Sonic Boom, Episode 2.27: Robots from the Sky, Part 2

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.27: Robots from the Sky, Part 2

Original Air Date: May 17th, 2017

As I work my way through season two of "Sonic Boom," I look at the air dates for each episode and find myself thinking "Man, it must've sucked to have been a fan of this show when it was airing in real time." Especially during this four parter. Waiting a week between installments when they are full half-hour episodes is one thing but these are only little ten minute-long shorts! And it seems each one ends on a cliffhanger. Tuning in for something so short, just to have it end on an unrealized point and having to wait a whole week for the next part, sounds seriously annoying. Kind of makes me glad I'm catching up with this show years after the fact.

"Robots from the Sky Part 1" ended on the dramatic moment of Team Sonic being surrounded by unseen enemies in the bushes, Tails being zapped by a laser beam. Part two quickly defuses that cliffhanger, by showing Tails has survived thanks to a well placed book and also that the robots attacking them are the imbecilic Cubot prototypes from "Beyond the Valley of the Cubots." They might be easy to defeat but this is only the beginning of a full-scale robot rebellion, all of Eggman's minions marching on the village at once. Tails quickly discovers that the machines are all infected with the same Malware, whose origins seem to be Morrisville. Sonic and Tails head for the robot city in the sky while Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks stay behind to fight off the encroaching horde. 

Last time, I pointed out that the team of Alan Denton, Greg Hahn, and Bill Freiberger managed to tell a surprisingly well-rounded story in the first part of this installment, all within the confines of such a short runtime. The second part continues this trend, producing a surprisingly jam-packed installment. Most shocking of all, I'm finding myself actually invested in this story. From the simplistic set-up of two random robots falling out of the sky, this plot has evolved to feature a robotic revolt with mysterious origins. Now, even in its most serious moments, "Sonic Boom" is still a comedy show. These story developments are tinged with a certain goofiness. Namely, the source of this rebellion isn't a malicious A.I. or Singularity-like mass awakening among the machines. No, a Malware virus has spread among the machines. In other words, the robot rebellion is starting because of Bonzai Buddy. The mind quivers in fear at the thought... 

As jokey as this reveal is, I still think doing a proper robot uprising story is a good idea for this show. It's a properly wide-ranging threat that doesn't involve Eggman – giving it a sense of something bigger and more dangerous – while also respecting the history of the show. In fact, I'm beginning to think this entire story arc might have been an excuse to reuse assets from previous episodes. Some familiar robots appear here and not just the same Badniks we see all the time. Firebot is back from last time, but so is Icebot and Crusherbot. We even get to see Octobot for the first time in a while. Like j said, season two had worked up a decent amount of continuity by this point. Bringing back the Cubot prototypes or FiendBot isn't just neat, in the sense that it makes this world feel a little more fleshed-out and fully formed. It also raises the emotional stakes a little. We can't help but wonder why the former friendly Cubots and FiendBot have turned violent and it makes us kind of sad to see the good guys forced to fight their former friends. That's, like, ya know, good writing. 

Granted, even in a more serious and action-packed story arc like this, things are still not too perilous. Team Sonic never seems too endangered by the robots attacking them. The Cubot rejects are easily defeated, thanks to the big red self-destruct buttons on top of their heads. One tap on that and they go kerflooey, making them the most easily dispatched shock troops this side of Lord Zedd's Putties and their unmissable "Press Here to Kill" buttons. Even during the siege on the village, you never feel like the good guys are in that much danger. Octobot's ice splotches annoy Sonic more than they hurt him. Amy's reaction to FiendBot attacking her is based more on a friend turning on her than his threat level. The episode even uses lack of danger for a joke. Amy is on the communicator with Tails when she's blindsided by Icebot, her life in peril... Before we cut to her having reduced him to a pile of twisted wreckage, hammering away at him. 

Still, I must say I am impressed with the action scenes here. The increased effort and budget of this four parter continues to show, in the acrobatic and stylish way the heroes punch, slam, and slice through the robotic minions. There's an unexpected grace to Amy tapping a Cubot's button with the butt of her hammer or Sticks decapitating a Mantisbot with her staff. The extra level of precision taken with this episode is especially apparent in the last third. That's when Tails and Sonic head for Morristown in his plane, eventually getting into a dogfight with the airborne sentries around the floating city. It's pretty well done! A scene where Sonic leaps from his seat and has to rely on Tails to catch him before he goes splat on the ground is even mildly suspenseful! Not what I expected from this show at all. 

However, no matter how action packed the episode seemingly may be, "Boom" will always be "Boom." This is especially the case with a Denton/Hahn episode. "Robots from the Sky Part 2" is even more jam-packed with jokey lines than the first part. The non-stop smarm does get overwhelming at times. Several lines at Mayor Fink's expense are overdone. The script remains very meta, with Sonic asking Tails not to tee up action, instructing kids not to copy his daredevil stunts, and some villagers commenting on the high occurrence of robot attacks. Lines about mid-air amenities or sports teams really do start to drain the tension from the later action scenes. 

Despite the episode's sweaty need to pack every single moment with jokes, I did laugh a good amount. Amy is a good foil in this episode, Knuckles commenting on her throw pillows or Sonic snarking on her insisted-upon difference between teal and turquoise. Roger Craig Smith's reaction to that line is especially good. Mike Pullock, in Eggman's sole scene here, also delivers a good response to a rubber duck. Tails' description of an absurd Plan B is a groaner but it's saved by Knuckles nonchalantly doing exactly what was described in a later scene. 

Other jokes that don't quite land are a scene involving Soar the Eagle, recording the old woman wolf being attacked by a robot, and a scene of Leeroy the Turtle proving less than helpful. However, these moments do continue a reoccurring theme of this show. Namely, the residents of Hedgehog Village are so selfish that you wonder if they even deserve to be rescued. Soar standing back and commenting on the average person refusing to help, while he himself stands back and refuses to help, is yet another pessimistic commentary on the press prioritizing glory seeking and self-serious pontificating over actually serving the public. The scene with Leroy, where he is asked to guard Tails' workshop as the Cubots rampage inside and then just leaves shortly afterwards, is simply an example of someone being an asshole for no reason. Once again, I'm surprised at how downbeat this show can be at times, in its portrayal of the average person as fundamentally stupid and self-centered. 

