Sonic Boom, Episode 2.20: Give Bees a Chance

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.20: Give Bees a Chance

Original Air Date: March 25, 2017

The "Sonic" series has a long history of bee or wasp-themed enemies, from the iconic Buzzbomber of the first game onward. Knowing this, it is unsurprising that we would get a whole bee-inspired episode of "Sonic Boom." "Give Bees a Chance" begins with Team Sonic watching as another powerful Ancients relic is unearthed. In this case, it's a fancy rock called the Fregosi Sapphire. Eggman immediately shows up to steal it, bringing a horde of BeeBots with him. One such machine is left damaged but still functional after the fight. Amy convinces Tails to patch the robot up and she begins to take care of the machine. Amy soon develops a bond with the robot insect, even naming it "Bea." When Eggman sees that one of his minions has become the pet of his enemy, he begins the process of automatically recalling Bea using a homing chip installed on every Badnik. Loosing her new friend breaks Amy's heart, allowing Eggman to steal the Fregosi Sapphire back. Now, Amy and the gang have to stop the villain's latest scheme and rescue her adorable little bee buddy. 

While reviewing "FiendBot," I commented that the episode reminded me a little bit of "Buster," in that it featured one of the heroes bringing home a robot, the machine filling something of a pet-like role while also annoying the hell out of everyone else. "Give Bees a Chance" does something very similar again. Once Amy has nursed Bea back to full health, the robot follows her everywhere. This earns the distrust of Sonic and the others, who assumes that having one of Eggman's minions buzzing around is a bad idea. The ever-fearful villagers don't trust the machine either. And much like Buster, you do have to wonder why Amy has gotten so attached to the ersatz Buzzbomber. She tries to teach it to play a simple game of catch and it doesn't quite work out, suggesting Bea is kind of a dumbass. Then again, my dog being a dumbass doesn't make me love her any less...

Considering another recent episode, "Blackout," featured a big magic rock being dug up – in fact, season two has been using the left behind relics of the Ancients as a plot device a lot lately – it would be easy to dismiss "Give Bees a Chance" as a derivative and formulaic installment. Instead, "Give Bees a Chance" keeps doubling up on its ideas and ends up getting the audience more invested in Amy and Bea than they ever were in Sonic and FriendBot or Sticks and Buster. There's more focus on the emotional bond Amy has with Bea than in those other scenarios. When the robotic minion gets called back to Eggman, Amy's resulting heartbreak sets up jokes... But, interestingly, her sadness isn't the joke itself. Rather how everyone reacts to it. This has the surprising effect of getting us to actually care about Amy's love for her robot bee. Which the structure, of having Amy bring Bea back from Eggman's clutches and sees the bee prove her loyalty to everyone, further enforces. The episode ends on a surprisingly sincere note, which is totally unexpected for "Boom." And yet, the episode pulled it off. Within ten minutes, Bea goes from being a slightly annoying gag I felt like the show had done already to a character I actually cared about and liked.  

The question of why Amy is so determined to rehabilitate this Badnik remains. And that really has two answers, one of which is supported by a minor subplot here. When Knuckles grabs the Fregosi Sapphire, he immediately starts to baby it, to the point that he even names it "Herman" and starts carrying it around in a papoose. Combined with the way Amy takes care of Bea, feeding it oil by doing the airplane trick with a spoon and covering the machine with affection... Is the implication that Amy Rose has a bit of baby fever here? Obviously, her relationship with Bea is clearly more akin to the bond you sure with a pet. Yet it's not like lonely women never fill the void in their lives left by a lack of a child with an animal. I get the impression that this was an intentional bit of subtext and not just me reading way too much into an episode of children's broadcasting like I always do. 

The other reason Amy becomes so attached to Bea is a bit more philosophical. After the opening fight, she looks over the remains of the robots they just smashed and considers the morality of what they've done. It's been proven over and over again that Eggman's machines are sentient. Orbot and Cubot are obviously fully formed individuals and even the lowly Badniks have displayed glimpses of personality before. This raises the question then: If the Badniks have identities, personalities, and quirks of their own, is it ethical to ruthlessly smash them to bits? Considering how close Amy and Bea becomes, the obvious answer seems to be a resounding "No." Not that I expect a series as light-hearted as this one to really delve into the implications here, that Sonic commits a hate crime every time he smashes a robot. Yet it is an interesting idea, to give us a bit more perspective behind even the cannon fodder. 

As happens every time "Sonic Boom" bases an episode around Amy, "Give Bees a Chance" left me wondering what this version of Amy's defining characteristic even is. The aspect she most shared with Sega Amy is that she's a super girly, empathy driven female except when you piss her off, then the hammer comes out. "Boom" has also frequently characterized her as a grumpy mom to the rest of the team, who has to tell everyone to stop having fun or annoy people by constantly standing up for the rights of the downtrodden. And sometimes that is exaggerated even further, to the point where she's a slightly crazy perfectionist overachiever. In this episode, the emotional side is played up more, the smallest thing reducing her to tears after Bea goes away. She loves Bea so much, that she's even willing to blow right past the Gogobas' attempts to guilt her, which seems kind of out-of-character for a deeply empathetic people pleaser like her. I don't dislike this take on Amy. Honestly, I much prefer Bee Mom Amy to her being the Team Spoilsport or a grumbly straight woman. It just goes to show how uncertain Amy's characterization in this show is. All the "Boom" versions of the gang have their established personas shift depending on whatever the show's comedic needs may be in an episode. Yet it feels like Any gets it the worst, to the point where it can be hard to figure out what her personality even is sometimes. I guess this is what happens when you take a character conceived as just being Sonic's fawning fangirl and decide to tone that element way down, if not remove it all together. 

