(Super) Samurai

Pre-Show Preamble

Samurai was the first season where I actively kept up with the fanbase as it aired, making it quite the interesting experience for me. Probably the most interesting aspect to me in terms of that was how alot of people liked it at first, but opinions on it seemed to lower with every episode.

And what made that interesting to me was how these opinions were lowering despite the show seeming to go out of its way to address the early complaints that the fanbase had. For example, people complained that it was too similar to Shinkenger, so come Super where the show started to divert and differentiate itself more? Complaints actually only seemed to increase, with many of the same people now complaining it should be doing what Shinkenger did.

My personal opinion when it comes to things like this, and it's one I've found that not many have, is that as long as the writing and characters make sense within their own context, I really don't care if a given season of Power Rangers is a copypaste of its Sentai counterpart or not. We've had seasons that are copypastes(Time Force), and those that are completely different(RPM) that are both equally as popular, and ones that I've found myself enjoying regardless.

With that out of the way, allow me to just say that personally, I find Samurai to actually be pretty underrated. It's not without its flaws: Poor directing in the early episodes, a few character arcs that are mishandled(Deker and Kevin), the forced hiatuses from Nickelodeon... But for me, the strengths overall outweighed the weaknesses.

Bringing in Bulk and Spike was a good move for the comedic aspect of the show, the fights were intense, the villains struck just the right balance of silly and threatening, the overall theme of family and subverting expectations was nicely done, and the show gave me my favorite Gold Ranger: Antonio.

Plus, while not many fans like to admit it, Samurai was an overall success with its target demographic. And I knew it would be, because here's the thing. There are people who like to insist that Shinkenger was unadaptable, but like, Samurai aired in 2011. By this point, cartoons and anime had become mainstream, and shows like Samurai Jack and Rurouni Kenshin were very popular. Kids knew what Samurai were, and were seen as every bit as cool as Ninja.

I bring up alot of fandom aspects here because, well, over the years, the episode I decided was my favorite has been looked down upon by alot of people, no thanks in part to a certain internet critic who I won't be name-dropping. Thus, I feel like I'm gonna have to do alot of defending on this one. My personal favorite episode of Power Rangers Samurai is...

Episode 14: Room for One More

This episode directly follows Antonio's' debut, and details his efforts to become officially seen as the Sixth Samurai Ranger.

This episode is also all about one of Samurai's' overall themes: That doing something solely for the sake of tradition is, often times, total crap.

The episode starts off with the team discussing Antonio, and trying to figure how exactly he managed to become a Samurai Ranger, despite not coming from one of the Five Families. Half the team says they should say screw the rules and let him join the team, while the other half says they think he'd be more of a burden than a help. Jayden, while speaking fondly of his friend, is undecided.


One thing that I've always loved about Antonio is just how much personality he has. He's energetic, he's fun, he has a huge devotion to the people he cares about, and he's able to adapt and think on his feet rather quickly. Alot of his antics also helped give me a giggle; It's a simple joke, but the bit where he rips his pants with his fishing pole never fails to get a chuckle out of me. It makes a nice contrast to Jayden, whom is oftentimes very stoic and to the point; They play off eachother rather well, I think!

At the "interview" Antonio gives us his origin in how he became the Gold Samurai, and we actually get some nice flashbacks detailing how the friendship between him and Jayden started, as well as a look into Jayden's' more rebellious side, with him giving Antonio the Octozord as a present, and threatening that he'd quit being a Samurai if Ji tried to get it back. It's a nice enough moment that makes the devotion these two have to eachother entirely believable.

In the midst of this, Jayden is still torn. He very clearly still cares about Antonio, but he also doesn't want his best friend getting hurt, and is worried about what it might mean in terms of how it'd look to his family and the other Samurai. This leads to Master Ji, seeing how hard this is for Jayden, deciding to handle it himself and making a decision that would lead into what would become one of Samurai's' most infamous moments.

Ji decides to reject Antonio as a member of the team, and takes away his Morpher.

Many a fan nowadays cry foul, and like to say the entire episode is bad because of this singular moment. Some have gone even farther than that and use this moment as a way to try and prove that the writing for the season in general is terrible. I disagree, and I'll do my best to provide many an example as to why.

Firstly, the show does not portray what Ji did as a good thing. No one celebrates the decision, Antonio rightly protests being denied what's his, and Jayden himself even makes it clear that he's not happy with the decision, and is trying to do what he thinks is best for not just his team, but his best friend as well.

There's also the single scene with Bulk and Spike in the entire episode, showing that just like his father once did, Spike has the hots for the Pink Ranger. It works well enough as a humorous callback.


After the first fight with Steeleto, the other four Rangers decide to talk things out with Antonio and Jayden. And in a nice moment, we see that Jayden actually stole Antonio's' Morpher back from Ji, showing that there's still a side of him that wants Antonio to stay around.

It's here that Jayden makes his decision. Screw what Ji says and to heck with the rules. Antonio is his friend and has more than proven himself, and deserves every right to be a fellow Samurai. Friendship and hard work are far more important than anything tradition has to say. And in another nice moment, we actually see that, upon seeing all of this, Ji actually nods in approval, meaning that he was actually testing the resolve of both Jayden and Antonio all along.


Stuff like this is why I never understood the critique that "Ji never does any actual mentoring." He very much does, he's just alot more subtle about it than what the series typically does. And to me, it was clear from the moment he saw Jayden downtrodden that he knew what had to be done, even if it would lead to some hurt feelings on the part of the two Rangers involved. Either Antonio and Jayden rise to the challenge, bringing in a new Ranger, or they go their separate ways, but in the end keeping Antonio safe.

Leading into the final fight with Steeleto, I love the gag where Antonio doesn't have a proper place to stand in the starting lineup, since the team is used to only having to make space for the five of them. Just the visual alone makes me smile. The fight itself is good too, showing off the teamwork Jayden and Antonio have, as well as some more awesome super speed from the Gold Ranger. A new Megazord configuration is also unlocked.


Side tangent: I also never understood why fans complain that "Mega Mode is never explained." My response to that is "Does it need to be?" Coming from someone with a total smooth brain who misses alot of details, to me it was always clear right from the mode's' debut that these suits are how the Megazord synchronizes with the Ranger's' movements and intentions, G-Gundam style. "Show don't tell" is definitely something Samurai pulled off with this specific aspect, if you ask me.

After the battle, we see that Antonio, coming from a fisherman's' family, knows how to cook! And it's also here that a small moment that a ton of people tend to forget happens in this episode: Ji actually outright apologizes for what he did, admitting that it might not've been the best way to achieve the end result. In other words, Ji also learned a lesson, and once again, the show does not try to say he was 100% justified in what he did to Antonio.

Overall I like this episode a bunch, because it lays the foundation for alot of things. Sure, the directing on alot of the actors is weak, but other than that, I dug it alot. It further develops both Antonio and Jayden, offers a nice lesson about how introducing new ideas can help strengthen any operation, and as always, the action is slick and fun to watch. Even if everyone else hates this episode because of one of moment that even the show says isn't fully justified, it's an episode I'll always look at fondly.

After-Show Bonus:

I love the Samurai theme song, but man is hindsight 20/20, because come 2020, the team behind Battle For The Grid made an original theme for Lauren Shiba that really, REALLY fits the show a ton and makes me wish we'd gotten it as the theme song instead. Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tor_gjEA8E

I really enjoyed seeing you stick up for Samurai here, because that's another show I very rarely, if ever, see people have nice things to say about. It's another one I also have a bit of a soft spot for, since it was the start of a new era for PR that also happened to be airing right as I was getting into the wider world of tokusatsu. For as many problems as even I had/have with the show, I won't lie, it always made me smile seeing a prominent credit for Yasuko Kobayashi during an episode of a Power Rangers series.

It wasn't a show that ever rose to greatness, but in retrospect, I find myself easing up more and more on it, especially knowing now that it did in fact strike a chord with the intended audience, which is what counts.

And I agree Antonio is a cool dude! I even felt the need to call this out in a post a bit back in the thread I made when Twitch did that huge marathon of the entire franchise to promote the movie coming out:

Well thank you! Samurai is far from perfect, but I really don't get why fans have this huge hatred for it. I found myself enjoying it overall.

Man, this goes to show just how late I was in getting into the Toku-sphere outside of PR and Toku Anime. I didn't start seeing stuff like Kamen Rider until Ninja Steel started airing.

Oh yeah. In my local area alone, the toys were flying off the shelves, and alot of kids were running around with Samurai backpacks and whatnot.

Oh man the Twitch Marathon was, honestly, one of the best things Saban had ever arranged for the franchise. It gave a huge boost to alot of the more underrated seasons like Lightspeed Rescue and Ninja Storm, and lead to a great many meme.

Glad to see someone else loves Antonio too! Whenever anyone asks who the best Ranger in Samurai is, most people tend to default to Mike. And I like Mike, but man, Antonio's' arc and the personality that Steven Skyler gives him just make him incredibly likeable overall. And as a Latino, the random Spanish always gave me a smile, haha.

As for a very, very rubbish compliment, Samurai is not quite my least favourite series, it is merely near the bottom for me around Mystic Force territory but at least it was a close adaptation of a show I actually liked a lot! :lolol

Neo-Saban Halloween Specials

I have no idea why, but I just kinda woke up today and decided I wanted to watch all of these? It was actually a good thing to do, because it helped me give a quick way in showing just how much the Era had evolved as it went on.

