Sonic Boom, Episode 1.20: Hedgehog Day

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.20: Hedgehog Day

Original Air Date: April 4th, 2015

In 1973, prolific science fiction author and genre historian Richard A. Lupoff would publish the short story, "12:01 P.M." The story follows a man trapped in a time loop, relieving the same hour of the same day over and over again. Everyone around him is unaware of this, repeating identical actions every time, and he races to figure out what is happening before the loop inevitably begins again. In 1993, Bill Murray would star in Harold Ramis' "Groundhog Day," a movie about a Pennsylvanian weatherman who becomes caught in a time loop, repeating the same day over and over again. Everyone around him is unaware of this, repeating identical actions every time, and he races to figure out what is happening before the loop inevitably begins again. Though neither Lupoff nor Ramis invented the time loop story, the similarities were such that Lupoff attempted to sue Columbia Pictures over it. 

Yet the Murray film was far more commercially successful and culturally beloved than Lupoff's short story. That's why this story type is known as the "Groundhog Day Loop." It's such an elastic premise, with such endless possibilities, that you can insert it into nearly any setting or genre. So it's unsurprising that the "Sonic Boom" TV series would do their own spin(dash) on the "Groundhog Day" concept. In fact, the twentieth episode of the show isn't even the first time a piece of "Sonic" media riffed on the idea. Issue 167 of the Archie Comics series did something similar, the story also being entitled "Hedgehog Day." I guess both animals having the word "hog" in their names makes this too good of a pun to pass up.

Despite the title, this story isn't about Sonic. It follows Eggman, who has built a new Egg Tank to attack the heroes with. While fighting on the beach, after interrupting their movie night, Eggman fires a plasma fireball and a laser blast from the tank. When these energy attacks collide with a rogue lightning bolt, it cause an explosion... And then Eggman wakes up back in his bed, experiencing the day over again. The doctor soon realizes he's stuck in a time loop, which starts over every time the explosion goes off. He must convince Tails and the other good guys to help him, to prove what's happening, if he ever hopes to escape this endlessly repeating cycle.

Multiple people have attempted to do the math, to figure out how long exactly Bill Murray was stuck in the time loop in "Groundhog Day." People have come up with estimates ranging from 8 to 15 months to nearly 34 years. Either way, we're sure it's a pretty long time to be repeating the same day. That's also a lot of time to squeeze into one eleven minute cartoon. It seems certain that Eggman isn't trapped in this loop for more than a month or so. The episode definitely cheats a little bit too. It seems the loop will recur even if Eggman doesn't cause the same explosion. The exact point where the snap-back begins seems to be whichever moment will be funniest. I'm willing to accept that the writers had to use some shortcuts to make this premise fit into the standard "Sonic Boom" runtime. Yet it's another example where I wish this show was a half-hour and could go more in-depth with its ideas. 

The whole point of "Groundhog Day" is that Bill Murray is a jerk and he can't escape his purgatory of living the same day over again until he actually becomes a decent human being. This is the same approach copycat stories like "Happy Death Day" have taken. This is ultimately a philosophical story, of a person given endless time to overcome the personality flaws that hold them back. "Sonic Boom" doesn't really have the space to dig into Eggman's character arc that much though. And even if it did, it's not like the super villain could actually change any. "Sonic Boom" is a sitcom and sitcom characters are more-or-less static. The status quo is resumed at the start of each episode. Which must be just fine with Sega, since they usually insist these characters remain loosely defined and unchangeable, so as not to interfere with their roles as corporate mascots. 

None of these criticisms mean I dislike "Hedgehog Day." In fact, it's a pretty funny episode. The best of any "Groundhog Day" story is usually when the protagonist stops giving a shit and just begins to fuck around, the way any of us would if granted endless do-overs on the same day. This occurs about halfway into "Hedgehog Day.” He starts doing things like cutting off one side of his mustache or renting all the film reels from the video store, just to ruin Sonic’s movie night. On one of the endless days, he simply refuses to get out of bed. (“Boom” Eggman’s depression continues to be one of his most relatable aspects.) Most of the repeated days are spent trying to resolve the mystery, or win the battle on the beach though. Again, if “Boom” was a longer show, it would have more time to explore funny set-ups like this. 

Even if "Hedgehog Day" can't really get into the ramifications of its premise, writer Joelle Sellner still makes sure the gags come quickly. This episode made me laugh quite a lot. Cubot proves a good source of reactions in this episode, ranging from disappointment that a Eggman doesn't recognize his "egg tank" pun or glee when he realizes his daily actions no longer matter. The twist ending of the Comedy Chimp movie Tails rents is a good running gag. That leads to an oddball joke so loopy, I'm not sure anyone else but me would find it funny: Tails uses some sort of sound wave weapon built into the camera projector but it doesn't work when a silent movie – signified by a mime on the film can – is reeled into the player. Knuckles' various reactions to being asked to lift a super-dense shield is funny. The visual cliché of mathematical equations rolling by on-screen as a doctor ponders things is amusingly subverted. There’s clever moments about Amy shushing people or Sticks’ direct approach to dentistry. Once again, Mike Pollock's delivery as Eggman is responsible for several laughs. Just the way he mutters about not wanting ants or matter-of-factly predicts future events made me chuckle. 

The animation is still cheap and ungainly at times. Liquids look really fuckin weird in this style, which is most obvious when water runs off Eggman's face or Orbot fills a glass with orange juice. (An otherwise funny moment.) Once again, I just wish this show was traditionally animated. It would look so much better. That complaint aside, this is a good installment of “Sonic Boom.” Definitely not as good as “Groundhog Day” but certainly better than the comic book story of the same name. [7/10]