And speaking of removing a defining element of a "Sonic" character's personality! This episode has a good joke about Knuckles picking up the Sapphire and saying that people complain about him not protecting precious stones enough. It's another one of the program's trademark meta jokes. You see this in an earlier moment, when Sonic responds to the word "Roger." That line is part of a fast-paced montage of jokes that also includes cracks about everyone always being so sarcastic and Sonic's fear of commitment. It's a good scene and sets up what is a very funny episode overall. Eggman having trouble with a password and having to call customer service is one of those jokes I love, that contrast the mundane and the fantastic. The sequence devoted to Sonic and the others trying to cheer Amy up and just repeatedly making it worse is also very solid. The quality gags continue right up to the end, when Amy's scrapbook is revealed to have a picture of her scrapbook inside it. The Gogoba Chief even made me laugh here and I fucking hate those guys! Good stuff. 

That this episode gives Amy a juicy arc and is so heavy on the pithy dialogue is probably owed to it being written by Cindy Robinson, Amy's voice actor. I guess Cindy must be a pretty big classic sitcom nerd because... When I first heard them refer to the magic rock in this episode as "the Fregosi Sapphire," I wondered if it could be a homage to an episode of "The Munsters." This show has referenced sixties sitcoms before but I figured it was probably a coincidence, because the odds of them pulling out a callback to an obscure episode of such an old show seemed unlikely. But then Knuckles names the rock "Herman," so there's no way "The Munsters" wasn't on someone's mind while making this one. There, I managed to find a connection between Sonic and the Universal Studios Monsters! Anyway, this is a pretty funny, well done episode even if I continue to feel like "Boom" can figure out what exactly to do with Amy. [7/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.19: Robot Employees

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.19: Robot Employees

Original Air Date: March 18th, 2017

Most episodes of "Sonic Boom" have some sort of joke or pun for a title but sometimes they are really literal. As is the case with "Robot Employees," an episode about robot employees. Eggman stops by Meh Burger to try a chili dog but is served a cheese burger instead. Infuriated, he pitches an idea to the CEO of the company: Replace all your workers with robots. The filthy capitalist loves the idea and introduces Eggman's fast food drones to Meh Burger immediately. Dave the Intern is aghast, especially since the customers seem to like the machines way more than they do him. The CEO agrees to a contest, where Dave has a chance to prove his superiority against the robots. This goes badly for him, resulting in Dave the Intern becoming Dave the Unemployed. Meh Burger throws a big party and everyone in the village is invited. This is, of course, a trap set by Eggman. He activates an impenetrable forcefield around the location and rockets it towards space. Only someone outside the forcefield can stop it... That means Sticks – whose natural distrust of technology had her avoiding this whole scenario in the first place – and Dave have to team up to save Sonic, his friends, the villagers, and his mediocre place of employment. 

I talked a little bit about this in my "Strike!" review but the idea is even more pressing towards this episode: The robots are coming for all of our jobs. Even the lowly fast food worker is now facing the looming threat of being replaced by automation. Even in 2017, this wasn't really fiction. My local McDonalds location now has those computer kiosks set up, cutting down on the number of employees technically needed to run the place. Never mind that removing the human element actually slows the so-called "fast" food experience to a crawl. Never mind that the computers are constantly freezing and, in general, just harder to use than simply talking to another flesh and blood person. And certainly never mind that taking out the people and putting machines in their place turns what should be a hospitable, welcoming establishment into a cold, industrial, purely transactional process. It cuts costs for the execs and CEOs, saving a few bucks on the bottom line, so McDonald's doesn't care if it leaves people unemployed and makes the overall experience much worse for everybody. It's only a matter of time before the company attempts to replace all the jobs in the average restaurant with robots. The first fully automated location opened in Texas in 2022, so it's already started. The company assumes the customer will just put up with the worse service. And I don't even know if the teenagers looking for their first work experience or the people who simply don't have access to better employment options even cross their minds. This is what happens when you build your industry, your country, around a system that prioritizes profits over everything else. 

Excuse my leftist political rant here but I do believe the ideas are related to this stupid cartoon show. There's no way the very real threat automation poses to workers in the food service industry wasn't on Annie Raraou's mind when writing this episode. Not that "Robot Employees" is an especially deep criticism of this threat. In fact, the robots do seem to make Meh Burger better at first. Dave's service is so ridiculously bad that the hyper-efficient machines do improve things. After all, Eggman's scheme here is inspired by Dave's apathy resulting in him getting the wrong order. On the whole though, I do think this episode supports the idea that replacing fast food workers with machines is bad. Especially since, ya know, it's all part of a plot by a supervillain to exact petty revenge on his enemies and random bystanders. 

