Follow TV Tropes

Following

Recap / Sonic Boom S1E52 It Takes a Village to Defeat a Hedgehog

Go To

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonicboomittakesavillage.png
"...So, in order to increase ratings and ensure a second season, we decided to kill off the main character..."

Figuring that multiple evil masterminds are better than one, Eggman calls for a meeting of the series's stock villains, intent on drafting and executing a plan to finally defeat Sonic and his pals. Dave the Intern, T.W. Barker and his two circus bears, the Lightning Bolt Society, and Charlie the mad archaeologist are all in attendance, but Eggman seems to be preoccupied on one particular latecomer. Meanwhile, Sonic and his pals unpackage a ready-to-build bookcase for Amy.

The meeting proceeds drolly as Eggman serves his guests up some fine cheeses and bemoans the lack of quality crackers in his lair. Then, none other than Shadow the Hedgehog arrives. Eggman is absolutely ecstatic, being a massive fanboy of the famed secondary antagonist. Back at Amy's, our heroes strive valiantly to assemble the bookcase, but are thoroughly befuddled by its instructions.

Eggman's meeting of the minds begins to break down as its participants argue over who ought to lead the group. In an attempt to get the unruly gaggle to refocus on its main goal, Eggman decides that's it's time for everyone to engage in team-building exercises. First is the classic "trust fall" (in which one foul rogue falls into the waiting arms of another scumbag). This goes well until Shadow makes absolutely no attempt to catch Eggman, who tumbles onto the floor. Shortly after Eggman moves onto an improvisational acting exercise, Shadow decides he's had enough of Eggman's brand of lighter, softer villainy and teleports away. Sonic and compadres continue to have similar bad luck, having jumbled the components, nuts and bolts of the ever-confounding bookcase. Knuckles ends up breaking a shelf and Sonic decides they should just exchange the bookshelf for another one.

Despite having been written off by Shadow, the other villains decide to throw their support to Eggman. Following a brief training montage, they launch their concerted attack on town just as Sonic and his group finish half-assing another bookcase. Being attacked on multiple fronts, Sonic and his friends are soon divided and struggle to hold their own against their opponents. Just as Sonic begins to turn the tide in his favor, Shadow reappears and begins viciously striking at his blue doppelganger, disgusted to the point of violence both by Eggman's general incompetence and by Sonic's shoddy bookcase craftsmanship. Despite being both verbally and physically assaulted by Shadow, Eggman is still overjoyed to be in his idol's mere presence.

Sonic and Shadow are at a rough parity for a little while, but soon Shadow exploits his Chaos powers to uppercut Sonic into the air and then slam him three feet into the dirt. Euphoric that his adversary is seemingly down for good, Eggman takes a celebratory selfie with Shadow, who begrudgingly allows his biggest fan this one favor. The camera's flash temporarily blinds Shadow, and Sonic takes the opportunity to quickly knock the stuffing out of him. Concluding that he can't possibly defeat Sonic with dolts like Eggman hanging around, Shadow teleports away, but not before promising Sonic that they will fight again, but on Shadow's terms. Elsewhere, the other heroes seize the upper hand against Eggman's allies.

Team Sonic reconvenes and conclude that, if nothing else, they're pretty good fighters. Eggman tries to weasel out of his karmic retribution, but Sonic and Co. catch him and begin lobbing him and his Egg Mobile around like a beach ball. In the foreground, Orbot and Cubot speculate on the further exciting adventures that lie in wait for the Sonic Boom cast. Just to be on the safe side, however, Cubot suggests they start an Internet petition to lobby for more episodes. So endeth Season 1 of the Sonic Boom cartoon show.

Tropes featured in the episode:

  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • Eggman explicitly refers to Shadow as "The second most popular character in the whole canon".
    • At the end of the episode, Orbot and Cubot outright discuss the idea of another season, with Cubot suggesting an internet petition.
  • Epic Fail: Sonic and his friends' numerous attempts to build a bookcase for Amy throughout the episode's B-plot.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Shadow's thoughts on Sonic and his friends' poorly-made bookshelf.
    Shadow: "Your shoddy craftsmanship brings shame on all hedgehogkind. And for that, you shall perish!"
  • Furniture Assembly Gag: Sonic and his friends spend the first half of the episode failing to put a ready-to-build bookcase together, going through almost every joke in the trope (too many pieces, unclear instructions, etc.).
  • Legion of Doom: Practically every villain in the series (barring Metal Sonic) teams up with Dr. Eggman to destroy Sonic and his friends.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Towards the end of the episode, just when it seems Shadow has finally defeated Sonic, Eggman takes a selfie of him and Shadow. The camera's flash temporarily blinds Shadow, giving Sonic the opportunity to quickly knock the stuffing out of Shadow, as well as pretty much every other villain.
  • Self-Deprecation: At the end of the episode, Cubot and Orbot hope that there are more adventures next year, and Orbot says, "Just think of the hundreds of stories to be told using the same eight characters and four locations! The possibilities are limitless!"
  • Take That, Audience!: Eggman is basically a parody of the entire Shadow the Hedgehog fanbase, being overly obnoxious about liking Shadow and liking him because he's "cool" and "edgy".
  • Too Awesome to Use: Shadow, in the eyes of the production team. The original plan was to avoid using him at all for the first season unless it was in a way that did service to his character and didn't make him look overly stupid, goofy or OOC.
  • Trust-Building Blunder: Eggman has all the villains engage in team-building exercises, including the classic trust-fall. Shadow makes absolutely no attempt to catch Eggman and deliberately lets him fall onto the floor.
  • We Will Meet Again: Shadow promises Sonic that the two of them will meet again to finish their battle at a time and place of his own choosing.

Top