Knuckles, Episode 1.03: The Shabbat Dinner

Knuckles, Episode 1.03: The Shabbat Dinner

Original Release Date: April 26th, 2024

The third episode of Paramount+'s “Knuckles” series takes the narrative in some interesting directions. As fugitives wanted by the law now, Knuckles and Wade hide out in the last place anyone would expect to look: His mom's house, where his sister – an FBI agent – happens to be at this moment. Don't worry about that though, as Wade's mom, Wendy, has prepared a Shabbat dinner for her and her children. Shocked by the four foot tall, talking echidna at first, Wendy soon accepts Knuckles as a friend of the family. While Wade and Wanda resume their lifelong habit of bickering, Wendy informs Knuckles about various Jewish culture and personal family traditions. The evening is interrupted when a group of bounty hunters, after the price on Wade's head, burst into the house. 

For those who might be reading this review in the future, let me inform you that, as of May of 2024, there is conflict in the Middle East. On the surface, “The Shabbat Dinner” might seem like a totally harmless – if deeply unexpected – attempt to educate the gentiles about Jewish culture via a show about a CGI echidna punching things. And it is that. However, the timing of current events and a handful of lines here – glorifying the personal martial arts system of the Israeli Defense Force and references to Jewish folkloric beliefs as if they are literal history – creates an unfortunate undercurrent. I have Jewish blood on my mother's side. While I wasn't raised in the faith, I did grow up with many cultural traditions. I consider myself at least partially Jewish. I am, however, not a Zionist and in no way support Israel's current actions in Palestine. In fact, I'm rather offended that a country likes to believe they represent all Jewish people all over the world and that any objections to the state's actions are viewed as antisemitism by some people pushing a specific agenda. 

I can't believe a piece of “Sonic the Hedgehog” related media caused me to make this statement. I don't know if “The Shabbat Dinner” was created specifically to push a pro-Israel message. Or if the episode is the result of the surge of support that followed immediately after the October 6th attacks, before Israel started their most recent string of blowing up hospitals. Either way, the timing definitely gives what should've been a wacky piece of children's television an uncomfortable subtext. Wade's mom never outright says she's a die hard Zionist that never questions anything Israel's military would ever do... But it feels kind of implied, ya know? The people who like to say I read too much into everything, that “Sonic” is an inherently apolitical franchise, are probably rolling their eyes or furrowing their brows now. 

Putting all that aside, if indeed it is possible to put such things aside: I actually kind of liked this episode. Simply put, Knuckles getting a crash course in the Shabbat feast tradition is too bizarre of a concept for me not to have fun with. How exactly did the writers, producers, directors, and everyone else agree on this? All throughout these reviews, I've been asking “Why is a “Knuckles” show about these things?” “The Shabbat Dinner” is the first time where that question is being asked in a positive way. Knuckles discovers matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, and challah bread. He is taught some of the symbolic roles candles play in Jewish ritual. He learns a tiny bit about Judaism history. It's a combination of two things that have nothing in common and little reason to be interacting. Yet such an unexpected mash-up becomes hilarious by its mere existence. 

If we take “Knuckles” as a fish-out-of-water comedy, why not have the echidna stumbling into a culture he knows absolutely nothing about? Certainly, there is comedy to be derived from the proud warrior reacting to Jewish cuisine and traditions. Idris Elba does a good job of deadpanning reactions to these things. Wendy's line about how Knuckles is “basically Jewish” is pretty funny! Stockard Channing definitely does everything she can to inhabit this part with comedic zest and, yes, even a degree of sincerity. It's not as if this is the first time someone has drawn parallels between Knuckles' status as the last of his kind and the modern Jewish condition. Arguably, what's done here is a lot more tasteful than Ken Penders' half-assed invoking of the Lost Tribe of Israel, the Moses story, and the Final Solution. 

It is possible, as I often do, that I am overthinking things. Maybe Knuckles falling into the lap of a Jewish family was picked simply because it allows the use of a much older, hackier comedic device. “The Shabbat Dinner” invokes that much-loved trope of a guilting Jewish mother and siblings bickering around the dinner table. As a man with a Jewish mother and an older sister, I'm not going to say that these stereotypes are without any validity. I'd even go so far as to say that some of these jokes are decent. Such as Wade's mom pronouncing Knuckles' name with a heavy Yiddish “ch” sound. If nothing else, the scene where Wendy picks at her kids about never coming home for dinner is, ya know, relatable. You don't have to be a Jew to be familiar with that.