This episode may seem only somewhat connected to Morrisville, as described in the previous episode, but the final scene returns to that location. Looks like more mysteries remain to be resolved. Overall, I'm finding this story arc well-done so far and have really been appreciating the boost in animation quality too. As goofy and sometimes half-assed as "Sonic Boom" could be, it's good to know the show could occasionally really step up and deliver the goods every once in a while. Onward to part three! [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.26: Robots from the Sky Part 1

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.26: Robots from the Sky Part 1

Original Air Date: May 6th, 2017

Multi-part story arcs weren't a thing that "Sonic Boom" did all that often. Most of the time, this was a show designed to be consumed in quick, ten minutes bites, that anyone could drop into and enjoy. As we've gotten into the guts of season two, more elements of continuity have been introduced, the show bringing back past characters and building something like an actual lore and extended cast of its own. This gradual move towards more on-going storytelling would arguably reach its peak about half-way through season two. That's when Bill Freiberger had a wacky idea to do a four-part episode, a little mini-epic that would run about forty minutes in total length. That would be "Robots from the Sky," which would kick off with the twenty-sixth episode of season two. 

When Sonic and the gang are running a charity car wash, Eggman attacks while complaining about some missing change. That's when a spaceship crashes in the near-by forest. Inside are two sentient robots named Mighton and Bolts, citizens of a utopian robot city floating in the sky. Upon seeing the heroes smashing Eggman's Badniks, they immediately assume them to be enemies of robotic kind and attack. They go back to Eggman's base, where the doctor tries to get them to reveal more information about their city, with plans towards taking it over. Now, Sonic and the others have to rescue the naïve machines that just attacked them. 

I spent most of my recent review of "Nominatus Rising" complaining about how it felt like characters from some other cartoon show dropped down in the middle of this one. (And the related phenomenon of how "Sonic" cartoons have done this a lot.) Only a few episodes later and "Boom" does it again. At least robots are an established, reoccurring element of this series. That doesn't change the fact that Mighton and Bolts both look, sound, and act like protagonists from some other cartoon. If you had told me this four-parter was a crossover with some other show airing on Cartoon Network or Boomerang at this time, I would probably believe you. The clips we get of the machine's home world feel like they could belong to any number of other shows. Maybe this feeling simply stems from me being an old man. Or maybe it's because CGI kids cartoons from the late 2000s and mid-2010s all just kind of looked this way. I remember watching shit like "RollBots" or "Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures" with my nephew and the robot-centric scenes in this episode really remind me of the look and feel of those forgettable shows. 

It doesn't help that big and tough Mighton and small and smart Bolts feel like they could be generic heroes from any generic program, right down to their voices and superpowers. (Mighton has a rocket punch, Bolts' arms can extend out like tentacles.) Or their names for that matter, which must've been thought up in one minute. Their character arc – of mistaking the actual heroes for villains, joining up with the actual villains, only to have to be rescued by the good guys once the inevitable betrayal occurs – is also standard stuff for any action/adventure story. In fact, this kind of "First, they fight, then they team up" writing – which can be found in any superhero comic – is close to Sonic's introductions to Knuckles and Shadows. Maybe these two fit in with this series more than I'm giving them credit for. Nevertheless, Mighton and Bolts' designs aren't very memorable. In the vast expanse of kids' cartoons about robots, you could tell me these two were from any of them and I'd probably buy it. Even the way Mighton's mouth moves reminds me of any number of would-be "Transformers" imitators. 

Whatever feelings I have about Mighton and Bolts as characters, I do think they present an interesting opportunity. When the two first arrive in the village, they see Sonic joyfully smashing other robots. The script plays this as all a grand misunderstanding that is sorted out by the end but it brings up a point I've made before. Throughout "Boom," it's been obvious that Eggman's robots possess a certain degree of free will and have personalities all their own. We've seen this in Cubot and Orbot's sassy back-talking and occasional betrayals, in the society of free and able Cubot prototypes, with FiendBot and Bea, and numerous small jokes about Badniks hesitating to obey Eggman's orders or striking for equal rights. All of this suggest that Eggman imbues his machines with what can only be called sentience. In other words, while not being organic organisms, they are basically living things. Moreover, they don't seem all that different from the fearful, idiotic citizens of Hedgehog Village. 

And these are the same robots that Sonic and the other "good" guys smash to pieces in every episode. The question must be asked: Is it ethical for Sonic to destroy these Badniks? Are the heroes simply acting in self-defense? What kind of draconian "Stand Your Ground" laws does Hedgehog Village have? Is Team Boom responsible for hate crimes against robots?! We don't yet know the origins of the aerial civilization of machines Mighton and Bolts came from. Yet it's hard to say they are any different from Eggman's minions. They identify them as fellow robots in that first scene. All of this presents a fascinating moral conundrum. If Sonic and friends have been destroying sentient beings this whole time, they really aren't heroes. Moreover, if they were somehow unaware of this, it could've led to them challenging their own beliefs and doubting their own actions. 

That would've been a compelling and deep story for "Sonic Boom" to follow... Something a jokey sitcom like this, in no way, is prepared to handle. Unsurprisingly, "Robots from the Sky Part 1" does not address these concerns. In fact, during the climax, Mighton is also destroying Eggman's Badniks without pausing. Which suggests some interesting things about his character! Maybe the Sky Robots are some sort of machine isolationist who aren't so concerned for other types of robots. They describe their city as a utopia but that's just their perspective. Maybe Mighton and Bolts are the robot equivalent of white supremacy and running some sort of mechanical ethnostate up there! Again, I don't expect "Boom" to address any of this. Sorry, there I go again, actually thinking about the context of the things I watch and the implications of the information presented within. The truth is Mighton's sudden turn from considering Eggman's creations his robot brothers to mooks he can destroy without question is sloppy writing, a result of the episode's short runtime and focus on comedy. 

And the focus is definitely on comedy, as you'd expect. While Bill Freiberger conceived of "Robots from the Sky" story arc, Alan Denton and Greg Hahn get top-billing on the writing credit. This suggests to me they did most of the work on the script. Because this episode feels like one of their's. "Robots from the Sky Part 1" is full of smarmy dialogue, everyone constantly peppering their speech with little jokes and sarcastic comments. Eggman's fast-paced rantings about loose change are interspersed with jokes about Meh Burger's version of the Dollar Menu, his mustache, the difference between apple juice and apple cider, or alliteration. Everyone talks like this. Tails' investigation of the sky robots' ship includes a digression about the word "groovy." He pauses in the middle of battle to scold Eggman's low effort passwords. When Orbot and Cubot appear on Sonic's doorstep, a sarcastic conversation about their fragile loyalty to their boss ensues. Even Mighton and Bolts talk this, comparing Sonic and Tails to themselves or cracking a line about "positing politics on social media."

