TV Series Review: Knuckles (2024)

Low expectations meant 2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog was a bit of a surprise. It turned out to be pretty good, putting focus where it should be (on Sonic), getting the casting right for the major players, delivering good action, and keeping the story tight and simple. It’s sequel in 2022 upped the ante in all departments and ended up also being a good film.

Both were very successful, so fresh content from this universe was all but a guarantee, especially as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 introduced several characters, including the focus of this live-action show, Knuckles.

Created by John Whittington and Toby Ascher for Paramount+, the series takes place between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog 3, due to be released at the end of 2024. The series premiered on April 26, 2024.

The story surrounds Knuckles the Echidna (voiced by Idris Elba). Actually, no it doesn’t. He might be the title character, but he is not the star of this show, that goes to Wade Wipple (Adam Pally). Who, if you’ve forgotten, played the role of the ‘hapless’ deputy of Green Hills in the two films and served as nothing more than comic relief. He was fine, in small doses, which is an immediate red flag for this show. If you didn’t like that character in the film, you’re going to have to put up with a lot of him here, with ramped up stupidity and childishness.

The show’s premise is that Knuckles is struggling to adapt to a more chilled out way of life on Earth and ends up taking on Wade as an apprentice. Knuckles aim is to turn him into a warrior, but Wade wants to win a bowling tournament in Reno. One that has his estranged father, “Pistol” Pete Whipple (Cary Elwes) competing in it. Not understanding what bowling is but seeing Wade’s path to champion as a route to being a great warrior, Knuckles accompanies him on his journey.

Along the way, they are chased by rogue G.U.N. agents (Kid Cudi as Mason and Ellie Taylor as Willoughby) who want to capture Knuckles and sell him to The Buyer (Rory McCann), a former lackey of Doctor Robotnik who wants Knuckles’ power.

Along with bounty hunter Jack Sinclair (Julian Barratt) on their tails, the pair are up against it to make it to the tournament in time. Help coming in the form of Wade’s mother, Wendy (Stockard Channing) and sister, Wanda (Edi Patterson).

The story is as ‘fluff’ as it sounds, yet even this basic premise is poorly executed. It might sell itself as Knuckles training Wade to be a warrior, but what it really is, is a road trip film, with occasional detours for action and comedy scenes. The finale, where Wade speaks about being trained well by Knuckles and so on, is laughable considering nothing like that happens at any point in the show.

It’s forced melodrama, pretending that something impactful happened, when nothing impactful happens at any point in this show. Something that isn’t helped by the characters and their chemistry. Which, in the case of Knuckles and Wade, is surprisingly off. Unlike the films, it never feels like Wade is ever really speaking to something that is there. Nor does their dialogue feel like anything but quips and buzzwords.

In the case of Knuckles, the ‘fish out of water’ aspect isn’t explored well and dropped very quickly, taking the backseat to the hijinks of Wade.

Look, Adam Pally is a good actor, and he really does give it his all here, but he’s working with writing that makes him infuriatingly dumb and surprisingly unfunny. Putting it simply, he starts to become wholly unlikable as the show goes on. Something that isn’t helped by how empty his ‘arc’ is or the many scenes between him and his sister, Wanda.

An entire episode is dedicated to a Shabbat dinner, and their incessant bickering and childish antics is insufferable. Wanda is a horrible character, and wholly unbelievable as a real person. This is one of the most unnaturally written examples of sibling rivalry seen in some time. Leading to a lacklustre action scene that involves faceless bounty hunter goons and has no weight because these characters are never going to be in danger. Something exemplified by the poor villains of the film.

The main one, The Buyer is actually pointless and the less said about him, the better. Let’s just say that it is a total waste of Rory McCann, and the first non-Robotnik villain in this universe. The other two, the sub-bosses if you will, are better but again, are written to constantly try to be funny, so come off completely non-threatening.

The writing for this show was obsessed with being funny, to the detriment of everything else. So much is thrown at the wall here, and very little sticks. Especially as so much of the humour is infantile stuff. Only one character really nails it, and that is Julian Barratt’s bounty hunter Jack Sinclair. Who, as Boosh fans know, is a very funny actor.

His scenes with Wade are some of the best, and some of the most off-beat, which includes a ‘rock opera’ sequence that rips off Alan Wake 2 but has so many nods and winks to the video game franchise, it’s impossible to not enjoy. Does it matter in the grand scheme of things though?

Of course not, everything in this show is fluff. Hell, there isn’t even a tease at the end of the show for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. It just ends.

Look, it’s not terrible, in fact it’s fine, but that’s not going to cut it in a world where every adaption and franchise is upping the game. Let’s hope this isn’t a harbinger of what to expect with Sonic the Hedgehog 3.