Sonic Boom, Episode 2.41: Where Have All the Sonics Gone?

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.41: Where Have All the Sonics Gone?

Original Air Date: August 19th, 2017

Continuing the habit "Sonic Boom: Season Two" has developed of actually reusing characters basically introduced as one-off gags, "Where Have All the Sonics Gone?" begins with Eggman visiting his Mombot. (Who he has set up with a little hut in the village, it seems.) His "brother" Steve/Morpho is already there and winning Mombot's favor. That's when the two Eggmen, with their mechanical mother's encouragement, decide to work together. Steve sends Sonic to an alternate universe, where the hedgehog has never existed. There, Sonic discovers a world where Eggman rules as a tyrannical despot. He soon rounds up his friends from the different roles they inhabit within this strange new world. Meanwhile, back in the original Hedgehog Village, Morpho repeatedly attempts and fails to take Sonic's place. 

It would seem that the multiverse is the one concept that the "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise can't quit. I suppose it's more accurate to say that sci-fi/action/adventure stories, in general, have an addiction to alternate universes. Exploring the question of "what if things were just slightly different?" is too tempting a premise not to run with, it appears. Speaking honestly though, "Sonic" has definitely returned to this well a lot. It was the entire premise of the most recent "Sonic" animated series. The Archie comics had their own convoluted DC/Marvel style multiverse. I suppose Sega has a history of touching on this idea too. Via the various alternate timelines of Blaze, Silver, and Eggman Nega's stories. Or the time travel gimmick of "Sonic CD," the progenitor of that idea. Most pertinently, "Sonic Boom" already did its alternate universe episode. That's why Marine and Cedric Lachenaud's script has Morpho specifically sending Sonic to an alternate world where the hedgehog doesn't exist, in order to avoid any space/time disrupting mishaps. 

However, I can forgive the show for going back to the parallel universe idea. This set-up exists to answer a different question than "Two Good to Be True." That episode was "What if... Knuckles' was hyper-confident, instead of a buffoon?" This episode is "What if... Sonic was never born?" That makes it another riff on "It's a Wonderful Life," easily the most wildly imitated of all alternate dimension premises. This one makes the suggestion clear that the blue hedgehog is the difference between a world where Eggman is a clownish joke-villain that is easily defeated every week and a world-conquering tyrant that brings the island to its knees. It's not that Sonic's friends aren't competent crime fighters in their own rights. Sticks has set up an underground rebellion. Tails is still an engineering genius. Sonic is the uniting force that brings them all together into the world's most fearsome fighting team.

Being a ten minute cartoon focused on getting yuks, "Where Have All the Sonics Gone?" doesn't have time to explore this premise in much depth. It barely has enough time to set it all up, before Sonic is getting the band back together and taking the fight to "Lord" Eggman. It is further distracted by forgetting what kind of alternate universe Sonic has land in. It seems the writers are unsure if this an "It's a Wonderful Life" world or a Bizarro World, where things are arbitrarily different. Here, Dave is an excellent food server at a fancy restaurant called Gourmet Burger. Tails is working for Eggman, instead of the good guys. On the other hand, Sticks is still a paranoid conspiracy theory, ranting about aliens. (Albeit one with a bitchin' eye-patch.) Knuckles is still a weightlifting meathead. Amy appears to be exactly the same. Eggman doesn't seem to be any different either, as he's as easily thwarted once Sonic shows up. It's an inconsistent mix of two separate ideas, making this AU seem more slapped together. 

Mostly though, I think the lack of time was the biggest problem. Not only is this episode shorter than your standard half-hour action cartoon, it has to share the script with the subplot of Morpho's scheme in the prime universe. That means the already standard alternate reality premise gets rushed through. Sonic realizes what is going on immediately. Amy busts him out of jail shortly after that. Sticks and the rebellion is introduced, Knuckles is recruited. Everyone heads over to wail on Eggman's ass. Which they proceed to do within minutes. Tails' entire character arc occurs within a second or two. I can't tell if Amy was already a member of Sticks' rebel underground or if seeing Sonic stand up to Eggman radicalizes her. The entire scenario is rushed through, making you wonder why the show wanted to do this stock plot in the first place.  

