Sonic Boom, Episode 1.26: Eggman Unplugged

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.26: Eggman Unplugged

Original Air Date: May 16th, 2015

Eggman is spying on Sonic and the gang, managing to only capture them pranking Knuckles. After noticing Eggman's FlyBot watching, Sonic decides to pull a fast one on his archenemy. They concoct a ruse that ends with Eggman splattered with shaving cream. This humiliating defeat, when combined with a rambling anti-technology rant from Sticks, encourages Eggman to turn his back on all technology. (Well except for Cubot and Orbot.) As the good guys are somewhat unnerved by the doctor fully embracing a low-tech lifestyle, other villains, in the form of the Lightning Bolt Society, incompetently attempt to muscle in on his territory.

"Eggman Unplugged" has a pretty funny premise for an episode. The idea of Eggman, who has devoted his entire life to building robots and other advanced tech, turning his back on modern advances is probably an amusing enough idea to support an eleven minute cartoon. Some decent gags certainly arrive out of this set-up. Such as the good doctor churning butter, doing his laundry with a washboard, or threatening Sonic with bombs made from candle wax. One imagines an episode, based on that premise, where Eggman builds Rube Goldberg contraptions to thwart Sonic until he gets frustrated and gives up. Or, perhaps, until he circles back around to robotics again, making the point that "technology" is an ambiguous term.

Yet the script, once again from Reid Harrison, takes this simplistic idea and runs with it to some surprisingly funny places. I like this kind of "A leads to B" style writing, especially in comedy. If Eggman abandoned his super-science technology, that means his base is left unoccupied. And that means someone else, such as the wannabe supervillains, can move in. Of course, those guys don't know what they are doing, causing a whole other series of problems. I like when a story starts as one thing and then mutates into another. It reminds me of classic "Simpsons" and, not coincidently, Reid Harrison has written for "The Simpsons." (In fact, "The Springfield Files" was one of my favorite episodes as a kid.) There's something to be said for a rambling structure like this – also seen in the opening scene, with the spying and the pranking that doesn't really connect with the rest of the story much – in comedy. Feels a little bit like the writer started with one idea and then got distracted by another story thread altogether. But that looseness works sometimes.

There are problems with this style of writing. "Eggman Unplugged" probably could have come a little more full-circle with its ideas. By the end, Eggman re-embraces technology simply because seeing the Lightning Bolt Society misuse it frustrates him. It feels a little like those people who start a diet and then immediately fall back off the wagon and pig out the first time they have a bad day. Similarly, it would've been nicer if the episode played with the idea that the Sonic and the gang actually need Eggman to some degree. That his semi-competent villainy fills a void that would otherwise be occupied by less skilled, and therefore more dangerous, bad guys. Once again, I think I have to blame the short running time of each episode for the script not being as fleshed out as it could be. Or maybe Harrison and the rest of the team wanted to emphasize comedy over narrative structure. Or maybe there was an approaching deadline and this was the best they could do. I don't know.

The result is definitely not as funny as the writer's last two episode. The rapid-fire jokes of "Don't Judge Me" aren't as present. This concept simply isn't as focused and strong as "Into the Wilderness." Nevertheless, there are some laughs here. This is an episode that makes a good use of the deadpan response. When Eggman attempts to buy some low-tech weapons from a simple vendor in the village, the guy's responses are amusingly dry. So is Sonic's reaction to Eggman's less-than-impressive new arsenal. I wish there was a little more inspired wackiness here – when the Lightning Bolts first turn on Eggman's stuff, they activated some disco music too – but I laughed a few times.

There's also plenty of chuckles to be had in the Lighting Bolt Society's buffoonish co-opting of Eggman's tech. They argue over a control, opening and closing a missile silo like it's a garage door or something. The walrus guy mistakes a launch pad for a TV remote, activating a missile in the process. It's also funny that these guys, through their idiocy, end up being actually a little more dangerous than Eggman by himself. A rampaging Octopus Bot, a swarm of Buzzbombers, and a crashing missile all accidentally going off at once nearly overwhelms Sonic. It's Hanlon's Razor perfectly executed. Again, maybe a slightly stronger script could've run with this more. Maybe seeing how such chaos effects Sonic might've inspired Eggman to switch up his techniques some. Yet I'm not going to quibble too much about that. Like I said, there's only so much you can do in the time you're given.

I don't know if "Sonic Boom" will ever reach a point where it can have some real pathos next to its wacky comedy. The show is going to have to work a lot harder than it is now, if it ever wants to do an episode like "Jurassic Bark" or "Mother's Day." However, I do like the subtle emotional thread "Boom" has continued to develop. That, despite everything, these characters do care about each other. After Eggman turns his back on robots and computers, Amy says she's worried about him. She's worried about the guy that has devoted himself to killing them! Yet that line does speak to the weird relationship the characters have in this show, where they are as much friends as they are enemies. Though maybe they could be a little nicer to Knuckles... There's also the scene where Eggman reactivates Cubot and Orbot, after the Lightning Bolt Society unknowingly turned them off. There's a brief second where the doctor seems happy to see his lackies again before he immediately starts treating them callously again. But I still felt it, ya know? The mad scientist does love his slaves.

Officially halfway through the first season, it's also apparent now that "Sonic Boom" has clearly established its own little supporting cast. I like that the writers didn't throw away the Lightning Bolt Society after one episode, that they realized these guys had more comedic potential that could be explore. And can obviously be explored again in future episodes. Similarly, "Sonic Boom" is now at the point where it can do callbacks to previous episodes. The Gogoba Chief shows up in one scene here. Cowbot briefly returns, just to be destroyed by a missile. There's... wait a minute, they killed Cowbot?! That's fucked up! Alright, I changed my mind. I was going to give this episode a [7/10] but they cruelly murdered Cowbot for no reason. So fuck this. Zero stars. Justice for Cowbot!