For those who might've skipped these, the Neo-Saban Halloween Specials are essentially clipshows, typically giving a scenario centered around the holiday for Rangers to recall past adventures. Thing is, I actually found myself enjoying them for the most part despite that, because I've seen clips shows that are literally JUST an assortment of past clips(Tekkaman Blade), or ones that were so sloppily done that they actually made me outright angry(Dragon Knight).

So with that said, let's take a trip down memory lane ourselves, and have a brief look at these Halloween Specials and how exactly they handled themselves.


The first one comes from Samurai, which is probably the simplest out of all of them. A bunch of Nighloks meet in the afterlife to talk about how they fell to the Rangers. I enjoyed the lampshades they dropped here; From pointing out how the Samurai tend to showboat after Morphing to poking fun at just how freaky alot of the Nighlok designs are. And double points for using clips from the Negatron fight, which was my favorite MOTW of the season.


Super Samurai actually brings forth a really good idea when it comes to these: Utilize them to use footage that they otherwise couldn't use in the show proper. From all the Rangers being in goofy outfits to an idol dance sequence, it manages to justify its use of really trippy imagery by being a nightmare sequence for the team. I found this one to be rather fun!


Mega Force continues with this idea, but also throwing some original footage into the mix in order to make it play out more like a proper episode. Funnily enough, this episode also has some of the better character moments seen in the show, from Emma being upset that the MOTW interrupted her baking, to Gia hinting she has a crush on Jake, it was done alot better than what I expected it to be! As for the screenshot I chose? That's actually poking fun at how Troy's' actor, Andrew Gray, would frequently fall asleep on set during the show's' production. Nice.

Super Mega Force skips the holidays specials. Based on what I know of what went on behind the scenes, I'm assuming it's because by that point everyone involved was sick of working on the show and thus they didn't bother.


Dino Charge takes a bit of a step back in that all of the clips used are episodes that we've already seen, but I will give it props for still feeling like an episode of the show proper ontop of presenting a mystery that actually has some very subtle hints to it. Props to Yoshi Sudarso for the subtle acting here; You can notice little facial expressions he does as the episode goes on if you pay attention to him in the background.


As for Dino Super Charge, well, I mainly just found this one overall obnoxious. It doesn't really do anything new, Poisandra is annoying as always, and the original fight at the end isn't really much to speak of. Points for bringing Philip back though, and the visual gag that I screencapped did get a laugh out of me. Also Philip totally pulls off that outfit, just saying.

And with that, we move onto the last, and, in my opinion, the absolute best clips show that the Era, heck, perhaps even the series so far, has had to offer.


The clipshow for Ninja Steel is actually one that I really like alot. It continues the use of using up footage that they didn't find room for before, but this time presents them in a unique context that really makes them feel like part of show's' own universe, without resorting to flashbacks or flash-forwards. And as a fan of board games, the homage to Jumanji was a great touch.

Heck, the board game they play? Grave Robber? It's actually just a modified version of Nightmare(later called Atmosfear), which features one of the greatest show hosts ever filmed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZDQ17bHE5A


And all of the action sequences they use are great, which only helps in making the episode alot more fun to watch.

And ontop of it all, it really does feel like a proper episode of the season itself, even offering a lesson that I really dig: That the activity you do with those you care about isn't exactly what's important; it's the time you spend with them that is. Also a sub-lesson about trying out new things, since doing them with your friends can give them an entirely new context.


The final special of all of these, the one in Super Ninja Steel, is a little bit of a step down, but I still highly enjoyed it overall. The plot is alot more basic and they brought back to obnoxious Halloween Court, but he new scenes we got to see are all very silly and entertaining to watch, and I like how the Rangers outright lampshade them with lines like "Hey wait, that never happened!" Heck, all the dialogue in this is very on point and in character, and I never felt like my time was being wasted.

So... there you go! With this, I hope I could maybe give you a small glimpse as a way the entries in the Neo-Saban Era built off one another. And also why, with the next season I'll be going into, I think of it rather fondly, even if no one else does...

Honestly, most of the complaints I see levied at these specials boil down to “it’s a clip show”. To which I say “what’s wrong with a clip show?” Sometimes somebody needs a bit of a recap to what’s been happening. Plus it’s marked as a special, and most shows I watch don’t intend to advance their plots through specials (the one exception I know being Doctor Who and Beast Morphers’ infamous fourth special episode).

I will say that I do agree that Ninja Steel does have the stronger specials of the era. While most of the footage in the first one comes from already adapted episodes, I don’t get that impression from watching it with that context. And the second one does have some of my personal highlights when it comes to jokes (the barbershop pumpkins for one) in addition to being bolstered by some good action courtesy of a late game Sentai episode (which always up the action quota in the fight scenes).

So I just wanted to comment on this real quick: that's actually not what's going on here. Like most of Samurai this is in fact an extremely straight adaption; the source footage for this is entirely from Shinkenger Returns, which for some reason decided "let's have a new kaijin just trap them in movies", set a little before the finale. The only major difference in Samurai's use of it here aside from cutting certain scenes - as far as I know - is the Halloween framing.

It's also really funny to me because they straight up used source footage of ShinkenPink untransformed as Samurai Pink untransformed. I'm sure it's happened once or twice in PR before but it's still hilarious to see them do this

I agree with you here. Personally I'm fine with clip shows as long as they aren't extremely lazy. And hey, if a show manages to do a clipshow episode in a fun and smart way, all the better!

Oh yeah, it really goes to show the extra effort they put in when it came to the Ninja Steel specials. And yeah, while I didn't like the Halloween Court, the barbershop joke WAS rather funny.

Ah, didn't know that even existed. Thanks! Still, this means that Mega Force had an even smarter idea for these than what Samurai did. And that makes me smile.

Yeah the series has done this a few times. Most notably in Time Force, where they straight up used unmorphed footage of TimeFire's' actor a couple times. It's always funny to see.

EDIT: Browser glitched and double posted. Please delete this.

(Super) Ninja Steel

Pre-Show Preamble

Oh how the tables have turned. Not too long ago I say I don't get the fandom's' love for Dino Charge, and now you all get to point and me and say "You put Ninja Steel this high up, really?"

For those who might not know, while I wouldn't go so far as to say Ninja Steel is out and out hated in the eyes of fans, it's typically seen as a rather weak entry in the franchise, and if nothing else a big step down from Dino Charge. Probably the biggest compliment I've ever seen anyone give the season is that its second season was an overall improvement. Heck, even when it comes to the friend I binged the series with, all he can really muster about the season is "It's okay."

But for me... I kinda had the exact opposite reaction? I saw Ninja Steel as a huge improvement not only in terms of comparison to Dino Charge, but for the Neo-Saban Era as a whole. And keep in mind, I'm one of the few who actually likes this Era!

Heck, while I still liked it, I actually saw Super as a slight step backward. Odius never earns the upgrade to main villain that she gets, alot of the action was less involving, and most of the show's' most powerful moments were in the first season. Though the return of the rock-based soundtrack and Bulk & Skull theme was very much appreciated.

Meanwhile, season 1? Galvanax, while a basic villain, is never annoying and has some of the best fights in the show bar none, the character development for almost the whole cast is really solid, the overall themes of bonds and family are done even better than how Samurai did them, the game show angle made for some very neat justifications and meta-play on how aspects of the PR universe works, and, I know you'll all groan once I say this, but... I loved Victor and Monty as a comedic duo.

Not only did I find their slapstick comedy and over the top personalities alot of fun, but I actually got alot of appreciation at how Victor was a Jock but Monty was a Nerd, going against the common portrayal of Nerds always being innocent in media. Take it from a fellow Nerd, I've met other Nerds who are huuugge douchebags, okay? Plus, they're the first male couple in the franchise, and that's gotta count for something, right?

Also the show has classic gags that I'll never not love, like this.


Yeah... no way I could dislike this show when it has all of that going for it.

And hopefully, with my personal favorite episode of Ninja Steel, you all might be able to see where I'm coming from. Today's episode is...

Episode 12: Family Fusion

We start off with Aiden striking a deal with Ripcon to get the Ninja Power Stars, only for it to be revealed to be a plot by Odius. The whole framework of the plot around Aiden is interesting to me in that, with the way it's presented, I feel like the true nature of what's going on with him isn't so much meant to be a mystery for the audience, but moreso just a mystery directed at the Rangers, Brody especially.

Speaking of said Rangers, they're all preparing for the local talent show, with Brody and Aiden noting that they're planning on performing a song that their dad wrote for them when they were kids, setting the stage for a great payoff later.

Unfortunately for Victor, his dream of being a matador is cut short, so he instead opts to steal Preston's' hat and take his spot as the magician for the show. Him and Monty then get sucked inside, and I love the visual of the magical hat outright leading to a pocket dimension where a giant rabbit reigns supreme. It's a fun visual! Also a nice way at making sure the clowns won't be interfering with the drama that the episode will go into later on.

Ripcon then proceeds to outright murder a bunch of people in the center of town. Like, holy crap, that's something the series hasn't seen in awhile!

Once the team scatters to both fight Ripcon and finish the Fusion Star, Aiden tails Levi, discovering where the base is. And I was always a fan of how the base was directly connected to the school, since it's a nice little twist on how the Rangers are able to get to and from it so fast other than teleporting, ontop of being able to hide it much easier thanks to Mick being a teacher.