The problem, obviously, is whether using any of these old clichés is funny. I think family squabbling is one of the richest sources of comedy any writer can mine. However, Wade Whipple is a character whose every attribute is exaggerated to its most childish level. In order to make his sister Wanda an equal opponent, she too must be an very broad person. This means we get long, shrill scenes of these two arguing about their credentials as law enforcement officers and whether they know anyone at G.U.N. The script seems to think Wanda using a lot of abbreviations, whole constantly having a puffy and egotistical attitude, is the height of hilarity. I, of one, do not agree. Edi Patterson is, unfortunately, quite irritating in the part. Wanda could've been a snobby older sister that lords her success over her younger brother without turning her into another whiny, gasping, human cartoon. I mean, she stabs Wade with a fucking fork! Deep enough that it sticks out of his shoulder! That's not normal human behavior. These two are lunatics.

Coming from such a deeply dysfunctional family does explain some things about Wade being the person he is. "The Shabbat Dinner" really leans into the idea of Whipple being an emotionally stunted man-child. After his sister stabs him, he hides in his childhood bedroom, crying on his bed in the fetal position. His walls are covered with movie posters of films he enjoyed as a kid. Such as classic nineties dude-bro comedies like "Wayne's World," "Beavis and Butthead Do America," and "The Big Lebowski." In particular, he seems fascinated with hyper-masculine action heroes like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Keanu Reeves. (Which might make any interaction Wade has with Shadow in the next movie interesting...) Wade puts his own dad up on this same pedestal. His father even has an action hero worthy name: Pistol Pete, a moniker he earned as a bowling champ. 

This speaks a lot to Wade's arrested development. Wade is a wimpy goofball who wants to be a warrior. One of the posters in his room is "The Karate Kid Part II." Wade sees himself as Daniel LaRusso, who just needs the right mentor to mold him into a hero. Yet Wade is clearly not a person with a lot of self-awareness. Another poster on his wall is "RoboCop," one of the great eighties action movies that is also a pitch-perfect parody of the authoritarianism of both American action films and American law enforcement. And Wade grew up to be a cop, so he clearly didn't get the point. In fact, anybody living in this day and age would surely recognize John Rambo, and the many similar characters that followed in his path, as campy figures of Reagan-era reactionism. Arnold and Sly are exaggerated fantasy forms, not to be sincerely imitated. If Wade doesn't understand that – and puts his own absentee daddy on that same level – then he really does have the emotional maturity of a little boy. 

That's not the only hint we have as Wade Whipple's neuroses. He still has "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sheets on his bed. That was probably just chosen because, like a lot of the aforementioned movies, it's another Paramount property. Yet it also shows what a child Wade still is. He has also held onto a relic of a childhood crush: A cardboard standee of "American Gladiator" Zap, a blonde Amazon with bulging biceps. The cardboard is bent from repeated hugging – thank god the show kept that joke G-rated – and Wade clearly still holds a crush on this character. Not to get Freudian up in here but... Wade strives to be an action hero but his desires reveal that he basically still thinks of himself as a little kid, in need of a big strong woman to take care of him. He has a non-present dad and a smothering, picky mother. No wonder he grew up to have unobtainable ideas about masculinity and dream about a partner that'll take care of him and keep him safe. Am I saying Wade Whipple wants a dommy muscle mommy to cradle him and hold him close, presumably among other things? Yes. 100%. Fan artists, do what you have to. 

I love psychoanalyzing these dumb characters in these stupid shows! Anyway, the eighties action motif continues into the episode's big climax. One of the bounty hunters that sneak into the house wears a red bandana, a leather jacket, and wields a chain. Wanda even says he looks like a goon from an old movie. I got "Streets of Fury" vibes, personally. Anyway, these moments naturally escalate into big action set pieces. Like a chair being whipped in two or Knuckles punching a guy through a wall. This echidna fucking hates walls! The episode concludes with a pretty cool circular tracking shot of Knuckles and Wade's mom fighting off a bunch of baddies, in order to keep the Shabbat candles from being prematurely snuffed out. This scene is soundtracked to "Hava Nagila." While I've been pretty down on "Knuckles'" obvious, overly literal needle drops... This one is good. In fact, this whole sequence is great. Oh my God, what the fuck am I watching. This show is nuts. 

Needless to say, if "Knuckles" had loopy gags like that in every episode, I would like this show a whole lot more. Instead, this episode still features a lot of the sophomoric, sub-sitcom comedy that is all too common these days. Still, Zionist subtext and some stiff writing aside, "The Shabbat Dinner" is simply too bizarre an experience for me not to love it at least a little bit. I never thought my Jewishness and my "Sonic" fandom would ever cross paths like this. One last thing: Wendy and Knuckles watch "Pretty Woman" together and there's even a joke about the echidna taking the phrase "street walker" literally. Assuming they finished the movie, this means Knuckles probably now knows what prostitution is. Oy gevalt. Also, please donate to relief in Palestine. [7/10]