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]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.47: You and I Bee-come One

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.47: You and I Bee-come One

Original Air Date: October 14th, 2017

Considering how "Sonic Boom" started to bring back previously one-off characters, I expected an episode entitled "You and I Bee-come One" to bring back Amy's pet Beebot, Bea. Nope! Instead, this one starts with Eggman leaving on a vacation. Before he goes, he programs all his Beebots to automatically zero in on Sonic and his friends. The heroes quickly carole the bugs into a cave. While this is happening, Tails is testing his new matter transporter on himself. A Beebot swoops into the teleporter at the last second. The device acts as a gene-splicer, Tails and the robotic insect being Brundlefly'd into a freakish hybrid. At first, everyone is focused on reversing the transformation. However, Tails soon discovers he likes the added superpowers this new form has given him. Unfortunately, being half-Beebot also links him with the hive, causing the fox to soon turn on his buddies and unleashes the imprisoned swarm. Sonic and the others have to reluctantly team up with Eggman to unravel this mess. 

Much to my surprise and delight, "You and I Bee-come One" is an episode of "Sonic Boom" inspired by a classic horror film. In 1957, George Langelaan published the short story, "The Fly." The premise, of a scientist inventing a teleporter and unwittingly fusing himself with a common housefly, caught the attention of 20th Century Fox exec Kurt Neumann. He quickly adapted it into a film starring David Hedison and genre icon Vincent Price. The combination of sci-fi gadgetry, a committed cast, a tragic romance approach to the material, and lightly surreal horror made the film a hit. Two sequels of debatable merit followed. In the mid-eighties, Canadian master David Cronenberg was hired to put his own spin on "The Fly." The 1986 remake was a greater success than the original. (And got its own questionable sequel.) Thanks to star-making performances from Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis, a thoughtful script, and utterly grotesque special effects, this "Fly" is now regarded as a classic too. Despite the graphic body horror of the film, homages to it have repeatedly popped up in kids cartoons. Split second gags in Disney cartoons, an entire episode of "Invader Zim," a whole-ass reoccurring character on the first "Ninja Turtles" series, and countless shout-outs to its often repeated tagline are only a few examples. This puts "Sonic Boom" in good company, even if this is yet another reference kids in 2017 were unlikely to understand. 

"You and I Bee-come One" keeps the cocoon-like design of the telepods from Cronenberg's film but its combination is closer to the '57 original, meaning we don't see Tails shedding body parts or vomiting acidic digestive fluid on people. However, the psychological effect the transformation has on Tails isn't unlike Cronenberg's vision. Being half-robobee causes Tails to loose touch with his humanity. (Fox-ity?) At first, he simply finds the upgrades, like mechanical bug wings or laser zapping stingers, useful for superhero-ing. However, he soon loses the ability to emphasize with organic beings before plotting a full-scale BeeBot invasion of the village. This is illustrated by Tails hearing echoing cries of "Jooooin us!" in his mind. (Itself a shout-out to another eighties horror flick.) "Sonic Boom" naturally plays all of this for comedy but it is a fairly involving narrative. A hero turning against his pals via an upgrade in ability is classic comic book shenanigans. Meanwhile, Tails seeking to leave the alienating individuality of autonomous personhood behind in order to join the conformity of bee life is an existential crisis we can all relate to. I mean, who among us hasn't longed to discard the drudgery of personal freedom and become one with the hive? We've all been there, folks. 

Benoit Grenier doesn't exactly probe this concept for any deep reflections on the human and/or robot insect existence. Nor does he resolve the inconsistency of how all this gene-splicing works with a robotic bee. Instead of being turned into a fox/insect hybrid, Tails probably should have had metal parts inserted throughout his body, a fate closer to "Crash" than "The Fly" on the Cronenberg body horror scale. Truthfully, "You and I Bee-come One" is plottier than you might expect from "Sonic Boom." Eggman spending the weekend at a retreat for supervillains isn't the inciting incident. It incites the inciting incident, Tails getting bug-spliced. A few more dominos have to fall before we get to the dramatic crux of the episode, which is Tails unleashing the captured robots and Sonic being forced to align himself with his greatest foe. It all flows relatively smoothly, for being shoved into an eleven minute cartoon. 

However, you can tell Grenier had to rush the ending. Every time a BeeBot is smashed, it causes Tails physical pain. The heroes also have to sever his connection with the hive in order to subdue him. The solution to this problem is... For Team Sonic to destroy all the BeeBots, presumably causing Tails far more agony. Eggman cooking up a brainwave dampener or Tails getting lured into an area where the psychic link to the other bees is weakened or something would've been better. Or, better yet, Sonic reminding him of his bond with his friends long enough to break through the influence of the bee mind. Kids cartoons love that shit. That would have been a good contrast to a nightmare Tails had earlier, of Sonic and friends rejecting him, the hive mind seemingly playing on some insecurities the fox has. Instead, there's not enough time to craft a proper ending so the solution is more violence, with no concern for the physical toll that might have on Tails' body or brain. 