The fight between Ripcon and Brody is really well choreographed, with swift swordplay, dual wielding, some great visuals, and the debut of the Fusion Star, which allows Brody to use Omnislash. What's not to love?

Meanwhile, Levi does his best to hold Aiden off, as Aiden's' true nature is revealed. And in a nice bit of characterization, when the rest of the team arrives, Brody is the only one who can't bring himself to open fire on the one whom he thought was his brother this whole time. The ensuing fight also results in Aiden's' stolen memories being transferred back into Levi, something only the audience would be aware of. Again, the way the whole arc is framed, I really feel the mystery is more meant for the characters, not the audience.

Odius backstabs Ripcon, essentially telling Galvanax that Ripcon did everything that she'd been doing the entire season, prompting Galvanax to basically send Ripcon off to die. Something that really only works out in her favor thanks to Galvanax being gullible. If there's one villain I dislike most in this show, it's Odius, because it's less that she's a brilliant schemer and more that everyone around her, well, isn't. Such a waste.


During a quick scene with the Rangers, Brody's' eyes are totally bloodshot. You can tell this whole situation is really getting to him and he's doing his best not to breakdown infront of his friends. No time to grieve though, because a Gigantified Ripcon is on the loose.

The Megazord battle, while brief, is cool enough. The Skullgators combining into a zweihander is really neat, and this battle is also the debut of the Ninja Fusion Megazord. The fight does a good enough job at portraying the new machine as something powerful.

The final sequence of the episode is, of course, the talent show! Preston does his typical magic; here pulling Victor and Monty out of his hat(along with the rabbit), but the really standout part of this whole thing happens with Brody and Levi.


This... this entire sequence is just absolutely fantastic. The acting, the directing, the editing... this is hands down, without a doubt, the best moment in the entire season for me. Levi's' mind struggling to rebuild itself upon hearing the song, Brody almost breaking down mid song, only for Levi to come in and finish it... it got me right in the feels, dude! Plus, the campfire scene at the end, with not just the two brothers, but the entire team singing the last bit of the song? Absolute perfection, and truly emphasizes that these Rangers have truly come to appreciate eachother not simply as teammates, but as a family.

Stuff like this is why I'll always look at Ninja Steel fondly. Sure, it's not the best Ranger season(we still have like half the series to go afterall), but it made alot of really smart decisions throughout its run, with a good handle on atomsphere, character interaction, and the style and flair the series is known for... I don't think I'll ever be able to see eye to eye with those who try to claim that this season was "soulless" or anything like that. Please, if you haven't already, give the show a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised despite the lukewarm reputation that this season has.

After-Show Bonus

Peter Sudarso is one of the few actors who would get to play multiple Rangers that are entirely different characters. First being here with Preston, the Blue Ninja Steel Ranger, and the second being Marv, the Red Hyper Force Ranger and first Asian Red Ranger in the franchise. And if Hyper Force hadn't already been in the works before he came up with the idea, he would've even been the creator of that show as a whole. Quite the resume for this franchise, I'd say!

Yo, as someone with a longstanding belief that Ninninger is a criminally underrated Sentai season, I stand in solidarity with your take on its PR counterpart. :p

I also did enjoy Ninja Steel for what it was, although I didn't end up watching like any of the second season, which has also happened with a few other recent shows.

My biggest thought about it has always been that I actually think it does, by far, the best job truly recapturing the spirit, tone, and style of the original Mighty Morphin' era, and would've been much more appreciated if it hadn't come after half a decade of shows that made people so sick of that as an idea. But like, Samurai was also trying to be a carbon copy of Shinkenger, Mega Force was wildly overstuffed and all-around incompetent, and Dino Charge also had aspirations of being original, leaving Ninja Steel as a series that got to really nail the back-to-basics concept.

There's a sort of beauty to its simplicity, and that makes it a tragic series in a way, because I think fans are, understandably, after something that proves Power Rangers can still be a bit more complex and innovative. Ninja Steel could be straight out of the early 90's, and whether that's praise or condemnation will depend greatly on your own tastes.

Which makes this another cool occasion to see someone giving the series a more positive look. While their juvenile humor isn't always great, Victor and Monty are actually my favorite character concepts for the comic relief of this era for exactly what you were getting at, which is how weirdly fresh it is to see a jock and a nerd teaming up to be obnoxious jerks, and that scene at the end of this episode legitimately is pretty great. It shows a respect for the viewer's intelligence Power Rangers isn't always great about by letting the scene hang on that moment where just the two of them singing to each conveys the emotions for a bit before resorting to the usual blunt dialogue explaining what's going on, and that was something that I sincerely appreciated. Power Rangers could use so many more scenes like that one.

Also, I think Ninja Steel had more masked heroes on bikes than most Kamen Rider shows do nowadays, so that's something I have to give it credit for, too. :lol

No one likes Ninninger either? feelsbadman

Yeah, I can definitely see that. While Ninja Steel doesn't exactly do anything revolutionary, what it does aim for, it does extremely well for the most part. For me it really helps that I don't really need something to be "~deep~" in order to gain alot of enjoyment out of it, but for those who are expecting the same sorts of tone and style that RPM, In Space, and the like went all in on? Yeah, I can see how they'd be worn out and disinterested by the time Ninja Steel aired.

Oh yeah, while I don't tend to agree with those who try to claim that the series talks down to kids, when they go all in on a scene and are confident that the atmosphere and emotions are enough to carry what they're trying to say? Stuff like that really shines, and really makes up alot of my favorite episodes, if that weren't obvious already, haha.

Glad you atleast liked the idea they were gunning for with Victor and Monty, by the way! Might just be due to me being a simplistic doof, but I kinda just feel like it just wouldn't be PR without cheeseball comedy, ya know?

I don't mind Ninja Steel either actually, I do prefer Dino Charge and Beast Morphers but other than that it's perfectly acceptable and red rangers like Brody and Casey tend to be underrated! The episode where Levi had to sing that song that would make him evil did have me in absolute stitches though, I mean there was a lot of so bad it's good value in that one even though I liked Levi as a character!

While the execution was pretty cheese, I did like the overall message that episode had; Not letting someone force their styles and habits onto you just because you like them. I know it wouldn't've happened due to not having stock footage for it, but I would've loved if after Morphing, Levi's' cowboy hat on his helmet changed into a baseball cap to reflect his alignment shift. Oh well.

The friend who I binged the whole series with? His favorite season ended up being...

Mighty Morphin' Season 2

So I asked him to type up what he got out of the season and why he loves it so much, and he sent me this:

"Season 2 of Mighty Morphin' introduces a god damn flesh mummy straight from hell to dunk on Rita and start menacing the rangers. He also uses his Olympian tier arm to throw gourds from the MOON to the EARTH in mere seconds, which is both awesome and incredibly stupid(even for this series). He even destroys Tommy in a one on one fight just to flex. Characters continue to grow, there's a long running plot about Tommy losing his powers and the worries therein, the legendary 'Dark Rangers' make their appearance in their walmart brand carpet suits, Kimberly does a Rita impression. We even get the definitive hero moment of Bulk and Skull of all people sacrificing what they've been working all season to get just to save the rangers. It's a great time all around that maintains an air of silly nonsensical fun, but still holds some substance and develops the characters further. It's also the first time any of the cast members are replaced, so while we bid farewell to a few, we get three new in return."

...I'd say that's a pretty good summation! Hahaha.

Lord Zedd is hands down the best US original design that the series has ever had, and he makes for a fantastic villain all around. He's got an awesomely creepy design, a menacing voice, shown prowess in combat, and is even the source of some of the best jokes! What's not to love?

Bulk and Skull's' character development also really starts to kick off in this season, and if you ask me, not only are these two the funniest comedy duo in the entire franchise, but they also legit have some of, if not THE best character development outright.

Ontop of that, the show continues with its over the top action sequences and outright insane plots the series had become known for, making the season alot of fun to watch!

...But none of that matters because they replaced my favorite character, therefor the entire season sucks and I hate it. 0/10.

I'm kidding of course. Especially nowadays that we know basically all of the details about what went on behind the scenes, I'm not really blaming anyone for any of the decisions they made. But, it definitely stung to see the characters I grew to love go when I was a kid, and that's a feeling I'll always remember.

Of the Stone Canyon Trio, the one I ended up liking best was Aisha, because she was the sassy one and thus I got the most enjoyment out of her personality. However, she is not who we're focusing on today. Today, we focus on the best of the best. The honor of Favorite Episode today goes to...

Episode 31: When is a Ranger Not a Ranger?

...That's a mighty deep question you're asking there MMPR, are you sure you're ready to answer it?


We start off with Adam giving a soft spoken report on how kaleidoscopes work, and Ms. Appleby totally smokes Skull; I always got a kick out of the show's' sarcastic humor alongside everything else. And that hair on Bulk! This truly was the 90s, haha.

And in true Power Rangers fashion, this simple report is enough to give the big bad inspiration for the Monster of the Week. Zedd also answers the question the episode asks: A Ranger is no longer a Ranger when their image is scattered to bits! And a Ranger is in danger when their memory is on the fritz! Nailed it. And yes, he needs to specifically steal Adam's' kaleidoscope, no other one will do!

