Sonic Boom, Episode 2.08: In the Midnight Hour

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.08: In the Midnight Hour

Original Air Date: December 31st, 2016

Every chance I get, I bring up the lack of Halloween adjacent "Sonic" media. Being in the middle of the massive horror nerd and massive Sonic nerd Venn diagram is not an easy life and one rarely validated by the blue hedgehog's adventures. Over the years, I've managed to dig up the handful of cartoon episodes and comics that border all things scary, creepy, and spooky. Yet it's always a delight when I unexpectedly stumble across more. Here I am, watching what I thought was a regular episode of "Sonic Boom" when I quickly realized it was a horror inspired of "Sonic Boom!" What a joyous occasion! Naturally, this episode aired on the 31st of... December, because "Boom's" schedule was completely fucked-up by this point. 

Sticks is channeling her inner Jackson Pollack/Jean-Claude Van Damme right around the stroke of midnight, while outside Comedy Chimp's television studio. That is when she spies a ghostly entity floating outside the studio, tinkering with the antenna. No one believes her, dismissing it as another one of her paranoid delusions. Further investigation confirms that the creature is real. He's an Eggman robot named the Dreamcaster who is hypnotizing everyone at night while they sleep, through their television. This soon turns everyone into mindless zombies, who do Eggman's bidding. As Sticks doesn't own a TV, she is immune. Yet can she save everyone and stop Dreamcaster on her own? 

As soon as the hooded, ghostly figure with Freddy Krueger claws floated on-screen, I got my hopes up that "In the Midnight Hour" would be a spookier "Boom" episode. The premise of no one believing Sticks when she claims she's seen a weird monster brings certain cryptozoological connotations to mind, furthering that horror movie feel. The episode quickly falls into a not-spooky-at-all groove quickly after that, leaving me disappointed... Ah, but in the last night, Sonic and friends are turned into somnambulist zombies! They even shamble around with their arms outstretched and do the "Thriller" dance! (Which is also followed by a random "Funkytown" shout-out.) Later, the Dreamcaster is even revealed to be a flying skeleton guy under his hood. It's undeniable: "In the Midnight Hour" is the horror inspired episode of "Sonic Boom," with ghosts and zombies galore. 

That alone is enough to earn a positive score from me but I'm happy to report that, in general, this episode is pretty good. Making Sticks the main character was a smart decision here that leads to an interesting dynamic. Everyone knows Sticks is kind of crazy but usually in a harmless, "local eccentric" sort of way. Yet what she sees in this episode is so outrageous that her friends begin to suspect her grip in reality is really slipping. Like, more than usual. It gets to the point that, when Comedy Chimp insists Sticks in thrown in jail for vandalizing his studio, her friends reluctantly let her go. They hope maybe a night in the penn will help her get grounded again. 

This is a strong narrative hook, the show's most eccentric hero being turned on by her friends for perfectly understandable reasons. Yet it also leads to an unexpectedly, if brief, poignant moment. After interrupting one of Dreamcaster's broadcast, Sticks is not thanked by the populace. Instead, they are annoyed for being woken up in the middle of the night. This causes Sticks to run off, crying a little. You'd think a paranoid conspiracy theorist like her would be used to people rejecting her plans but she's clearly genuinely hurt by this. We're not used to seeing the loud-mouthed Sticks be vulnerable like this and it's a moment that genuinely got to me a little bit. Poor little badger nut job! 

Of course, Sticks is vindicated in the end. In this case, the seemingly delusional crackpot was entirely right. Dreamcaster is real and part of Eggman's latest evil plot, which comes shockingly close to actually succeeding. Amusingly, the script really leans into this "what if the paranoid looney was right?" angle in its last act. Sticks shields herself and her friends from the machine's influence with tin foil hats, that perennial symbol of all unhinged crankery. Sticks' paranoia is actually what saves her in another way. She already didn't own a TV, believing it to be a device to control people's minds. And, in this very specific scenario, that was entirely right. 

That revelation leads to a good fourth way break, where Sticks assures the audience watching at home that this TV show is not a mind control plot. That's just one of several good gags here from writer Paul Shriver. A moment that got a big belly laugh out of me was Tails telling Sticks that a lack of sleep can cause hallucinations, to which Sticks deadpans that this isn't a problem as she never sleeps. The opening bit that her creative art project and her work-out routine is one and the same made me chuckle too. As did a bit where a guy's epiphany is interrupted. Dreamcaster having a deep, smooth, chocolate-y voice, like a radio deejay or a soul singer, is another inspired bit of goofiness. Of course, the robot's name is a reference to Sega lore, leading to an amusing in-joke conversation about whether the name is bad or not. His eyes being red swirls is also a likely homage to the late, great Dreamcast. 

Also, this episode reveals that everyone in the village seemingly sleeps with their TVs on. Yeah, I do that sometimes too. I can't help it, the Roku screensaver is so relaxing! Anyway, I was definitely predisposed to like this one just because it's got a ghost and zombies in it. I'm happy to report that it is a pretty strong episode otherwise, with lots of sharp gags and even a mildly touching character arc for Sticks. I'm glad that "Boom's" most horror adjacent episode is a pretty good one! [7/10]