The Saturday morning Sonic series was superior to the Adventures series in many ways, as the acting, writing, animation, and plots were much better, but sometimes even good shows can have bad episodes, and friends, may I introduce you to a bad episode of Sonic the Hedgehog. Why are these bad? Well, for starters, it focuses on Antoine, everyone's favorite character. I think either the writers and producers loved this character or they loved Rob Paulsen and his performance so much they kept sticking him into the forefront. It's lucky Paulsen is so entertaining and charming to listen to, otherwise I think most people would mute the TV every time that character is on screen. Another thing about this episode is that it's a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, two mini-episodes in a half-hour time frame. Let me tell you, the writers must have had an off-day when they wrote these, because they are nonsensical and removed from the rest of the series. They're supposed to be lighthearted and funny, however they're anything but. The first mini-sode is called "The Odd Couple", and it features Sonic and Antoine forced into being roommates. So, what happened? Did Sally kick Sonic out? No, what happened is one very snow day, Sonic and Antoine were trying to guide clumsy dragon Dulcy into landing, but because Antoine's language barrier is the size of the Eiffel Tower, and not because he doesn't understand English, but he can't even talk like he has a functioning brain, Sonic couldn't properly direct her. The miscommunication sends Dulcy into a crash landing, obliterating a hut. Luckily Sally, Bunny, and Tails were able to get out in time, and then the latter asks where they're going to sleep now. We then cut to Antoine being the OCD obsessive neat-freak that he... is apparently, cleaning every speck of dirt from his not-so-humble abode. This drags out for an uncomfortably long amount of time, proving that the writers had no plot for this episode whatsoever, and then, Sonic arrives, bags in hand, saying that he's going to crash with Antoine as nobody else had room. Okay, but what about Sally, Bunny, and Tails? Weren't they living in that hut too? I mean, did they all live together? I don't seem to remember that. Instantly, Antoine throws a fit about Sonic dragging snowy footprints into his home and putting his feet up on the sofa. Later, as he tries to lay down and sleep off a headache, he hears Sonic rummaging around in the kitchen to make some homemade chili dogs, and a huge mess in the process. Okay, Sonic, you're a guest in this guy's house, why don't you practice some good manners? He ends up eating all the chili dogs himself, but the worst hasn't even happened yet. Later that night, when Antoine was trying to sleep, Sonic was sleepwalking, or rather, sleeprunning. All through the house, making a huge mess. This was all Antoine could take as he suffered a complete nervous breakdown and started destroying his own property. Sonic recovered long enough to see Antoine's meltdown and quickly decided to pack up and leave, and when the others came out to see what on earth was happening, Sonic complains about Antoine and that he lives like a pig. Alright, for starters, that was your fault, you little jerk! You barged in on the guy, made a mess of his house, ate his food, and kept him up at night. Sonic was such a creep in this episode, and as for Antoine, even if you don't like him, you'll feel sorry for him here, as he was so uptight and wound as far as a guy could go that one little thing could knock him off kilter, and this was the result. It's unfortunate that despite all his wits, his speed, his charm, and his attitude, Sonic has a total lack of self-awareness. Oh well, I hope at least the folks at the funny farm are nice to Antoine.
That first story blew chips, so let's move on to our second, called "Ro-Becca", and guess what? It's even worse. It's some kind of weird Frankenstein parody, featuring Rotor, or Dr. Rotorstein, assembling a robot woman, no doubt for himself. I mean, if you can build a robot wife, why not go for it? His assistant is Antgore, or rather that incorrigible Antoine, apparently having been declared sane and released from the mental institution after what happened in the last episode. Well, only on screen a few seconds and already Monsieur l'idiot screws up, messing with the robot while the doctor went off in search of his lost screwdriver. This isn't so much Frankenstein as it is The Absent-Minded Professor... and his Empty-Headed Assistant. Anyway, following a large flash of lightning, the robot was brought to life. As far as her appearance, think Bride of Frankenstein crossed with a cat. The moment she comes to life, she develops a crush on Antoine. Wow, desperate, much? She chases him all over Knothole Village, and he was only able to elude her until he got struck by lightning. See, even God hates you, Ant. Now that Ro-Becca has found her beloved, she can nurse him back to health because all that running around in the rain made him catch a cold. She force feeds him some disgusting gruel, then gives him a torturous massage, and who knows what else she would have done had Rotor not saved the day by simply flipping her off switch. Next, he takes her back to the lab, makes a few adjustments, and the following scene plays out like this: Rotor tells the robot "repeat after me: you are my assistant." Ro-Becca says exactly that, and Rotor says, "no, no, no, I'm not your assistant, you're my assistant." She repeated back what you told her to say, stupid! Aren't these characters usually intelligent? I mean, except for Antoine, but so far everyone has been a complete idiot. The robot breaks free and goes after Antoine again. Boy, this one has even less plot than the first story. I've ragged on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episodes for having no plot, but even those had more of a plot than what's on display here! I think I may owe some apologies. Anyway, Antoine decides to just accept that this horny robot want him, so he goes on about how great he is, and even tries to imitate Schwarzenegger, but sounds more like Fat Albert, which manages to drive Ro-Becca away. Finally came to her senses. She runs into Sonic and momentarily falls for him, but he quickly rejects her, making her literally fall for Antoine again. This isn't funny!!