This kind of constant snarkiness, one-liners breathlessly coming one after another, has proven overwhelming and exhausting before. And yet... I did laugh a good bit in "Robots from the Sky Part 1." There's a lot of solid, fast paced gags here. Such as the state of the day care the heroes are raising money to restore. A lot of the nonstop rapporteur is fairly amusing. Amy's upbeat response to Eggman saying he should give Team Sonic a key made me chuckle. As did Cubot nearly revealing the nature of their half-hearted betrayal to Eggman. By far the best gag in this episode is the name of the robot civilization in the sky... Morristown. Contrasting futuristic, sci-fi premises with everyday mundanity??? Ooooh yeeeeah, that's the good shit! The episode probably draws too much attention to this joke, with people constantly suggesting more fantastical names... But fuck it. A robot utopia named Morristown? Excellent.  

This episode also proves something that I decided a long time ago: Sticks is the MVP of "Sonic Boom." The episode brings her repeated rantings about a forthcoming robot apocalypse full circle, in a way that definitely doesn't go uncommented on. The sci-fi set-up allows for a lot of paranoid rantings from our favorite schizophrenic badger. Her direct solution to dealing with the robot menace comes around fantastically at the end. I'll admit, I have a fondness for humor of this sort, of playing lunatic conspiracy theories and those that believe them for laughs. That Sticks always delivers her unhinged beliefs with such enthusiasm, and that bit of Jerzey in her voice... I'm just saying, she's the best. If I was a badger boy, I'd awkwardly attempt to date her before being increasingly alienated by her troubling beliefs and unhinged actions. 

Being the show's first, big multi-part storyline, I would not be surprised if "Robots from the Sky" was developed as a centerpiece of season two. Which presumably means it was given a little more of a budget boost, resulting in action scenes that clearly had more work put into them. There's some fairly fluid sequences of Sticks dismantling a Mantis Bot with her bo staff or Knuckles punching another Badniks to pieces. You actually get a sense of Sonic's speed in these scenes, instead of the more stilted qualities that are usually evident in the battle sequences. There's lots of explosions and fire flying everywhere in the last act, during the big confrontation between Team Boom, the sky robots, and Eggman's forces. It's so much smoother than "Boom's" action scenes, especially when compared to recent clumsy scenes in "Og Man Out" or "Knuck Knuck Who's There?" I guess animation of this quality was not practical for the show's budget but I'm glad the animators got to step it up sometimes 

As you might expect from the "Part 1" at the end of the title, the episode ends on a cliffhanger. "Boom" being the meta program it is, there's naturally a lampshade hung in this ending. What's weird though is that "Robots from the Sky Part 1" basically wraps up its own story before that moment. The episode is fairly self-contained, in that regard. However, I suppose more shenanigans in Morrisville are forthcoming. As hyper-verbal as this script can be, the result is quite an entertaining episode. Onto the next part! [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.25: Do Not Disturb

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.25: Do Not Disturb

Original Air Date: April 29th, 2017

"Do Not Disturb" starts as Sonic is having a nightmare about blarms. He's awoken by a drooling, vaguely tapir like creature. This is a widabit, an endangered species, and it's chosen Sonic's hut as its nesting ground. Fastidious Beaver and Amy, the head chairs of the local environmental agency, insist Sonic vacate his home until the widabit finds a mate. This means the hedgehog has to crash on Tails' couch for a while, the two best friends quickly getting on each others' nerves. Sonic and Tails' growing animosity grows as attempts to solve the widabit problem backfires more and more.

In every other piece of "Sonic" media, Sonic and Tails share a mentor/sidekick relationship. Tails looks up to Sonic and wants to be like him. Sonic hopes to flourish Tails' talent and genius, teaching the kid to be more confident. This clear power dynamic disguises the fact that Sonic and Tails don't have much in common, personality wise. Tails is usually shown to be somewhat soft-spoken, maybe even shy and awkward. Sonic is always brass and confident, quick-witted and smirking. Tails is technical, an engineer. Sonic is a man of action, usually racing into adventures before really thinking them through. The two compliment each other nicely but, ya know, would they have still been best friends if they went to high school together? Could Sonic and Tails' bond have overcome the popular kid/nerd boundary? 

"Boom" really has us considering this question, as these versions of Sonic and Tails don't quite have the usual hero/sidekick dynamic. In fact, the show has, in the past, indecisively depicted Knuckles as Sonic's best friend. Either way, "Boom" Sonic and Tails sometimes feel more like siblings than buddies but the show still declares them to be best friends whenever it fits the plot. "Do Not Disturb" runs with the idea of Sonic and Tails' differences, when in constant exposure to each other, forcing them apart rather than bringing them together. This is a solid foundation for an episode. Namely, because it's true. Yet me meander off on an excruciating personal anecdote for a minute: I, for a brief period of time, had my best friend living with me. And I love this guy. We do everything together. He's been my best pal since middle school. But living with him? Having him turn the TV on loud first thing in the morning or leave dirty laundry by the hamper? Let me just say, I relate to Tails in this episode. Just because you love someone, that you really enjoy spending time with them, doesn't mean you'll be able to share living quarters with them. 

The elemental truth of this idea, the tension that inevitably rises when besties become roomies, makes it a potent premise to build a sitcom episode on. At first, Sonic and Tails have a great time hanging out together every night. However, Sonic's constant showboating ways, not to mention his tendency towards being a bit of a slob, quickly gets on Tails' nerves. Watching the fox go from loving this guy to being mildly disgusted and annoyed with him at all times produces some good gags, especially as the progression happens basically over the course of a montage. Naturally, these two work it all out by the end, realizing that the bond they have is stronger than some petty disagreement. That's what happened with me and my best friend too: He got his own place and we became best pals again, with a newly gained understanding that what gives us such compelling chemistry might annoy the shit out of us during long-term exposure. 

Once again, "Sonic Boom" gets a lot of comedic juice out of contrasting this superheroic characters with such petty behavior. When you expect to see Sonic running fast and fighting robots, seeing him annoy his roommate by putting his feet up on the table is a good joke. Such is the insignificant kind of arguments that much if the episode is built upon. One of its funniest scenes has Sonic and Tails arguing while attempting to push a stubborn widabit around, nitpicking each others' skills after their wacky plan failed. Later, Eggman's attempt to wreak some villainous actions are being repeatedly blocked by environmental clauses, forcing what is supposed to be an epic battle between good and evil into being a squabbling staring contest. You could make the case that humor like this, the contrast between action/adventure premises and childish disagreements, is the entire joke this show revolves around. 