Meanwhile, Kim, Tommy, and Billy all decide to go stare at the mountains through the kaleidoscope because uh... OH CRAP Z-PUTTIES!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9A41bIKN8

I will NEVER not love MMPR's' soundtrack. "I Will Win" rocks out in the background as the trio shows off their martial arts against the Z-Putties. Tommy showing off by taking one down with one finger, Kimberly doing a bunch of gymnastics flips, and Billy being straight-forward and to the point. I actually really dig the subtle development Billy has throughout the past two seasons; Going from a pushover of a nerd to a true martial artist who can stand his ground with everyone else.

Zedd zaps the kaleidoscope to create Scatterbrain and holy COW is this monster OP! He instantly brings the Rangers down by mind-wiping them. No attempts to stop him, no defense, no will save, just bam, memory and morphing ability gone. That's nuts!

At the Juice Bar, the Stone Canyon Trio are all spending their time staring at an abacus(???) when the REAL stars of the show arrive!


They tell Ernie that they plan to do a stakeout, and we get to see a bit of Rocky's' mischievous side with him hypnotizing the duo. Just in time too, because Zordon calls in about the new Scatterbrain monster on the loose. And the way Zordon describes how its power works is totally nuts!

"Scatterbrain fires a ray which scatters its victims into millions of pieces and then reassembles them without any memory of who they are."

Like... holy crap??? That's one of the most intense and insane things I've ever heard, and I LOVE IT!

That aside, I do like how this episodes gives the SCT a chance to shine. From Aisha appealing to Kimberly's' sense of friendship, to Rocky immediately taking reigns as the leader now that Tommy is out of commission, there's actually some good stuff here! Oh, and Adam figures that they might be able to use prisms to fight Scatterbrain. That's a thing, I guess.


The biggest takeaway though is that Bulk and Skull's' stakeout is successful, and they finally learn who the Power Rangers really are!

Side note: Anyone else ever get a small kick out of how the Rangers always looked directly at the camera whenever they morph? Cause I do.

But yeah, Rocky and Aisha confront Scatterbrain, whose Mind Ray causes frikken EXPLOSIONS!

Adam arrives with the prisms, but in classic Adam fashion, instantly gets his molecules rearranged by Scatterbrain. Nice reflexes, Adam.

I absolutely love Bulk and Skull all throughout this. They genuinely admire the Power Rangers as heroes despite what their real identities end up being, to the point of showing genuine distress not only when Aisha and Rocky get blasted, but at the mere notion that the Power Rangers could be lost forever.

And then, one of the greatest moments in the history of the show goes down.


Bulk and Skull, complete with a wild west remix of their theme song, face off against Scatterbrain, and in the process sacrifice their memories in order to save the Rangers. The two become legitimate heroes in their own right, even impressing the Power Rangers and making them in the two's' debt! SO GOOD!

This also marks one of the few times that a monster didn't have to fall before being made gigantic, as Zedd opts to just throw his Growth Bomb anyway. I like to think he was so impressed by Bulk and Skull that he out and out knew Scatterbrain couldn't handle them, and considered the battle lost right then and there. True heroes, everyone!

So of course after the Megazord fight where Bulk and Skull try to tell of their exploits, no one believes them, because Bulk and Skull must suffer. Atleast Kim and Aisha are decent enough to give them a pat on the back this time.

Overall, like most of MMPR, this episode is a total blast. It's full of energy, it's fun to watch, and Bulk and Skull get one of their absolute best moments. What's not to love?

After-Show Bonus

If there's one thing I wish had happened in this season, it'd be the introduction and use of the rest of the Dairanger suits alongside White. Don't get me wrong, I totally get why Saban opted not to use them, but man have I really grown to love those suits overtime. And while it's a total rumor with basically no basis, some say that had Saban gotten Steve Cardenas to return for Forever Red he would've shown up wearing the Red Dairanger outfit, and man that would've been awesome, I think.

I’ll mostly remover this one as “the one where the US fights actually got some quality”, given that previous episodes mostly used their US fight budget for Putty fights, along with some close ups to tell us “the Rangers are totally in the same area as this monster who never appears in the same frame as them”. Especially given that VR Troopers and Syber Squad (which were both airing at roughly the same time) were also pretty light on US fights (the latter for good reason, though), so that makes this episode stand out in that aspect all the more.

Oh yeah, although this episode isn't exactly the best example of what they'd later go on to do(Season 3 would ironically delve into original fights alot more despite using the Alien Rangers to bring back more stock footage), it is a great starting point.

Dino Thunder

Pre-Show Preamble

Somewhat similar to Dino Charge, Dino Thunder is another season that I feel I never really "got."

Again, many fans put it near the top, if not at THE top of the list for best Power Ranger seasons, some even calling it "the Time Force of the Disney Era" among many other high compliments. Heck, even many "Sentai Only" fans seem to like it from what I've seen!

And again I just... I dunno, it doesn't really do that much for me? The pacing in the early episodes is atrocious for one. Conner is a douche who takes too long to fully come around, certain aspects of the plot require you to think of Trent as Anton's' biological son despite him being adopted(such as the lock on the White Dino Gem), and it also has one of my most hated episodes in the entire series("Bully for Ethan").

But I still like the season overall! Yeah, don't get me wrong, there IS alot to like here. First off, the goal was clear from the start: Create a(n at the time) modern update to Mighty Morphin', and I'd say they succeeded for the most part. Tommy being the mentor, while it didn't have the best execution, was a great idea and lead to some great moments. And of course, the overall coolness factor of the White Ranger, although for the first time my favorite character wasn't a Ranger; it was Devin, who makes up half the comedy duo with Cassidy.

Oh, and this season, while not the first to have the "Civilian Powers"(that would be In Space) was what made it an overall staple of the Disney Era. Some liked it, others didn't. I'll let you guess what side I'm on.

I think the biggest takeaway I got from the season though, was how much respect it not only showed for itself, but for the Toku medium as a whole. And that is no better exemplified than in this episode. One that any fan of Dino Thunder will not at all be surprised to see listed.

Episode 19: Lost & Found in Translation

The set up is simple: It's late, and not much is going on other than homework. Ethan, being the nerd he is, decides to take advantage of Hayley's' new satellite dish to watch foreign TV. Kira is down to end the night on a high note, but Conner is disinterested, that is until it's revealed what exactly begins to play on the TV...


It's Abaranger, complete with the theme song and everything! Of course, in the context of the PR universe, Super Sentai is a Japanese show based on the Rangers, but yeah, this episode is literally the show runners doing their best to shake hands with the Japanese staff.

The personalities of Conner, Kira, and Ethan are all written perfectly here too. Ethan is hooked instantly, Kira is a bit cautious but willing to give the show a chance, and Conner does his best to try and find everything and anything to complain about.

The purpose is thus made clear; To try and give a stance as to why exactly people to this day not only like Power Rangers, but Toku shows in general. Every time Conner complains something is weird, or unrealistic, or stupid, Ethan and Kira are there to remind him not to rain on their parade and explain why they're personally having fun with what they're watching.

I especially love that the makers of DT knew exactly what episode of Abaranger to choose for this one too, where the evil plot is to give everyone a bad hair day. It's the type of plot straight out of MMPR! The Tommy of the show is even absent for most of it due to a dumb reason! Conner of course is dismissive, but again, Kira and Ethan are like "Bro chill, just try to have fun with it."


In the end, it's not just the action scenes, but the heart and soul of what the episode is saying that wins Conner over, to the point he even uses it for his social studies project. And so the episode ends, but this line from Kira really brings it home, I feel:

After-Show Bonus

Did you know the show runners originally wanted Devin to be a US original Sixth Ranger until it was discovered they didn't have the budget? I could never find a concrete answer to what exact Ranger he would be, but answers/theories range from making Red's' Triassic Mode its own Ranger to a Green Ranger who'd pilot the Parasaur Zord. But me personally? I would've loved if he'd been the series first Purple Ranger, and pilot to the Stego Zord. What do you all think?

I thought it was that they were going to make the Triassic mode its own ranger and then they didn't just because they found out it wasn't in the Sentai, but I would have actually liked if they'd still done that! :(

As for that episode, I can see how people are a bit too harsh on it, but as cool as it is to technically see a Sentai dub(sort of) I would prefer if they hadn't presented it as a ''show'' in their universe and just admitted that Power Rangers is based on Sentai. And yes, Conner is terrible. :lol I can see how some people might hate Ryouga more, but it's just that at least he gives me something to cling on to, he sort of almost reminds me of Kenta from Megaranger whereas Conner just never really appealed to me and I did find Dino Thunder a bit overly Americanised in general anyway, although it is still one of the better PR shows but I agree it can be a little bit overrated.

Outside of making it an episode that's totally removed from the Power Rangers universe, I'm not exactly sure how they could do that? Plus, if they do go that route, we'd miss out on the nice character writing the show has to offer.

Wild Force

Pre-Show Preamble

Wild Force is a show that everyone hated for the longest time, but over the years has gained more and more fans. Which to me is great, because I've always liked this show!

Starting off with probably the biggest influence it had on the franchise: This was the first season to feature Auxiliary Zords... okay well, technically not the first, the series has had them before, but Wild Force? It went all in on this concept, and made various Collectible Mecha a staple of the franchise for decades to come. (And yes I know we technically have Gaoranger to thank hush.)

And honestly? I actually think that no other season has done it the way that Wild Force has done since. Because with this show, each Zord was basically its own separate character with a defining personality trait; Something that many seasons have discarded over the years. This not only made every Zord memorable from a design standpoint, but a story standpoint too.