That doesn't stop the script from making the easiest possible jokes about the fast food industry. There's gags about flipping burgers, scrubbing up mysterious stains, and attempting to understand speech through the crackle of faulty speakers. The episode just takes Dave's lack of enthusiasm and incompetence as a given. Not as the result of a crushing, capitalistic system that has replaced all chances for satisfying self-actualization with a dehumanizing, spirit-killing daily grind. The joke is that Dave is a lazy, wheezy dork, not a victim of a society that totally devalues the individual. This, perhaps, represents the flaw in trying to find deep, probing social commentary in a ten minute long cartoon designed for young children. Still, I will go ahead and say that anything that sows a distrust in the Way Things Are in the minds of little kids is a good thing. "Robot Employees" makes a lot of lazy jokes about fast food workers but, if it teaches kids that companies replacing people with machines is a bad thing, that's good. 

All of that aside... What do I think of the episode itself? Well, it's okay. Probably the cleverest thing the script does it force two characters that usually don't interact much to work together. I'm talking about Dave and Sticks saving the day. The two don't have much in common but are united by their mutual distrust of robots. The ranting, paranoid badger and the apathetic capybara do make an interesting pairing. Dave's experience with interacting with average people helps him translate Tails' technobabble into something Sticks can understand. While Sticks' insane energy and tendency to stand up to the system pushes Dave to actually be proactive. I wish the episode did more with this unlikely pairing. Really, the only pay-off we get on Sticks and Dave's differences is a cute joke where he mistakes a simple command as a romantic gesture. It's still a decent idea. 

That joke does make me imagine a fanfic where Sticks is Dave's Manic Pixie Dream Badger, the two thrown together in an unlikely romance. He does specify she isn't his type. I bet Dave, being a shallow male nerd, fantasizes about girly-girl bombshells or improbably proportioned superheroines. Considering the toxic, supervillain traits he's shown in past episodes, he might even think he's entitled to a babe like that. A gremlin-like tomboy conspiracy theorist probably isn't on his radar. However, Sticks certainly would shake his life up for the better. And you could turn such a story into a subversion of the entire premise, since Dave is way too lazy to ever actually improve himself and Sticks is way too unhinged for the average person to ever safely tolerate. We're people, not tropes, and the impulsive free spirit girl won't actually save the nerd unless he saves himself first. Still, it's a pairing I'm kind of digging. Maybe Sticks drags Dave to a rally and it radicalizes him? 

But I digress... Sticks and Dave's partnership does lead to a satisfying climax. With Tails' direction over the communicator, the two manage to slow the dome's ascent by taking out its thrusters. Once the force field is deactivated by a gizmo Tails has laying around, the citizens can leap to safety using the table clothes as parachutes. When the restaurant starts to plummet, Dave has to man up and pilot the plane fast enough for Sonic and the gang to leap on. (Dave can fly airplanes, by the way.) The whole thing is set to a soundalike of "Danger Zone" and is well orchestrated in general. You know, it's satisfying to watch people work together to solve a problem in a smooth, orderly fashion. The point that robots could never improvise and collaborate like this is kind of left on the table but I'm going to give the writer the credit of assuming that was intentional. 

Ultimately, "Sonic Boom" is a comedy so you have to rank "Robot Employees" on the question of whether it made me laugh or not. A few times! The best jokes revolve around Sticks' eccentricities. The whole sequence of Tails calling her up and asking her to get the necessary tech from his work shop is probably the funniest bit in the episode. Especially Sticks doing an adorable "I Told Ya So" dance when Tails informs her the robots are evil. Her reaction when she reaches the spot where Meh Burger formerly was is pretty good too. I also like a random sight-gag of a bizarre slide getting into Eggman's presentation to the Meh Burger CEO. Mike Pollock's delivery really helps salvage quite a few otherwise clunky lines. 

Overall, the episode is burdened by that snarky insistence on explaining most of its jokes. Such as when Soar the Eagle explains how the final part of the contest is designed to "create false dramatic tension." Or when Dave's boss clarifies that it wasn't so hard to fire him. Sometimes it's okay to let the story just breathe, you guys. You don't have to amend a sarcastic comment to every moment! The timing is simply off with jokes about "rat's patootie" or Mr. Slate being "very suggestible." Dave's wheezy stereotypical nerd bit is also producing diminishing returns. You can see a line about his "mom's boyfriend" coming a mile away. Though his catchphrase comes back around in an amusing way in the final scene. 

