Sonic Prime, Episode 2.07: Cracking Down

Sonic Prime, Episode 2.07: Cracking Down

Original Release Date: July 13th, 2023

The seventh episode of “Sonic Prime's” second season begins by immediately dismissing the cliffhanger from the previous episode. It turns out Sonic and Nine were never in any danger from the Chaos Council barging in. The fox and hedgehog throw the Paradox Prism shards into super special garbage bins before running out of the building. Being heavily pursued, Sonic isn't able to use his special shoes to open a portal himself. Instead, he leaps through the portals the Chaos Council have already opened, landing in No Place. He does this again, running through Boscage Maze. Both worlds are under attack. There, Sonic is finally able to get up enough speed to take Nine to the Void, meet up with Shadow, and arrive in Ghost Hill – the strangely empty recreation of Green Hills. There, Nine goes about reassembling the Paradox Prism... But the danger isn't over yet.

The structure of “Sonic Prime” over the course of its two seasons – which has really been one season split in two, no matter what anyone says – has been clear for quite a while. The first eight episodes were devoted to setting up the multi-verse premise and showing us the different worlds we'd be jumping between. The second season has been devoted to actually playing off all that set-up, having Sonic jump between the worlds while looking for a while to fix up the ShatterVerse. And now that Sonic and Nine have all the shards back in their position, the story is clearly moving towards a climax of sorts. Getting to this point has sometimes – frequently – been tedious. Seeing the story start to actually move in a big way towards a destination does feel nice.

Sadly, “Prime” is not the kind of show that differs from expectations. Even this close to the finish line, when the show is clearly preparing to wrap up its first big arc, it can't help but be limply repetitive. Most of “Cracking Down” is devoted to Sonic taking Nine on a little tour of the ShatterVerse. At this point in the series, what is the purpose of a scene like that? The audience already knows all of these places by now. Nine has never been to these alternate universes. Yet he's very familiar with the multi-verse idea. The very first scene of this episode shows him landing in the Grim for the first time. It feels a little bit like “Prime” spinning its wheels, revisiting these locations just to check in on everybody and what's happening there. It's not necessary. 

Even though “Prime” has had plenty of time to resolve all its lingering plot points, “Cracking Down” still has to nervously rush through a few unresolved story elements. While racing through New Yolk City to a portal, Sonic and Nine run into Dread. As I predicted last time, the pirate echidna has moved into an antagonistic role. He wants his treasure above everything else, obviously putting him into conflict with Sonic and Nine. If you're hoping that particular plot point is going to be resolved here, don't get your hopes up. Our heroes have to rush off to other parts before that can happen, leaving Knocks to deal with his double. Meanwhile, the Chaos Council's invasions of different realms go on, though not in any particularly active way. 

There's one element to the multi-verse premise that isn't addressed too often. As Nine is whisked between worlds, he catches a peek at other versions of himself. He stops and stares in confused awe at Sails, who returns a similar dumbstruck glare. In Boscage Maze, he has a similar interaction with Mangey. Once he lands in Ghost Hill, he takes a long look at the ghostly image of Tails. Here's the thing: In every alternate universe, there are many different aspects between all the versions of Tails... But there are many similarities too. This suggest that certain things about our personalities are preordained. That we have no control over some elements of our lives. That's, ya know, kind of terrifying. Knowing that free will is an illusion, up to a certain point, would send anyone into an existential freefall.

Of course, “Sonic Prime” is a children's cartoon. It doesn't touch on that. When even multi-verse stories for adults, like “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” can barely be asked to commit on this issue, I wouldn't expect a kid's show to do it. Yet that meaningful look between Nine and all his counterparts suggests something of this nature. When he comes face-to-face with the repeating spectre of Sonic's best pal, he comments how they don't look that similar. The very first scene of this episode shows Nine arriving in the Grim and planning something. In the final scene, Shadow asks Sonic how he knows he can trust this guy. That's an interesting idea. That the little guy Sonic thought he could trust turns out to be one of the bad guys. Because he assumed every version of Tails was just like his Tails. He even introduces Nine to Thorn Rose as “Tails Nine,” only for the fox to correct him. I have no idea if this is going anywhere. I doubt it is. Yet this is probably the closest “Prime” is going to get to any of the points I raised above.

Now, we already know that Nine and Sonic don't exactly have the same goals in mind. Nine wants to create a perfect world, start over from scratch. Sonic wants to restore what once was lost. If this becomes an actual plot point, it could speak to the different ways people deal with grief. Are these opposing objectives going to run into each other? Or is this going to become another one of “Prime's” dangling plot points that will be pushed further down the line? I guess we'll see in the last episode of “Prime's” first or second season. Assuming “Prime” isn't going to once again completely waste all the potential it seems to have.

Taken on its own, I guess “Cracking Down” is an okay episode. It moves at a fast clip, the action is strong and constant. Interesting ideas are presented. Yet I can't escape this feeling that the show is going to drop all the balls it is juggling. Because it hasn't caught a one yet. I know there are people out there who have enjoyed “Sonic Prime.” As the show moves towards the climax of its first proper story arc, I don't have much hope that'll reach any sort of satisfying ending. Excuse my pessimism. Maybe I'll be wrong and it'll stick the landing. Sure. [6/10]