Sonic Boom, Episode 1.14: The Meteor

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.14: The Meteor

Original Air Date: February 21st, 2015

In my previous "Sonic Boom" review, I noted that Seaside Island seems unusually prone to astrological phenomenon. I guess the writers have officially decided to make this part of the series' premise. Episode 14, "The Meteor," begins with the gang watching a colorful meteor shower. After one space rock crashes near-by, they all race off to observe it. Eggman arrives too. Some petty squabbling causes the villain and Sonic to grab the strange glowing meteor at the same time. The next morning, the two rivals wake up in each other's bodies. While Sonic-in-Eggman's-body immediately wants to undo this switch, Eggman-in-Sonic's-body decides to use this switch for evil purposes. 

Literally just a couple of days ago, I was talking with other "Sonic" fans about the body swap premise. It's a classic idea in comedy, made most famous by "Freaky Friday" and its subsequent three remakes. That led to a number of less popular movies with similar set-ups, like "18 Again," "Vice Versa," "Like Father, Like Son," "All of Me," and definitely some others I'm forgetting. This has made it a stock comedy plot that has been reused by countless sitcoms and TV shows. Occasionally, you'll see genre riffs on the concept, like "Face/Off" or "Freaky." In superhero comics, it's not an uncommon plot either. Marvel's "Superior Spider-Man" story arc is an especially well regarded recent example. 

Archie's "Sonic" comic did their own riffs on the premise a few times, most notably during a one-shot where Sonic and Knuckles switched bodies. Surprisingly, they never did a story that had Sonic and Eggman switch places in the main book. It wasn't until the "Sonic X" tie-in was totally out of ideas that Sonic and Eggman swapped bodies. Considering how common a trope this is, I'm really surprised "Sonic Boom" is the first blue hedgehog cartoon to touch on this idea. It really seems like something "AoStH" or "Underground" would've done at some point. We all wonder sometimes what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes. (Which is presumably why writers keep returning to this idea.) Putting this dilemma to hero and villain has a lot of dramatic or comedic possibilities. 

Unsurprisingly, "Sonic Boom" exclusively focuses on the comedic potential of this idea. There's a lot of gags you see coming here. Like Sonic immediately discover how quickly Eggman's body gets winded. Or Eggman learning that Sonic's speed is not so easily controlled. Yet the really fruitful humor here lies in seeing how Eggman interprets Sonic. The doctor's style of speak definitely sounds unusual coming out of Sonic's mouth. Roger Craig Smith really has a ball hamming it up like this. His delivery is the highlight of the episode, The villain immediately thinks about using this switch to undermine his enemies but does a poor job of disguising himself. He can't remember Knuckles' name, in increasingly amusing ways. He acts weird around Amy. He doesn't get to interact with Sticks at all which is a bummer, as I bet that would've been funny. 

At one point, Eggman-in-Sonic's-body vocalizes the belief that Sonic and the others fight Eggman because they are envious of his genius. This gives you a good perspective on how the big guy sees himself. Eggman is an egomaniac. He's so consumed by his own superiority that he can't even imagine other people don't see it that way. It's funny but also sort of pathetic. When the heroes react to these proclamations with laughter, I felt kind of bad for Eggman. I doubt "Boom" will give Eggman a traumatic childhood the way "AoStH" did. Yet I'm starting to assume that his greatly inflated ego, as is usually the case, protects a fragile sense of self-worth. If he was ever forced to really confront the fact that he's not a super genius that deserves to rule the world, he'd probably have a full-blown mental breakdown. Which could also be funny, depending on how dark "Boom" would be willing to take things.

Obviously, "The Meteor" doesn't do that because it doesn't really have time to. This is another episode where "Boom's" potential is constrained by the eleven minute limit. It is implied that maybe Eggman likes being in Sonic's body. He has to repeatedly delay destroying the heroes because he keeps making social plans with them. Maybe if this switcharoo had gone on a little longer, Eggman would've discovered that doing good feels good. Stories like this allow simple good guys vs. bad guys shows like this to interrogate the polarity of their own premise. They suggest that maybe what makes a hero or villain is entirely environmental. Again: The doesn't happen here. Instead, "Boom" goes for the gags. The closest Sonic and Eggman come to understanding each other is the hero learning the villain's ego can be used against him, in the fairly amusing climax. But the potential is definitely there.

Even though "The Meteor" definitely could've been stronger, this is still a funny episode. Like I said, you really can't undersell the amusement factor of Eggman being a dick to Sonic's friends while in Sonic's body. The absurd dialogue provides some chuckles, like a debate on what "dibs" is. I'm even growing fond of the running gag of Cubot not understanding simple turns of phrase. There's also some weird moments here that made me chuckle. Such as the implication that Eggman roleplayed Sonic and Amy with Cubot, for reasons we can only speculate on. (But it feels like a weird sex thing!) Or a flashback to, apparently, a time when Eggman passed out on the beach. That's conveyed via 2-D still images, which are so much more appealing than the actual CGI animation this show uses. 

Though it must be said, the action scenes are a little better here than usual. The sequence where the heroes attack Sonic-in-Eggman's-body is well done. If only for the novelty of seeing the heroes give their adversary a hand-to-hand beatdown like that. There's also some goofy, dramatic slow-motion here, which the show seems to be using more and more to make its action scenes more dynamic and less awkward. Even if I would've much rather seen this set-up explored more via a comic book or longer TV episode, "The Meteor" is still a pretty funny episode of "Sonic Boom." They managed to have a good time with this worn-out premise, if nothing else. [7/10]