Episode 23: Zapped

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2zILr0ijd4

This episode is sort of the inverse of the "Abandoned" episode.

And really, I'd put them both on par with eachother in terms of execution. Overall, it's fine, but it could've used some fine tuning.

I think my biggest issue lies in the premise in and of itself, as it essentially follows a very bad faith read on the ending of last episode. Because while the previous episode ended with everyone learning to come together, this episode follows it up by saying that the feelings of jealousy on the part of B-Squad still linger.

It also doesn't help that the point of view ping-pongs all over the place on this one. It starts with Sam, then shifts to B-Squad as a whole, then it becomes a Syd+Bridge episode? It's odd in how it's handled. But it does establish that the SPD Morphers can dispel mind control, atleast.

But it's not all bad. While the face value stuff wasn't working too much for me, there are still some bits that shine here. I really love the interrogation scene, and there are actually some subtleties in play all throughout the episode that I rather dug and wish that the episode had focused on more. For example, the implication that one of the reasons Sam is so gung-ho is because he's used to working solo.

And on that note, I do feel like there is a version of this episode that could've been really cool, had the view points been a bit more balanced. For example, the opening scene has Sam hanging out with the rest of the crew, but it's clear that he's not exactly being included in the conversation. I think it'd've been neat to highlight not only the apparent special attention that Sam has been getting from Cruger, but for Sam to lash back with how the team still really hasn't done much to fully welcome him in yet, and for both sides to reach an understanding.

All of that aside though, the biggest takeaway for me in all of this is actually Broodwing. For a guy with only two scenes total this time around, they say quite alot. Basically, Gruumm has overstepped the deal between him and Broodwing, and because of that, Broodwing is taking matters into his own hands. I always really loved how Broodwing became a third faction in this show, both in terms of narrative as well as just how naturally it comes about.

In the end, it's not a particularly great episode for me, but I still found a nice bit of things about it to enjoy.

Brooding being a third party basically came about because he’s the big bad of the Sentai and with the show saving money for the finale, having an original villain as the big bad in every episode was a bit of a cost stretcher.

Also we learn that if a brainwashed Ranger gets morphed, then the brainwashing is undone (at least in this show. The jury’s out for other series).

In terms of personal opinion, have to say a cowardly stage magician is not the most intimidating foe as to warrant a new Megazord formation.

Turning the big bad into another character? Another similarity that SPD shares with Time Force!

Ah! I forgot to note that! Thanks for the reminder. I'll add it to the original post.

It's an odd choice for sure, but hey, atleast we get a cool mech out of it.

Episodes 24+25: Reflection

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89zBH234Ue4

I honestly could've separated this into two different posts.

Because, see, while this is technically a two-parter, the structure isn't the same as the previous ones have been.

Rather than being one big story split into two separate parts, the first episode instead provides details needed in order for the second part to be executed. Outside of that, they're almost two separate episodes entirely.

As such, I'll be structuring this post just a tad differently than what I have for other two-parters. Rather than talk about both at once, I'll start by focusing (mostly) solely on episode 24, and then transition into talking about mostly 25. Sound good?

If one were to sum up part 1 in its most simple of aspects, well, it's our Battlizer episode! And man, the SPD Battlizer, while not my favorite in the franchise, IS really cool, just like how most of them are. In terms of pure aesthetic, I love how it has two modes it can swap between, the finisher is one of the coolest in Power Rangers, and it's the biggest function of our boy RIC!

It ties into the overall story rather nicely as well; showcasing just how far that Jack has come with his swordsmanship, and while it's never directly stated, I like to believe the technology for it came about thanks to Sam, given how the suit also utilizes a recolor of the Omega Morpher. The mere existence of the suit itself and how it's exclusive to the Red Ranger is also what triggers some painful memories to come to the forefront for Sky.

While it is a shame that Sam wasn't around for this one(explained as him having been sent off on a different mission), it does at the very least help serve the narrative in making sure that B-Squad can't get a clean victory against Slate, gives Jack and Sky more screen time(which is important for this particular tale) and also helps to set up for events to come in Part 2. But if we're talking just a pure character angle, then sure, I can see how some might be disappointed. Me though? I didn't really mind.