Also, the show is hammering the joke that the villagers are all total idiots a little too hard lately. Such as when the goat lass chews a hole in a tablecloth or the rest of the Lightning Bolt Society immediately caves at the promise of infinite hamburgers. Still, this does lead to a bizarre moment of the Old Monkey announcing he hates the Gogobas, totally unprompted. Just an elderly man being racist out in public for no particular reason! Anyway, "Robot Employees" is an episode with some interesting ideas and clever moments, even if it ultimately comes up a bit short on laughs. [6/10]

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 70

Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW): Issue 70

Publication Date: July 3rd, 2024

Sometimes it can be hard to engineer a mystery. Comic books being what they are – a monthly publication where new installments are advertised via solicitations sent out months in advance – it's not uncommon for planned secrets and upcoming reveals to be spoiled long before people even have the issue in hand. This is such a common occurrence that I can't blame some writers for not even bothering. When the cover for issue 70 of IDW's "Sonic the Hedgehog" was first shown off, it proudly trumpeted the introduction of this "Phantom Rider." Normally you'd expect the reveal of this masked man to be something held off on... Instead, it was instantly shown that this is Sonic. Now that I've read issue 70, I see that the book wastes no time in confirming this. I mean, we probably would've guessed that was the case anyway. Perhaps Evan Stanley should be lauded for cutting right to the chase and avoiding a tedious Charlie Brown from Outta Town type deal. But I don't know, man. Kind of feels like a missed opportunity to me.

Anyway, issue 70 continues the Clean Sweepstakes racing story arc. On the second day of the competition, the track has been outfitted with a number of deadly traps that seem like they probably shouldn't be legal. Sonic decides to provide a big ol' distraction by swooping down onto the track as "The Phantom Rider," an interloper with a bad attitude that challenges Jet and generally mucks up everything for everyone. The Restoration security team, which includes shifty Duo and enthusiastic Surge, is right on his tail. Speaking of which, Tails and Amy use this chance to sneak aboard the floating gear shop and figure out if their stuff was tampered with. They uncover more than they anticipated. 

In my review of the previous issue, I had mostly negative things to say about Stanley building an arc around an Extreme Gear race and foregrounding Sonic and Jet's rivalry. This was based on my lack of interest in the "Sonic Riders" spin-off series and my opinion that Jet is a rather shallow, uninteresting character. The second part of this storyline – which seemingly doesn't have an official name yet, so I'm calling it the Clean Sweepstakes arc – manages to catch me off-guard by making both of these plot points interesting. Mostly this is thanks to introducing this "Phantom Rider." A guy jumping down onto the track, who races simply for his own glory and doesn't care about respecting the rules, totally shifts the focus away from the droll question of who will win this meaningless race. Instead, now we have a random supervillain speeding through and causing massive collateral damage along the way. And that's way cooler! I might actually watch NASCAR if the Green Goblin showed up in the middle of a race and started blowing shit up. (That's a lie. I still wouldn't watch NASCAR.) 

Meanwhile, Stanley manages to make Jet way more interesting with simply two panels. The first occurs after the Phantom Rider stymies him with a smokescreen. Later, after Surge comes the closest to taking the interloper down and takes attention away from Jet's victory, we see him narrowing his eyes in consternation. This moves past Jet's obsession with beating Sonic on the racetrack, the limitations of which is destined to forever make him the most boring of Sonic's rivals. Now, he's an obsessive glory hound, a narcissistic egomaniac, who can't handle anyone taking the spotlight away from him. That adds more depth, causing the reader to speculate on why Jet is so determined to prove he's the very best, like no one ever was. Nobody is that obsessed with winning unless they are compensating for a lack of self-worth. Has Jet built his entire personality around his status as a "winner?" If so, that status being challenged might as well be a deep personal insult to everything he thinks himself to be. And that raises an even darker question. If he's that obsessed with winning, if it's that deeply rooted in his psyche, he's willing to do anything to do it. I doubt a children's comic will explore any of that but, nevertheless, I'm finding myself interested in Jet for pretty much the first time. 

Stanley might've squandered some intrigue by immediately revealing that Sonic is the Phantom Rider. It literally happens on the first page. However, giving Sonic's perspective as he goes through this deception becomes interesting in its own right. See, Sonic is playing a role here. The Phantom Rider is an obnoxious bastard, who jumps in only to mess up everyone's good time. That means Sonic must cause some senseless mayhem, which goes against his natural instincts as a hero. And if he stops and helps anyone, it'll blow his cover. This might be the same inner conflict that occurs anytime a comic book does a story about a hero going undercover... But it's such a common trope for a reason. Sonic is challenging himself for the greater good, reminding himself several times that he can't help out. This results in an amusing panel where he does save a falling racer, before genuinely asking them not to mention it. This proves Sonic's heroic bonafides – he truly does help people just to help people – while also putting him in the fascinating bind of bit being able to publicly show them That's good storytelling. 

I also whined that the previous issue felt like such a blatant first act, the writer clearly putting all the gears in motion for the story they actually wanted to tell. That's still true but... In this case, anyway, Stanley pulled it off. Everything she set-up last time proves much more compelling now. While Sonic being a very visible public distraction, Tails and Amy sneak aboard the gear shop ship. You know why stealth levels are so common in video games? Simply because the good guys sneaking around, hiding from detection that is always right around the corner is a cheat code for generating suspense. Even if the security guards Tails and Amy are hiding from seem more comical than intimidating – they bicker about their own vigilance and the exploded status of Prison Island – this still manages to build-up some tension of the set-up. (The guards also wear black T-shirt with the word "SECURITY" written across their chest in big letters. I'm aware this is something actual security guards wear but it still reminds me of the henchman on the old "Batman" show.)

