Hey, guys. Today we're going to talk about the Sonic Boom episode, Just a Guy. For those of you who have watched it, you must have different opinions on this. Some of you may like this episode and some of you may not. I am one of the... dislikers of this episode and I will explain why soon. For those of you who haven't watched it yet, I suggest you do before reading what I am about to say. This review (or whatever you want to call it) contains spoilers, so please watch the episode first before reading this. Are you all ready for this? Then let's begin.
What I'm about to say right now is that I did not like this episode one bit. When I first watched this episode, I was angry. I mean very, VERY angry. I know that this is a kid’s show, but I really don’t like how Just a Guy worked. This episode was basically about Sonic being shunned by his friends, his arch nemesis and even the townspeople for calling Mike, an ordinary ox (or bull) looking guy, ‘just a guy’. And we will get to WHY that happened. Let's get to it.
The episode starts off with Tails detecting an incoming Eggman attack on his computer and calling out his friends to help him out. Knuckles, however, wants to see a jungle oyster movie with his friend, Mike. Sonic and Knuckles argue about which is more important (the battle or the movie), until Mike states to focus on the battle.
Before Sonic and Knuckles leave, Mike wants to help them, but Sonic (thanks to Knuckles) says no because he is ‘just a guy’. This statement shocks and angers the villagers, to which Sonic unsuccessfully tries to explain himself as to why he said that, only for Knuckles to shut him up (at the end of his unstructured speech) and leave with Sonic. In the battlefield, Knuckles tells his friends what happened and they are upset with Sonic for what he did. Even Eggman is upset about this.
Then we cut to the next day, where the villagers (on the news) lie about what happened that day (Sonic berating Mike while ignoring the villagers’ pleas to stop), and Sonic gets no customer service because of this. What was the point of all this? Was this supposed to turn the viewers against Sonic for trying to do the right thing: protecting the innocent? Maybe what he said and how he said it was a bit harsh, but what would you do if you were in Sonic's shoes? Foolishly give Mike a chance to prove himself, or wisely refuse to take him to battle?
Later, at Sonic's shack, Amy calls Sonic’s (mature, wise and responsible) attitude and deed ‘condescending and insensitive’. Then she puts him and the rest of Team Sonic into a sensitivity training seminar. At the start of the training (at Amy's house), Team Sonic (with a couple of guests) make paper hats and Knuckles insults the training and Sonic’s mouth, to which Amy responds by defending her seminar and not Sonic. Then, the team learn how to go to their happy places and, later on, talk about what they have learned so far. So, Sonic is being bullied and berated, in the seminar, for PROTECTING THE INNOCENT, and no one steps in for him? It's as if the episode is trying to say that Sonic is the enemy and he should be punished for what he did.
Sonic apologises to Mike for happened, but Mike will not accept the apology unless he lets him help in the battle against Eggman. With that out of the way, Mike begins to annoy Sonic, forcing him to go into his happy place, and then into his happy place within his happy place. An alert snaps him out of his trance – with weird stuff happening – and Sonic brings Mike (who wanted to go later) into the battle.
Mike then rests on a picnic blanket, despite wanting to help earlier, and Eggman injures Mike with one of his robots, forcing Sonic to take him to the hospital. We then see the villagers berate Sonic for his irresponsible behaviour and tell him that Mike is ‘just a guy’, only for Sonic to ‘offend’ the villagers by referring to them as ‘you people’. This lands him in another sensitivity seminar, where Amy decides to take the entire group on a camping trip to learn how to be compassionate.
Sonic, upon hearing the word, angrily explains his feelings towards the villagers giving him zero thanks and zero respect for his hard work and heroism, and wrongfully criticising him for either referring to a guy as ‘a guy’, or people as ‘people’. Sonic then decides to quit being the hero and quit the seminar. Well, he should. Considering the way the villagers and Sonic's friends treat him in this episode.
The Lightning Bolt Society learn about Sonic’s retirement and his team’s camping trip, and plan to cause ‘havoc’ around the town, while Eggman waits for the ‘right moment to strike’. The hoodlums pull pranks on the villagers, forcing them to call Sonic for help. Sonic refuses, until the Lightning Bolts unleash a lamb stampede on the town. Sonic then reluctantly returns to the old hero days to stop the chaos. He saves the villagers from certain death, rounds up the lambs, successfully evades Eggman’s sneak attack (thanks to Mike appearing out of nowhere and pointing that out), puts the lambs behind the fence and fixes the fence, finally defeating Eggman and the Lightning Bolt Society.
