Sonic" cast does share some similarities with their video game counterparts. While Tails is doing a fake sportscaster thing in the first scene, he mentions that Knuckles is from Angel Island. Granted, that doesn't tell us if he's still the Guardian of the Master Emerald or if the Chaos Emeralds even exist in this universe. Hell, for all we know, this version of Angel Island doesn't even float. But it's interesting to think about. This is also, far as I can tell, the first time that "Boom" Sonic has lusted in his heart for a quality chili dog. There's also a pretty funny mention about Sonic and Amy, continuing to imply there's some sort of romantic tension between those two. In a series that makes so many alterations to established lore, little nuggets like this are appreciated.

This is the second episode in a row with a story credit from Alan Denton on it. It's also the second episode in a row to be pretty good, with a nicely goofy perspective of its own. Is "Sonic Boom" finding its groove now? It's definitely too soon to decide but I liked this one a lot. Like, how am I suppose to resist the charms of Cowbot? Simply impossible. [7/10]