That subplot also climaxes in a truly unexpected way that delighted me. Maybe I just have horror movie fanboy brain rot. It's entirely possible. Yet anytime I see a disembodied hand skittering around on its fingers like a big ol' spider, I immediately think of "Evil Dead 2." Or at least "The Addams Family." (Or "The Beast with Five Fingers/"The Hand"/"The Crawling Hand"/"And Now the Screaming Starts"/"Dr. Terror's House of Horror"/that one episode of "Angel." It's a common trope, is my point.) The creepy-crawly hand then leaps onto Amy's face, "Alien" style! Considering this sequence is heavy on the shadowy art direction, features a close-up on Amy's screeching face, and is preceded by a creepy moment is something shifting behind a pile of junk... Yeah, I'm going to say this is an intentional spooky-scary moment. It's July, happy Halloween. 

The scary hand shenanigans quickly get silly, as scary hand shenanigans often do, before revealing a captivating final twist to end the issue on. Truthfully, the final set of pages here present a series of intriguing moments. As soon as Duo showed up, I've had a problem with the Restoration allowing this total stranger into their ranks. Especially since Duo is so obviously suspicious. After a little tea party with Jewel, where the purple cat guy confirms that nobody has seen Amy, Jewel leans back in her chair and furrows her brow, while Matt Froese lays on the shadows. Does She Know? If Jewel has had doubts about Duo all along, it'll go a long way towards redeeming a mildly dumb plot point. 

It's an issue full of interesting events but none of the above are even my favorite. Surge joined the Restoration as a spy for Clutch... Yet, all along, there's been this suggestion that the villain might actually enjoy being among the good guys. Surge is the one who rams the Phantom Rider and seemingly runs him off. After the race, she is praised for her actions. This results in a jubilant panel of Surge, beaming to the point that light is radiating off her, huge smile on her face, as she declares "WE'RE HEROES!" It's been evident for a while that all of Surge's villainous acts have been born out of her traumatic background twisting a basic desire to be loved and accepted. Here, in this panel, we see her getting that validation without setting any fires or blowing something up. She did something right and people love her for it. Gee whiz, you guys, is it dusty in here or what? As a chronic fuck-up myself, I know how euphoric it is to finally feel like you didn't do something wrong, to receive praise and attention, and maybe even love, just for doing something on instinct. 

The result is a memorable issue, brought to life with some lively artwork. This being such an action-heavy installment clearly gives Aaron Hammerstrom to flex a little. There's a lot of really dramatic panels of the heroes crashing into each other or racing around. Sometimes this backfires. One gets the sense that Hammerstrom has been instructed to clearly depict the race track, so as not to confuse the reader. The result are some lay-outs that are a little bland. And I still ended up having to re-read the page where the Phantom Rider/Sonic crashes through a glass tube. Yet any flaws are more than redeemed by those wonderful facial expressions and, as I mentioned early, some very atmospheric ink work in the latter half. 

Being an issue devoted to a large sporting event, with many additional racers and a crowd of spectators, provides another opportunity for the artist. He's gotta fill all the crowd shots and scenes of the Phantom Rider zooming around other competitors with faces. And we all know how much "Sonic" artists love to design some O.C.s. I'm not shocked that fans would latch onto one of these background designs. What I find funny is which one seems to be speaking to people. In just the last three days this issue has been out, I've seen multiple Discord comments and Twitter posts demanding to know more about the black furred racer, wearing visor sun glasses, a puffy red jacket, and riding a red hoverboard. It seems to me that this guy is clearly meant to be a generic figure. Lanolin might've started out as a background extra but a lot of work had clearly been put into her design, making her transition to named cast member easy to understand. I don't get that impression from Red Guy at all. But I guess something about his aura has caught the public's eye. "Sonic" fans are not immune to a bad boy in sunglasses and a leather jacket, it seems. Maybe Aaron should've thrown in a backwards baseball cap, some nunchucks in his pocket, while he was at it... Can we rastafy Red Guy by ten percent? Is this a racer who gets biz-zay, consistently and thoroughly? 

For the record, I think the monkey we see riding a nimbus cloud in one of the race scenes is a cooler design. Then again, maybe one Sun Wukong homage is enough in the world of "Sonic" comic books. Stanley has written compelling middle chapters in longer stories that had middling starts and go in to lame endings. She could still fumble this. Yet the improvement seen from the first part to the second is impressive. The teases here for future events get me excited, not bored. Most importantly, a surprising amount of character development is sneaked in between action beats, which makes them all the more involving. I may not care about "Sonic Riders" but I do care about these characters. Emphasizing the latter is all you really need to make any idea into a good comic book. [8/10]

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 the Hedgehog: Spring Broken!

Sonic the Hedgehog: Spring Broken!

