Knuckles

Starring: Idris Elba (voice) (6 episodes), Adam Pally (6 episodes), Stockard Channing (5 episodes), Edi Patterson (4 episodes), Kid Cudi (4 episodes), Ellie Taylor (4 episodes), Jaimi Barbakoff (4 episodes), Fergus Craig (4 episodes), Alice Wren Tregonning (4 episodes), Rory McCann (3 episodes), Cary Elwes (2 episodes), Julian Barratt (2 episodes), Christopher Lloyd (2 episodes), Paul Scheer (2 episodes), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (voice) (1 episode), Ben Schwartz (voice) (1 episode), Tika Sumpter (1 episode)
Directed by: Carol Banker (2 episodes), Jeff Fowler (1 episode), Jorma Taccone (1 episode), Brandon Trost (1 episode), Get Wright (1 episode)
Rating: TV-PG
Genre: Action, Fantasy
2024

Seasons Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Wade Whipple (Adam Pally) learns the ways of the warrior from Knuckles (Idris Elba).

Review:
Tim: I've so pleasantly surprised by the first two Sonic the Hedgehog films. They've been fun, entertaining, and something I've truly enjoyed experiencing with my 9 year-old son (my daughter has seen parts of the films). So, I was ecstatic to watch this Knuckles series with him- a television show we could watch together. Unfortunately, Knuckles is garbage. This heinous, trash is one of the worst television experiences I've had in many years. There's so many problems with this, I struggled mightily to get through 6 episodes. I wanted to turn it off constantly, during every single episode. I get the reasons for creating it, but Paramount+ doesn't really care. The producers didn't really care. This is lowest common denominator television that's offensive to viewers. This show sucked.

My biggest complaint is basically everything- the whole show is a total lie. This isn't a series about Knuckles. The show should be called "Wade Whipple". He's the protagonist, he takes up most of the screen time. And, he had no business being in this seat. Wade is a supporting character, best when he says a funny line and then disappears. To give such a one-dimensional character six episodes is outrageous. To try and sell the series as Knuckles, when he's a supporting character is malfeasance. I started this serious being a fan of Wade- great comedic relief, from time-to-time. I ended it hating him. I hate Wade, his stupid sister, his annoying dad, and his boring mom. How could anyone think this was a good idea?

Of course, I know the answer to that. It's expensive to generate Knuckles. It's WAY most cost effective to put stupid Adam Pally front-and-center and let him do annoying, unfunny things. Think about how much money the studio will save! And, kids are stupid, right? They won't even notice. Nope. My 9 year-old son disliked this series, too. We struggled to finish it. These decisions are offensive to audiences. The Sonic franchise was such a bright spot the last few years- I can't believe they tarnished all this with this garbage series.

Now, I know that I'm slightly overreacting. No one cares about a Knuckles miniseries. It won't hurt the overall franchise. Paramount is gleefully happy that they got eyeballs to watch their stupid streaming service. We'll all move on. But, I'm so frustrated that I had to waste so much time and energy to watch six pointless, idiotic episodes. That's just bullshit. I'm sorry.

I feel badly for Idris Elba. I mean, he got to collect a paycheck for doing very little, but he deserved better. Adam Pally destroyed any goodwill I had toward him. I can shut my eyes and see his stupid face burned into my retinas. He wrecked this character with way too much screen time and nothing interesting to do. Edi Patterson is a terrible actress. She wouldn't know subtlety if it slapped her across the face. Stockard Channing was solid- she's a good actress and is worth watching, even in the midst of a dumpster fire. I liked seeing Cary Elwes, although his character bored me and wasted all of our time. It was great seeing Rory McCann, but we needed a lot more of him and a lot less of everything else. I'm not even going to talk about anyone else, I just can't.

What really kills me about this awful series is that we already have a blueprint for how to tell compelling stories in the world. We have two entertaining Sonic movies- just literally do what you did there, but break it up and decrease the overall scope! Nope, we have to go on this awful journey with Wade. We have to meet his ridiculous family. We need to waste precious time watching these characters say and do the stupidest things. Nothing in this miniseries mattered. None of it made any kind of sense. I cannot believe people wrote these scripts, others signed off, directors filmed it, and then they packaged it for kids. The whole thing is utterly worthless.

Okay, I'm done. I can't go on. I hated Knuckles. It's terrible. From the decisions, to the script, to the acting, to everything in between. This is one of the worst miniseries I've seen in years. Shame on everyone involved in this trash.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



If You Enjoyed This Series, We Recommend: Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, watching more television- there's no way you should have enjoyed this crap