Not to mention the psychological effect. This episode airing so close to "Give Bees a Chance" makes the ending seem more callous. Amy happily participates in the massacre of the hive, despite forming a loving bond with a BeeBot not that long ago. This would be kind of like going on a mad puppy stomping spree after receiving a beloved new pet. In a more dramatic setting, Tails betraying his friends would also result in more storytelling opportunities. I know all of this wasn't his fault. It was the psychic influence of the swarm, of course. Still, everyone's trust in Tails being left a little shaken would've been a good follow-up, necessitating him having to earn it back. Or, perhaps, his pals are eager to move on but Tails still remembers his time being part of a group consciousness, changing him for the better or worse in various ways. "Boom" picked a disappointing episode to relax on the continuity. More could have been done here, even within the context of a ten minute long comedy show. 

I do think the laughs and the concept of the episode could have been melded together more smoothly, rather than grotesquely warped together via teleporter mishap. Nevertheless, I did laugh a few times. The running joke of Eggman being at a vacation resort for bad guys provides amusing cutaways, to the villain limbo-ing or in a conga line. There's some decent physical comedy, such as when Sonic face-plants on a frozen lake or Knuckles decides to take a direct route to enjoying some pie. Sonic ends up in a humiliating flower costume in the last act, which leads to a running gag that is mildly amusing. I do wish the dialogue was a little sharper. Only a bit from Sticks about hearing voices made me laugh. 

Also, it's kind of strange that "Sonic" cartoons can't stop turning Tails into a villain, if only for a single episode. I suppose it goes hand-in-hand with his super-inventor status. I won't say "You and I Bee-come One" disappointed me. How can I be let down by a "Fly"-inspired episode, especially when I didn't see it coming at all? Still, more could have been done with concept. Once again, I yearn for a long-running comic book spin-off that could develop ideas introduced as a joke in more thoughtful ways down the line. As it is now, I can only give this episode half of a positive score, which will surely displease the hive. Luckily, I own a beekeeper suit and a smoke gun, so those stupid bees won't be able to outsmart me. [6/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.18: Unnamed Episode

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.18: Unnamed Episode 

Original Air Date: March 11th, 2017

I assumed the seventieth installment of "Sonic Boom" was named "Unnamed Episode" as one of the program's trademark meta gags but it actually does tie into the episode's themes. During a town meeting to drum up tourism, Amy discovers that the village doesn't actually have a name. Tails does some quick research and learns the town used to be called "Badgerville," after its founder Jedidiah Badger. He was a real dick wad though and quickly got run off by the locals, who never got around to renaming the town. Jedidiah was also Sticks' ancestor, leading everyone around the village to disliking her. Amy leads a campaign to rename the village "Pleasant Valley" while Eggman pushes for "Eggman City." His flashy proposition wins over the people. It's all been a scheme, of course, Eggman sneaking in a clause giving him complete control. That's when Team Sonic have to rush in and save the day. 

I complain a lot about how modern "Sonic" media likes to keep the characters' back stories vague. This has led to us not actually knowing where Sonic, Tails, and Amy come from and why they know each other. This intentional lack of information, probably part of some misplaced attempt to keep Sonic as relatable to the general public as possible, has really stymied the IDW comics at times. We don't even know what everyone calls the planet they are on! Being a goofy comedy show, "Boom" hasn't had much use for backstory either. Yet, this far into the program's run, and the writers have clearly decided to change that some. I've just been calling the primary location "The Village" but now we know a lot more about its history! By the end of this episode, it's even been given the brand new identity of "Hedgehog Village." Aren't you glad you know that now? Isn't that satisfying? 

The flashback, revealing the background info on Jedediah Badger, provides "Boom" for another chance to revisit one of its favorite themes: Depicting the general public as stupid, fearful, easily swayed lunatics. Ye Olde Villagers had enough initiative to chase Jedidiah off after growing tired of his greedy, manipulative ways. However, they were too lazy to ever bother renaming the town afterwards. Upon learning this info, the modern villagers immediately turn on Sticks, even though she's saved their asses multiple times and had nothing to do with her ancestor's actions. The villagers' reactionary and dimwitted tendencies are further shown when Eggman manages to win them all over to his side of things simply by plying them with free T-shirts and other empty platitudes. 

Ya know, Team Sonic works hard to protect these people, even though they are violence prone idiots who turn on their heroes about once a week. Once again, I must unavoidably conclude that this is a pretty downbeat message to send to kids. "It doesn't matter how much you help everyone. People are, on the whole, fearful, stupid, and wrathful." Then again, I can't really blame anyone for feeling this way, given the modern state of politics. That is definitely an angle "Unnamed Episode" is exploring. Eggman runs attack ads drawing attention to Amy associating with Sticks, now despised by everyone in town. These tactics result in Eggman's ordinance winning in a landslide, even though he's the guy who threatened to destroy the village all the time. Scenes like this remind me that "Boom" was being produced during the beginning of the Trump era here in America, when an obvious conman managed to seat a lot of people into voting for him with a campaign built on fear and blatant lies. Given that context, you start to understand the show's nihilistic depiction of the general public and their willingness to be fooled by flashy windbags with obviously manipulative tactics. "Unnamed Episode" boiling this down to misleading attack ads is probably the easiest way to convey this point to the young kids watching at the time. 