Heck, speaking of characters, I love everyone in the cast! Most people of course gravitate towards Zen Aku and Merrick, but my favorites were always Max and Danny, the BFFs of the Rangers. Not only was their friendship charming, but all of their focus episodes were just the right balance of heart-warming and utterly ridiculous(Let's beat the monster using a bowling ball that creates tornadoes!).

This was also the final season of the Saban Era, and to me, it really felt like they did their best to go all out with it. Like I said, every character is memorable, the musical score, while not the best in the series, is rather good, the action is fun, and the Battlizer is one of my favorites if only from a sheer design standpoint, and uh... it almost feels like I'm forgetting something...

...

Okay who am I trying to kid? We ALL know what episode I'm about to talk about. The one that keeps Wild Force relevant to this very day and is one of most love it or hate it crossovers of all time.

Episode 34: Forever Red

Oh my god I'm so giddy watching this again!!

I don't care what you all say, this is one of the best crossovers ever made and you'll never change my mind!

So what is it? Well, remnants of the Machine Empire, who happen to be Evil Bettleborgs, decide to dig up the remains of Serpentera on the moon in an attempt to rule everything. In order to combat this threat, every Red Ranger from across the series needs to join together as one, and put the Machine Empire, and Serpentera, down once and for all.

That... that is like the coolest premise of a Power Rangers episode EVER!!

And yes, ALL the Red Rangers! They even bring in Eric(Quantum Ranger) from Time Force! It's just unfortunate that they couldn't contact Steve Cardenas to be Rocky or David Bacon to be Aurico proper, because oh man would that have kicked this up to an entire new level!


Bulk and Skull even get to make a cameo! Thus answering the question as to whether or not Bulk ever returned from Terra Venture. I also got a kick out of how their chess set features cameos from the Psycho Rangers and Lord Zedd's' Evil Rangers.


On the moon, I love the civilian fight here alot. They did a great job at showing off each Ranger's' unique fighting style; such is the advantage of having trained martial artists in your cast, people! That said, I can't help but always get a kick out of Carter the most. Everyone else is doing flips, and spin kicks, and stuff like that. Carter? He opts to just shoot everyone, haha.

And then, one of my favorite scenes in anything EVER happens:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrzwkeI_l8Y

I... I am a HUGE sucker for team up Morphs like this. And remember, Power Rangers and I are the exact same age. So when I was 10 and I first saw that? All the great memories of the past 10 years came flooding back to me all at once. Heck, even now, almost 20 years later, this scene still has that effect!

Know what? For those who maybe still don't get it, let me attempt at giving you a comparison that maybe you will understand. So, I haven't watched Kamen Rider Zi-O yet, right? But one of the few things of it I have seen is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHqPPCe1xI

And already that scene is one of my favorite scenes in the entire franchise. Like, Zi-O could end up being the worst Rider show, heck, the worst toku I'd ever seen in my life, and a whole bunch of it would feel totally justified just for that Henshin sequence alone.

Because to me, it's stuff like this that shows that the makers of the show are trying. Trying to honor the seasons of the past, trying to make their audience happy, trying to do something cool to have their season stand alongside the rest. It's just... I get very emotional when it comes to celebratory scenes like this, alright!?


So after that escalation of ecstasy, we're treated to another great action sequence, and I love all of the team-ups that happen here. Just like with the unmorphed fight, every Ranger is given their proper chance to shine. Their weapons, their unique fighting styles, the banter they share with eachother... it's just so well done I just don't even know how well I can actually get it across.

As for Serpentera, well, while the Rangers fail in preventing it from launching, what proceeds is definitely Cole's' most badass moment in the entire show: Using the Wild Rider to tank a world destroying lazer right in the face and blow Zedd's' Zord up from the inside. You can call bull if you want, but I don't care. That is just so frikken cool that I can't help but love it.


The episode ends with the Rangers disbanding, but not before trying to flex on one another. But I gotta say, the victor is TJ, with this single line:


Overall, there's a reason that to this day, fans still ask for a Forever Red 2. This is a crossover that has pretty much everything; Almost every main hero up that point, great attention to detail, good character interactions, excellent fight scenes, and a premise that, on its own, is just so cool you can't help but feel excited about it.

It's not only my favorite episode of Wild Force, but is really close to being my favorite episode in the entire franchise. And I really hope that either Hasbro or BOOM! Studios can make Forever Red 2 happen for the 30th Anniversary.

After-Show Bonus

If you wanna say that Forever Red shouldn't count because it's a crossover, then I think my follow-up would be Team Carnival, since it features Jindrax trying to knife Taylor in public, and dude, that's just hardcore.

The whole episode is a bona fide classic, but it'll always be that aforementioned ending scene that really cements how well done it was for me. Every single line is pure gold, and it goes to show how tightly they were able to pack in so much in just a single episode.

The real victor is Eric saying his Q-Rex would eat the Dragonzord for lunch, by the way. Not because of the line itself, mind you – it's because of the sheer confidence it takes to immediately do a pantomime impression of a T-rex to emphasize the point.

Yeah Forever Red was great. It pays off using years of PR lore to give a satisfying tribute that gives both old and new fans something to love. And the civilian fights and wireworks has to be given props by Koichi Sakamoto and I hope one day he would properly come back to PR again.

As a sidenote I do think you would genuinely like Zi-O for the same reason you like Forever Red the people working on it where making series who's main purpose was to celebrate an Era. Getting as many actors as they can and pulling some real surprises. It wasn't perfect and the show structure certinly left some things to be desired but it's heart was in the right place. Just like Forever Red.

Oh definitely. Not even just the ending, but pretty much all the dialogue in the entire episode! They really paid attention to what every character had been through and their writing really let the actors bring the personalities of their character shine bright all throughout.

Haha, yeah that was great! Also goes to show just how Eric has started to loosen up some ever since his adventure in Time Force.

I really hope he returns someday too. Even if only for a Special or something. It's be great to see him work on the show again.

Well I'm definitely looking forward to it in three years when I finally finish the Phase 2 Heisei shows, haha!

Turbo

Pre-Show Preamble

Ah yes Turbo, the first season alot of people disliked because...

uh...

You know I personally never found a thorough reason alot of people disliked this show. The closest I could ever get is "Justin is annoying."

But hey, yeah, call me the much less talented contrarian, because I actually really like Justin as a character, as well as the season he comes from! Let's just say that, without getting too much into it, I could actually relate to Justin alot.

Plus, I always felt that, as a character in and of himself, Justin was actually really balanced, and fit in perfectly with the rest of the cast. Heck, "Balanced" is probably a term I'd use to describe the season as a whole. Following off the heels of Zeo, Turbo continued the trend of raising the stakes and the drama.

And of course, this only came about in even better ways come the second half, when Judd Lynn fully took over as the head of the season. The writing all throughout the second half is impressive in just how tight it is. They knew they had to develop the newcomers from "Passing the Torch" quick to bring people around, and they did a fantastic job of it. Heck, I personally think the second half of Turbo is Lynn's' best work when it comes to Power Rangers!

So of course, you might already have an idea in your head about which episode is my favorite, because there's a few common ones people tend to choose:

"Trouble by the Slice"
"Spirit of the Woods"
"Little Strong Man"
"Chase into Space"

...

I chose none of these.

Oh, they're all very memorable and wonderful episodes for sure, but for me, nothing in Turbo will ever top this one...

Episode 43: Parts and Parcel

This episode took like 0 seconds to become my favorite in Turbo, just based on its premise alone. Bulk and Skull's' newest job is with "Super Duper Fast Deliveries" and TJ notes to Kassie how the two really should be admired with how hard they're always working.

I'm sorry, were Bulk and Skull just paid a frikken compliment??

Things go south quick though, because someone known as the Daytime Thief has been stealing alot of packages lately, and Bulk and Skull are the prime suspects. TJ, showing us just how great of a guy he is, instantly rises to their defense, and offers to help them do a stakeout to catch the thief. That... oh my gosh this is such a great turnaround!

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not only of those people who say "The Rangers are always jerks to Bulk and Skull for no reason" because hey, there were certainly many times where the two got what was coming to them, but I also get the sneaking suspicion that had this happened around any of the previous teams, their reaction would be "Oh those two are always misplacing stuff and screwing things up."


The mystery of who the Daytime Thief is is pretty quickly revealed to the audience. It's Divatox, looting tech in order to create remote controls for the three Zords she plans to later sick on the city. Anyone else get a kick out of how much of a... Diva, Divatox is? I sure do.

But none of that is really important, because what is important is that TJ keeps good on his word. Even after duty calls him to deal with some Piranhatrons, he immediately goes back to helping Bulk and Skull, even calling in the other Rangers to help out when the first stakeout ends in failure. Not only that, but when the mooks reveal themselves, TJ prioritizes getting Bulk and Skull to safety and letting the other Rangers deal with the goons. TJ really does have great priorities! He's a good leader!


The Megazord fight is great and all, but whenever I see the Rescue Megazord, I can't help but think about how the Rescue Zords were the first set of Zord toys I ever owned as a kid. It always makes me super nostalgic.

And in the end, after Divatox is dealt with and Bulk and Skull are about to be arrested, we're treated to what I will always see as THE definitive TJ moment.


He has the Rangers all show up, in uniform, and personally clears the two's' names.

That... that is so cool! And kind! And TJ right then and there became my favorite Red Ranger! It's because of this scene that, despite everyone always thinking of TJ as Space Blue, to me, he will always be Turbo Red. Yes, even over Tommy.

