Sonic Boom
Most Sonic Boom episodes follow a pretty standard pattern. Sonic and his friends are enjoying a normal day, doing normal things, when Eggman or some other villain / threat appears and they stop what they're doing to take care of the problem. Sometimes just a couple of characters are involved and sometimes all of them are. It just depends on the issue. This week, however, Sonic went solo for the first time all season. The plot of the episode? Return a library book on time to avoid paying a late fee.
I know it sounds simple, but this episode alone taught me more about New Mobius and offered a better look at Sonic's character than any other I've seen so far in this series. As he's running around trying to get the book to the library, Sonic keeps running into obstacle after obstacle. First he almost runs over an elderly man, but quickly stops and insists the man go first. The man is very slow and a little bit out there, but Sonic takes it all in stride and handles it like it's no big deal. After that he runs into some other people and then (long story short) has to run an errand for Eggman. This errand takes him across a good portion of the island to pick something up from a warehouse two towns over.
New Mobius geography lesson! Sonic lives in a beach house (which I find ironic and slightly out of character since he can't swim), so obviously the area he inhabits is close to the shore. But we see him pass through a jungle, over a mountain, through a desert valley, and back into another beach-y area as he journeys to another town and back. All of these areas are flawlessly connected to one another. It's an interesting concept since that wouldn't really work here on Earth. (These areas also have some unique names, by the way.)
After running into an endless stream of obstacles, Sonic is finally starting to lose his cool about the situation, but despite it all he remains respectful to others and just goes with the flow of things. In the end he does get the book to the library (with ten seconds to spare), and he turns around and says to Amy, "Told you I'd get it here on time!" With a huge smile on his face.
This episode was really good! A simple idea gave way to a ton of funny moments (like Knuckles flying off of this contraption he and Sonic had put together...seriously, I had to pause the episode and just laugh for a few minutes) and a further glimpse into Sonic's character and his world. I really, really like the "rebooted" Sonic that they've introduced. He's a lot like Next Gen Sonic, but because his world is different, he is different as well, and I think he's changed for the better. Love that blue hedgehog!
MLP
I don't usually mention My Little Pony here on this blog, because all things considered, it really is just a show I watch for fun. I don't take it nearly as seriously as I do Sonic and TMNT. But I felt this weekend's episode was worth mentioning. (Hope you all know your MLP terminology, because I'm not going to define and explain everything here today!) In this episode, titled "Appleoosa's Most Wanted," the CMC are wandering around a huge rodeo in hopes of getting their cutie marks. However, things don't entirely go as planned when an "outlaw" by the name of Trouble Shoes starts ruining the fun. Long story short, Trouble Shoes (a MASSIVE stallion) really isn't trying to cause any harm. He just happens to be extremely clumsy. He sees his klutziness as a curse in the beginning, but by the end of the episode the CMC manage to convince him that his "unlucky" cutie mark is actually a good thing.
This episode was extremely well done and had a very excellent message. I loved the story and I loved Trouble Shoes' character. I really, really thought that at least one of the girls was going to get their cutie mark in this one. We saw a ton of maturity happen here. Compare the girls now to how they were when we first me them and you can totally see the difference. It's just a matter of time at this point. I swear, if one of them does not get their cutie mark this season, I will scream.
TMNT
Oh my goodness, I don't even know where to BEGIN for this one!! I'll start by saying this: unless another episode comes along later in the series that tops the one from this weekend (and I think I'd probably die from fangirling if that happened), "Clash of the Mutanimals" is my favorite episode of TMNT 2012. Period.
Two of the Mighty Mutanimals are captured by Tiger Claw and brought to Baxter Stockman's lab, where they are to be test subjects for Shredder's new mind control serum. When they are set free and return to the Turtles' lair, Slash is the first to lose it and he attacks Splinter so fast I did not even see it coming! If I'd blinked, I would have missed it. Splinter took a HARD hit and was knocked out in one blow, and that started quite possibly the most epic in-lair fight in this whole series. Leo made me fangirl so hard when he said, "You will not hurt our sensei again!" He already didn't like Slash, so the fact that he took down Splinter was enough to make Leo hate him.
