Sonic Boom, Episode 2.29: Robots from the Sky Part 4

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.29: Robots from the Sky Part 4

Original Air Date: May 27th, 2017

As May of 2017 neared its end, "Sonic Boom's" "Robots from the Sky" four-parter reached something like an epic conclusion. After fishing him out of a frozen lake, Eggman patches HypnoBot back up. The two are soon united by their mutual hatred of Tails and Sonic. They combine their forces for a full-scale invasion of Morristown. Amy, Knuckles, and Sticks hitch a ride to the city in the sky on FiendBot. The robotic civilians fall under HypnoBot's sway and quickly overwhelmed Team Sonic. That's when, hiding inside the lead-lined bunker, Bolts has a crazy idea. He builds robotic copies of Sonic and the gang but gives them organic brains, cloned from the original, in order to make them immune to HypnoBot's control. Will even this cavalry be enough? 

Aside from balancing comedy and action fairly well, what has made the "Robots from the Sky" arc compelling up to this point is that it had a little more thematic weight to it than your usual "Boom" episodes. The question of robotic personhood in the face of evil machinations and what responsibility a creator has to its creation always floated beneath the surface, adding a bit more substance to this smashy-smashy yuk-yuk kids show. Unfortunately, all of this is tossed out in the final part. Any discussion of whether Tails holds any fault for HypnoBot's turn towards villainy or the implication of the robot uprising being justified are dismissed. HypnoBot is unambiguously the bad guy. Everything Sonic and the gang do is unambiguously the right thing. Bad is vanquished. Good triumphs. Yada yada.

The part of all these big heroic moments that makes my brain is itch is the ease with which Mighton and Bolts smash other robots. In the first episode, simply seeing Sonic and the other fleshies crush some Badniks was enough to convince the Morristown duo to attack them. Now, they are fighting alongside Team Boom and happily participating in this slaughter of other robotic beings. I guess it's okay if they are attacking you too? It's somewhat disappointing to realize that Mighton doesn't actually stand up for all robots everywhere, only those that are on his side. Kind of makes Morristown seem like less utopian and more like any other assholes country, with its narrow-minded patriots and obsession with self-defense. That seeing the good guys destroy other machines is never questioned proves definitively that any themes of robotic rights in this story arc were purely accidental. 

In cartoons and comic books and the like, it's common for supervillains with otherwise contradicting viewpoints to team up against their common heroic foe. Even if it ends with Magneto sealing the Red Skull up in an underwater jail cell, it's plausible enough that bad guys would put aside their differences and unite against the heroes they all hate. Yet HypnoBot ignoring the obvious issues he would have with Eggman, because they both hate Tails, bugs me. I suppose HypnoBot is not actually about robotic liberation. He had no problem with enslaving the residents of Morristown and the other Badniks to his will. Still, that he align himself with Eggman – serial abuser of Cubot and Orbot, someone who only sees robots as his tools and lackies – seems unlikely. Maybe he was planning on betraying Eggman the minute he retook Morristown and smashed the heroes. Would've been nice if that could have been hinted at or something, in the name of consistency. 

I suppose dramatic density being tossed out in favor of crowd-pleasing theatrics is not uncommon for any last act. And you know what pleases the crowd, if the crowd is composed of Sonic fans? Robotic doubles! Metal Sonic remains easily the most popular secondary villain in the entire franchise. For years, fans cried out for cybernetic copies of Tails and Amy to be featured in the games, finally getting their wish kind of granted with "Sonic Superstars" last year. In this context, "Sonic Boom" devoting time to robotic duplicates of its furry heroes isn't unexpected. Unlike the horde of metal doppelgangers Eggman has cooked up, these are good robot us'es. They don't look that different from the regular "Boom" models. To the point where they could feasibly be alternate skins in a video game or something. Still, giving the good guys mirror images of themselves to play off of leads to some good moments. Sticks and her equally paranoid cyborg double interacting, their initial suspicions leading way to agreements, is a really good gag. 

Even with those moments, the focus is definitely on action here. The episode even features several slow-motion, Zack Snyder style, beats when Sticks is lunging into battle or Sonic is facing down a rocket punch. When Tails brings his wrench down on HypnoBot's telepathic antenna, the moment is replayed from several angles. Which seems to emphasize that this is an underwhelming way to defeat the main villain of the story. That's exactly the kind of self-aware joke I'd expect "Boom" to make but the scene is seemingly presented sincerely. After the action has been surprisingly decent in the last three episodes, nothing here is as memorable. (If still better than the average "Boom" battle scene.) At Sonic's injured leg is still milked for a little tension. Putting Sonic at a disadvantage is always an underrated move to make, even if it only amounts to a few seconds here. 

Ultimately, the focus on action over comedy here makes me wonder if the Denton/Hahn/Friedberger trio didn't run out of steam a little in the last part. The handful of jokes here are notably not as sharp as the humor from the last two. A bit at the beginning, where Tails is in awe over the identical buildings of Morristown, leads to a predictable payoff. A one-liner from Knuckles about leg day is weak. Most of Eggman and HypnoBot's banter did not move me. There are a few amusing moments. Knuckles randomly asking if his robot double can wear a bolo tie is amusing. (A joke they should've followed up on by actually giving Cyber Knucks a bolo tie.) Like I said, Sticks' paranoid diatribes usually make me chuckle. I'm not a Sonic/Amy guy but they get some flirty moments here that are genuinely adorable. And, hey, Cowbot still lives!

However, "Robots from the Sky Part 4" feels like a somewhat disappointing conclusion to what had been a very good story up to this point. I guess a plot full of interesting ideas collapsing into uninspired punching and fighting at the end is not uncommon for action/adventure stories. People expect the explosions, so it must be delivered on. Still, a little more insight into how these events effect everyone's attitudes towards their robotic brethren would've been nice. Even with "Boom" featuring more continuity in season two, I'll be surprised if Morristown and it's residents come back in any meaningful way. (And the civilians of Hedgehog Village learning to stand up for themselves will definitely be forgotten, probably by the next episode.) I guess three outta four isn't bad, all things considered. A somewhat underwhelming wrap-up to an otherwise ambitious story is, I suppose, still part of that ambitious story. [6/10]