Sonic Boom, Episode 2.15: Og Man Out

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.15: Og Man Out

Original Air Date: February 18th, 2017

Now that Ian Flynn has achieved the "Sonic" fan boy dream of working in some capacity on the actual games, it's easy to see every movement in his hedgehog-related career as a stepping stone towards the next. The comics led to him writing for "Sonic Boom" and that first leap would obviously integrate him further with the brand, leading towards his current role as semi-official "Sonic" lore master. Honestly, I guess Ian must actually like writing comic books, as he didn't pivot full-time to TV writing after his excursions into "Boom" country. "Og Man Out" was his second episode of the "Sonic" cartoon and it is, thus far, his last television credit. 

Eggman is drilling around the island, in search of more relics from the Ancients. Instead, he ends up running into Sonic and the gang, who easily beat him back. During the battle, a hole is drilled deep into the ground. Out of which escapes Og, one of the Froglodytes that live under Sticks' burrow. Og, however, is not like his violent brothers. He's actually an annoyingly mellow hippie, quickly irritating each member of the team. When the other Froglodytes find their way to the surface though, Sonic and the others must learn to trust Og. 

"Sonic Boom" was not a show horribly devoted to continuity. When background characters did start to reoccur, it always seemed more like the writers building on various in-jokes and running gags. They kept bringing Dave and Comedy Chimp back, not to forge a wider sense of connection and world-building between the episodes, but because they thought they were funny. Ian Flynn, of course, doesn't approach continuity that way. If he's known for nothing else, his tendency to callback to long forgotten elements of the franchise is his defining characteristic. This is the guy, after all, who devoted a decade of his life to untangling the mess of loose plot threads and contradictions that was the Archie "Sonic" series and reassembling it into something coherent. Even when presented with the wacky, gag-a-day structure of "Boom," Flynn couldn't resist himself. "Og Man Out" begins with Eggman referencing all the Ancient mech suits that have been cropping up in the island recently, referring to Charlie's introduction and the events of the episode "Mech Suits Me." The Froglodytes were introduced in "Closed Door Policy" and, considering the specifically goofy perimeters of that episode, it's hard to imagine anyone planned to bring them back. But show Ian Flynn an underground civilization of cave-frogs as a one-off gag and he sees potential. 

There is, after all, a precedent in the comedic "Sonic" cartoons of building an episode around a one-note, goofball new character. How many episodes of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" did exactly that? Von Schlemmer and Wes Weasely might've become reoccurring characters eventually but they were the exception, not the rule. It's not like Dr. Warpnik, Katella the Huntress, or MacHopper ever had second appearances. (At least not outside extremely detailed pieces of fan art.) Even though "Og Man Out" brings back the Froglodytes, it introduces an annoyingly one-note joke character of its own. 

That would be the titular Og. Despite his caveman-ish name, Og is defined by another one-note gimmick. He's a hippie, maaaaaan. He wears a peace pendant and flashes a peace sign often. He rejects violence and technology. He's a vegan. (Combined with his slimy, froggy appearance, this makes him resemble "TMNT's" Punk Frogs, a probably intentional reference on Flynn's behalf.) Were the kids watching this cartoon in 2017 even familiar with the cultural stereotype of the hippie? Unwashed, stoned peaceniks remain present in our popular culture but the specific signifiers of the sixties hippie were surely unknown to the children this show was intended for. For that matter... Ian Flynn was born in 1982. It's not like he's personally familiar with the original brand of hippies either! 

I guess my point is that a hatred of hippies is evergreen. This episode follows a structure similar to last time's "FiendBot," with everyone quickly losing patience with Og's habits. In fact, he annoys the team right in a row. He builds a campfire in Amy's living room, keeps Sonic up with his hippie bullshit, criticizes Tails' inventions, and convinces Knuckles to stare at a tree all day. Much like FiendBot, Og wins everyone over by the end, using his specific Froglodyte martial arts to beat back his invading countrymen. It doesn't work as well as it did in the previous episode, the viewer never getting the impression that Sonic and others actually come around on Og. He mostly stays kind of ill-defined and vaguely unlikable. 

That the end kind of sucks might be a factor in this as well. Yeah, even though Og makes a point of saying he's non-violent, he does fight the other Froglodytes. This is excused with a last minute line of dialogue but it still feels like an ass-pull. So does, for that matter, the frog monster having a clearly Asian coded form of martial arts. (Which includes spinning into a ball, something all "Sonic" heroes can just do, I guess.) Sonic and the others making Bruce Lee-esque kung-fu shrieks feels like a joke that probably shouldn't have been written in 2017. Mostly, having Og suddenly depict the ability to kick ass and defeat his militaristic countrymen feels like a last ditch attempt to make us like this guy. It doesn't help that, as is usually the case with "Boom," the animation in the action scene blows. 

I mean, it's not the worst episode ever. I did laugh a couple of times. What happens when Eggman asks his Badniks to prove how "harmless" they are is a good gag. Sticks gets in a couple of good lines. Og asking Knuckles if the tree he's punching "owes him money" made me chuckle. When the Froglodytes attack the village, they make a wooden cart explode with just a punch. Solid joke. Overall though, this one is pretty weak. Maybe the most notable thing this episode does is confirm that Amy also shits, as Og is seen using her toilet in an early scene. Anyway, quick, someone draw fan art of Og and Guru Emu passing a joint back and forth! [5/10]