Original Publication Date: June 26th, 2024

I don't know about you guys but, here in my corner of the world right now, it's way too fuckin' hot. It's actually been hitting 100°F and up lately which, no, is not normal. Thanks, climate change! Despite it obviously being summer now, IDW has just published a comic book called "Sonic the Hedgehog: Spring Broken." Aside from being a pun that took me way too long to process, the comic is also wildly out-of-season. Of course, that's because the issue was supposed to come out back in April but suffered another one of IDW's famous last minute schedule slips. And then another and another, the issue finally working its way out in June. I guess it must be spring somewhere in the world. Let us dive into "Spring Broken" then. 

It's certainly spring in the world of Sonic the Hedgehog as this comic book opens. Tails is super excited to attend the Spring Festival, a local carnival and event that arrives every year. Among the attractions is the Annual Flower Frolic Festival, where the community's best gardeners gather to present their most beautifully groomed and grown flowers. Amy is acting as a judge this year, with Silver, Espio, and Jewel in competition. Also Rough and Tumble are there. Silver is very nervous to show off a flower he's worked extra hard on growing but, when it's unveiled on-stage, the plant is on fire. This is the beginning of a mystery, Tails and Vector following a convoluted series of clues to figure out who sabotage Silver's carefully grown flower.

As with last year's Halloween special, "Spring Broken" sees a new writer entering the IDW "Sonic" fold. This story was penned by Josh Trujillo, who has worked on some fairly high-profile DC and Marvel titles. He's currently writing the latest "Blue Beetle" on-going, for one example. Trujillo is also quite experienced with licensed books, having worked on tie-ins for "Rick & Morty," "Adventure Time," "Dream Daddy," and "Bill & Ted." He should be used to playing in other people's sand boxes. This is his first "Sonic" comic, however. Much like Mark Bouchard's "A Very Chaotix Halloween," it seems Trujillo took the idea that "Sonic" is an all-ages, kid-friendly title a little too far. "Spring Broken" is another story that seems aimed at the youngest of fans. There's no fighting and very little action. No one's lives are threatened. No egg-shaped robots are deployed. 

This is, in and of itself, not necessarily a problem. I'm fine with a "Sonic" story just being a fun little hang-out piece. Yet the low stakes pair with a childish tone, that features simplistic takes on the cast. Amy is upbeat and girly, the moment when she reveals Silver's burning flower and gets high-strung being the only colorful moment she has. Vector is defined solely by his status as a detective. Rough and Tumble are simple-minded bad guys which, okay, fine. Charmy is reduced to being such a little kid that he comes off as kind of dumb. Tails being super excited for the Spring Festival is fine, though it would've been nice if his sudden interest in botany was explained in some way. I found myself feeling that way about how a lot of the heroes are written. Silver has shown an interest in gardening in a few IDW issues but mostly of produce and not fancy flowers. Espio and Jewel being into this hobby comes out of nowhere. In general, the script makes the characters feel less like fully fleshed out living beings and more like pawns for a story the writer wanted to tell. 

The only character here that seems truly himself is Sonic... And he doesn't have much to do. In fact, during the presentation of the different flowers, Sonic yawns. The only exciting moment the hedgehog receives is to chase after a possible suspect, a moment that lasts for two whole pages. Instead, the meat of the story focuses on Tails and Vector, working together to solve the mystery of who killed Silver's flower. I like it when characters that don't interact often are paired up. Brainy Tails is certainly a fine pick to work as a detective anyway, with his attention to detail and talent for brilliant solutions. Still, it does feel a little weird that the best thing Sonic does is scarf down a jumbo sized chili dog. 

The kiddie tone is really noticeable in the central mystery. I don't expect the Chaotix to be investigating homicides or drug smuggling operations. The days of their cases starting with a kid dying of an overdose are long since gone. However, there's no denying that the stakes here are as low as possible. "Someone ruined my fancy flower!" sounds like the kind of thing Sherlock Hemlock should be looking into, not the Chaotix. As the end of the story reveals, it's debatable whether a crime was even committed. I can't help but feel that, if you're going to involve the Chaotix in the story and frame your narrative as a mystery, you should probably have something a little more exciting than a dead plant be the kick-off to the investigation. 

Given the simplicity of the story being told, it will not surprise you to read who exactly is behind this quasi-crime. From all of the characters gathered together, which is the shiftiest and most underhanded? Trujillo's script is seemingly aware of how foregone this exact conclusion is. In order to further delay the inevitable, a bunch of goofy twists and false leads are thrown in. The mystery seemingly solves itself twice before the heroes come close to uncovering the actual truth. The result is a seemingly simple event being the result of a rather convoluted series of events. Whether you find that to be a compelling conclusion I guess depends on whether you prefer these stories go in a straight line or a series of zig-zags. I, personally, found it a bit irritating. 

My biggest problem with "Spring Broken" is not the kids-glove tone, the simplistic take on the cast, the non-mystery or the attempt to make that more interesting. All of this would be acceptable if this light-hearted and ostensibly amusing premise actually had some... Ya know, jokes. The only laughs to be found arise from the oversized reactions the characters have to the various not-so-exciting events. Otherwise, there aren't any gags or one-liners. Comic books like this really needed Sonic being a smart-ass, to bring along some of that nineties 'tude. Instead, he grabs a broom and cleans up some trash, doing his civic duty as a superhero. What an inspiration to the kids. Sonic Says Don't Litter! 