Granted, I haven't seen every episode of Saturday Sonic, but I can confidently assert that this is the worst episode of the series. Both these minisodes were horribly written, unfunny, had zero plot, and made no sense. Surprisingly, the animation and voice acting were good. At least the actors were still doing their best when the writers and director failed miserably. "The Odd Couple" could have been funny if they built on it a bit more. Make it the whole episode, have Sonic and Antoine co-exist and eventually learn to get along, not just ten minutes of Sonic being the houseguest from hell and Antoine blowing a head gasket. All that running around and yelling was fodder for entertaining a 2-year-old. "Ro-Becca" was even worse. Why was Rotor trying to build himself an assistant? I'm very sure Bunny or Tails or another resident of Knothole would suffice. Maybe this episode could have been re-focused and fleshed out too, like, say Ro-Becca was one of Robotnik's robots who tries to catch the freedom fighters, but somehow develops a conscience and eventually switches affiliations, thus turning on her master? See how I re-focused and developed these short stories in the time I took to write this review? Why couldn't Pat Allee and Len Janson do the same? Did they only have 5 minutes to come up with the script? In closing, if this was your first exposure to Saturday Sonic, I urge you to give it another chance. This was a horrible episode to start out on, the rest of the series isn't like this. I do not recommend The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca, they suck the big one. And where was Dr. Robotnik in all this? I wanted to see him burst in, kidnap Antoine, and roboticize him.
That first story blew chips, so let's move on to our second, called "Ro-Becca", and guess what? It's even worse. It's some kind of weird Frankenstein parody, featuring Rotor, or Dr. Rotorstein, assembling a robot woman, no doubt for himself. I mean, if you can build a robot wife, why not go for it? His assistant is Antgore, or rather that incorrigible Antoine, apparently having been declared sane and released from the mental institution after what happened in the last episode. Well, only on screen a few seconds and already Monsieur l'idiot screws up, messing with the robot while the doctor went off in search of his lost screwdriver. This isn't so much Frankenstein as it is The Absent-Minded Professor... and his Empty-Headed Assistant. Anyway, following a large flash of lightning, the robot was brought to life. As far as her appearance, think Bride of Frankenstein crossed with a cat. The moment she comes to life, she develops a crush on Antoine. Wow, desperate, much? She chases him all over Knothole Village, and he was only able to elude her until he got struck by lightning. See, even God hates you, Ant. Now that Ro-Becca has found her beloved, she can nurse him back to health because all that running around in the rain made him catch a cold. She force feeds him some disgusting gruel, then gives him a torturous massage, and who knows what else she would have done had Rotor not saved the day by simply flipping her off switch. Next, he takes her back to the lab, makes a few adjustments, and the following scene plays out like this: Rotor tells the robot "repeat after me: you are my assistant." Ro-Becca says exactly that, and Rotor says, "no, no, no, I'm not your assistant, you're my assistant." She repeated back what you told her to say, stupid! Aren't these characters usually intelligent? I mean, except for Antoine, but so far everyone has been a complete idiot. The robot breaks free and goes after Antoine again. Boy, this one has even less plot than the first story. I've ragged on Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog episodes for having no plot, but even those had more of a plot than what's on display here! I think I may owe some apologies. Anyway, Antoine decides to just accept that this horny robot want him, so he goes on about how great he is, and even tries to imitate Schwarzenegger, but sounds more like Fat Albert, which manages to drive Ro-Becca away. Finally came to her senses. She runs into Sonic and momentarily falls for him, but he quickly rejects her, making her literally fall for Antoine again. This isn't funny!!
Granted, I haven't seen every episode of Saturday Sonic, but I can confidently assert that this is the worst episode of the series. Both these minisodes were horribly written, unfunny, had zero plot, and made no sense. Surprisingly, the animation and voice acting were good. At least the actors were still doing their best when the writers and director failed miserably. "The Odd Couple" could have been funny if they built on it a bit more. Make it the whole episode, have Sonic and Antoine co-exist and eventually learn to get along, not just ten minutes of Sonic being the houseguest from hell and Antoine blowing a head gasket. All that running around and yelling was fodder for entertaining a 2-year-old. "Ro-Becca" was even worse. Why was Rotor trying to build himself an assistant? I'm very sure Bunny or Tails or another resident of Knothole would suffice. Maybe this episode could have been re-focused and fleshed out too, like, say Ro-Becca was one of Robotnik's robots who tries to catch the freedom fighters, but somehow develops a conscience and eventually switches affiliations, thus turning on her master? See how I re-focused and developed these short stories in the time I took to write this review? Why couldn't Pat Allee and Len Janson do the same? Did they only have 5 minutes to come up with the script? In closing, if this was your first exposure to Saturday Sonic, I urge you to give it another chance. This was a horrible episode to start out on, the rest of the series isn't like this. I do not recommend The Odd Couple/Ro-Becca, they suck the big one. And where was Dr. Robotnik in all this? I wanted to see him burst in, kidnap Antoine, and roboticize him.