In fact, I wonder if writer Benoit Grenier didn't get a little distracted by the depressing political realities of the world. Because, I think, this episode is actually meant to be about Sticks and her rejection by the town folks. The reveal that Sticks' ancestor was actually a greedy landlord – the Man, as she puts it so precisely – is a good gag. I can totally see an anti-establishment type like Sticks spiraling into an existential quandary over such a discovery. The episode doesn't run with that though. Instead, it based Sticks' angst on being so soundly rejected by the people she saves all the time. And I gotta call bullshit on that one. Why would a paranoid conspiracy theorist even care what other people think about her? Later in the episode, there's a joke about Sticks believing in the possibility that her friends could be replaced by pod people at any time. Distrusting everyone is one of the foundational elements of Sticks' personality! So that's a weird element to focus on, especially when a threat to Sticks' understanding of herself as an anti-authoritarian hell raiser is right there. 

It's obvious where the script is going with this. Sticks is given a tidy little character arc of having everyone turn against her and then winning their trust back by saving the day. (At least until the next time something happens to sway the public's opinion in some other, wild direction.) This pairs with a nice little moral about the power of friendship, as Amy stays by her side during this difficult time. However, Amy's campaign to win the renaming ordinance and defeat Eggman's obviously deceitful attempt ends up occupying more of the runtime. This is ostensibly a Sticks episode that ends up feeling more like an Amy episode. I think shifting the focus entirely to Sticks' personal crisis and her conflict with the villagers would've resulted in a much stronger cartoon. 

Still, despite some issues, this is still an amusing episode. At this point, I think the "Boom" creative team has really figured out the balance of quippy one-liners, cartoonish absurdity, and character interactions necessary to keep even an awkward episode consistently amusing. There's a good running gag here about how useful libraries are, an assertion Amy makes despite people challenging her on it all the time. There's lot of good lines here, about naming the town something stupid or shoddy sign construction, and they just sling on by without drawing too much attention to themselves. Exactly the way a joke should be! Really, the only running gag that doesn't work for me is Knuckles wanting them to name the town after him. Definitely feels like this show returns to the "Knuckles is so fucking dumb!" well a little too often. Especially since the last one made a point of showing he actually has a degree of cunning about him. 

Even when there's some bumps in the roads, I've go to admire how good "Sonic Boom" has gotten about making these episodes feel complete despite their short run time. Earlier installments often felt rushed but now the comedy and the decent structures go hand-in-hand more often than not. I wish the focus was more on Sticks' here but "Unnamed Episode" still has a stellar comedic flow that makes it so very easy to watch. Honestly starting to think I'm really going to miss this show when I'm done with it... [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.16: Knine-to-Five Knuckles

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.16: Knine-to-Five Knuckles

Original Air Date: February 25th, 2017

I've always had mixed feelings about those sitcom episodes that start in one totally different place in order to set-up a barely related scenario, the premise that actually drives the block of the episode. Late-era "Simpsons" was especially guilty of this. However, the episode being so short allows "Sonic Boom" to get away with this a little more. You can't really stop and ask yourself "How the hell did we get from Point A to Point B?" when the whole thing goes by in only ten minutes. This is exactly what "Knine-to-Five Knuckles" does, beginning with the gang attending a recording of Comedy Chimp's show. This beginning is unrelated to the main point of the episode, which is forcing the big-on-brawn but short-on-brains echidna into the work force. How did we ramble from that start to that ending? Well...

At the taping, Knuckles discovers he's the lucky audience member to have a prize under his seat: A shitty green lamp. Knuckles is immediately enamored of the home décor but quickly realizes he must have a home to display aforementioned décor. That's when T.W. Barker steps in and quickly convinces the easily gullible echidna to sign a contract for a crumbling home. But a lamp won't work unless you have electricity to power it. And so he goes job-hunting, eventually ending up working as a designer for an ad agency. Yet this isn't enough to cover the expenses of home ownership, which Barker enforces with mobster-like intensity. Now, Knuckles has to get a second job at Meh Burger just to cover the bills. This really gets in the way of his prior responsibility as a superhero and he has trouble juggling his three jobs. 

I love to impose a left-wing subtext on "Sonic the Hedgehog" media even (Especially!) when it's most probably not there. Yet the cynicism "Boom" displays about social structures makes it a little easier to approach from this angle. Yes, "Knine-to-Five Knuckles" is an episode about everyone's favorite monotreme becoming a wage slave. This happens due to the absurd mounting costs of home ownership. It's something most of us have to grapple with. I mean, not me. I'm a millennial, I'm never going to own a home. But you don't really expect a "Sonic" cartoon to deal with such a heavy topic. Granted, the show doesn't get into the factors that lead us all to be crushed under the wheels of capitalism. However, depicting Barker as a predatory real estate agent tricking gullible clients into signing deceptive loans, which he then uses violence to enforce, it's still a pretty damning statement for a kids show to make about a standard part of life. That's sort of like the "Kung-Fu Panda" randomly devoting an episode to gerrymandering or something. "Boom'" irrelevance allowed it to get away with all sorts of weird shit. 