While this episode might primarily be about Sonic and Tails challenging their friendship by ending up in an "Odd Couple" scenario, the way writer Peter Saisselin gets to that idea is amusingly wacky. Sonic is forced to move not because of a plumbing issue or whatever but because an obnoxiously gross endangered species decides his little shed is the best place to get some ass. The way the heroes go about trying to resolve this problem, by throwing a fancy dinner for two disagreeable widabits, is some good cartoony silliness. In general, the business with the widabits continue to escalate in goofier ways throughout the episode, each scheme the heroes cook up to solve the problem only making it worse. Always a classic structure for a comedy to follow. 

In general, I have to commend the character designer of "Sonic Boom" for making such a perfectly ugly creature with the widabits. The obvious temptation with such a creature would be to make them cute. I mean, pretty much all the characters on "Boom" are cute, even ostensibly repulsive ones like Dave or Mark. The widabits, meanwhile, are genuinely unpleasant to look at. They have those gapping Totoro mouths, full of perfectly square rows of teeth, and wide, unenlightened eyes. While that could've been cute, it's paired with a flabby body and a pig-like posture. Improbable features like whiskers, a random horn, and splotchy skin are just stuck in random places, to make the whole creature look even more like a mistake on God's behalf. The color scheme is an unpleasantly fleshy maroon. The grotesque cherry on this crapulent sundae is the widabit's tendency to always be drooling or leaking slime in some way. You can't avoid the feeling that these things smell really bad. Considering their role in the story is to be a constant thorn in everyone's side, making them so damnably unpleasant was the right decision. That "Boom's" animation can, even on its best days, be a bit off only adds to the viscerally negative reaction I had to these critters upon seeing them. 

To make matters worse, the episode really hinges on whether the heroes can get these stupid, ugly animals to breed. We don't want to think about these abominations humping but the story constantly forces us to do so. Tails blows the creature's mating call through a bullhorn, which brings all the widabits to Sonic's yard. Yet, even in the disgusting mud-pig world, romance is rarely as easy as that. The convoluted shenanigans the heroes have to go through to get their smelly, drooling stink-hog laid is nicely stretched out. The generally sexually charged atmosphere of this episode is established immediately, as the first scene features Sonic's face getting splattered with the widabit's drool, a viscous, slimy liquid. That same fate is visited upon Tails. Was that an unintended side effect of this show's animation budget making all liquids look thick and unpleasant? Or did the writers really sneak not one but two facial jokes into a kids' show? I guess we can only speculate... 

While Sonic and Tails are obviously the main focus of this episode, the script is pretty well balanced all over. Each cast member is allowed to shine. Sticks' super sniffer comes in handy in the episode's last third. Making Amy a member of the Endangered Species Council was a natural, funny way to get her involved in this story. Sonic getting evicted because of the hideous slime-sow is a lot funnier coming out of Amy's upbeat mouth. Eggman and even Fastidious Beaver made me chuckle a few times. And Knuckles gets some really strong jokes, such as the reveal that he's been hiding under Tails' porch for weeks. This show is really running with the idea that Knuckles is homeless, isn't it? I guess that is what happens when you take a brotherman's floating island away from him...

"Do Not Disturb" proves to be a jam-packed, joke dense ten minutes that still feels like it tells a complete story. I can't help but give Peter Saisselin most of the credit for that. He was already an industry veteran by this point, getting his start as – of all things – an assistant accountant on big budget movies like "Another 48 Hrs.," "The Naked Gun 33 1/3," and "Cutthroat Island." In animation, he had already written for obscure shows like "Creepschool," "Zombie Hotel," and "Dude, That's My Ghost!" before this. (Damn, he couldn't have fit a werewolf or vampire into this one?) This wasn't even his first hedgehog related cartoon, having also written four episodes of whatever this furry Tai Yagami lookin' abomination is. My point is: Industry lifers like that know how to structure a damn screenplay and that is obvious in "Do Not Disturb's" sturdiness. And there's even a Sanic reference! Fun for the whole fandom. [8/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.24: Eggman's Brother

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.24: Eggman's Brother

Original Air Date: April 22nd, 2017

A while ago, it was uncovered that, among the prototypes for "Sonic Underground," was a pitch for a series that would have focused entirely on the idea of Sonic the Hedgehog having a sister. In the original Sega video games, Sonic and his friends rather notoriously do not have families. Most of them don't even have parents! And yet, "Sonic" spin-off media seems especially hard-pressed to follow this rule. "Underground" saddling the blue hedgehog with two annoying siblings is probably the most blatant example, give or take two hundred Archie "Sonic" cast members. Even by the time I got online in the late nineties, giving Sonic or another established character a long lost sister or brother was already considered the hackiest move a piece of fan fiction could pull. And yet, in 2017, "Sonic" shows were still doing this. 

At least, that seems to be the case with "Eggman's Brother," the twenty-fourth to air episode of "Sonic Boom." As the title suggests, the episode begins with Eggman's long lost brother, Steve, showing up on the doctor's doorstep. The villain is skeptical of the newcomer and they quickly rub each the wrong way. Dejected, Steve Eggman ends up befriending Sonic and the gang... That's when Knuckles is accused of robbing a fruit stand. This is followed by other instances of in-fighting among the heroes. It is quickly revealed that "Steve" isn't actually Eggman's brother but instead a shapeshifting robot from an alternate universe, seeking to undermine the good guy's friendships. 

"Eggman's Brother" is an episode with a potentially really funny premise. As I said above, giving Sonic or Robotnik or anybody in this franchise, really, a long lost sibling was already a dead horse trope by 2017. I don't think "Sonic" is unique in that. An established character suddenly having a twin sister or whatever has an idea synonymous with hacky soap operas and shitty fanfiction for years. The latter, especially, as it's a way for insecure young writers to live out their fantasies of being best friends with their favorite characters. Considering how self-aware of the series' history and fandom "Boom" was, I think "Eggman's Brother" is goofing on this trope. Steve Eggman – does this mean that "Eggman" is his last name??? – is an agreeably silly idea for a character. He looks nearly identical to Eggman, just with an opposite color scheme, mostly being blue instead of red. That suggests the character might be a spoof of fan-made recolors. The biggest difference between Eggman and Steve is that Steve has a full head of hair, flowing blonde locks, and talks with a goofy surfer-dude accent. This is a funny enough premise for a character: What if Eggman had a near identical brother, who was an idiot instead of a genius and not bald? It's certainl a gag you could build ten minutes around.

