The Knuckles Series: So Much Potential. So Much Wasted.

Diehard Sonic fans are fully aware of how SEGA and Paramount Pictures tortured us with absolutely no hype, no trailers, no "leaked" secrets, no NOTHING for way too long. Many of us wondered if their claims a "Knuckles" show was happening were even coming to pass. A release date came along (without a teaser), and everyone waited on pins and needles... then the writers' strike happened, and the release date got pushed back, further making us wonder... is "Knuckles" really gonna happen?

Then it happened. The trailer came out. And the Sonic world exploded.

Hype reigned supreme. Chief Pachacamac from "Sonic Adventure" flashed onscreen at one point, and a mysterious mech that some of us (myself included) got Enerjak vibes from. (This notion was quickly shut down by other fans.) The Knuckles-Wade dynamic sounded promising, like an

The release date was cemented. We were finally satisfied with the appetizer. Now all that remained was for the series to come out. When it did, the Sonic world exploded again.

When the explosion settled down, most of us were left with chins bouncing off the floor than confetti cannons blasting in our ears. Mainly because the trailer we first exploded over was somehow better than the actual show. The trailer hyped a series focused solely on Knuckles--his journey as a warrior, lost on an alien planet, looking to raise up a new warrior (Wade, for comedic effect). But after the first two episodes, the show actually focused very little on Knuckles--in one episode, he appeared only twice. In essence, most of the official hype exaggerated how much the show was about its namesake.

I give the "Knuckles" series an average of 4 stars. Sounds generous? Let me explain.

The first two episodes killed it, in my opinion. Sonic, Tails, Maddie, and even faithful fido Ozzie cameoed with Knuckles in what was pure SCU (Sonic Cinematic Universe) nostalgia. It was sweet and hilarious, and we even met Pachacamac (although his appearance made little sense, since in the games he and Knuckles shouldn't have known each other, and he was never that goofy--although his ghostly antics made me laugh). The second episode was equally fun, with a greater glimpse at the bad guys. Although it focused on Wade a bit more than Knuckles, Knuckles still had a chunk of the spotlight. Those two episodes, I give 5 stars.

Then onto the next two episodes. The nut cases.

Episode 3 revealed Wade's backstory and family.  Knuckles' bond with Wade's mother was very sweet, and while the familial storyline was pretty interesting, Wade and his sister's constant fighting made it hard to enjoy. And when bounty hunters showed up for Wade... well, first off, where'd they even come from?! We never find out their origins. That episode had a lot of things going on that didn't really need to go on.

Then Episode 4. Have any of us figured out its meaning yet?

Wade gets captured by a bounty hunter--who is also his former best friend we never knew about until this series--and is put in an electrically charged circus cage. When he's shocked unconscious, he enters a dream world where Pachacamac greets him, shoots rainbows into Wade's mouth, and thus begins an extremely low-budget musical detailing Knuckles' own backstory (with Wade sloppily dressed as Knux). The ensuing fight Wade/Knuckles and his father (another guy dressed as his father---and, at one point, it was just a puppet?) against people dressed as owls showed Knuckles lose his father, and wallowing in grief, goes off across the world--aka a sloppy Green Hill Zone set.

Now, when Knuckles/Wade comes across IBLIS--did we all scream? I imagine so.

I don't think Iblis's name was said outright, but calling him a "fire demon" and bringing him onstage in a haze of smoke and paper mache fireballs--not to mention, well, he looked totally like Iblis--cemented it pretty well.

The battle of Knuckles versus Iblis was pretty cool... if only for a massive "Sonic 06" reference, which SEGA seems to enjoy dissing rather than acknowledging. This also changes most, if not all, of Iblis's backstory as we know it from "Sonic 06." While Iblis's appearance was definitely for a cool cameo to pretty much save that episode's downfall, it also dashes a portion of the "Sonic 06" canon, with Iblis no longer being a futuristic enemy Silver and Blaze must face, but a past/present enemy Knuckles had to defeat. Thus, I give the second two episodes 3 stars each (not 1 or 2, because the references were nice touches).

The last two episodes were slightly better, but they focused hugely on Wade more than Knuckles. The main villains were defeated, but are they really gone, or dead? Unlike Robotnik's defeats in the movies--once, totally alive, and next, presumed dead but likely not--it's hard to tell. Thus, 4 stars for the last 2 episodes.

Averaging each episode's rating gives the series an avg. 4 star rating from me. While it had plenty of references, some GUN involvement, tidbits of info we didn't know we needed to know about the first couple movies, and doubtless at least one thing that'll lead into the third Sonic movie, it wasn't anything like we hoped. I won't watch it again. If you want to, you can, but you're missing very little.