Not that "Knine-to-Five Knuckles" is especially sharp as social satire. Knuckles does luck his way into a job in the arts industry, which seems unlikely. Usually, you have to be the boss' cousin or Lena Dunham or something to end up in a situation like that. The earlier scene of him being an idiot as a grocery store stooge seems far more probable. Then again, even a cushy gig like that not being enough to cover standard bills, forcing him to get a second fast food gig, is also a quite dark observation for a cartoon designed to sell a video game to make. But, yeah, this set-up exists more to get Knuckles into a typical sitcom-esque bits of tomfoolery. Like annoying his stuck-up co-workers at the ad agency or being demeaned by Dave at Meh Burger. 

The climax sees him juggle all three of his responsibilities at the same time, while trying not to alert his different set of coworkers. That's some classic, "Three's Company" style japery there. Knuckles being a buffoon allows the joke to go even further, the echidna mixing up his various duties. Such as handing Eggman fries or suplexing a co-worker from the ad agency into a soda fountain. It's all very silly but, honestly, the mounting absurdity works for me. Considering Knuckles is the silliest character on this show, sticking him in such a hacky premise works better than it would with Sonic or Tails. Those two would probably just explain the situation calmly. Knuckles is too dumb for that and so he has to follow this ridiculous premise through to the end.

"Boom" being "Boom," it sneaks in quite a few other jokes in-between these wackier sequences. Some of which are poking fun at the very audience watching this program. Sonic and the others having epic, off-screen battles with Eggman while Knuckles is at his boring desk job is almost certainly a jab at fans demanding more action from this show. In case you missed that intent, Sticks looks right into the camera and badgers the audience for following Knuckles' perspective instead. Not to mention Tails' very specific description of the fight featuring "new minions and classic favorites from years past" makes it clear this is drawing attention to the show ignoring fan favorite instincts in favor of wacky bullshit. There's also a moment where Barker says Knuckles is "a little short" and the echidna responses "that's not what the fan says." I'm assuming this is a jab at people complaining about the "Boom" version of Knuckles being so much taller than his usual depictions and not a dirty joke about fan art giving Knux a colossal schlong. Then again, this episode features an edgy joke about Dave making Knuckles clean up what he hopes is "a chunky milkshake," so maybe this show isn't beyond cock jokes. 

Overall, Benoit Grenier's script packs in enough goofy nonsense to keep me entertained. I mean, Knuckles being devoted to a lime green lamp is the impetus for this whole scenario and that's a good silly gag. So are little bits about chicken fingers in a suitcase or Sticks' circadian rhythms. The episode ends not with Knuckles solving his own problems but with Amy flying into a rage at Barker, intimidating him into backing out of the predatory deal he's stuck her friend in. Normally, I would accuse an ending like this of being bad writing. Knuckles untangling the mess he made, logic dictates, would be a more satisfying ending. Yet this show so rarely gives Amy an unexpected joke that having her just go aggro on a minor villain and threaten to beat the shit out of him made me laugh. Comedy can get away with breaking the rules writing is supposed to have if it's funny enough. And I think this is. 

One assumes that the lack of action scenes made this a cheaper episode to produce. Another indicator of this one's cost-saving measures is just how many pre-established characters it uses. Instead of introducing a new thug to trick Knuckles into buying a run-down shed, they just have T.W. Barker and his burly bears do it. Instead of giving Knuckles some new co-workers at his day job, they just reuse Gunther and Diane Aardvark from "Fortress of Squalitude." (Though Gunther seems to have dyed his fur from baby shit yellow to an equally hideous maroon.) The episode sticks Fastidious Beaver, Leeroy the Turtle, into bit parts and fills Comedy Chimp's audience with a bunch of familiar faces. Even the musical guest on the show seems to be a recolor of Swifty the Shrew. You could criticize this as an element that makes the show seem cheaper but, honestly, I think it makes "Boom's" village seen like more of a real community. Of course you're going to see the same people popping up in such a small town. 

All things considered, it's not a great episode or anything but, considering how many weird jokes and unexpected moments it sneaks into fifteen minutes, I'm going to give it a positive score. It's not like any other piece of "Sonic" media is wildly mixing together the mundane and the wacky with this much free-wheeling energy. Even if that lamp is pretty ugly. Seriously, Knuckles, couldn't you have picked a color that at least pairs well with your fur? [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.11: The Evil Dr. Orbot

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.11: The Evil Dr. Orbot

Original Air Date: January 21st, 2017 

“The Evil Dr. Orbot” begins with an endemic of supervillainy tearing through the village, that climaxes with Eggman's failed attempt to destroy the Fuzzy Puppy figurines warehouse. (As part of a scheme to increase the value in his own collection.) Following this incident, Mayor Fink insists all evildoers in the area must pass an evil competency test, pay a fee, and fill out a permit to perform any more super-crime. Eggman is dismayed to see that he's failed the test and that he can't retake it for another three months... Until he realizes he can make Orbot take the test in his place. In preparation for the exam, Orbot downloads a text book on evil, inadvertently turning him into a far greater threat than Eggman ever was. Now Eggman has to make sure his henchman doesn't eclipse him in nastiness. 