Yet "Steve" is weirder than that. The reveal that this guy is actually a shape-shifting robot named Morpho is held off on for a decent amount of time. The episode truly seems like it's actually going to be about Sonic befriending Eggman's laid-back, stoner brother for most of its runtime. Morpho's true nature gets even stranger when he casually drops that he's from an alternate dimension, built by that world's version of Eggman before he destroyed it. "Boom" has dipped its toes into alternate universe stories before. The way this information is quickly tossed offhandedly in dialogue, with no further elaboration, makes me continue to think Morpho and his whole origin are meant to be a piss-take on the improbability of missing sibling storylines. "Sonic Boom" was too self-aware of a show to throw something like that out there and not have it be a joke. 

On the other hand... If "Eggman's Brother" is meant to be a spoof of its own premise, it never quite hits the mark. The question of "why" it's dumb that Eggman would have a long-lost sibling is never answered. If Morpho's bizarre backstory is intended to be humorous itself, it's told in a surprisingly straight-faced manner. The second half, once the secret is undone, is played about as straight as this show gets. It's as if the writers – Marine Lachenaud and Cedric Lachenaud, previously of "Multi-Tails" and a bunch of French cartoons nobody over here has seen – wanted to do an episode about Eggman trying to Yoko Team Sonic. A sixth wheel shows up, draws attention to all the insecurities in the group between their members, and pushes them towards a break-up. A totally valid premise for an episode. However, it feels like that idea was then awkwardly fused with the idea of mocking the long-lost sibling trope. The result is an episode that doesn't feel entirely focused. 

This lack of focus, I think, results in "Eggman's Brother" not being as funny as it could have been. Like I said, Steve/Morpho is potentially a really funny character. Probably the comedic highlight of the episode is when "Steve" dresses as a superhero and attempts to integrates himself into Team Sonic, helping the heroes save the Gogobas from a volcano. Simply having this weirdo version of Eggman running around is amusing. When Steve and Eggman get into a childish slap fight, that's the best utilization if the sibling element. The laughs are never quite there otherwise. This is apparent in many other scenes as well. There's a pretty amusing conversation about Sticks, smoke, and fire. Amy, when asked to play psychologist, gets an amusing line. Long gags about Knuckles and fruit never hit with the pithiness we've come to expect from this show. The whole episode is delivered with a slightly off-center pacing, the wisecracks never being as whip-fast as they need to be, the gags not as absurd as they could be. You know something is off when Cubot trying to decide which of the Eggmen to shoot – pretty clearly the kind of line that gets added during a last-minute punch-up – gets the biggest laugh in the episode. 

I kind of want to chalk this awkwardness up to "Boom's" status as a French/American co-production. The Lachenauds' previous episode, "Multi-Tails," was kind of mixed up too. I can't help and wonder if the writing team just didn't entirely understand what sort of cartoon they were writing for. Because "Eggman's Brother" plays its A-plot more-or-less straight. In the opening battle, Sonic is showboating a bit and taking out all of Eggman's robots, making his friends feel unvalued. The volcano scene continues this feeling, Sonic and Steve saving the day without Tails or the others getting to pitch. In the end, the rest of Team Sonic has his back. The hedgehog learns a valuable lesson about friendship, being there for your buddies even if they aren't always there for you in the best way. Presumably, this will inspire Sonic to be a better friend in the future. At least it would if this show had more on-going continuity than it did. 

That's a fairly sturdy narrative structure, more so than "Multi-Tails" was. Yet, you'll notice, it's also a story that depends on it being sincerely told. Which is, ya know, not really the incredibly sarcastic "Boom's" typical M.O. Maybe that's why this one feels off-balance. The writers scripted a normal kids cartoon, right down to Sonic's hovercraft – available at your local toy store, kids! – getting a plum scene. Only afterwards were the duo informed that this is actually a smart-ass sitcom for jaded fanboys and had to make last minute alterations accordingly. That's the theory I'm going with anyway. Maybe the writers totally did understand the assignment and just couldn't grind out an all together satisfying script due to the time constraints of a 52 episode season of ten minute installments. 

Another reason maybe this one didn't work as well as it could have is that it kind of looks like shit. After "Knuck! Knuck! Who's There?" looked poopish, here's another season two episode were the rendering simply appears unfinished half the time. The early scene, of Sonic and Eggman brawling by the beach, are really awkward. The lighting feels off, the animation sluggish, the models looking and moving in an uncanny way. Ya know, bad 2D animation is harder to spot than bad 3D animation. Bad traditional animation is stiff and off-model. Bad CGI feels unfinished in a way that's hard to put your finger on sometimes. But something is definitely off here. The scene with the lava flow looks especially bad. Water and any sort of liquids have always been this show's weakness but, boy, is it noticeable here. 

Nevertheless, I do find myself kind of wishing Morpho/Steve makes a second appearance. I feel like Eggman having a slacker bro who is crazy in a markedly different one from him is a set-up that can be revisited. And ya just know, if the comics had been allowed to run with this one, the alternate universe angle would've been explored a lot more. Imagine what Ian Flynn could have done with that! The episode itself is middling but Steve is cool. [6/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.23: Nominatus Rising

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.23: Nominatus Rising

Original Air Date: April 15th, 2017

When you think of great superheroes, one of the first related concepts that come to mind is the great supervillain. It's been observed before that a hero is only as good as his adversaries and the most popular superheroes in the world – Batman and Spider-Man – are generally recognized as having the best rogues galleries in comics too. And think about that phrase... A "gallery" suggests a wide ranging display of rogues, a collection of many different notable names that writers and artists can pull from whenever they want. If you think of Sonic the Hedgehog as a superhero, a problem presents itself quickly. He really only has one notable rogue, doesn't he? Lots of other enemies have challenged the blue hedgehog over the years. Yet, as far as official Sega canon goes, almost all of them are connected back to Eggman/Robotnik in some ways. If you were to ask the average dude on the street to name a "Sonic the Hedgehog" baddie, Eggman is the only one they're likely to mention. The other probable candidates, Shadow and Metal Sonic, are examples of a rival/antihero situation and a minion of Eggman. 

