Sonic Boom, Episode 2.3: Nutwork

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.3: Nutwork

Original Air Date: November 26th, 2016 

While brushing her teeth, Sticks discovers there's no water running to her pipe. She naturally suspects a conspiracy. She's outraged to discover that the local news is ignoring the issue. Instead, Soar is broadcasting fluff pieces that make the local government look good. Determined to get the truth out, Tails helps Sticks set up a pirate radio station. Quickly, she uncovers that Eggman is behind the water shortage. This attracts public attention and Sticks is scooped up by the local news station, eager to boost ratings. Sticks soon discovers that working from within the system is much trickier than first assumed. 

Out of the central five "Sonic Boom" cast members, it seems Sticks is the one that get episodes devoted to her the least. I guess it's easier to build couple-times-an-episode jokes around the ranting conspiracy theorist than to make her the center of the story. Yet "Nutwork" proves why the paranoid badger should be the star of the show more often. As you'd expect from a title parodying Sidney Lamet's 1976 Best Picture winner "Network," this is a surprisingly sharp episode of "Boom." (Though Sticks notably does not scream she's mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.) It starts with a fairly strong inciting incident: What if Sticks actually did uncover a legitimate conspiracy? What would the fallout of that be? 

The eleven minutes that follows represents one of the few "Boom" installments that actually contains some coherent social commentary. Sticks wants to get the truth out to as many people as possible. In order to do this, she has to compromise her principles and work with the mainstream media. Yet just by teaming up with a big news corp, the purity of her message is corrupted. After breaking open the big story about Eggman stealing everyone's water, she kowtows to the network's demand for a fluffy human interest story. She agrees to this as part of a one-for-you, one-for-them deal. Yet her ethics continue to be sullied after discovering that Eggman actually sponsors the news. 

The message here is clear: Kids, don't sell out on your morals. Any time money gets involved in something – especially money from a big corporation – the interests of big corporations will always be reflected. More than anything else, those corporations want to keep the public pacified so they can continue to rob them while everyone remains ignorant. No matter how good your intentions might be, you can't fight the system from within the system. This environment ends up corrupting even the staunchest believer in the cause. The experience leaves Sticks horrified that she has now become the establishment that she set out to fight. 

Obviously, this is a pretty bleak message to send to the young kids who watched this cartoon. I've commented before that "Sonic Boom" actually displays a fairly cynical view of society semi-regularly. The writers clearly believe that authority figures are corrupt and are motivated by their own greed and desire to stay in power. The show also believes that people are fundamentally very stupid. The network execs Sticks finds herself working under inform her that the news program pumps out so many fluffy, happy news stories to keep people relaxed and upbeat. One of Sticks' listeners basically admits that he'll believe anything someone on the radio or TV tells him to. Moreover, once Sticks admits to the public that the mainstream media is inherently untrustworthy, the public goes into a panic. This leads to a rather grim conclusion: People are so dumb that they need to be told what to believe. Without that, society descends into chaos. 

"Nutwork" tries to spin a positive message out of this. The finale of the episode involves the panicking public teaming up to destroy Eggman's water-stealing machine. (While a thinly veiled cover of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" plays on the soundtrack.) This definitely feels like a last minute attempt to soften a depressing truth about American society that maybe the kids at home aren't ready to hear. I guess this is a more appropriate ending for the seven-to-ten year old crowd than Howard Beale getting assassinated for daring to speak the unpopular truth to the public-at-large. 

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised "Boom" Went There, albeit in its typically sarcastic and flippant way. Despite a fairly heavy story, this still manages to be a consistently funny episode. Sticks is probably my favorite character on the show, so it's not surprising that her unpredictable behavior and paranoid (if justified in this case) rantings make me chuckle. She's teamed up for most of this episode with the usually rational Tails, which makes for a potent comedic pairing. A sequence where Sticks free falls into Eggman's facility is probably the humorous highlight. An attempt by Amy to reassure Sticks that those-in-power have the public's best interest at heart is immediately undermined in a funny way. 

The show indulges in some of its trademark meta qualities here as well. One of Sticks' listeners comments that Eggman doesn't usually have a financial motivation for his scheme on this show. Meanwhile, the writers explicitly name the Gilligan Flip, a pop culture reference/industry insider term that the kids in the target audience probably wouldn't understand. There's some good old fashion absurdity here too, like a network exec who relies too much on finger-quotes or a decent gag about oversized scissors and coupons. 

I guess there is one serious problem with "Nutwork" though: You seriously expect me to believe that Sticks would drink public water, much less be hooked up to it? Come on, she would obviously only drink fresh well water or rain water in order to avoid fluoride contamination and have her mind brainwashed by Commie interests/be robbed of her precious bodily fluids and purity of essence. That major oversight aside, this is a pretty well written and funny episode. [7/10]