Knuckles, Episode 1.02: Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There For You

Knuckles, Episode 1.02: Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There For You

Original Release Date: April 26th, 2024

The first episode of “Knuckles” ended with the proud echidna warrior captured by rogue G.U.N. agents, Mason and Willoughby. They carry him off to an obscure ski resort in Montana and await the mysterious Buyer. Wade Whipple, armed only with the one energized gauntlet left behind, goes on a rescue mission. This does not exactly go swimmingly, Wade's tendency towards fucking everything up quickly undermining any attempt at stealth. Despite the deputy's incompetence, he does end up saving Knuckles and getting away... Though not without making himself a wanted fugitive. 

Early on in “Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There for You,” a flashback shows a younger Wade watching “Bad Boys.” This is not just one of the many overbearing pop culture references that Paramount's “Sonic” projects love to make. It's clearly a statement of purpose too. This show wants to follow the classic buddy cop formula that so many films and TV shows before have ridden to success. On the surface, “Knuckles” certainly resembles “Bad Boys” or “Lethal Weapon” a little. They are not as openly antagonistic towards each other as Riggs and Murtaugh were at first. Clearly, however, they will earn each other's respect and love by the end of this story. The classic buddy cop dynamic – of one loose cannon and one straight-laced, by-the-book guy – is sort of represented. Though Knux and Wade both fill these roles in their own ways at different times. 

No matter the differences and similarities “Knuckles” is showing to this well-worn set-up, it definitely has one thing in common with every buddy story made before. This show is at its best when its two dudes are interacting. Probably the best moment of “Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There for You” is when Wade and Knuckles sit down to have dinner outside a fast food joint. They bond over their mutual statuses as outcast, both having experienced betrayal and abandonment. It's a better moment of these two relating to each other than the similar scene in the first episode. Secondly, this show is simply just funnier when these two are interacting. Knuckles hot-wiring a car with his hand spikes, and Wade's reaction to it, definitely got the biggest laugh out of me this time. 

The showrunners are clearly aware that this is the meat of “Knuckles,” Wade and the echidna hanging out. Despite that, this episode still keeps them separated for most of their runtime. Without Knuckles' humorless literalism to play off, the audience is left with Adam Pally's solo shenanigans. A staggeringly long sequence is devoted to Wade imagining himself as a James Bond-like action hero, who effortlessly sneaks into the lodge, defeats the baddies, and rescues an incredibly appreciative Knuckles. Instead, he trips, falls, sets off all his supplies, alerting his presence to the agents. The focus on Wade's pratfalls do not stop there, as we also get a long sequence devoted to him getting dragged around by the rocket punch gauntlet he stole. 

I must emphasize that these sequence of broad physical comedy are dire. It's not that Adam Pally is an all-together unappealing comedic presence. A scene where he hides from Agent Mason, by placing his head next to a wrack of display hats, got me to chuckle a little bit. (Even if that joke is obviously inspired by a funnier moment in “Young Frankenstein.”) A moment shortly after that, where his fight with Mason is interrupted by a call from the agent's mom, isn't completely worthless either. Yet, when forced to react to computer-aided antics, all Pally can do is mug gratuitously. When combined with the extremely thin foundation of the character – a chubby, goofy guy who acts like an idiot man-child most of the time – the result is far more irritating than amusing. Again, the question is unavoidable: Why is this show about this character? 

I already know the answer to this question: Pally making funny faces in front of a green screen is a lot cheaper than animating Knuckles the Echidna. Yet a protagonist that is annoying more often than not isn't the only thing I'm unsure about with “Knuckles.” How do Agent Mason and Agent Willoughby stand up as antagonist? Well, Kid Cudi is a surprisingly compelling screen presence. There's not much of anything to Mason as a character. He seems to be a generic tough guy, in many ways. But at least he actor is visibly having fun. Ellie Taylor has a lot less to work with as Willoughby. She is stuck in the all-too-common role of the snarky woman who has to react to the dumb guys around her. Not the most inspired material and certainly not the most exciting of adversaries. 

Despite that, I suppose these two fill their roles. They are functional. That's the attitude I'm finding myself taking with “Knuckles.” This show is never going to be what I want it to be. Or even what it probably could be. The theatrical “Sonic” films managed to be entertaining despite a concerted effort to flatten the material out into bland slop. “Knuckles” is having a much harder time resisting these efforts. All the overbearing hallmarks of the films are even more noticeable when you shove them into a half-hour episode. The needle drops are always composed of overplayed pop standards that everyone knows. I like “Holding Out for a Hero” and “Rock Me Like a Hurricane” too. If you're going to use music that well known, that overexposed, it has to be really worth it. Sorry to say, a sequence of Wade buying stuff at a gas station or him and Knuckles head-banging are not going to become iconic moments. 

Easy – some might even say lazy – pop culture references like this represent a lack of effort, to really invest this story with the heart and soul of the creators. I feel the same way about the call-outs to movies and television. Like a random shout-outs to “E.T.,” “Mission: Impossible,” or Uma Thurman. Maybe try and write an actual joke, instead of trying to get the audience to laugh or nod in recognition at something someone else created... Am I being unreasonable here? Is all of that too much to respect from a TV show vaguely inspired by a video game? I don't know, man. Maybe it is.

It probably sounds like I'm being really negative here. I don't actually hate “Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There For You.” As mixed as my feelings toward Wade Whipple as an entity are, I do think he is slowly growing on me. Idris Elba continues to be amusing as Knuckles, even managing to turn a not-great bit about the echidna imagining crushing his enemies into a decent gag. If nothing else, I guess the show deserve some credit for not using the fast food scene as an excuse for more product placement. Knuckles and Wade eat at an establishment called Burger Shack. There is a small chain of restaurants in Virginia with this name. Considering this episode is set in Montana, I'm doubting that was an intentional reference and this was a generic name cooked up for the show. (Though the scene of them eating sure-as-shit has the Lays Potato Chips logo facing the camera for as long as possible.)

Oh, and speaking of names: The ski resort is called “Ice Cap,” the kind of half-hearted nod towards the classic Genesis games that I guess is going to be common here. The title sequence, set to Scandal's “The Warrior,” from the previous episode is reused here. The pencil-style animations of Knuckles and Wade having some adventures, some over his CD binder, is pretty cute. This makes way for the end credits, which are set to a bizarre theme song. With intentionally campy lyrics, I can't decide if I hate or love this just yet. Sadly, my feelings are not that ambiguous about the episode itself. “Don't Ever Say I Wasn't There For You” continues to display the strange decisions made around “Knuckles” as a series, the program continuing to be pulled between what it can do and what we actually want it to do. [5/10]