The point I'm making is... Sonic definitely has a Joker/Green Goblin but attempts to give him a Penguin/Doc Ock have never really caught on. Not that people haven't tried. Peripheral "Sonic" media, like the comics and cartoons, are absolutely packed with non-Eggman baddies that have remained obscure outside the niche fandoms for those branches of the franchise. Even "Sonic Boom," about as far away from the action/adventure roots of the series as you can get, threw in oddballs like Charlie and the Lightning Bolt Society. Natalys Raut-Sieuzac, the day-to-day showrunner of "Boom," did her part to add to Sonic's rogues gallery by introducing weirdo digital threat Nominatus in season one episode, "Let's Play Musical Friends." I don't think that episode or the character were all that well received but, when you are the director of every single episode of a show, you get the chance to bring back your personal pet character. Even if nobody gave a shit about them the first time. And so, Nominatus would return to vex Sonic and the crew again in season two ep, "Nominatus Rising."

 

We begin with Tails' introducing a fancy add-on to his Build-A-Box device. (Which seems to be a 3D printer type of thing. Everyone treats it like an established part of the show, even though this is its first appearance.) The machine can now bring digital characters into the real world. The gang immediately manifests into reality Ms. Tomatopotamus, the distaff counterpart to the previously introduced video game franchise within this video game franchise. Tails has a throttle cap on the machine, that keeps any characters it creates in real life pint-sized. Via Eggman's Spybot, sentient computer virus Nominatus becomes aware of the machine. While Sonic and the gang are playing with their new hippo pal, Nominatus and his henchmen hijack the Build-A-Box and force themselves into meatspace... At action figure scale. It's not long, however, before the digital demon removes the data cap and he can begin his conquest of reality once again. 

Many times, across the decade I've been reviewing "Sonic" comics and cartoons, I've found myself with a particular feeling. Namely, the sense of "What the fuck am I reading and/or watching?" I do believe that "Sonic" franchise's reputation for impenetrable weirdness can partially be linked back to various writers, artists, and animators using the profitable "Sonic" license to shoehorn in their own largely unrelated characters and stories. Ken Penders' vast catalogue of echidna OCs is surely the most notorious example of this but I don't think it's the oddest. Personally, I found the tone of "Sonic Underground" and "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog's" most aggressively offbeat moments to be better examples of something that neither looks nor feels like "Sonic the Hedgehog" being packaged under that brand name. The "Boom" cartoon has largely avoided this. Even the episodes that revolve around Dave the Intern or the Gogobas or whatever have, in some way, linked back to the blue hedgehog and his pals. 

However, there is a sequence in "Nominatus Rising" that really made me pause. Nominatus and his henchmen, the large and simple-minded Beta and the small and sneaky Retro, recreate themselves IRL and realize they are 1:16 scale. What follows is a slapstick sequence of the tiny villains crossing the lab, fording around a spilled glass of water, and encountering some non-anthropomorphic animals. Watching this moment, I had that old "Underground"/"AoStH" feeling, that my quest to watch every bit of "Sonic"-related stuff had seen me encountering something that has nothing to do with Sonic. The sheer sense of investment this episode has in Nominatus – including treating his sidekicks as if they've always been there, when they are in fact making their first and last appearances here – gives me the impression that someone was determined to make this guy a fan favorite. This is also evident in how he proves to be a creditable threat to both Sonic and Eggman, forcing the two of them to work together. Ya know, it just feels like a kid writing a fanfic that introduced his amaaaaazing new villain that curb stomps all the good guys and bad guys in minutes. "Nominatus Rising" doesn't go that far, as the titular villain is still humiliated in a typically flippant "Boom" manner. Yet I can't escape this sense that an original creation that barely has any business being in this universe was forced into the spotlight here. 

If I'm correct and Nominatus is Natalys Raut-Sieuzac's Monkey Khan, then the question begs to be asked: Why did she think this guy was so cool, that she attempted to brute force him into being a fan favorite twice? Nominatus has a retro video game gimmick, his energy blasts taking the form of pixelated lightning bolts. His moves are accompanied by old school sound effects. His presence brings with it callbacks to classic video games like Ms. Pac-Man, Mario, and Centipede. But, beyond that, there really isn't anything interesting about the guy. He's a generic looking demon-like villain. He has a generic, Skeletor-like relationship with his bumbling goons. His goals, of escaping his digital prison and taking over the flesh-and-blood realm, are equally uninspired. I think that's why the scene focused on him give me such a feeling of disconnection. Nominatus feels like he could be the bad guy in any Saturday morning cartoon show. There's nothing representive of the "Sonic" universe about him. That's also clear in the scenes around him, such as him and his henches fighting Tails' cat... When the fuck has Tails ever had a cat!?!

All of that bullshit aside, what do I think of this episode overall? It's okay. There's a handful of sensible chuckles. The reveal that Knuckles has been hiding sea bass under Tails' floorboards, attracting all sorts of wild life, is a likably cartoony gag. Eggman being incensed that the heroes are having an adventure that doesn't involve him is a good line. In general, the established elements of these characters – Knuckles is a big strong dimwit, Eggman's villainy covers up obvious insecurities, Sticks is paranoid – is so ingrained now, that it's easy for the show to just riff on that and get a few laughs. Overall though, one gets the impression that Raut-Sieuzac finds verbal shout-outs to old, thoroughly run-into-the-ground video games and internet memes more amusing than I do. "Let's Play Musical Friends" gave me that feeling too, so it's fair to say that maybe this is just her style.

