Sonic Boom, Episode 1.25: Into the Wilderness

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.25: Into the Wilderness

Original Air Date: May 9th, 2015

In the run-up to some sort of undefined holiday, Amy says she's going to gather berries from a secluded part of the forest to make wreaths. Sticks promises to teach Amy survival skills and show her the safest route for the isolated woods. This is a laughable proposition to Sonic and soon a wager is made. Sonic has to make Knuckles into a wilderness expert as well before the duos will race to the aforementioned spot in the woods. This, of course, goes off the rails very quickly and it's not long before Sonic and Knuckles' incompetence are endangering themselves. 

If you are looking to raise the stakes in your story and get the audience invested in the outcome of the plot, cooking a competition of some sorts into the narrative usually works. We can't help but be interested when two groups of people race against each other towards an easily understood goal of some sorts. It's just human nature to root for one side against another. How else can you explain sports becoming such an intrinsic part of modern society? While race episodes are common in "Sonic" cartoons, I'm kind of surprised more of the cartoons haven't done team competition episodes like this. 

Sonic can easily beat any of his friends in a speed race, as displayed early in "Into the Wilderness," so the episode has to base its competition in something else. When paired together, Amy and Sticks listen to one another's mutual fields of expertise. They learn from each other, focus on a common goal, pay attention to details, and work towards their achievements together. Sonic and Knuckles, meanwhile, race off wildly, not paying attention to anything around them, and decide they are naturally masters of their domain that need no further education or enlightenment. "Into the Wilderness" never frames itself as a "guys vs. girls" premise but that's exactly what it's doing. And I do think there is some truth to the idea that men, in general, tend to be more overconfident than women. Nothing but the most self-absorbed prick would deny that western society favors men and I think that goes to our heads sometimes. 

This makes women the underdogs in any "guys vs. girls" story, even though they are also usually the more reasonable gender in such scenarios. (I'm generalizing, of course. Please don't yell at me in the comments.) "Sonic Boom," being a very silly cartoon show, naturally exaggerates this for comedic effects. Amy and Sticks become uber-capable in the wilderness over the course of a montage. Sonic and Knuckles, meanwhile, become utterly incompetent in seconds, seeming totally incapable of taking care of themselves at all. Even when the females step in, because they're worried the boys won't survive without their help, the guys refuse to be reasonable. The macho need to be right at all times naturally leads Sonic and Knuckles to humiliation and allows Amy and Sticks to grab a much-earned win. 

This certainly contradicts things we've seen Sonic and the gang do in this cartoon before. But we excuse it, because it's funny. In comedy shows like this, the characters' competence absolutely varies depending on the needs of the plot. I'm sure some people – especially the nerds who are insistent that power levels are always consistently portrayed, as if life is a stats-based video game – will take issue with this. I don't mind it. The episode is making the point that dudes are usually doofs and women are frequently resourceful and mindful. (Something that will also upset the big boys who extol their intellectual and emotional masculine maturity over the crying womens at all times.) I don't mind Sonic and Knuckles' personalities being warped a little to facilitate that point, especially in a show that has already warped them far past their original characterizations already. 

Am I rambling off-topic? I do that sometimes. Anyway, another thing I like about this episode is that it pairs Amy and Sticks up. We are almost half-way through season one and we still haven't seen these two interact much. Once again, the script exaggerates certain character traits over others. Amy's girlish fashionista qualities take precedence over her hammering abilities, straight woman powers of observation, or occasional emotional outbursts. Meanwhile, Sticks' wacky paranoia is downplayed in favor of her status as an outdoorsy survivor type. Yet this makes for a compelling combination. It's rare to see Sticks being the reasonable one but we get just that in a very funny montage where Amy makes cute decorations out of every skill set the badger tries to teach her. Overall, Amy's self-control and Sticks' wildness contrast very nicely. I hope these two are paired up again at some point. 

If this episode sacrifices characterization for laughs, I'm willing to accept that because it's pretty damn funny. Reid Harrison doesn't pack in quite as many gags here as he did in "Don't Judge Me" but it's not for a lack of trying. A joke involving Sonic falling into a well in the first scene escalates nicely. You can see that same sort of rising wackiness in a moment where Sonic attempts to start a fire, an amusingly goofy bit of slapstick that just gets more delirious as it goes on. Objects bursting into flames is a pretty good reoccurring joke. Harrison has a lot of fun with the guys' idiocy, especially when presented with a TV show that would seemingly solve their problem or a compass pointing the way. The timing and dialogue is sharp, displayed in Amy rattling off a list of dangerous sounding locations, Tails imploring the two groups not to cheat, and the sole Eggman scene in the episode. (Which is also the last scene of the episode and cuts off at just the right moment.) Seems to me that Harrison is the "Sonic Boom" writer most adapt at squeezing in as many jokes as possible in eleven minutes and hitting that manic, "Looney Tunes" style comedic pitch the show frequently strives for but rarely reaches. 

One such gag continues to raise questions about "Sonic Boom's" environment though. Sticks captures an adorable, and distinctly non-anthromorphized, little bunny rabbit with the intention of eating it. Amy immediately shoots down but, ya see, the joke is the bunny is more dangerous then it looks. It frightens off the weird moose from "Eggheads" right afterwards. The "Sonic" franchise has struggled with Furry Confusion in the past but it's really evident in "Boom," where "normal" animals are mostly isolated to brief gags like this. I guess if I can dismiss lots of other stuff as "it's a joke," I should be able to do the same thing with why relatively normal cartoon animals exist on an island alongside upright, talking cartoon animals. Anyway, "Into the Wilderness" is a pretty funny episode! I liked it! [7/10]