Knuckles - Season 1

Stream on Paramount +

Runtime: Six 23-33 Minute Episodes

Rated TV-PG

Knuckles from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is having some issues adjusting to living in the peaceful Green Hills. After a spiritual visit from the spirit of his tribe’s chief, Knuckles is tasked with training accident prone police officer Wade Whipple to be an echidna warrior. Unfortunately, two G.U.N. (Guardian Units of Nations) agents have decided to not just monitor the alien heroes, but sell them out. Specifically Knuckles.

You will need to Watch Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 before watching this.

Themes:  “I do not make jokes, I make warriors.”

Friendship, protecting what you hold dear, Cool Ranch Doritos, adjusting to a new life, bounty hunters, bowling, kidnapping, imagination, warriors, victory, FBI, childhood abandonment, bounty hunters, estranged fathers, reconnecting, forgiveness, jewish culture, fakes, proving oneself, change, competition, rivalries, and family.

Language: 

Crap - 1 D*mn - 5 Freaking - 5 Heck - 1 Hell - 3 Pissed - 1 Religious Exclamations - 12 Screw/Screwed - 3 Sucks - 4

Minor name calling like maniac, loser, idiot, turd bucket, schmuck, and fool. There are also two background songs that use the word D*mn and Hell in episode five.

Stuff to be aware of:  “I thought I heard the quiet sobs of a child.”

Violence - There is a character that talks about crushing the skull of a girl scout and humiliating her. This is done in a comical way. Knuckles gives several speeches about destroying people and crushing their skulls. Lots of fighting similar to the two movies. One character stabs another in the arm with a fork. A man gets drug behind a motorcycle and then tazed. There is no blood. One character dislocates her thumb and tries to give a thumbs up. Its kind of gross.

Sex - One character mentions that another looks like a , “sexy men’s underwear model.” There is a female cardboard standup figure that has “indentations” on her. A grown man says he hugged her too hard as a child (Take this for what you will). There is a conversation with a son and father where they mention “the talk” and “the birds and the bees.” Sex is not mentioned and this exchange only involves a few lines of dialogue. An announcer says, “look at the balls on this guy.”

Scariness - There is a large fire monster puppet in episode four. It is obviously a puppet, but could be scary to younger viewers.

Other - There is some Jewish humor. There is a Bevis and Butthead poster in the background in one scene. Two characters briefly discuss and watch the movie Pretty Woman. One character talks about getting margaritas in a comical way by combining the word margarita with their name. One minor character grabs an alcoholic drink briefly. There is a dark spot in episode five when the “true villain” is revealed. The villains give their backgrounds and one shows the others a scar he got from when G.U.N. tried to wipe him out.

Overall: 

If you, or your kiddos, enjoyed the Sonic movies, you/they will likely enjoy this. It has a great soundtrack and some of the fight scenes are well done. The story isn’t anything award winning, but it has lots of heart and humor.

Let me get a few gripes out of the way. Maybe it’s just me, but it bothers me that random people don’t find Knuckles odd when they see him or question what he is. The main characters are scared of him when they first encounter him and they don’t know what he is.

My praises - The humor is up my alley. The movie is full of slapstick, one liners, dad humor, and overly silly situations. The comedy is well enough written that an adult can enjoy it along with our children.

At the end of the day if you’re a Sonic person watch this, if not it probably wouldn’t be something you would like.