The issue features a few cameos from established "Sonic" characters. Big the Cat shows up briefly, having gotten some ice cream flipped on his head. Nite the Owl is the co-presenter of the contest and Don the Rooster pushes the prize – a humongous gemstone – on-stage. Cream and Vanilla have cameos. I gotta tell you, sometimes I have this fear that the "Sonic" comics will eventually become only an excuse for the most dunderheaded fans of this franchise to point at a page and say "There they are! My favorite character! Yay! Serotonin activated!" You must do something with these guys if you actually want to get a pop out of the reader. Having them appear on-panel is not enough. That kind of thinking is how we got a 200 million dollar "Flash" movie seemingly built around a twenty-second cameo from a CGI Nicolas Cage. 

Also, you're telling me that there's a big shiny rock in this story and Rouge didn't show up? Not a single glimpse of Tangle and Whisper? And during Pride Month too... For shame! If you're going to pander to the reader with cameos of random cast members, at least include the random cast members I like! I'm joking but also I'm not because the reveal that Rouge was the one behind poisoning Silver's plant just so she could get her hands on a super-duper geode, only to get talked out of being villainous and giving the rock to Jewel's museum at the end, would be a way better story than this! That's a character arc, guys. Or maybe the gem is secretly some power source that Eggman is after... Not to dissuade anyone's interest in slice-of-life plots involving these characters but so much more could have been done with this set-up. I can't avoid the conclusion that Trujillo's heart simply wasn't in this one, due to either a lack of interest in this world, a lack of time, or weird editorial demands. 

The more I write about this comic, the less I like it. Here, have some positivity. The artwork is great! Adam Bryce Thompson is back on pencils and, as we've come to expect from him, his work is excellent. It's entirely possible that the best moments in this issue – Amy clenching her teeth, Silver's freakout, Vector invading Tails' personal space, Sonic's spit bubble – were entirely his work. Artist add details like that of their own volition sometimes. Obviously, ABT's talent for hyper-expressive faces and his ability to add a dynamic sense of movement to panels where not much is happening are the highlight here, outshining the script. Thompson's obsessive attention to background detail is nice too. The various crowd scenes are full of lovingly designed characters. I know Thompson has a habit of sneaking his friend's OCs into crowd scenes. I suspect that's what some of these faces are. A fox-like female wearing an Egyptian headdress of some sort definitely feels like one of those. As self-indulgent as you could call this tendency, I think it actually adds a lot more color to this world, allowing us to imagine that even the random critters on the street have their own histories and complex personalities. 

Ultimately, "Spring Broken" doesn't have any punchiness as a comedy. No intrigue is produced by its goofy, simplistic mystery. The characters are so reduced to their basic attributes that you don't get much joy out of watching them interact. This produces the most important question of all: What was the point? IDW using these seasonal one-shots as a testing ground for new "Sonic" writers is a good idea. However, this is the second time a newbie has produced mediocre work. Where's Daniel Barnes when you need him? I mean, "Spring Broken" isn't the worst thing. It's too harmless for that. However, it's been a while since I've read a "Sonic" comic so easily forgotten the minute you closed the back cover. [5/10]

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.17: Blackout

Sonic Boom, Episode 2.17: Blackout

Original Air Date: March 4th, 2017

As far as action/adventure cartoon plots go, "Blackout" has a fairly standard one. Sonic and friends are just chilling on their couch, watching some trash TV, when the power goes out. A quick trip to Mayor Fink's office reveals that the magical Meroke Crystal that powers the entire city has run out of juice. Sonic and the others are tasked with braving the snow swept near-by mountains to retrieve another one. They soon find themselves in an ancient temple, completing a series of deadly tasks, in order to appease some stone guardians and get a new rock to generate electricity for the village. But will they succeed in time???

I think I've made this observation before but the "Sonic Boom" island is just lousy with ancient temples, magical relics, and other left-behind magical juju. All this stuff just laying around and waiting to be dug back up and form the basis of an episode or video game plot. "Blackout's" script does not outright state if the Meroke Crystal and it's surrounding temple are from the same ancient civilization as all the prior relics the show has featured. Considering how different the vaguely Olmec inspired designs of this temple and its stone guardians are from the previous similar locations and golems the team gave encountered, I'm beginning to think that the term "Ancients" doesn't refer to just one group. Instead, it increasingly feels like the island was home to a number of competing ancient civilizations that all had advanced, magi-tech of their own. 

Not that I ever expect the show to actually explain this stuff. And not that it matters either. The various ancient temples and magical doohickies they left behind serve their purpose as plot devices and that's all that really counts. Instead, Sonic and his pals encountering one old temple filled with booby traps after another serves another purpose. "Sonic" is, after all, a video game based franchise. And temples riddled with traps and pitfalls are among the most common locations in platforming game history, precisely because they make good video game stages. The "Boom" cartoon going back to this well is really just an example of this show following the source material in a generalized sense. 