My main takeaway from this episode is that Ms. Tomatopotamus is cute. I wouldn't mind having a little pink hippo with a bow that can launch tomatoes with deadly accuracy as a pet for a wacky, lesson-inducing afternoon. Even if Tails building a machine that can transform digital images into living and breathing, flesh homunculi feels like some real mad scientist shit. Some total "Black Mirror"/"Brainscan"/"Lawnmower Man"/"How to Make a Monster" blatherskite. There's even a throwaway line from Knuckles about how Ms. Tomatopotamus is a crime against nature. That could've been the foundation for a stronger episode, of Tails following the "coulda, not shoulda" principal of invention and learning a valuable lesson about scientific responsibility. Instead, the showrunner decided to force her not-that-interesting original character on us again. At least the message that nobody cares about Nominatus must've been received, as this was his last appearance. If only Tommy Turtle or Locke could have gotten that response. If they were going to bring back a random season one baddie for another episode, why not Swifty the Shrew or Cowbot? Alas. [5/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.22: Muckfoot

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.22: Muckfoot

Original Air Date: April 8th, 2007

Like many, from a young age, I was fascinated by stories of "real" monsters, such as Bigfoot or Nessie. The idea that our mundane lives could, at any point, intersect with the fantastical via an unexpected encounter with a Mothman or El Chupacabra is a tantalizing one. There was definitely a time in my life when I sincerely believed the frequently reported sightings and widely-circulated tales of such creatures meant that bizarre megafauna really did roam our forests and lakes, just waiting to be discovered by some crackpot with a game camera. These days, I take a much more analytical view of such beliefs, recognizing the lack of creditable scientific evidence of these things while acknowledging their importance to the collective imagination. It is interesting that humans need to believe in monsters, isn't it? Probably says something about our collective unconsciousness that we must populate the shadowy corners of the world and our minds with Sasquatches and Mokele-Mbembes. That we aren't satisfied with such things only existing in legend and insist they must be real-deal-really REAL too. 

The persistent need to believe in monsters has unavoidably led to a persistent need to commercially exploit that belief. Con artists and the world of cryptozoology go hand-in-hand, to the point that it's hard to say whether they are entirely one and the same. A natural side effect of this tendency is that Bigfoot and the gang have become pop culture icons. There have been a lot of movies and TV shows that reference these hypothetical beasts and not just the ones that fall into the usual monster-adjacent genres. And, thus, this rambling introduction comes back around to "Sonic Boom," which entered the exciting, scientifically dubious world of cryptozoology with the episode "Muckfoot."

Team Sonic heads out into the woods for a scenic camping trip, so Tails can enjoy some stargazing and Knuckles can enjoy some exotic wild berries. Sticks warns them of a legendary beast known as Muckfoot, said to roam these jungles. While looking through his telescope, Tails catches a glimpse of something unusual. He sets an elaborate trap to catch a blurry, indistinct photo of this cryptozoological entity. The resulting media attention to this sighting causes a frenzy for Muckfoot merchandise and makes Tails a celebrity overnight. Sticks is skeptical, however, and helps Tails uncover the truth: "Muckfoot" is just an intoxicated, sleepwalking Knuckles who has wandered through a mud bog. Now, the young fox feels conflicted, enjoying his newfound fame but feeling pressed to reveal the truth. When a money-hungry T.W. Barker captures "Muckfoot," Tails has to reveal what's actually happening and rescue his friend. 

It may not surprise you that a ten minute long cartoon show designed to sell a flop video game doesn't exactly have a very deep response to the question of why Bigfoot and similar mythical beasts continue to tickle our minds. Instead, "Muckfoot" simply has fun goofing on this trend. Probably the best joke in the episode occurs when Tails presents his photo – a blurry, pixelated image of something slimy, a seemingly random spot highlighted with a circle – to a public that are immediately blown away. This is actually a known phenomenon in the world of skepticism, referred to as "Blobsquatches." But the fact that such an unconvincing image convince a lot of people is a clever commentary on the public's overwhelming need to believe. Soon, the village is slapping Muckfoot on all sorts of merchandise, dedicating a whole day to it, and building their entire small town economy around the supposed existence of a swamp monster in the near-by woods. I've been to Point Pleasant so I totally recognize this as a very real thing that happens. 

"Boom" segues this theme into a general mocking of reality TV fame. Tommy Thunder soon shows up and gets Tails to co-hosts a TV show about finding Muckfoot. A scene of these two wandering around the woods while being shakily recorded by a hand-held camera is a fairly accurate recreation of these shows. Except with one important difference: Tails and Tommy Thunder actually find something. This builds towards the subplot of T.W. Barker capturing and displaying "Muckfoot" for his own profit, a common tactic in the world of monster-hustling that is more-or-less outdated in our times but survives thanks to internet grifters hocking books and Patreon subscriptions. 

These are all decent gags but, amusingly enough, the question of Muckfoot's existence and a willingness by the press to capitalize on it is not really what this episode is about. Instead, this show is devoted more to Tails learning a valuable lesson about integrity. Tails believes he really has uncovered something extraordinary at first. However, with a little urging by Sticks, he uncovers that he has unwittingly become a big cog in a machine dedicated to ripping people off. But Tails likes the fame that comes with this new prominence. He can even, for a while, trick himself into thinking that it's not so bad that he's knowingly lying to people. If it makes folks happy, how bad can it be? Yet when Knuckles, his friend and an actual living being, is harmed by the consequences of this lie, Tails realizes he has to come clean. It's a nice character arc and, moreover, a good summation on the actual stakes of these real world beliefs in imaginary bullshit. I too think believing in Bigfoot or UFOs or the integrity of religious and political leaders is harmless up until the inevitable point when it actually starts hurting people. 

It's not too hard to predict where the episode is headed, from its first scene. In fact, "Muckfoot" resembles at least two different episodes of "The Simpsons" and "Invader Zim." The fleeting glimpse we get of "Muckfoot" in the early scene is obviously Knuckles covered in some mud. It's easy to put this together with the earlier mention of some special berries. I even guessed the final gag of the episode, after everyone dismisses Muckfoot's existence as a hoax. That doesn't mean "Muckfoot" isn't a funny episode. It's pretty clever and is, as you'd expect, very self-aware about its own predictable structure. Sticks even has a line about Tails' personal journey coming to a satisfying conclusion, an obviously important milestone in the fox's life that she uses as nothing but a prelude to getting some pizza. (Which she refers to as "za," an abbreviation that has, in the intervening seven years, gone from meaning pizza to meaning some serious top-shelf nut-bashing marijuana. Though it is pretty funny, and easy, to imagine Sticks is partaking of that type of "za" too...)

In general, Kevin Burke and Chris "Doc" Wyatt's script packs in the funny lines. There are typically meta jokes, such as Sonic identifying some "As You Know" exposition, Tails later using the same term, and Amy calling out Sonic making things worse with his smart-ass comments. Reactions shots are used well, in how everyone responds to Tails' telescope centric plans or his promise not to exploit his discovery. In general, there's just some good goofiness in lines about moon burn, Old Man Monkey constantly changing his opinion on Tails, and a shout-out to a movie/meme that was already seventeen years old when this episode aired. Really, the only joke I think needed a little breathing room is Eggman appearing a few times in clown make-up. If that has been left as just a visual non-sequitur, it would've been a lot more amusing than the script eventually calling attention to why this strange thing is happening. 