In the past, I've noted how my favorite episodes of “Sonic Boom” tend to be the ones that contrast typical action/adventure/superhero cartoon shenanigans with utterly mundane difficulties. “The Evil Dr. Orbot,” or at least its first half, falls squarely into that category. Evildoers being forced to take an exam and sign some paperwork before they can reek havoc is exactly the kind of absurdity that tickles my funny bone. Eggman having to deal with the strife of standardized testing and pressure to perform well on an exam makes him more relatable. It's also just a good, solid gag, forcing extraordinary and exaggerated characters like this into the most mundane form of bureaucracy.  This is probably the closest we'll get to an episode about Eggman stuck in line at the DMV, but it's even funnier because it represents the local government applying law and order to the inherently lawless actions of cartoon bad guys. 

The villain's incompetent lackey, usually through some sort of contrived plot device, temporarily becoming a bigger threat than the fiend he works for is also a stock cartoon plot line. Just within the “Sonic” franchise, “Adventures of” and “SatAM” did similar storylines. “Boom,” being the flippant, short program it is, finds a simpler, funnier way to get to this scenario. No wacky contrivance is necessary. Orbot just downloads a book on being a supervillain and immediately becomes more competent than Eggman. That goes to show how incompetent Eggman really is, that Orbot taking the super-fast equivalent of a night school course in wickedness immediately makes him a more pressing threat than his creator. Orbot's simple schemes, like distracting Tails with a diversion before rushing in to his lab to steal his new invention, is already shown as being a level above Eggman's typical schemes. 

This amusing idea reaches its apex when Orbot returns to the Fuzzy Puppy figurine scheme from the episode's first scene. Behind Eggman's back, the robot enacted a complicated financial scheme to artificially inflate the value of the toys and trick the public into selling them back to him for a profit. This represents Orbot becoming something much more insidious than a cartoon supervillain: Now he's a capitalist. This is another example of the playful way “Boom” mixes up comic book tropes and unremarkable reality. What Orbot does here probably isn't a crime. And if it is, all he'd have to do is jump through some more legal loopholes to make it okay. That's what real business types do all the time. Yet it's somehow more devious than Eggman's usual chaos and destruction. 

The fact that “Boom” Eggman, from any sort of real world perspective, actually sort of sucks at being a villain reflects on his character in some interesting way. The episode ends with the rotund doctor stumbling into a victory of sorts through sheer chance. It's been hinted at many times, and even outright stated, that “Boom” Eggman really isn't that bad of a guy. He desires power and respect , not so much because he has a sociopathic desire to enforce his rule over the entire world. It's more-so to validate a massive ego that is clearly compensating for a serious inferiority complex. He feels like he's the worst so he always acts like he's the best. And he wants the rest of the world to acknowledge that, through force if necessary. That Orbot exceeds his boss' effectiveness so quickly is just another sign that Eggman really isn't cut out for the world-conqueror role. I'm probably, definitely reading too much into it but I like to think that episodes like this subtly build-up the cast member's character development more. 

I'm talking a lot about Eggman in this review and there's good reason for that: He's the star of this episode, alongside his spherical henchman. Sonic and Team Boom have very little to do here. There's minor action scenes at the beginning, including one set inexplicably to a sound-alike of “Battles Without Honor and Humanity.” I think Knuckles and Tails have one line of dialogue each. Sticks isn't in the episode at all. Sonic and Amy get a handful of moments, including a scene where they are on a romantic picnic together that.  Once again, I can't help but marvel at how much more I enjoy “Sonic” content when Sonic himself has a small role. 

All my pointless rambling and meandering digressions aside, this is a pretty funny episode! There's a lot of sharp dialogue, where Sonic criticizes Eggman's ethics, Orbot and Cubot argue about rhetorical questions, and the exact amount of days in three months are considered. There's a reoccurring physical gag about Eggman getting struck by lightning, which is easily the limpest joke in the entire episode. And since this is an especially meta program, it even incorporates the sitcom reset into the script. In order for the story to return to the exact same status quo at the start of the next episode, Orbot literally gets rebooted. Funny joke, you guys!