The look on Bulk's' face at the end says 1000 words. You can tell he's not used to people showing him genuine kindness, and he can't help but immediately go in and give TJ a huge hug. Honestly? I'd do the same.

After-Show Bonus

There's apparently a Director's Cut of the Turbo Movie buried way down deep in a vault somewhere, that has a ton of bonus scenes and elaborated upon plot points. Johnny Yong Bosch has even posted a few of the deleted scenes on his social media in the past. Probably the most notable one being a civilian fight on the pirate ship. I hope they release the Director's Cut in full someday.

I am not a massive Turbo fan but I suppose where I do differ from the majority view is that A] I didn't see what was all that much better about the second part considering that while TJ and Cassie were a good addition Ashley and Carlos in my view I liked more in In Space and B] I know it's controversial but I was never that big on Andros or Zhane despite Andros' story with Karone being a good part and I actually still would have liked In Space if TJ was red, I just honestly found TJ pretty cool considering Tommy's story was admittedly getting a bit ridiculous by that point suddenly being a massive expert on cars!

Ah yes, the last episode before the show entered what some people call “Cerberus Syndrome” (ie. it got darker starting with the next episode). Though it is a good send off to Bulk and Skull’s plot before finale, even if they are somehow unemployed again by next season.

And then egazord battle was cool, though I’ll mostly remover that one of the evil Zords is called “the CatZord”. Could the writers not come up with anything more threatening?

To me, what makes the second half so impressive is how much more prioritized the character development had become over the action scenes. Not only that, but the style and tone does a pretty noticeable shift(into turbo) once Lynn took over. It can even be seen in the Morphing Sequence, which is now smoother, quicker, and silent, compared to the version the previous cast had. Though I will always have a soft spot for those callouts. "Lightning Blaster Turbo Power!"

As for TJ during In Space, well, I do think it narratively overall made sense for him to be Blue, and according to Selwyn Ward, TJ's' actor, the writing staff told him that while Andros was the main character, they were doing their best to still portray TJ as the overall leader. Whether or not they actually succeeded in that is of course up to the viewer(I have mixed feelings on it).

I mean, Divatox is pretty simple-minded, so just calling it the Cat Zord is something I feel she'd totally do, haha.

R(acing)P(erformance)M(achines)

Pre-Show Preamble

Negatives:

RPM is overrated.

Like, everyone likes to complain about MMPR fans, and oh yeah, I'll give it to you that they can certainly be annoying, but RPM snobs?

Yeah, let's just say that claiming "RPM is the only good season" is no better than those who claim MMPR, In Space, or Time Force are the only seasons worth anything.

The second half is a huge step down from the first, there are a good handful of moments where the show comes across as pretentious, it has one of my most hated characters ever in Colonel Truman, and that theme song is easily the second worst the series has to offer.

I also very much disagree with Eddie Guzelian's' assessment that the series had grown "stagnant, and needed to change" at the time. Because see, here's the thing, no matter which Era of Power Rangers you use as a measuring stick, every Era evolved in its own way, and offered various different ways for people to experience the franchise.

The Saban Era started off as something simplistic and fun for 5 year olds, to later evolve into something aimed at 10 year olds, with each season upping the drama and the stakes, ontop of the franchise being a huge multimedia giant at the time. From video games, to comics, to toys, Power Rangers did its best to be absolutely everywhere.

The Disney Era, due to Disney's' own disinterest in the franchise as a whole, focused almost entirely on the toys and the show itself. But where the Era really shined, and why I feel Guzelian really didn't know the franchise as well as he might've thought, is that, similar to my feelings on Phase 1 Heisei for Kamen Rider, every season of the Disney Era feels really unique! Each entry has a different style, a different tone, and their own unique shake-ups in the formula. Did they still follow a certain set of tropes and ideas? Certainly, but every season offered something new to consider.

And even if you wanna try to say "The Neo-Saban Era just shows Guzelian was ahead of his time!" I still don't agree because here's the thing: Saban is the reason Rangers now has way more avenues than it ever did. It's thanks to them that we got Battle for the Grid, Legacy Wars, the BOOM! Studios comics, the twitch marathon, the ever-expanding board game, and Hyper Force. While the seasons in the Era itself focused more on being light-hearted and fun, Saban still did their best to try and make sure there was something for everyone in terms of the franchise; Something I feel alot of fans don't often give them credit for.

So yeah, while I understand him being upset at his show being unjustly ripped from him, I feel Guzelian was kinda full of it with that statement.

Positives

RPM is overall really good show though. Overrated doesn't mean bad!

Being initially aimed at 15 year olds allowed it to do even more new things that the series couldn't before, resulting in one of, if not the darkest season in PR.

Ontop of that, all of the original footage shot for the season is actually impressive. The type of thing we hadn't really seen since season 3 of MMPR, and wouldn't really see again until Beast Morphers.

Probably the thing that stood out most to me though, especially for the first half of the show, is just how well handled the character development is. While the character balance isn't the best(Kobayashi this ain't), everyone does get offered atleast one chance to shine.

My favorite character in the show is Ziggy, but ironically, I always felt that his character focus episodes were actually the weakest, so we won't be focusing on him today. Instead, we'll be focusing on what I consider to be the out and out best character focus episode that the show has to offer, also ironically belonging to the character who gets the least amount of focus.

Episode 10: Ranger Blue

In almost any other season, Flynn would've been the Red Ranger.

Anyway, the episode immediately starts off strong with probably the one scene literally everyone who has even a passing knowledge of RPM knows about.


Doctor K is asked a ton of questions by the team about various aspects of her Ranger technology, which in turn hangs a ton of lampshades on various elements of the series proper.

My favorite question comes from Ziggy, where he questions why huge fireballs form whenever the Rangers are done Morphing. Ignoring the implication that this always happened every time with every other season(it didn't), it's more the face on Doctor K that sells the exchange for me.

Heck, the whole scene in general is very funny, though for me, now knowing some what went on in the show's' making, I honestly can't tell if Doctor K is being used as a mouthpiece for the writers or not? On the one hand, we have K saying things like "We're dealing with reality. If you want justice read a comic book." On the other, the other members of the team are shown to be totally onboard with Flynn's' new callout idea, and K being dismissive is what sets Flynn's' flashbacks in motion.

And yeah, every flashback Flynn has is totally great in detailing his resolve, his character, and his backstory. We even get to see where his "Justice Unleashed" idea came from! Considering Guzelian outright admitted to taking inspiration from alot of movies he personally loves when it came to creating RPM, I feel like the flashback idea came from Highlander. And hey, I'm all for it!

The meeting is cut short due to an attack on Corinth, and the fight is of course nice, but can I just make a quick side tangent here?

I appreciate how RPM knew how to do black leather jackets properly. Weird thing to call out, I know, but the jackets are themselves simplistic, have enough variation to work as a uniform, and the black leather itself doesn't define a Ranger's' entire fashion sense outside of Dillon. This is something other shows I've seen totally missed, so it's something I've grown to love in terms of RPM's' aesthetics.

I also love the Scottish bagpipes that play in the background whenever the action is focusing on Flynn. Very nice touch.

When something in Flynn's' suit goes awry, he's told to stay out of commission until Doctor K can get it fixed, and it's here we see a really nice and balanced viewpoint to Flynn's' character. Like many a traditional hero, he won't, heck, he outright can't just stand idly by while people are in danger, even if it's something that's sure to backfire on him. And later on, he comes up with an idea that actually manages to floor Doctor K.


Use the Morphing explosion as a weapon! Yeah, Flynn might have chronic hero syndrome, but he's not an idiot. I love the face on K all throughout the rest of the episode here too, which just screams "Oh my god I can't believe he figured something out like this before I did. What."


The final scene, where Flynn returns home to find that his dad has been collecting snippets of all of the Blue Ranger's' exploits is really touching, and is what cemented this episode as my favorite in RPM. They knew exactly what they were doing by making it the credits sequence, and I love it.

Overall, while this is probably the most simplistic and straight-forward episode in terms of plot, every point it does make is well done, stands tall, and makes the entire episode extremely memorable for me. Top notch.

After-Show Bonus

Two-for-one deal today! First off, something alot of people probably already know, is that RPM had a few demo theme songs that were way better than the one we actually ended up getting. My favorite being this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOAmJKoKeOI

Next, while alot of people accuse Judd Lynn of just making stuff up come the second half of RPM, he attests that this is infact not the case. Directly from the Ultimate Visual History book:


Podcast audio can be downloaded HERE.

Sorry if it's off-topic but I did just want to say I actually missed the original morphing sequence more than anything in the second half(which to put my pedantic hat on seems technically more like 2 thirds but I'll play ball) considering I always wanted more actual ''morphing'' in Power Rangers! Although Tommy maybe shouldn't have got his own helmet formup but it just always seemed a bit unfair to me that a couple of actors were apparently written out despite initially wanting to stay on, but I suppose that possibly happens with soaps too!

Yeah, JYB and Nakia Buriose wanted to stay on, but the staff at Saban felt it would be better for the show overall to start with a clean slate. And while yeah, it did help the show overall, it does suck that they booted Adam and Tanya for little reason. It's also probably why they brought Adam back for In Space; as a small way of trying to make it up to him.

We're in my top 10 now! Can you guess what seasons will place where?

I also learned this morning that I gotta be careful from here on out. I went and watched one episode of this season... which then turned into 10, haha.