Though it is kind of weird that this script designated Sticks the job of introducing the legend of Muckfoot but also being the one to chastise Tails for lying to people. I guess that makes sense, considering her duel role as believer in crazy bullshit and questioning of the status quo. Maybe Sticks isn't upset that Tails is lying to people. Maybe she's upset that his shenanigans draw attention away from the real issue, that Muckfoot is working with the Bildebergers to lower our sperm counts or something. Still a pretty good episode! As for the question of whether Bigfoot exists, I can't tell you whether he does or doesn't but that the Flatwoods Monster is absolutely, 100% real. [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.21: Mombot

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.11: Mombot

Original Air Date: April 1st, 2017

After inventing a black hole generator that can make broccoli taste like applesauce, Eggman and his device enter into a science fair for children. When a little girl named Beth wins, Eggman is dispirited. He decides that he needs some unconditional love in his life. Thus, Mombot is built and brought online. At first, Eggman loves the praise and comforting Mombot gives him. However, after he fails to defeat Sonic, the mechanical matriarch starts to chastise him. The machine mommy then tries to get Eggman to befriend Sonic instead, the villain trying to use this as a way to crush Sonic again and earn the love of his guilting, smothering mother bot. 

Previous episodes of "Sonic Boom" have hinted at the neurosis that drive this version of Eggman. How his desire to conquer the world arises from a deep rooted insecurity, a need to earn validation for the genius he's created to defeat a nagging fear that he's not good enough. And as any therapist will tell you, such vulnerabilities almost always begin in childhood and with dysfunctional relationships with parents. As with all the "Boom" cast, we don't know anything about this version of Eggman's backstory. Certainly, his relationship with his parents has only been hinted at in the vaguest of ways. Yet this episode makes it clear that the mad scientist has some mommy hang-ups. He repeatedly states his desire for unconditional love, to cover for a world that rejects him and his own sense of not being good enough. Like any parent should, Mombot provides that... At first, anyway. However, the robot mama quickly shows her affection is quite conditional. She tries to mold him into her vision of an ideal son, trying to convince him to choose a more practical career. She dismisses his ambitions, says she wishes he was a "real" doctor, and generally goads and manipulates him in various clearly toxic ways. This emotionally abusive relationship eventually becomes obviously abusive, as Mombot smacks Eggman in the face during a climatic scene. 

It's all plated for laughs but I honestly can't help but find it kind of fucked up. Even more so because... Eggman programmed Mombot to be the perfect mother. She was literally designed to always be loving and supportive. That her behavior eventually skews in such a negative direction can't help but suggest something: Eggman subconsciously programmed Mombot to emulate the behavior of his actual mother. I mean, come on, a mad scientist is only building a perfect mother if his actual mom was distant, smothering, and guilting. This suggests something rather true: We are all molded by our childhoods, by our relationships with our parents. Even if we work really hard to overcome the shortcomings of those bonds, they can go on to define our whole lives. If Eggman's actual mom treated him similarly, it would explain his desperate need for validation. 

Obviously, all of this is probably accidental. A much simpler joke is at work here: It's funny to see someone who is supposed to be a supervillain being pushed around by his own mother or, at least, a substitute for his mother. The writers of "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" came to the same conclusion, with far more unhinged results. (Though both Momma Robotnik and Mombot share the gag of having a big mustache, just like their sons.) In order to further necessitate this set-up, "Mombot" returns to a characterization for the villain it has occasionally touched upon. Namely, Eggman as an (Egg)manchild. He claps with boyish glee when Mombot cuts his mustache with a bowl or puts a puzzle together with him. It's a Puppy Dog Pals puzzle, returning to Eggman's most persistently childish attribute. Yet even before he builds himself a mother, he's acting a bit like an overgrown kid here. The first scene has him looking for a solution to eating broccoli before he enters a contest for children. Later, he gets a kids meal from Meh Burger. As I've said before, the "Boom" cast behave differently depending on the needs of the script but Eggman is definitely being a bit more childish here than usual.

Naturally, as I've said a hundred times before, any such inconsistencies can be forgiven as long as they are funny. Most of the jokes involving Mombot and Eggman's relationship are pretty good. I like how she knits scarfs for everyone and how she insists Eggman and Sonic become friends. (Eggman requesting a momtage really got me to chuckle.) When the heroes come to visit, her prying, correcting behavior is inflicted on Sonic, Amy, and Sticks in ways that are quite amusing. The script also features a number of weirdly topical jokes, including references to the Large Hadron Collider, Pluto being downgraded from planet status, and climate change. And if you think that is a little weird, the episode also features a reference to "Chinatown." 

Some of the episode's best jokes actually emerge from the B-plot. That involved Tails taking the winner of the science fair, Beth the Shrew, on a tour around his lab and trying to interest her in science. Instead, she becomes enamored of Knuckles' ability to smash things. Clearly, this is a gag on the short attention spans of children. That Beth remains sweet and respectful, calling everyone "Mister," leads to some amusing contrast. Such as Sticks' reaction when she attempts to dissuade the badger's conspiracy theory logic. One assumes that this subplot is meant to tie into the episode's theme of child rearing. Yet it never really goes anywhere, Beth last being seen wandering off with Sticks after becoming enchanted with her rambling paranoid delusions. (A chilling prediction of how popular conspiracies would become with kids on TikTok.) 

If that subplot seems to wander off without a proper conclusion, the same can be said for the whole episode. After the confrontation as dinner, Eggman decides he has to deactivate his bitchy robo-mom. Instead, he decides he can't do such a thing and then the episode awkwardly ends. Perhaps writer Joelle Sellner realized things had gotten too dark with the slap. There clearly wasn't enough time left in the episode for Eggman and Mombot to talk out their obvious issues. Instead of making an attempt, Sellner cooked up the quickest ending she could think of. But considering the subplot also ends so abruptly, maybe this one was just a rush job. 

By the way, Eggman referenced Mombot in the previous episode. The episode order currently on Tubi is different from the original air order I've been following all along. I guess this suggests the production order was different then the air order. Unless a tossed-off, nonsensical line about Eggman having a Mombot in a previous episode inspired this one. Either way, it's an episode with a lot of potential that it never quite reaches. And as shitty a parent as Mombot is, at least she's not the eldritch abomination Momma Robotnik was. Every generation tries to do better than the one before it, ya know? [6/10]