I'm pretty deep into this “Sonic Boom” retrospective now and, honestly, I never expected to like this show as much as I do by this point. Here's an episode about a fairly minor supporting character and, honestly, I liked it a lot! If you had told me a few years back that I'd happily watch an eleven minute episode devoted to Orbot and enjoy it a lot, I'd probably believe you but I would definitely pause for a minute and glare at you skeptically for several minutes. [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.4: Alone Again, Unnaturally

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.4: Alone Again, Unnaturally

Original Air Date: December 3rd, 2016 

The fourth episode of "Sonic Boom's" second season begins with a scenario we've all probably had dreams about. Sonic awakens in his village totally alone. He explores the homes of his friends and all their frequent hangouts, finding them strangely empty. He can't recall how he got in this situation at first but a flashback soon informs. Tails was trying to find ways to push Sonic's speed even further. Eventually, he created a device called the Ultrasonic Speed Amplifier. This allowed the hedgehog to run so fast he has gone out-of-sync with the dimensional plain he lives on. Sonic's friends attempt to rescue their blue buddy before Eggman can take advantage of his absence. 

This episode's first scene plays off a commonly considered idea: What if, one morning, you found yourself totally alone? This meditative, unnerving question has inspired countless pieces of art. Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" and the very first episode of "The Twilight Zone" is what first comes to mind for me when I think of this premise but you can probably come up with some of your own. Sticking Sonic in this set-up has a lot of potential. Having him awaken into this scenario with no memory of how he got there or what's going on furthers the dream-like premise. I would've loved an eerie eleven minutes devoted to Sonic trying to unravel this strange mystery. 

Of course, "Sonic Boom" isn't that kind of show. This is a smart aleck comedy program. If Sonic doesn't have anyone to throw quips off of, how will the yuks be generated? The solution writer Benoit Grenier comes up with is simply have Sonic make snarky comments to himself. Within the opening minutes, he's already making jokes about Comedy Chimp's swimsuit calendar or Amy's poetry slam. Once the flashback begins, we are fully in the realm of slapstick comedy. Sonic even slams into a valley wall and leaves a perfectly shaped imprint of his body, like in a Looney Tunes cartoon. I wouldn't expect "Sonic Boom" to exploit this set-up for any other than chuckles but it is a little disappointing. They could've let the eeriness settle in a bit before getting to the one-liners. 

"Alone Again" does ask an interesting question that this speed-obsessed franchise has asked from time to time. Namely, how fast is too fast? Sonic's speed is his defining characteristic but his exact top speed varies totally from media to media. Even within the games, Sonic can range from being so fast he generated enough energy to rebirth the universe to Eggman being able to outrun him on-foot. "Boom" suggests that Sonic's potential for fastness is far bigger than even the hedgehog realizes. After Tails straps his booster thingy on him, the hedgehog keeps going faster and faster until he throws himself out-of-sync with reality. I'm not going to try and figure out the science of this premise, which seems sketchy to me. Yet the idea that the hedgehog can touch light-speed levels with the right equipment – but that such achievements have consequences – is a solid foundation for an episode. 

While Sonic is invisible to every one on the main plain of reality, he finds himself in Eggman's base of operations. He quickly starts to mess around with shit which, to Eggman's eyes, looks like some serious poltergeist activity is going down in his abode. This leads to one of the episode's funniest gags. Apparently, it seems, Eggman has an interest in ghost hunting. Believing in the supernatural probably should be out-of-character for a hardline science guy like him. Yet, the way it's framed here, actually makes this character development make sense. There's a brief gag about Eggman being annoyed with the moderators of the internet ghosthunting forum he used to frequent. The joke here, the contrast between Eggman's status as the show's primary supervillain and the petty drama of internet forum bickering, is obvious. Yet it also further reveals how "Boom" Eggman is a guy always on the search for validation, for approval from authority figures. I like that.

Ultimately, "Alone Again, Unnaturally" is not an episode about ghosts or isolation or any of that shit. Instead, the script eventually bends towards a very sweet moral about friendship. After being put through a series of humiliating experiments that physically harm him, Sonic probably isn't feeling too confident in his friendship with Tails. Yet the fox's quest to reunite himself with his best friend relies on their connection. Ultimately, Sonic's desire to be back with Tails and the rest of the gang is what pushes him through to the conclusion. It's a nice little note to take us out on here. No matter how much snarky one-liners they trade from time-to-time, these guys really do care about each other. 

This episode does have plenty of one-liners in it though. In fact, there's some pretty good zingers throughout. A line about "Blast processing" - which Tails uses here to refer to his speed-boosting technology -  is a goofy in-joke that the show really runs with in a way that made me smile. The assumption that Sonic is dead, and Sticks' reaction to that news, also becomes a solid running gag. The cascade of slapstick leads to some good moments. such as Tails slipping on some goggles or Amy's reaction to Sonic's latest injury. Honestly, though, the moment that got the biggest laugh out of me was Roger Craig Smith's utterly unhinged delivery of lines like "FASTER!" and "DO IT!" 