Jungle Fury

Pre-Show Preamble

Like many of the seasons I've been going over lately, Jungle Fury is a season that alot of people had initially passed on, but overtime has grown more and more fans. And again, it's great for me because I felt this was a huge step up after PROO.

There's so much to like about this season that a part of me almost feels like I should put it up higher, but, that should help to highlight just how much I enjoy not just this season, but all the future ones I'll be touching on.

First off, I absolutely loved the Kung Fu motif that the show went for. Power Rangers takes alot of inspiration from Jackie Chan movies as it is, so having an entire season based off of various martial arts and kung fu flicks honestly just seemed like a really natural progression. It's to the point that the Civilian Powers of past seasons disappear, and everything is focused on hand-to-hand combat.

Second, I am absolutely floored with how well the show's' writing turned out considering the time. Many might not remember, but back when the show was being made, there was a huge writer's' strike going on, so PRJF cycled through alot of different writers. Yet somehow despite that, the writing remained mostly consistent and the character development absolutely on point. There's even alot of subtle foreshadowing I missed the first time around.

And last, in compliment to the second, the character development was really, really good this season. RJ is my favorite here, as well as my favorite Purple Ranger, but if I had to give the award of "best development" to anyone, it would be Camille and Jarrod. Not only was making the Sixth Ranger not just a bad guy, but THE Big Bad a totally fresh idea at the time, but many episodes are just as much Jarrod and Camille's' as they are the Power Rangers. I'd even go so far as to say I think they're the best developed villains the franchise has had!

It ended up making choosing a favorite episode of the show really hard, but in the end, I think I found it.

Episode 9: Good Karma, Bad Karma

The overall theme and message of this episode is duality, and how the people, events, and choices we experience in life play a huge part in who we end up becoming.

Alongside the usual monster of the week, there are two plotlines ongoing here: One focusing on Casey and a boy named Josh, and the other focusing on Jarrod and his new master, Carnisoar.


Before we get to Casey's' half, can I just say that while I didn't get much out of it as a kid, now that I'm older and I've worked fast food, can we just take a moment to appreciate the fact that the Rangers this time around are all fast food workers? Not only is it a nice message to send that fast food workers aren't inherently losers, but maaann did I find alot to relate to considering my past experience in the industry. There were SO many times during the binge that I outright said "God this is way too similar to my normal day at work." Especially during the episodes when things were going hectic. Also Fran is nowhere near appreciated enough, the poor girl.

Anyway, this time around, Casey has to contend with a boy named Josh, who steals a $5 bill off one of the tables so he can buy a kite that he really wants. Casey chases the kid down and decides to try and teach him about not giving into greed and working to be better than that. Realistically enough, Josh does what alot of little kids would do and gives in anyway, buying the kite with the stolen money.

At the end of this, while he certainly could've worded it better, I do like the message that Casey passes on here. The message he gives essentially being that it makes no sense to look up and admire heroes if you don't also strive to uphold their core values. It's not always easy. Infact, many times it's very hard, but your integrity and your sense of right and wrong are very important, and you should do your best to live up to those ideals. He even uses Josh's' kite at the end to help defeat the monster! Which is a great callback to the training he got from RJ in episode 3, by the way.


Side tangent: Apparently alot of people dislike the Solar Morphers? I always felt they were not only something cool and different, but also practical. Toei seemed to have liked the idea too, considering Sunglasses Morphers would make a return come Go-Busters.

I guess I should talk about the monster in this one, huh? He's an eel monster named Slickagon, whose gimmick is that he's far too slimey and slippery to get a clean hit on. Though really, the best thing to come out of him is not his slime, but the fact that he does the worm as a form of attack. That always gets a giggle out of me. Oh, and double points in that despite Theo and Lily going to RJ for help, he's not the one who comes up with the solution, Casey does all his own.


Another side note: I always loved how low tech RJ's' pad was compared to other command bases in the series. Dude straight up monitors things via CRTs and has the Rangers swing out of the joint Tarzan-style. Just another point to RJ being one of the most unique mentors the series has ever had. Love this guy.

But now we get into the real meat of this episode, and something that I feel wouldn't be nearly as effective if we didn't have the Casey plotline to directly contrast with.


Carnisoar shows Jarrod visions of his past, all the while convincing him to literally have a change of heart so that the might of Dai Shi can continue to take over Jarrod's' mind.

It's here that we learn a whole lot about Jarrod. He was a loner who always tried to do the right thing, only for life to turn around and kick him for it at every turn. He had absentee parents, he was bullied, and many of the things he tried to succeed in, he failed at.

I especially like how this is shown as a gradual process: Carnisoar first starting with something small(cheating on a test), and then growing bigger and bigger(letting an innocent family essentially die), thus letting Dai Shi's' hatred flow even more. Another great detail to notice too, and a follow up to previous scenes in other episodes focusing on Jarrod, is that despite all of this, Jarrod is still there, doing his best to resist Dai Shi's' influence. Jarrod isn't evil, just misguided and someone who's been hurt over and over again. The only person who really cares about him being Camille.

This culminates with Camille deciding that Carnisoar needs to go, as even she can recognize he's a horrible influence on her master, furthering the arc that the two share and the grand payoff it would have come the end of the season.

Overall, Jungle Fury is a season that's all about insecurities, and how they both influence how people act as well as what people do to try and either handle or overcome them. Nearly every character has one they need to conquer in order to better themselves, and that motif lead to some overall great character arcs; this episode being a great example of the building blocks that make that up.

After-Show Bonus

Ever notice how this season doesn't have a Battlizer nor any sort of crossover with its predecessor season(Operation Overdrive)? Apparently the budget for those was instead put into making the Spirit Rangers, and personally? I think they made the right call on that front.

I mostly remember this episode as my first experience with Jungle Fury (We’d recently got a Sky box, and with it, access to Jetix UK) And I started midway through the episode, so the most I picked up on was the bad guy watching a bird man mess with random people and become even angrier.

Though I’ll admit, I was on the edge about Jungle Fury when I first watched it, and had a few issues with it (like the overuse of Master Mode and the Wolf Pride Megazord, neither of which appealed to me). But years, later I’m a bit more appreciative. Plus, my main issues came from Gekiranger, and Jungle Fury actually took out some of my other issues with that show (like the bizarrely placed filler episodes, having Yellow as the leader (which was mostly used for some weird and unfunny gags), and the bad guy coming off as unsympathetic, making his eventual redemption seem unbelievable, the eventual final boss coming off as a walking ass pull and the horrific lack of world-building). So I’m a lot more appreciative to it now

Sounds to me that like Samurai, Jungle Fury actually improved upon the source material. Nice!

In Space

Pre-Show Preamble

In Space was very much the RPM of its day.

Back then, it was to be the final season of the show as a whole, so Saban decided to swing for the fences and go to places unexplored.

They started by upping the target demographic from 5 to 10, as by now that was the age of most kids who'd been keeping up with the series. This also allowed the story to touch on themes and subjects the series had strayed from.

To me, the aspect that stood out most was the concept that yes, humans can also be criminals, and they won't typically just have a change of heart overnight("A Ranger Among Thieves"). This was a huge shake-up from the typical Alien Menace the series had 99% of the time gunned for up until now.

That is not the episode we're focusing on today.

They also introduced the Psycho Rangers, who, while not the first set of Evil Rangers, were the first to actually be an entirely unique team, all with their own shades of character traits. Their fights were intense and brutal, essentially being single-minded murder machines who cared for nothing else as long as their prime directive was met.

That is not the episode we're focusing on today.

Space also brought us the first instance of the "Battlizer" though its concept is slightly different from how every Battlizer since would be designed. Still, the concept of a Red-unique power up was revolutionary, and remains not only in Power Rangers, but now Super Sentai to this day.

That is not the episode we're focusing on today.

This was also the first season to be set primarily out of Angel Grove, instead opting for more of a space opera approach. Certainly, there were a few locations they would visit every so often, and yes, they would visit the Surf Spot, located within Angel Grove every now and then, but the outer space exploration was certainly the prime focus, only to be arguably outdone by Lost Galaxy a year later when the series was revived.

The intent was always clear from the start: Do something fresh and new, while at the same time trying their best to wrap up every character arc, close every lingering plot thread they could, use as much original footage as they reasonably could, and have a fulfilling end to this franchise that meant so much to so many people at the time. It's the reason why many fans divide the Saban Era into the "Zordon" and "Post-Zordon" Eras, and is still regarded as one of, if not the best entry in the series to date. It was so popular that the rest of the Era would do its best to try and recapture that magic.

And while I do certainly love the season overall, I just can't find myself singing the same praises that alot of other fans do.

I already gave my thoughts about how I feel Lost Galaxy is an overall weak season, but there's one detail I purposely left out: One of the reasons I can't bring myself to absolutely love LG is that, to me, it very much feels like a watered down version of IS.

See, alot of modern fans lament how Neo-Saban went out of its way to avoid doing anything even remotely resembling RPM again, but personally, I fully supported that decision, and still do to this day. Because if I wanted to watch RPM, then guess what? I'd watch RPM. Variety is one aspect of this series that I've always valued, and it's why I hold alot of the Disney Era in such a high regard, even if I personally feel it has one of the weakest entries in the series, ontop of the terrible treatment the higher ups gave the franchise. Trust me, had Samurai ended up being RPM-2, I'd be alot harsher on it.

Thankfully though, while the idea wasn't fully gone, Saban did seem to atleast learn that trying to do PRIS over and over again wasn't too hot of an idea as the Era continued on. Say what you want about Wild Force, but atleast it was unique!

