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]