The villagers apologise for their maltreatment towards Sonic and thank him for saving the day. Amy and friends show up, and she explains her plan (to leave the village defenceless to take Sonic out of retirement), in hope to take credit, only for Sonic to thank Mike instead for helping him out and call him a hero (despite the fact that he didn’t really do anything). The villagers tell the Lightning Bolts that they are not good at villainy, and one of the members asks if ‘you people’ can do better. The episode then ends with the Lightning Bolt Society at Amy’s (ridiculous) seminar.
Here are some questions for this episode. How is it that Sonic isn’t allowed to refer to anyone as guys or people, but when Eggman, the villagers and Amy do this, it’s OK? Also, why did the villagers gasp at Sonic for calling them ‘you people’ before he finished his sentence, but at a Lightning Bolt member for saying this after he finished his sentence?
I have to say that the episode itself blames Sonic for what happened, by trying (and failing miserably) to make him look like the villain. Plus, it screwed up the moral for judging people by their looks and being more sensitive towards people, by making Sonic look like ‘the jerk’ when he really didn’t deserve it. This is why I hated (and still hate) this episode to a T.
Let’s talk about the characters. Knuckles, the villagers, Eggman, Mike and Amy are unlikable in this episode. Knuckles, because he unwisely asked Sonic to take Mike - a guy with no talents or fighting experience - to a battle with Eggman, and got Sonic into trouble with his team after he called Mike 'just a guy'.
The villagers, because they made a big deal out of what Sonic said to Mike that day and lied about the events on the news. And to make matters worse, they scolded Sonic for putting Mike in danger and dared to say that he is 'just a guy'. Eggman, because he criticised Sonic for his actions and he had THE NERVE to declare Sonic as the enemy, with his moustached face in town.
Mike, because he refused to accept Sonic's apology, before the hedgehog agreed to take him to battle. And Amy Rose herself for rubbing the incident in Sonic’s face, allowing Sonic to be bullied and berated in her 'helpful' seminar(s), and trying to take credit for Sonic’s heroic actions by claiming that she came up with a plan to leave the village defenceless to force Sonic out of retirement.
Even if that WAS the plan, that has to be the most STUPID AND RECKLESS thing she EVER COULD HAVE DONE! Suppose Sonic never came out of retirement? Those people would have been killed or injured and it would have been AMY’S fault, not Sonic’s. If anyone is condescending and insensitive (especially in this episode), it’s her. She screams in people’s faces for asking simple questions, constantly puts people down and never apologises for her disgusting actions.
Sonic was the ONLY likable character in this episode, and no, Tails doesn't count because he only sides with Sonic ON THE DAY OF THE EVENT and turns against him the next day. Sonic did the right thing when he disallowed Mike to come into the battle, out of fear that he would get hurt. And what happened when he tried to make up for his 'insensitive' behaviour? Mike got hurt! And Sonic rightfully blamed the villagers for what happened, but he was interrupted when he referred to the villagers as 'you people'. Sonic then had no choice but to give up on them, and for GOOD REASON.
I would like to know what the writers were THINKING when they made this episode. I would kind of understand if all the villagers were children in this episode, but the majority of the villagers are ADULTS. Which means that they SHOULD know better. In fact, they SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. I'm sorry for going on like this, but this episode has given me NOTHING to like about the plot, the moral (if you can call it that) or the characters. Except Sonic. If this episode was trying to make Sonic a jerk, this was not the way to do it!
Now here's how I would fix this episode:
1) Make Sonic unreasonably call Mike 'just a guy' after making Knuckles understand that the battle is more important.
2) Edit the scene with the paper hats and have Amy explain that everyone is here to learn how to control their thoughts and feelings properly.
3) Make Sonic foolishly take Mike into battle to make up for his mistake, pompously and rudely refer to the villagers as 'you people' and - at another seminar - throw a fit and storm out for no reason.
4) Have the Old Monkey force Sonic to change his ways and help his (nearly defeated) team deal with Eggman.
Well, that's it for Part 1 of my review and that's all I have to say about this episode. If you like the episode, I'm OK with that. And I would totally understand if you don't.
In the next part, I will put my idea of Just a Guy in place. Until then, thank you guys for reading and take care.
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