Sunny Season 1 Episode 9 Review: Who's In The Box?

Critic’s Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

4.5

It would be just like the creative team behind Sunny to use a question as the title of an episode. Lord knows the series has been nothing but one question after another.

While the endless inquiries have been aggravating, they have also been one of the series’ biggest draws.

Many science fiction shows will worry about losing audiences if they don’t spoon-feed viewers exposition. That’s certainly not the case with Sunny.

The show wisely utilized so many secrets because now that we are approaching the end, all of the other shoes can drop.

It’s been a wild, wacky adventure, but this ride is ending. Sunny is finally answering some big questions as a parting gift.

And they are doing it with all the camp and comedy that an A24 series can deliver.

Sunny Balances Comedy, Drama, And Thrilling Action With Just The Right Amount Of Camp

If there is one thing Apple TV+ can boast about, it is creating a reputation for high-quality television programming.

From shows like Land of Women to Lady in the Lake, the streamer has cultivated amazing shows rife with hilarious comedy and intense drama.

Sunny is a perfect example of what can happen when you combine wonderful writing, spectacular set design, and amazing acting.

The series balances comedy, drama, and thrilling action with just enough camp to keep the pace from slowing down or the story from getting too serious.

It can be said that there is nothing like Sunny on TV—well, not on American television, that is. As we’ve clearly seen, Japanese broadcasts are on another.

And at the center of this brilliantly written show is Masa (Hidetoshi Nishijima), the tech genius who built a different kind of Home Bot, and now we know why.

Sunny Didn’t Ask To Be Made, And She Is Now Dealing With The Sins Of Her Creator

From the start of Sunny, very little was known about Masa apart from him working on refrigerators.

As the series progressed, the writers revealed the roboticist’s past in the same way Suzie is now learning about it.

Putting the viewer in the protagonist’s POV is nothing new, but it’s still a great storytelling tool that allows audiences to feel more involved in the story.

And it’s hard not to get fully invested in a show like Sunny, where another question pops up every five minutes.

However, Sunny’s purpose has finally been revealed, and it’s a lot more heartbreaking than I could have imagined. He built the bot to combat loneliness.

That is depressing on a whole other level. But that’s one answer down with so very many more to go.

We still don’t know if Masa and Zen are alive. And as close as the show got to it, we still don’t know what Hime and Masa’s relationship was.

That said, it is nice that we are finally seeing Sunny’s (Joanna Sotomura) origin story. That poor little robot wasn’t asked to be made and now has to deal with the sins of her creator.

Sunny’s Violent Nature Is The Byproduct Of A Job Well Done

The first clue that Sunny wasn’t like other robots came with the realization that the series had been stingy with its depiction of other bots.

That was an odd choice, considering how common they were established to be.

We also discovered that something called the “Dark Manual” would allow users to override standard protocols programmed into the robots.

Unfortunately, some owners have used it to engage in adult relations with their bot. Thankfully, the show established this premise and quickly moved on.

And considering how interested the yakuza is in Sunny, it’s likely that they want the “Dark Manual” to control and make Home Bots fight, whether for sport or assassinations.

If I gathered all the information correctly, that means the humanity Masa programmed into Sunny is allowing her to override her protocols naturally.

I had previously said in another review that if Sunny had been built for Suzie, Masa would have made sure the bot could protect his wife. I was half right.

Sunny’s violent nature is the byproduct of a job well done.

In all seriousness, I suggested that Sunny was built to help Suzie (Rashida Jones) with her loneliness, and in that regard, the Home Bot is a love letter from Masa to his wife.

There’s Only One More Episode Of Sunny With So Many Questions Still Left To Answer

Oh, Suzie. Poor, drunk, angry Suzie probably hasn’t showered in a few days. The poor woman can’t catch a break.

It’s bad enough that her husband and son are supposedly dead, but each episode has proven that her happy home life was a lie.

And I’m just going to get this out of the way now. I think Masa was indirectly using Suzie as part of his “Lonely Bot” experiment. He could’ve modeled the simulations after her.

On top of all that, she has a mother-in-law who clearly can’t stand her and would rather hang out in jail than fix their fractured relationship.

Now, the unique robot her husband left her left is going to wipe her hard drive and forget who she is.

What has been happening in the real world while Sunny is on her little spirit journey? Or is it going to be like a dream that feels longer but is only a few seconds long?

See what I mean about questions on top of questions on this Apple TV+ series?

We’re not even done yet, because then there is the case of the last few minutes of Sunny Season 1 Episode 8. Was that really Zen before Sunny starting bugging out?

We saw the small boy for a second, and then he was gone with just Sunny standing there.

Was that real? Was Sunny hallucinating right after killing that guy to save Suzie?

There’s only one episode left of Sunny Season 1, but so many questions remain.

That’s a lot to pack into a finale, but if there is one thing fans can count on, the season will go out with a campy, comedic, and possibly bloody ending.