And uniqueness and finality are the two main aspects we'll be focusing on today; with not only what I feel is the best two-parter the series has ever done, but the best finale of any season to date.

Episodes 42+43: Countdown to Destruction

The Legendary War wishes it was this good.

Fun fact before we get into it though: This two-parter was written by Koichi Sakamoto, the guy who directed every season from MMPR S3 through RPM.


This episode details the darkest hour of any Ranger season. The United Alliance of Evil launches a full scale invasion of the entire known universe, creating a force so oppressive that even multiple Rangers from across space aren't enough.


Chaos and mayhem is the name of the game here too. Explosions, collapsing buildings, legions of robot soldiers... the forces of good can barely fight back against the oncoming onslaught. Even the villains aren't safe, as Darkonda goes through the final phase of his plan to betray Dark Specter.

There also seems to be no hope left for Karone, as even after Dark Specter and Darkonda are no more, she still assumes the identity of Astronema, and proceeds to lay waste across the universe, with Earth as her next target. The Space Rangers do their best to fight back, but quickly fall to the sheer numbers of the army that they're up against.

The Rangers fall back to try and regroup and make a plan of attack, and Andros decides to go off on his own to infiltrate the Dark Fortress, hoping that somehow, someway, he can still reach his sister. It's here that Astronema offers the people of Earth a choice: Either hand over the Power Rangers and swear allegiance to the UAE, or be slaughtered en mass. What results is the most badass moment not just for Bulk and Skull, but the people of Earth as a whole.


They're all eternally grateful for everything that the Rangers have done for them up to now, and show that by proclaiming they are all Power Rangers. Not only standing in defiance of Astronema, but outright fighting alongside the Rangers against the oncoming swarm. It's a really well done scene that often makes everyone's' "best moments" lists, and I am in no way trying to argue against that. It's not only extremely awesome, but a great final moment for everyone that the Rangers have helped up to this point.

Meanwhile at the Dark Fortress, Andros manages to sneak his way in and finds Zordon, who's been held captive the entire season. And it's here that Zordon says what I feel is the most shocking sentence in the entirety of the franchise.

"Shatter my energy tube."

Zordon, the prevailing big good of the whole series up to this point, outright tells Andros to kill him, so that way his magic can spread across the universe and fight back against the darkness. Andros is of course hesitant, but after a fight with Astronema and Ecliptor showing him that he has no other choice, he knows what must be done.


And indeed, the Zordon Wave rips across space, purifying and turning many of the evil forces to dust. It even shows us that Divatox and Dimitria are sisters, a loose hanging plot thread from Turbo. Many cry foul at Ecliptor getting killed, and I do agree, that's like the one weak point in this whole thing.

In the end, Astronema is freed from her mind control, the universe is saved, and the Space Rangers are free to all go home together. At long last, there is peace.

It's hard to explain just why this finale is so good, especially since it sort of requires viewers to be familiar with the entire series up that point. They went all out here. Every still surviving Ranger and villain showing up, the dreadful and hopeless atmosphere, the sheer scale of the action, and of course, every character action and reaction being very well thought out and emphasized. It's a wonderful end to not only In Space, but the Zordon Era as a whole.

In the end, the Rangers are not heroes to be admired not just because they can beat the bad guys, but because they keep going, despite how much they keep getting knocked down.

After-Show Bonus

The set design for the Astro Megaship was really smartly done! It was a set of walls on wheels, making the entire set entirely modular. Need a hallway? Rearrange them in a straight line. Need a room? Make a square. And it all looks really good to boot. Huge props to the set designers for their creativity and ingenuity here!

We finished season 1 of Beast Morphers!

Personally, I have mixed feelings. Because atleast so far, when the show is good, it's REALLY good, but when it's weak, it's really weak.

I think the biggest issue I have is that, when it comes to a handful of characters, we're informed to alot of their traits, but not actually shown any of them. The most blatant example being Mayor Daniels.

Devin loves to claim, especially in the early episodes, that his dad is unreasonable and that the two never see eye to eye... yet, every time Daniels is on screen, he's not only totally reasonable in all his assertions(Morph-X is a horrible idea, just saying), but he's shown caring alot about Devin's' well being all the while.

On the brighter side of things, all the original footage and money they're flexing is rather nice, I like the villains, and there are some genuinely sick action scenes in this season. So far my favorite character is Steel. He's really funny and has a really fun and energetic personality. And while I do like Ben and Betty, I feel they're a small step down from Victor and Monty.

Also my friend and I have started calling Ravi "Shinji." One guess as to why.

Please do not spoil season 2, as I am overall looking forward to it.

Mighty Morphin' Season 3/Alien Rangers

Pre-Show Preamble

Yes, I am counting them both as one season. I know some people don't.

Not many people seem to either remember or properly give the third season of MMPR credit for alot of the things it did for the series.

First off, this season is what helped bring us Saban's Masked Rider, which, my own distaste for that show aside, DID bring awareness to Kamen Rider, just as Power Rangers had brought awareness to Super Sentai.

Second, this was the first we had not only an entirely separate team of Rangers, but ones with entirely different suits, from an entirely different planet. The Alien Rangers(man did that name not age well) being entirely new characters with different powers, different suits, and, oh yeah, WERE NINJAS!!

Third, it was the first time that the Zords got upgraded mid-season, which would become standard from every show here on. Although that said, what makes this interesting(to me atleast) is that the Shogun MegaZord was less an upgrade and more a change in stats from the Ninja MegaZord; Swapping speed for defense. The two MegaZords even work together at times!

Fourth, the introduction of Kat to replace Kimberly was handled much better than what the Stone Canyon Trio were. Kat was a character very distinct from Kim and had her own entire arc before joining the team, a very smart move on the writer's' part. I imagine it helped alot of kids to accept her much easier than they did the SCT; I know it did for me. After that, the only originals left were Billy and Tommy.

Fifth, they brought about the first team-wide Super Mode, the Metallic Armor. Simplistic, cheesy, and lasting only a few episodes, sure, but never the less, this was a big deal. Something like it wouldn't be seen again until Lost Galaxy and the Lights of Orion, and even then it'd still take awhile before becoming something alot of seasons would do.

Sixth, Season 3 coincided with The Movie, a huge deal for a show like this. I might do my own separate post for it at some point, but all you really need to know is that Ivan Ooze is awesome and that movie is basically everything a Power Rangers movie should be. Unlike the 2017 film.

And last... it marked the debut of the first Christmas episode. Okay, technically not the first, but the the first to air within the season itself and not on direct-to-video. And personally? I still think it's the best Christmas special the series has ever done. So, that's what I'm covering today!

Episode 16: I'm Dreaming of a White Ranger

Premise? ITS CHRISTMAS! IN POWER RANGERS! IT'S ABOUT TO GET...


wholesome! :)

But yeah, the Youth Center is putting together an event to celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah(Happy Holidays!), and the Rangers are of course doing what they can to help out.

It's here we meet a little girl named Becky, who's having a hard time because her father chose to work the holiday instead of coming to see her sing.

Tommy, Aisha, and Kim, all do their best to help her cheer up, but Kim is the only one to give actual advice. She tells Becky to tell her dad about how important it is to see him for the holiday; Words that Becky takes to heart. It's a good lesson for kids too. You can't expect someone to know there's a problem unless you tell them about it.


Meanwhile, Zedd HATES Christmas. And yes, Christmas specifically, not Hanukkah. He is Jewish afterall! And to counteract the holiday, he comes up with a wonderfully insane plan like always.

Step 1: Send Rito to the North Pole.
Step 2: Have him force Santa to create mind-controlling dreidles.
Step 3: ????
Step 4: TAKE OVER THE EARTH!!!

Zordon of course calls in the Rangers, where he says yet another of my favorite lines ever.

"Because of a combination of the North Pole's' unique polarity and a cross current of holiday magic, your Morphing powers will not work there."

What this tells me is that Santa Claus is more powerful than the Morphin' Grid, and that's amazing. And what I love about this entire scenario is that everyone just immediately accepts that Santa is real, as if that's common knowledge in this universe? I mean, after all of the other insane stuff they've dealt with up to now, why not right?

Meanwhile, at the North Pole:


Hahahaha, I love this stuff.

I love that the Rangers decide that stealth is the best option... only to be immediately found out because they teleported in. They manage to get out okay due to the North Pole also nullifying Zedd's' evil magic, meaning that Morphing Time isn't needed, and after sending Rito and Goldar packing, even help Santa get his toys together for delivery.

All in all, everything turns out a-okay for the holidays.


Becky is even reunited with her dad! It's enough to even make Bulk and Skull shed tears of joy! Aww...

Overall, this is a really fun special full of legit laughs and heart-warming moments, and I don't think it could've been done any better.

After-Show Bonus

Less of a bonus bit of trivia and more of a question for you all. Were the Alien Rangers to ever get an alternate name, what would you go with? The only two titles I could think up were "Aquitar Rangers" and "Ninja Strike."

Listen to me, Androzani, and En-chan watch the episode live HERE.

These mini reviews are awesome. Would be great to get a write up on all the movies one day

Aww thank you! I'm definitely tempted to do MMPR The Move and the Turbo Movie sometime, but uh, I don't think anyone would really appreciate anything I'd have to say about the 2017 Reboot, hahaha.

Can’t leave us hanging after that snippet though haha