Reno, Baby

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Knuckles Reno, Baby

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"Reno, Baby" is the fifth episode of the Knuckles miniseries. It premiered on April 26, 2024 on Paramount+.^[1]

Synopsis

Knuckles and Wade arrive in Reno, Nevada for the National Bowling Championship.^[10]

Appearances

Characters:

• Agent Mason
• Agent Willoughby
• Dylan Beagleton (first appearance)
• Gary N. Sinclair III Esq. (first appearance)
• Badnik
• Bill Barnes
• Susie Barnes
• The Buyer
• Knuckles the Echidna
• "Pistol" Pete Whipple (first appearance)
• Mrs. Barnes
• Wade Whipple
• Wanda Whipple
• Wendy Whipple
• Dr. Robotnik (mentioned)
• Sonic the Hedgehog (mentioned)

Locations:

• Nevada
  • Reno (first appearance)
    • The Buyer's lair
    • National Bowling Stadium (first appearance)
• Slough (mentioned)
• San Francisco (mentioned)

Items:

• WadeJammerz

Miscellaneous:

• La Última Pasión (mentioned)

Plot

The episode opens up with Wade and Knuckles riding on the motorbike taken from Jack Sinclair in the previous episode. The two enter Reno, Nevada and head to the National Bowling Stadium, named "Wade's battleground" by Knuckles, where Wade is competing in the National Bowling Championship. They enter the building, where they meet Wanda and Wendy Whipple in the casino. Wendy tries to invite Knuckles to the spa while Wanda wants to give Knuckles a "Wandarita", but both offers are rejected as Wade tells them that they need to keep a low profile. Suddenly, "Pistol" Pete Whipple, the bowling champion and Wade's long-lost father, enters the casino, with the crowds cheering for him. Wade is excited to talk to him but feels hesitant as he doesn't know what to say to him. Knuckles helps Wade, giving him an earpiece where he would tell Wade what to say. Wade follows what Knuckles says, with Pete surprised at his son's arrival, but also confused as to why Wade was talking strangely, since Knuckles had gone off-track and got distracted by a mascot character, commenting on how similar the both of them looked. Wade then decides to just speak for himself, taking off the earpiece. He tells Pete how much he missed him and that he is also competing in the tournament. The two manage to reunite with each other, Knuckles showing approval, thinking that he had successfully managed to help Wade get back with his father.

Agents Willoughby and Mason wake up in The Buyer's weapon warehouse. The Buyer comes in, angered that the agents failed to capture Knuckles. He shares his history with them, revealing that he was also a former G.U.N. agent, working together with Robotnik, but was hunted down by them after the hunt for Sonic which ended up with Robotnik going to the Mushroom Planet. He managed to escape from them and started selling his creations on the black market. Willoughby then explains that she had betrayed G.U.N. because they demoted her for warning them that the extraterrestrials in Green Hills, Montana were too dangerous and that she, just like The Buyer, hates G.U.N. and wants them to suffer for their actions. This convinces The Buyer to not kill both of them, but he tells them that he would only spare them if they managed to capture Knuckles.

Wade and Pete manage to win the semi-finals of the tournament, the both of them sitting in a bar after competing. They have a conversation about "The Birds and the Bees', which Wade already knew about, but just wanted to have that talk with Pete as he never got to have it as a child with a parent. Two fans of Pete show up to get his autograph, but get rejected, being told that they couldn't get it "when he's with family". Wade hears "family", where he then asks Pete why he left him as a child. Pete responds by telling Wade that he was searching for something about bowling, but that what he wanted was at home, also showing Wade that he had not forgotten about him, showing him all the "Wadejammerz" CDs he had been sent over the years. He shows regret in leaving and apologizes to Wade. After the chat, Pete decides that he should show Wade his suite, telling him to come by later that day.

Later, Wendy talks to Wade about his father, saying that he can be deceiving and may betray him. Wade assures her, telling her not to worry and that he should take this chance of getting to bond with Pete. Wendy leaves, walking into an elevator with Agent Mason inside, unaware that he was a threat. Wade enters Pete's penthouse, in awe at how incredible it looked, sarcastically saying how humble and sensible Pete was, decorating the place with so much gold. He comments on how pretty the skyline of Reno looks and jokes about the fireplace in the room, being in a generally temperate climate like Nevada. Pete gives Wade a tour of the penthouse, yet again apologizing to him. Wade thinks that Pete was apologizing for leaving him, but soon realizes that he was apologizing for his actions this time, having kidnapped Wanda and Wendy and bringing them to Willoughby and Mason as hostages.

Wade, being in disbelief, questions why Pete would betray him. Pete tells them that out of the Whipple family, he is the only one that matters. The agents threaten Wade to bring Knuckles to them, pointing a gun at Wanda, which Wade doesn't care much for at first, but finally gives in when they threaten to shoot Wendy. Wade goes to Knuckles' room, the two agents being able to hear everything Wade says over the phone to prevent him from doing anything secretly. He lies to Knuckles about a surprise, getting him to follow. After leading Knuckles to the elevator, Wade tells Knuckles that he has forgotten his nametag and that Knuckles should go up by himself first. Wade tells the agents that Knuckles was heading their way, leaving them satisfied. They point their weapons at the elevator door, ready to ambush Knuckles once the elevator doors open.

Regional differences

• Gary N. Sinclair III Esq. comments that he had started his career from "ESPN Veinticinco" (25), and later hoping to get down to "ESPN Seis" (6). The channel numbers are translated to English in the German dub, as well as the respective language medium in the Czech and Brazilian Portuguese dubs.
• While Knuckles is watching television in Wade's room, the continuity announcement is narrated as "Próximamente en el Canal en Español de Reno". In the Latin Spanish dub, this is changed to "Próximamente en el Canal en latino de Reno". In the Bulgarian, Czech and Italian dubs, the entire announcement is translated to the respective language medium.

Goofs

• Agent Willoughby claims that G.U.N. had decided to trust Sonic, despite claiming that they then put her to work on a fake wedding to capture him.

Titles in other languages

Trivia

• Wade namedrops the American actor Kevin James, while Knuckles describes him as "the mall cop", referencing his role as Paul Blart in the eponymous 2009 film Paul Blart: Mall Cop and it's 2015 sequel Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2.
• The costume used to vaguely appear like Knuckles appears to be a red deadly sin mascot, seemingly like Envy from The Muppet Show pilot.
• Notably this episode is one of the rare instances of swearing in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise as Wade uses the word "damn" after he and Knuckles arrive at the National Bowling Stadium.
• Agent Willoughby recounts her contributions, referencing the first two movies, where the Wachowskis received a $50 Olive Garden gift card, as well as planning of the fake Hawaiian wedding as part of Operation: Catfish.
• The TV program that Knuckles watches is titled La Última Pasión (lit. "The Last Passion"). Footage and narration of the program would eventually feature in the film Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
• When Knuckles is watching TV, the Italian-Spanish text-to-speech "Loquendo" is used. The word "español" in the TTS is transcribed as "espanol" instead.
• This is another time when the word "furry" is used to describe anthropomorphic animals (Knuckles, in this case) in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
• This episode marks the first physical appearance of "Pistol" Pete Whipple, after he was shown in a poster in Wade Whipple's room in "The Shabbat Dinner".

References