Here's an episode that poses a very interesting question: what if Dr. Robotnik succeeded in incapacitating Sonic, and Tails had no one else to help him, how would he fend off the baddies on his own? That's right, we finally get to see Tails take center stage, and from what I saw, he did a pretty good job. So has Robotnik succeeded in finally stopping his spiny blue adversary? He does, if only for a little while. It all began when he finished his latest invention: the Super Supreme Stopper-Zapper, a sphere shaped gizmo that when fired at someone, it will turn them to stone. He then orders Scratch and Grounder to go find Sonic and make him get stoned. All they need is to lure him into a trap, then zap him good. They turn to plan #2112 of the Wile E. Coyote handbook to set up the ultimate ambush: stick up a sign advertising chili dogs, then pulzarize him with a boulder from a giant slingshot, then get him with the stopper-zapper. Well, the plan almost worked, except for some reason, a weird beatnik bird lands on the boulder and starts disco dancing. For real? Grounder is distracted by this poorman's Woodstock, and goes rolling with the stone. They try shooting at Sonic and Tails anyway, but they manage to escape. Robotnik then calls up to chide the idiot robots for screwing up again. Seriously, why can't he take a hint that these two are going to bungle any plan he comes up with? Speaking of plans, now it's Scratch's turn to try and trap a hedgehog, while still using chili dogs as bait. Hey, why don't these guys ever think of putting sleeping pills or something to drug Sonic in the chili dogs, that way he goes down, they catch him, they win. Same reason Wile E never spiked the bird seed he gave the Roadrunner. Yes, I know I keep bringing them up, but this show blatantly copies their formula! Anyway, the bots set up a chili dog stand, with Grounder as the server and Scratch standing just out of sight, ready with the stopper-zapper. As a lure, they advertise free chili dogs. Naturally, Sonic sees right through this obvious ruse and disguises himself as a food inspector, and of course dummy Grounder doesn't recognize him. Sonic tricks the little green washing machine into eating a dog himself, loaded with extra hot chili. His cheeks explode, then he turns into a... bulldog, and then a cat? They were definitely on drugs when they made this. Sonic nabs two real dogs and books it, while Scratch and Grounder give chase, the stopper-zapper malfunctioning and a-firin' its laser in any given direction. And then, as a stray beam was heading for Tails, Sonic pushed him out of the way and was zapped. The hedgehog turns to stone, as he lets us know beforehand. Unsure of what to do and unable to use the stopper-zapper against the bots, Tails grabs his stone buddy and escapes. Grounder and Scratch give chase, but Tails is able to subdue them with a bunch of wooden logs that were conveniently left in the middle of the road.
Tails brings Sonic into an old factory to hide out, managing to lose Robotnik and his dim-bots, who have a hankering for a stoned hedgehog. They'll get him if they have to destroy the entire factory, which is what Scratch and Grounder almost do, breaking in with a giant tank that has a boxing glove attached to the front. Where do they get these ideas? Speaking of ideas, Tails takes a page from Sonic's book of gimmicks and disguises himself as an MP, citing the bots for dangerous driving, which includes a hefty and lengthy jail sentence. However, being unusually sharp, Scratch sees right through Tails' disguise, noting that most officers don't have two tails. Why is it he can see through one of Tails' disguises, but is constantly fooled by the ones Sonic pulls off? I guess because the script says so. Ha, script? Tails books it again, and rather than go after him, the bots decide to draw him out, with yet another chili dog trap. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Meanwhile, Tails rigs up a trap of his own. Hmm, two dimwits chasing after a child left on his own who manages to fend them off with some homemade traps. Sounds familiar. So, as Scratch and Grounder try to lure Tails into their oversized mousetrap, he easily fools them, making them the ones to get caught. Despite their slipping and sliding and getting KO'ed with sandbags in Tails' trap, the two dummies refuse to give up. That's when Robotnik calls to demand an update. Wait, did he go back to the fortress? We saw him pursuing Tails in his Egg-o-Matic a few minutes ago, then he crashed and just disappeared. You'd think he would've stayed to make sure he successfully nabbed Sonic, who is easier to catch now than ever before. The robots decide next to bring out the big guns: the stopper-zapper. Tails sees this as the perfect opportunity to have Sonic unfreezed, so he sets up a mirror, then throws a few "nyah-nyah"s at the two dummies, who fire their frickin' laser beam, it reflects off the mirror, and quicker than you can say "how predictable", Sonic is unfreezed. He then bends the rod on the stopper-zapper's beam, thus making it freeze itself and subsequently explode, sending Scratch and Grounder flying, and falling right on Dr. Robotnik, who came back to see what was going on. Now to finish off this terrible trio. Tails activates a giant claw that scoops them up and drops them into a vat of quick drying cement. Hard luck, boys. Our Sonic Says is about not opening the door to strangers, and I guess it's also about not impersonating a cop, as when Scratch and Grounder claim to be the police to try and gain entry, they're taken away by a real cop. Well, both are good lessons, I guess.
