Sonic Boom, Episode 2.48: Don't Make Me Angry

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.48: Don't Make Me Angry

Original Air Date: October 21st, 2017

Despite the enduring popularity of "Sonic the Hedgehog" as a brand, most of the cartoon shows starring the character have been fairly short-lived. The beloved Saturday morning cartoon only had two modest seasons to its name. "Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Sonic Underground" had long runs in syndication, disguising the fact that both shows airing daily meant they ran through every episode in only a few months. More recently, "Sonic Prime" had one 23 episode production cycle that Netflix broke up into three artificial "seasons." Truthfully, "Sonic X" has been the only real unquantified success of the blue hedgehog's television career, getting three healthy seasons and being allowed to end on its own terms. "Sonic Boom," subject to timeslots shifts and network jumps by its apathetic corporate overlords, did achieve a landmark that no other "Sonic" show has yet reached: It ran for over one hundred episodes. 104 to be precise! Now, that too comes with a significant asterisk. The program has often been packaged as two episodes airing back-to-back, "Boom" being more honestly described as having 52 half-hours. Still, the show deserves kudos for managing to squeeze out as much stuff as it did. "Don't Make Me Angry" would be the 100th "Boom" installment to air, the show officially crossing over into the three digits club.

The episode begins with Eggman indulging in the budget-saving practice of watching recordings of his previous defeats. He realizes he needs a special physical ability in order to defeat Sonic. After trying to learn biotechnology proves daunting, he instead draws inspiration from comic books. Reading about Bruce Bandicoot becoming the Unenviable Clunk after exposure to "purple rays" inspires Eggman to intentionally bathe himself in similar radiation. Now, when the doctor gets angry, he transforms into... An adorable, pink, fuzzy little creature. Thoroughly embarrassed by these turn of events, Eggman learns anger management techniques in order to prevent changing for 48 hours, after which the ray's effects wear off. This is complicated by a number of factors. 

From the title on down through the first four minutes of this episode, I expected "Don't Make Me Angry" to be "Sonic Boom" devoting a whole episode to spoofing the Incredible Hulk. After all, the Hulk remains one of the most iconic superheroes in all of pop culture. The big green rage monster has been a regular presence in comics, cartoons, television, toy aisles and – thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – live action films for the last sixty-two years. Even if knowledge of the superhero's rogue gallery or typically convoluted backstory hasn't decimated widely outside comic nerd circles, everyone knows who the Hulk is. That's probably because we can all relate to the idea of our emotions getting the best of us. We may not morph into a mountain of emerald sinew but everyone has had an uncontrollable fit of anger or an explosive episode of crying in their lives. Emotions make a beast out of all of us from time to time. This certainly would have been sturdy ground for "Sonic Boom" to build eleven minutes of jokes on. 

After that comic book panel montage, depicting the origins of "Bruce Bandicoot" and "The Clunk," I expected a similar amount of uninspired wordplay and goofing on familiar comic book tropes here. Even the decision to make a Hulk parody purple is a reoccurring one. Instead, it's all misdirection for what might be the single best visual gag in the history of this entire show. Eggman starts to get pissed, the music mounts, he vanishes in a cloud of purple smoke... Only to transform into a soft, huggable, little Pokemon-looking kitty cat creature. Benoit Grenier's script has what the fan wiki calls "Furry Eggman" leave a trail of rainbows behind it and mew adorably. However, the episode isn't running with the easy joke of Eggman's tough exterior being threatened by such a cute transformation. Instead, it simply basks in the glorious, unexpected absurdity of a regular character turning into a NeoPet. I truly did not see that one coming. It's such a fantastically silly joke that the episode gets laughs every time it returns to it. The poof of smoke! The fuzzy layer of velvety felt on his fur! It's all so perfectly done. He goes on an adorably mischievous romp through the village while a song legally distinct from "Yakety Sax" plays. That's always funny! That's a scientific fact. 

Honestly, even if the rest of the episode sucked, I would still probably give it a positive score simply for the image of Eggman suddenly turning into NyanCat. "Don't Make Me Angry" does approach its premise cleverly though. Eggman going into anger management is a good joke on its own. Again, it's a relatable premise, at least for my emotionally dysregulated ass. I imagine those among you blessed with balanced brain chemistry know what it's like to bite your tongue and exhale slowly when you feel the fury of one thousand Xanax-addled chimpanzees hungry for face brewing inside. Funnily enough, therapy works for Eggman. The second half of the episode has the villain maintaining a serene tone even when stuff that obviously annoys the shit out of him is happening. Eggman zenly saying "Oh, good! A last minute complication!" as his forty-eight hours are almost up plays wonderfully on everything we know about this guy and all the expectations we have for a silly cartoon show like this. 

Grenier's script, however, isn't done tossing delightful curve balls at us. Throughout the episode, Beth the Shrew performs little acts of kindness for Eggman. Considering this an episode especially concerned with Sonic and friends childishly bullying the villain, you do feel sympathy for him long before the end. Naturally, Beth shows up at Eggman HQ and stumbles into a death trap due to the irrepressible need kids feel to press buttons. Only Furry Eggman is small enough to fit through the chute and rescue, meaning the doctor has to trigger a transformation. However, he's successfully mastered his anger and finds he can't become enraged! I suppose this structure is easy enough to predict. It remains a skillful falling of the dominos, a perfectly playful subversion of what was recently established. Seeing the pitcher throw the perfect curve ball doesn't make it any less satisfying to watch. Or whatever obtuse sports metaphor works best for you. 

Mike Pullock's delivery of Eggman's mad-but-totally-not-mad dialogue generates more laughs. There are a lot of solid gags here. Sonic's reaction to seeing Eggman's transmogrify is amusingly petty. As is Sticks' response when attempting to annoy Eggman. Amy gets a fantastic laugh too when the doctor sees her leading the anger management class. I suppose what I'm saying is, four episodes from the end, "Sonic Boom" has learned that its cast can be counted on to make any one-liner as zippy as possible. Cubot's big dumb square head manages to get a chuckle too. The required meta moment also made he gasps with joy, since it's a sideways acknowledgement of the Archie comics. Sonic tosses the Unenviable Clunk book away and promises that a comic starring him would never end on a cliffhanger. I don't know if this was "Boom" showing solidarity with Archie "Sonic" fans still pissed about issue 247 – and the entire original continuity of the comic – ending like that. This being a shout-out to the "Sonic Boom" comic ending abruptly strikes me as slightly more likely, since the show and the comic did share some staff. Most probably, this was simply a jokey nod at Sonic's long-running side-gig in comics. But I'll take whatever crumb I can get. 

Also, the handful of comic panels we see of the "Unenviable Clunk" book look neat. My criticism of the CGI animation of this show should be well known by now so, anytime we are treated to some more appealing looking traditional art, I applaud that. Also also, it's a bummer that this season of "Boom" didn't attract much attention at the time. Tomy made a bunch of toys for the show. If only "Don't Make Me Angry" had attracted enough buzz to make a plush toy of Eggman's adorably squishy little guy form a viable option. I bet a lot of people would buy that! All rambling aside, when I look back at this series, "Don't Make Me Angry" will surely rank in the upper tier of my personal favorite "Sonic Boom" episodes. [8/10]