I can pinpoint easily why I'm disappointed in the half-assed treatment of this set-up. Say, Sonic and his friend operating as guerilla revolutionaries against Eggman and the dictatorship he's established over the world... Where have I heard that one before, hmmm? Yes, the altered timeline Sonic is dropped into in "Where Have All the Sonics Gone?" has a passing resemblance to "SatAM" and the comic book that spawned from it. Some of the roles the gang get shoved into here also resemble "SatAM" and the Archie-verse. Sticks operates in a Sally-like role as a field leader. (Her having an eye patch, much the same way Anti-Antoine did, is certainly a coincidence. It's an example of two hacky writers using the same visual shorthand to suggest an alternate history. But don't think I didn't notice it!) This means the rebellion carries something of a primitive vibe, using spears, hiding in the woods, in a vaguely Knothole-like setting. Amy's need to hammer shit supplants her girlier side, as it often did in the comics. There are "SatAM"/"Archie Sonic" vibes all over this episode. 

I doubt it was a deliberate reference too. "Sonic Underground" – which also did an alternate universe episode, now that I think about it – was directly inspired by "SatAM." However, I doubt that this episode or the New Yoke City parts of "Sonic Prime" were thinking about King Acorn, Uncle Chuck, or Julian Kintobor any. Instead, it seems to me that there is something irresistible about sticking Sonic into a set-up where he's the Rebels and Eggman/Robotnik is the Empire. I suppose you can gleam this in the original Genesis games, where Sonic battles against the industrialization of the natural world by his technology obsessed archenemy. Is it all the lingering influence of the U.S. Story Bible, that Fleetway also pulled from? Does Sonic being a sarcastic crimefighter make the leap to him being a freedom fighter against authoritarian forces a natural idea? Either way, it is very interesting that at least three separate cartoons have independently arrived at more-or-less the same conclusion.

I suppose my point is that this should have been at least a two-parter. There's too much story hinted at in the alternate universe, too many ideas left unexplored, for that side of the episode to be truly satisfying. Instead, the Lachenauds probably should have focused the entire script on its B-plot. Season two of "Boom" has built episodes around Eggman having a brother and a mom. Slapping those two set-ups together, where Eggman and Steve get into constant sibling rivalry over earning Mombot's affection, easily could have supported an entire installment. Both Eggman's brother and Mom being relatively recent introduction into his life, but the doctor instantly falling into archetypal roles with them, is a good joke to begin with. Instead, we only get a very brief, quite funny scene at the beginning of the two Eggmen slap-fighting with each other while Mombot pulls them apart. 

The brothers teaming up is simply the beginning of another plot point that easily could've been a whole episode too. After Sonic is teleported to the other world, Morpho disguises himself as the hedgehog and attempts to fill the role. He's extremely bad at it, immediately alerting everyone to the imposter's presence. I think he gets worse as the episode goes on. When he asks Amy out on a date, she picks up quickly that "Sonic" is being too considerate. At least that's a decent imitation because, by the end, Morpho is tossing out the wrong catchphrases and needing explicit direction from Eggman not to fuck up. It's a good joke! There's a lot of amusing gags here. Like Alt-Knuckles signing an autograph with an X or Sonic's response to Alt-Sticks still ranting about aliens. "Where Have All the Sonics Gone?" features some of "Boom's" trademark biting-the-hand humor too. Most of the episode is built around "Boom"-exclusive, peripheral characters like Steve and Mombot. When Morpho changes into Vector, Metal Sonic, and Shadow – actual fan favorites that "Sonic" devotees always cheer for – for a split second each, it can't help but read as a smart-ass rebuttal to people demanding "Boom" resemble the games more. 

All of the above is, I suppose, a long-winded way of me saying that the writers' eyes were a bit bigger than their tummies. They casually throw a lot of interesting ideas out here and never bother to give any of them a fair treatment. (Here's another one: If Morpho can casually jump across the multiverse, why doesn't he take his brother to a world without a Sonic and an Eggman, a place he can take over with ease? I guess that would make too much sense...) This is a natural inclination of a comedy show with such short episodes. I can't come away from this one satisfied, even if it did make me laugh a decent amount. [6/10]