It all adds up to an episode that probably could've been something a lot more special but instead has to settle for being suitably entertaining. I guess that's about standard for "Sonic Boom," a show with rarely enough time to truly explore its topics and always focused on the goal of generating chuckles. Yet at least this episode feels fairly fully formed, compared to some of the really half-baked season one episodes. [7/10]

 

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.51: Counter Productive

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.51: Counter Productive

Original Air Date: November 7th, 2015

Ya know, I gotta hand it to the "Sonic Boom" writers. Even when dealing with episodes that are only eleven minutes long, it had to have been tricky to think up fifty-two distinct premises. It used to be common for TV seasons to run for a long amount of episodes but daily children's television remains pretty much the last domain where that is normal. And, as someone who has sat through over one hundred episodes of middling nineties cartoons, you tend to run out of genuinely novel ideas fairly quickly. While "Sonic Boom" has leaned on parody and well-trot troupes to extend its episode count plenty of times, I do admire how the show runners have kept "Boom" fairly true to its original premise all throughout season one. 

Perhaps this is only because "Sonic Boom's" original premise – what if Sonic and his friends basically starred in a workplace sitcom, where the "work" is being a hero/villain? – is extremely mutable. This especially comes to light in "Counter Productive," another episode that attempts to expand the Boom Team's rogue gallery outside of Eggman and his associates. There's only so much you can do with an egg-fixated mad scientist, after all, so it's pretty common for "Sonic" media to eventually add further bad guys to the setting. Alongside the Thunderbolt Society and Nominatus, this episode introduces the fearsome threat of... Charlie.

"Counter Productive" is also another episode that begins in one place before wildly digressing to an entirely different one. During a contest to see who can stay up longer, Knuckles stumbles upon a TV interview with Soar the Eagle. Soar's new book seeks to teach people how to be productive and includes, as part of its philosophy, apologizing for past misdeeds and making up for them. This prompts Knuckles to find Charlie, a former apple salesman that he got fired a few years back with his antics. Charlie is now an archeologist, digging up mysterious technology built by the Ancients. Knuckles quickly integrates himself into Charlie's life, his attempts to make up for past mistakes actually ruining Charlie's life. This pushes the mild-mannered nerd into becoming a super villain. 

Attempting to analyze, as I do, episodes of "Sonic Boom" is tricky sometimes. This is just a goofy kids' show, after all, and frequently leaves little for me to dig into. About halfway through "Counter Productive," I couldn't help but wonder if this episode is inspired by how, usually, we create our own villains. Everybody has had moments in life where they've been careless, selfish, or rude. It's human nature. We're all going to fuck up sometimes. And, inevitably, some folks only ever see us in these bad moments. I suppose I'm an optimist, since I think the majority of people are not actively acting maliciously most of the time. Typically, we're all trying to do our best. Yet we still manage to piss some folks off and give them cause to hate us. And, let's face it, most of the time it's our own fault. We all make mistakes. We're all assholes occasionally. The unavoidable consequence of that is, sometimes, people will be mad at you. 

To put it another way: We all must face the consequences of our own actions. We all most reap what we sow. This is a common narrative tactic in fiction to give the antagonist a little more dramatic heft. If the hero genuinely screwed up and inadvertently led to the creation of his own enemy, it makes their rivalry more compelling. (This is especially common in superhero comics and their cinematic adaptations.) "Counter Productive" seems headed in this direction. Knuckles' buffoonish actions results in Charlie devoting his life to ruining Knuckles'. His attempt to make everything better and heal a past wound just makes it all worst. Maybe the moral could be interpreted here as "We can't repent for everything. The best thing we can do sometimes is just move on with our lives." As Charlie initially does before Knuckles just keeps pushing it. 

It's hard to tell if that was the intended message of "Counter Productive" though. Because this is a goofy comedy show and tends to favor wacky gags over all else. In execution, this means "Counter Productive" is an episode devoted to Knuckles deciding to randomly ruin a regular Joe's life. Knuckles is such a big dum-dum that he doesn't realize his attempts to help someone, to earn their forgiveness, is just making them hate him more. Yet the joke operates more like "Let's laugh at what a colossal idiot Knuckles is." In effect, that makes "Counter Productive" about watching Knuckles be a belligerent dumbass until it drives a perfectly sane person to madness. 

"Sonic Boom," in one of its more subversive moods, could've made a sharp eleven minutes out of this idea. Of watching a so-called hero act like anything but. Instead, the joke is just reduced to Knuckles doing the least helpful thing in every scenario. That means throwing out Charlie's lunch, destroying the artifact he uncovered, getting him fired, and alienating him from his wife. Watching Knuckles just be a doofus over and over again has its values but this one isn't the most inspired use of that idea. It gets tiresome quickly. 

The result of Knuckles' incompetence, of Charlie using the Ancients' technology to make himself into a super villain, leads to probably the funniest bits though. Namely, that would be Charlie's less-than-impressive attempts at being a bad guy. He has some sort of freeze ray in his armor and briefly uses it to be intimidating, before screwing everything up. From there, he just prettily torments Knuckles like a schoolyard bully. He steals his lunch money and dunks him in a garbage can. Contrasting someone calling themselves a super villain with actions that amount to petty dickery is a decent joke this show has gotten good mileage out of before. 