In fact, I figured that was the case literally at first. While watching this episode, I assumed that the Meroke Crystal and the associated temple must've been taken from one of the later "Sonic Boom" video games that I never got around to playing. The wiki informs me that this is not the case. In fact, this episode appears to be the only appearance of the Meroke Crystal ever. (Not that this stops it from essentially filling the same role the Chaos Emeralds do in the main series, being both a source of power and a MacGuffin to seek out.) If this episode isn't based on one of the games, its source of inspiration is easy to spot then. Once again, we can't undersell the impact "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and later "Indiana Jones" media had on wider pop culture. Aside from the general structure of this episode being taken from "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade's" final act, there are several expected, explicit shout-outs to that film series. The old movies and serials that George Lucas and Spielberg ripped off ended up inspiring like half of all pop culture in the last fifty years, didn't they?

The focus on our heroes traversing a temple in pursuit of a magical plot device, while completing a number of challenges, does make this one of the more plot focused episodes of "Sonic Boom." There are still room for plenty of jokes though. One of the main reoccurring gags here that Knuckles ends up resolving each of the riddles the temple's guardians gives them, usually by mistake or dumb luck. You'd think the other characters would make more of a big deal out of their densest friend unexpectedly saving their asses with some hidden depth. Instead, the episode just brushes it off. "Boom" Knuckles' intelligence has always fluctuated with the needs of the story and comedy but, between this and the last episode showing him holding down a demanding advertising job, maybe we should all give "Boom" Knuckles more credit for being less of an idiot than he appears. I'm sure we'll get another episode based around him being an utter simpleton soon enough though. 

Nevertheless, this is a funny episode with a number of solid gags. As the cadre climbs the blizzard infested mountain on their way to the temple, Tails narrates a letter back to Zooey. (Good to know she is still around.) Sonic ends up agreeing with Sticks a few times. Various deadpan remarks about Eggman's front door, Mayor Fink's lack of communication, Tails struggling with a simple slide puzzle, and just building jokes around the island suffering a power outage all made me chuckle. This deep into its run, "Boom" has really turned into a reliable comedy machine. For every one-liners or gag that doesn't land – Eggman insulting Orbot and Cubot's intelligence is a pretty limp one – a better joke is usually right around the corner. Even totally expected bits here, like the stony temple guardian actually being fairly laid-back, manage to work simply through decent timing and delivery. 

Despite "Blackout" having a typical action/adventure plot – voyage to this foreign location and answer me these riddles three – the show is expectedly glib about all of it. However, there are some elements that the program was clearly forbidden from joking about. After the power outage occurs, Sonic and the gang's Luminescence Suits activate. They are named out-right several times and featured all throughout the episode's first half. The one joke we get about these power-ups is awkwardly built around how useful they are. Later, Sonic saves his pals from the heavy snow on the mountain by jumping in the Blue Force One and activating its snowmobile mode. What follows is a lengthy montage focusing on the vehicle's special abilities and heroes looking cool, snowboarding behind it. You'd expect a show as self-aware and meta as "Boom" to mock such blatantly radicool moments as these. The lack of dialogue pointing out how toyetic "Boom" is being in these scenes suggests to me that these moments were intentionally inserted to sell toys. (Especially since we know that the popularity of "Boom's" merchandise helped redeem the sub-series commercially after the video games flopped.) This is an expected element of children's television but "Boom's" usually sarcastic, in-joke prodding writing makes the lack of such comments during a very commercial moment like this all the more noticeable. 

This episode being a cog in a vast corporate machine designed to sell kids plastic bullshit doesn't stop it from including some of "Boom's" darker humor. While discussing the Meroke Crystal, Mayor Fink has a line about how it has been passed down from generation to generation. This suggests that, despite Fink ostensibly being an elected official, some dynastic system is actually in place here. The town's lights being kept on by some magical rock is probably intended as a hand wave to brush over why such an otherwise primitive community has television and motorcycles and robots. However, it does feel a bit imperialistic to me, a modern day culture using the leftover relics of an ancient one to power their modern conveniences. As always, Fink is depicted as a buffoon, going right along with the program's repeatedly displayed cynicism about society in general. We also see this in how the village's residents going into riot mode after only a few hours without electricity, before the TVs flicking back on pacify them once again. Maybe this is less unusual than it seems to me but I still maintain that a show designed for seven-year-olds pushing the message that the populace is irrational and violent and only kept in-check by mindless drivel while the political systems put in place to police them are run by hopelessly incompetent stooges is... Pretty dark, ya know? 

Anyway, did anyone actually buy the Blue Force One toy? Was it as bitchin' as the show makes it seem? Or has a cartoon lied to me once again? If nothing else, the writers repeatedly emphasizing the vehicle's various alternate modes has helped justify why super-fast guy like Sonic needs a motorcycle in the first place. (Other than just him thinking it's cool which, in "Boom's" goofy and laidback world, is probably justification enough.) I think I've rambled on about this episode enough. It's decent! [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]