Sonic Boom, Episode 1.36: Beyond the Valley of the Cubots

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.36: Beyond the Valley of the Cubots

Original Air Date: July 24th, 2015

Ya know, at one point in time, I actually hated Cubot and Orbot. My introduction to Eggman’s geometrical robotic lackies was in the Archie Comics. This would’ve been in 2012, about two years after the duo debuted in “Sonic Colors,” a game I still wouldn’t play until much later. From my understanding, the two were pretty popular from the get-go. By the time the comic introduced them, they were considered essential parts of the “Sonic” cast by many. I, having grown up with scheming Snively as Robotnik’s main sidekick, initially resented these two goofy newcomers. They felt like a throwback to the Scratch and Grounder days and I didn’t think goofy comic relief like that added much to the series. To be frank, I found Cubot and Orbot’s odd couple antics annoying and boring. Fussy Orbot and wacky Cubot, both frequently humiliated, didn’t seem like needed additions. 

But it’s been ten years and these two have stuck around. They became regular cast members of the Archie book and reappeared in the IDW continuity. Maybe I’ve just gotten used to their antics or maybe I’ve matured with age. Either way, I've slowly grown fond of Cubot and Orbot. In the right context, their comedic misery and/or idiocy works well. As I've watched my way through "Sonic Boom," I've seen how this show really made these two a valuable part of the cast. I now attribute my initial dislike to me simply missing Snively and feeling like the “Sonic” franchise was no longer recognizable as the series I fell in love with as a kid. (A position I’m a lot more comfortable with these days.) 

These are the thoughts I have as I assemble my review of "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots," the thirty-sixth episode of "Sonic Boom's" first season and another Cubot/Orbot centric story. Tails notices some of his beloved tools are missing. He assumes Eggman must be responsible for the theft and confront the doctor. It turns out, Eggman's tools are being stolen too. He blames a group of rogue robots and assigns Orbot and Cubot to find them. The duo quickly stumble upon the culprits: A group of Cubot prototypes, living in the wilderness and trying to survive their own stupidity. The finished Cubot quickly becomes something of a king to his lookalikes, forcing some dramatic decisions to be made when Eggman arrives to deactivate the prototypes. 

As I've pointed out ad nauseam, "Sonic Boom" reduces the "Sonic" cast members to easily understood, stock sitcom roles. Cubot fills the role of the big dumb idiot companion to the easily flustered straight man, Orbot. He's the Costello, the Laurel. In short, Cubot's defining characteristic is that he's not very smart. His tendency to misunderstand simple phrases is a running gag this show has returned to over and over again, for easy laughs. With this fully understood by this point in the season, "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots" has a pretty funny premise: It puts Cubot in a situation where he's a genius. The Cubot prototypes are even dumber than the production model. He knows how to put out a fire, where these guys only know how to start them. Creating a scenario where the show's other token moron is actually smart is a clever enough set-up for jokes. 

While "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots" gets some decent comedic mileage out of the ironic juxtaposition of Cubot being seen as smart, most of the laughs here come from the other half of the duo. Orbot is used to be being the smart one. To have that flipped, to surround him with such idiots that he becomes the fool, provides some solid comedy. There's a lot of scenes where Orbot, the prototypal Abbott/Hardy, gets flustered with the Cubots' ignorance. There's even a hint of jealousy, once the prototypes start to adore Cubot. Orbot's baseline competence is never appreciated and he's annoyed to see Cubot's not-quite-total idiocy get praised by a group of even bigger idiots. 

Most surprisingly, this storyline eventually bends towards an odd pathos too. After Cubot decides to stay with the prototypes, Orbot returns home to Eggman's base. That's when the robot learns Cubot isn't the perfected final version of this string of prototypes: Orbot is. Now Orbot feels bad for his partner. Cubot isn't an idiot. He's just unfinished. This leads to an interesting idea of the machines wavering from, before returning to, their destinies. Cubot decides to stay, quickly gets annoyed with the other Cubots (putting him in a similar situation to Orbot's usual circumstances), and is then happy to return to Eggman's side. He's not happy being a leader and prefers being a lackey. It's a real character arc and is handled pretty well. 

As you'd expect from a generally clever set-up, this episode has got a good number of amusing gags in it. The Cubot prototypes tell each other apart with the addition of hats or eyepatches. One prominent Cubot wears a wig, goes by female pronouns, and goes by the punny nomenclature "CuteBot." (So there's your first canon trans "Sonic" character.) That stuff is amusing but, honestly, Sonic and Tails get most of the biggest laughs in this episode. Sonic's goofy method for catching Tails' tools thief made me laugh, as did the opening scene where Tails is adjusting his latest invention: A machine that automatically adjust things. The funniest bit here continues to evolve Tails' somewhat disturbing attachment to inanimate objections. He calls his tools "his babies" and is absolutely shaken when they're stolen. When he's reunited with his precious toolbox, he similarly continues to talk to them like they're living beings. Further proof that "Boom" Tails is, at the least, weird about the stuff laying around his workshop or, at the most, a full-blown objectophile. 

The weakest element of "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots" is, typical for "Boom," its action sequence. When Eggman attacks the titular valley, it leads to a largely farcical battle scene. The deciding moment is when Cubot gives Eggman a surprise hug and cause a robot to spin around, entangling itself in its tentacles. Pretty underwhelming stuff. That aside, this is a funny one. It's a further example of how my feelings towards to Cubot and Orbot have changed. I've gone from hating them, to begrudgingly tolerating them, to actually looking forward to the "Boom" episodes focused on them. I guess everyone can change, given enough time. [7/10]