Long battle short, Slash and Rockwell knock out Raphael and grab him before returning to Shredder's lair. Once there, Raphael is subjected to the same testing as the two mutants before him. That scene is what made me stop and realize, "Wow, this episode got dark real quick." The mind control thing was bad enough, but with Raphael, we actually see the process and hear him screaming and everything. It was a really intense moment.
After this, Leo is like, "All right, enough is enough. Let's take down the Shredder." He leads what's left of his team and the Mutanimals on a rescue mission that breaks out into the GREATEST BATTLE OF ALL TIME. Before they get there, though, we see Raphael trying to attack Shredder but being unable to due to the serum, and then the walking tin can has the GALL to turn around and start TRAINING Raph. Ugh.
Once the others arrive to rescue them, the coolest battle sequence I've ever seen from this show follows. Donnie vs. Rockwell, Mikey vs. Tiger Claw, Leatherhead vs. Slash, Pigeon Pete vs. Baxter Stockman, and my personal favorite, Leo vs. Raph. I love Leo and Raph battles. They are rare in this series, but they are SO EPIC when they happen. This one really topped them all, though. As they're fighting, Leo is trying to get to Raph first by reasoning with him and then by calling him names and taunting him. It's enough to make the hothead so angry that he overcomes the serum and is freed from control.
Donnie notices this and begins doing the same to Rockwell, who breaks free a lot faster due to his incredibly powerful mind. Rockwell then turns around and frees Slash. Once everyone is back to normal, all EIGHT of them surround Shredder and attack all at once, and they still get their butts handed to them. It's kind of sad, really, but the whole rest of the episode is totally epic enough to make up for it. Our heroes return to the lair, where Slash apologizes for what he'd done to Splinter (Splinter wasn't exactly fond of the guy, either). Sensei forgives him, Raph gives Leo a huge hug, and the episode ends.
But next week MONDO GECKO is coming, so...yeah. WAY excited for that. He's a throwback to the 1987 series.
I loved everything about this episode. The mind control thing has been used in this series before, but never to this degree of severity, and it's never come about in such a dark way before. In previous episodes the guys had either been stung by a mutant wasp, attacked by mutant pizzas, or controlled by a thousand-year-old spirit. We've never seen a mutant worm (carrier of the serum) drill straight into the victim's skull, and we've never really heard the victim's suffering before. Small grunts and brief episodes of passing out and waking up again are nothing compared to the screaming we heard in this episode. I get chills just thinking about it.
I mostly loved this episode because of the amazing battle sequence at the end. It was extremely well done. The camera just moved along with whoever happened to take center stage at the time rather than randomly flicking from one set of characters to another. The battles themselves, quick and spastic as they were, flowed seamlessly as weapons clashed and characters moved around one another in a kind of dance. (And that's not just my writer's description taking over.)
I'm super excited to see where the series takes us now, especially since new characters are going to be coming in and Shredder's mind control serum didn't work the way he wanted it to. I'm curious about how they're going to save Karai, I REALLY want to see Mona Lisa come in officially, and we haven't seen April or Casey the past couple of episodes, so I wonder what's going on with them now that NYC has been relieved of its Kraang visitors. (I still think Capril is going to happen. Just saying. I've been a Capril fan since Season 2, Episode 4.)
That's all for now! I wasn't planning on writing this blog post at all until I saw the TMNT episode yesterday. All three of my shows giving me their best over the same weekend? This is a momentous occasion! How could I not write about it? (If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen my unstoppable fangirling.)
I'll be writing another blog post later in the week concerning Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, as I've stated before. I'm excited to cover that topic with you guys. Until then, booyakasha!
No comments:
Post a Comment