And that was Tails in Charge, as we finally get to see him stand up to Robotnik and his henchbots on his own. It shows he's pretty capable of doing it. It's almost like something has been holding him back. Yeah, odd not seeing Sonic as the center of attention for once, but he did teach that wily fox all he knows. By my count, this is third time Sonic was turned to stone in this series. It happened previously in Magic Hassle and Grounder the Genius. His feet were turned to stone in Hedgehog of the Hound Table. Guess he like the makers of this show just can't avoid getting stoned. This episode was pretty good, even if the animation is pretty bad in a few places. Like, why does Grounder have human hands for 80% of it? There's very little plot, and what there is begins around the 7 minute mark, and then it's just nothing but chasing, yelling, and setting up traps. I'd say check this one out if you want to see how Tails handles a situation when he's left to fend for himself without his big blue buddy. That was an almost sad scene when Tails is trying to talk to Sonic, despite him being encased in stone, and how he calls him "big bro." This whole thing proves that Tails can handle himself and doesn't have to be reduced to wimpy damsel. I'm sure we would've seen Tails grow in strength and character in the Saturday show, had it stuck around for another season, and they could've done that in this show too. I mean, Tails does get a few more episodes where he's the protagonist having to solve problems on his own (Tails Prevails and Tails' Tale), so the desire was there. Anyway, I recommend Tails in Charge.
Tails brings Sonic into an old factory to hide out, managing to lose Robotnik and his dim-bots, who have a hankering for a stoned hedgehog. They'll get him if they have to destroy the entire factory, which is what Scratch and Grounder almost do, breaking in with a giant tank that has a boxing glove attached to the front. Where do they get these ideas? Speaking of ideas, Tails takes a page from Sonic's book of gimmicks and disguises himself as an MP, citing the bots for dangerous driving, which includes a hefty and lengthy jail sentence. However, being unusually sharp, Scratch sees right through Tails' disguise, noting that most officers don't have two tails. Why is it he can see through one of Tails' disguises, but is constantly fooled by the ones Sonic pulls off? I guess because the script says so. Ha, script? Tails books it again, and rather than go after him, the bots decide to draw him out, with yet another chili dog trap. If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Meanwhile, Tails rigs up a trap of his own. Hmm, two dimwits chasing after a child left on his own who manages to fend them off with some homemade traps. Sounds familiar. So, as Scratch and Grounder try to lure Tails into their oversized mousetrap, he easily fools them, making them the ones to get caught. Despite their slipping and sliding and getting KO'ed with sandbags in Tails' trap, the two dummies refuse to give up. That's when Robotnik calls to demand an update. Wait, did he go back to the fortress? We saw him pursuing Tails in his Egg-o-Matic a few minutes ago, then he crashed and just disappeared. You'd think he would've stayed to make sure he successfully nabbed Sonic, who is easier to catch now than ever before. The robots decide next to bring out the big guns: the stopper-zapper. Tails sees this as the perfect opportunity to have Sonic unfreezed, so he sets up a mirror, then throws a few "nyah-nyah"s at the two dummies, who fire their frickin' laser beam, it reflects off the mirror, and quicker than you can say "how predictable", Sonic is unfreezed. He then bends the rod on the stopper-zapper's beam, thus making it freeze itself and subsequently explode, sending Scratch and Grounder flying, and falling right on Dr. Robotnik, who came back to see what was going on. Now to finish off this terrible trio. Tails activates a giant claw that scoops them up and drops them into a vat of quick drying cement. Hard luck, boys. Our Sonic Says is about not opening the door to strangers, and I guess it's also about not impersonating a cop, as when Scratch and Grounder claim to be the police to try and gain entry, they're taken away by a real cop. Well, both are good lessons, I guess.
And that was Tails in Charge, as we finally get to see him stand up to Robotnik and his henchbots on his own. It shows he's pretty capable of doing it. It's almost like something has been holding him back. Yeah, odd not seeing Sonic as the center of attention for once, but he did teach that wily fox all he knows. By my count, this is third time Sonic was turned to stone in this series. It happened previously in Magic Hassle and Grounder the Genius. His feet were turned to stone in Hedgehog of the Hound Table. Guess he like the makers of this show just can't avoid getting stoned. This episode was pretty good, even if the animation is pretty bad in a few places. Like, why does Grounder have human hands for 80% of it? There's very little plot, and what there is begins around the 7 minute mark, and then it's just nothing but chasing, yelling, and setting up traps. I'd say check this one out if you want to see how Tails handles a situation when he's left to fend for himself without his big blue buddy. That was an almost sad scene when Tails is trying to talk to Sonic, despite him being encased in stone, and how he calls him "big bro." This whole thing proves that Tails can handle himself and doesn't have to be reduced to wimpy damsel. I'm sure we would've seen Tails grow in strength and character in the Saturday show, had it stuck around for another season, and they could've done that in this show too. I mean, Tails does get a few more episodes where he's the protagonist having to solve problems on his own (Tails Prevails and Tails' Tale), so the desire was there. Anyway, I recommend Tails in Charge.