Instead of running with that idea, "Counter Productive" bends in an even weirder direction. Charlie's wife kicks him out because she says he "never stands up for himself." Later, Knuckles decides to stand up to his own bully, namely Charlie. It bends towards an unfocused moral about school bullying and how you shouldn't let people walk all over you. Yet it's hard to root for Knuckles when his own foolishness is what brought Charlie to this point. Charlie similarly looses all sympathy when his wife takes him back and further encourages his evolution towards super-crime. In effect, everyone is a dick here and any meaningful message is lost. 

Not that I demand cromulent morals from my children's cartoons. Least of all "Sonic Boom," a cartoon that excels at being flippant. Yet "Counter Productive" just feels unfocused, swirling around various ideas in a desperate attempt to make us laugh. Which it never quite does, as the episode's slapstick feels more sadistic than amusing. While it's one-liners are all pretty uninspired. This one probably should've stuck to its initial idea, of Sonic and Knuckles both trying to stay up for days on end in increasingly wacky ways. Or of mocking the self-help book industry Soar is obviously a parody of. Instead of going in this tangent of Knuckles creating his own archenemy by being an utter doofus. [5/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.45: Robot Battle Royale

Sonic Boom, Episode 1.45: Robot Battle Royale

Original Air Date: September 26th, 2015

When reviewing "Sonic X," I talked a bit about the required fighting tournament arc all shonen anime must do. Yet this desire to see everyone fight it out is hardly a strictly Japanese obsession. American pop culture does these sort of competition stories with some regularity. You see it every once in a while in comic books. "Sonic Boom" writers had to cook up a hundred scripts for this show so I'm not surprised they touched on a battle royale premise after a while. This show being what it is, it not only squeezed an entire tournament into eleven minutes but it also did it entirely as farce. 

Not that the big robot fighting event is the starting point for this episode. Instead, "Robot Battle Royale" kicks off with Tails inventing an antenna that picks up broadcast from the past. Knuckles decides this item is more useful as a backscratcher, giving the echidna the idea that he's an inventor like Tails. The fox is annoyed by his friend's ego and incompetence. When the village holds a robot fighting tournament, Tails decides to teach Knuckles a lesson. But when Eggman steals Tails' machine – a robot that can take control over other robots – chaos ensues. 

This episode has good structure and, honestly, I didn't expect it. The conflict between Tails and Knuckles drives the first third of the episode. Once the robot fighting begins, that seems to derail the tension between the heroes. Knuckles' robot is taken out due to his own incompetence, with Eggman's scheme emerging as the main antagonistic force here. Yet Tails and Knuckles find a way to resolve their disagreement that also saves the day from the bad guy. Tails learns to appreciate his idiot friend while also defeating Eggman. It's screenwriting 101 but you don't always get that in a show this gag-centric and short. Good job, writers. 

Yet this episode is solid for other reasons too. There's a nice dry absurdity to the jokes here that made me chuckle. Such as a lengthy scene where the Mayor wastes everyone's time by firing a cannonball into the sea, which passes with so little comment that I didn't even know if it was a gag at first. You also see this commitment to the bit in the scene where Tails and Knuckles are arguing, their friends egging them on in the most juvenile way possible. Or Sonic cheering random during the robot battle, only for the reveal to show he's actually excited about buying a chili dog. Good, silly stuff that's executed with strong timing. 

As I watch more of "Sonic Boom," it's becoming increasingly clear that Travis Willingham as Knuckles is the MVP of this cast. How often has his delivery made stupid little lines of dialogue sing? Maybe the biggest laugh here came from his first invention – a stick with a rock tied to the end – and the perfect pomposity with which he presents it. His Muskian habit of “inventing” concepts that already exist leads to a number of perfect line-readings from Willingham. I especially like his melodramatic speech at the episode's end, which circles back around in an amusing fashion. 

You might not be surprised to read that the robot fights here are not especially impressive. This is obviously by design. Most of the robots are goofy little things, such as the Goat Lady's little poodle bot or Comedy Chimp's cymbals clashing monkey. Most of the matches are hilariously uneven. Such as Eggman's six foot tall murder-bot going up against a cute little fella that looks like a toy attached to a skateboard. I do like the fighting game style split-screen image that appears before every match-up. That was a nice touch. 

While "Boom's" meta gags can sometimes be uneven, this episode begins and ends with two strong examples. The first scene has Sonic and Amy watching a movie, with him commenting that the beginning was slow. Amy says movies and TV shows always have "a little filler material" before the inciting incident gets things rolling. That's Tails' cue to bust in with the antenna. The episode concludes with Sonic commenting that Tails' Hypnobot is essentially a plot breaking invention, that renders all future Eggman machines a non-threat. Hypnobot is then destroyed in abrupt fashion, resetting the status quo. Nice. 

Also, there's a dance number and who doesn't love that? "Robot Battle Royale" is exactly what I think of when I consider the average episode of "Sonic Boom." It's not mind-blowingly hilarious or extra-incisive satire. However, it is consistently amusing, with solid writing and strong comedic timing. Moreover, the cast really knows what they're doing and help sell everything. As the end of the first season approaches, "Boom" has proved itself to be an efficient little comedy machine, a sturdy sitcom that is generally well-executed. [7/10]