It's also the third episode to utilize the fireballs more extensively. So for those obsessed with the explosions, yes, I am keeping track.

Combine all that with the emotionally powerful scene featuring Sky and Mirloc during the episode's' climax and it's an overall solid setup episode, even if one or two extra details might've been nice.

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

Sam has a great showing in this episode.

One thing that both Power Rangers and its source material, Super Sentai, have always been great about is showcasing their characters through body language. And Sam's' mission to save his friends from the Infinite Reflection is no exception to that rule.

Through Sam's' Dance Battling and general attitude while fighting Mirloc, we can gleam a good deal about his character.

He's got the instincts of a leader, is great at distraction and misdirection tactics, and is quick to assess a situation and what needs to be done. And as shown in these past few episodes, being able to turn into a sprite has its advantages.

So put this information together with the old "Sam" two-parter, and what we get is a kid who comes from a troubled upbringing who eventually was able to find the good in himself and did all that he could to become a sort of Paladin for the Power Rangers. Even symbolized by his White suit and the lenses on his forehead being shaped like angel wings. Do any of those characteristics sound familiar? If not, it should, because what I'm getting at here is that Sam shares many a trait with the most famous White Ranger ever, and you're all free to hate me for that comparison all you want.

But really, the big, juicy bits of these two episodes have been Mirloc and especially Sky. Mike Drew does a fantastic job playing Mirloc with his iconic raspy voice. It's not exactly subtle that Mirloc is based on Hannibal, and with that comes a truly memorable villain in the Power Rangers franchise. He knows how to hit people where it hurts, in more ways than one.

And then there's Sky. Chris Violette does a great job at showing the emotional turmoil Sky goes through in alot of his focus episodes, and most especially these two. His lashing out at Jack and Cruger is totally understandable, and it's absolutely believable how much Sky loved his father. The climax of the episode, where Sky gets to be the Red Ranger and equip the Battlizer is one of the most iconic scenes in the entire show for many a good reason. It's not even a fight; Mirloc stands no chance from the start, and it is oh so satisfying to see.

While I'm sure certain bits of both episodes could be fine tuned to a degree, I just love how it all plays out in the end. And really, the only complaint I could even think to go into with this one has less to do these episodes in and of themselves, but moreso a certain event that happens afterward. But, we'll have to save that for the near future.

Like always, SPD does a great job at delivering strong character development and emotional resonance with these two episodes. Fantastic stuff.

Introducing the one PR exclusive suit that worked its way back into Sentai. Specifically, the Battelizer saw use in Magiranger vs Dekaranger as a new power up for Deka Red know as “Battelise Mode”. Though the transformation and finisher stock footage were both reshot, I assume for some bizarre copyright reason.

And this two parter is in the weird position of being a direct adaptation of the Sentai episodes, and not being at the same time. The major differences.

The two-parter was focused on Omega’s counterpart DekaBreak, down to the dead parents backstory motivator (which is why Sam is the last man standing and there’s a pointed shot of him smashing Mirloc’s mirrors).

The reason “Mirloc” is in regular prison is because he’s trapped 10,000 people in his mirror world and heave no idea what will happen to them if they use the usual methods on him. After smashing his mirror frees everyone he trapped ever, the Rangers have the go ahead to judge and defeat him.

And during part 2, it’s revealed that “Slate” was hired by “Mirloc” to force SPD to send someone to consult him, with him anticipating they’d send the member whose parents he’d killed so he could make him cry and use the reflection in his tears when that memory was brought up to escape.

And the reason “Broodwing” just happens to have the DNA for several past villains to provide for this plan in Dekaranger is because he has them sign his contracts with fingerprints.

As for some other thoughts.

Slate is such a copycat criminal that even his robot is a straight reuse of Devastation’s, with none of the usual repaints that other reused robot suits get.

The reason the robot in part 2 looks feminine (which seems like an odd choice for a non-sentient mecha) is because the costume was modified from B-Robo Kabutack’s heroine Tentolina.

And people try and say that Toei doesn't pay attention to Power Rangers.

I definitely prefer this version; where Mirloc is a more on the fly manipulative genius.

Episode 26+27: S.W.A.T.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb84EmJyN0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5raOQjQ-qSA

This is arguably the most famous two-parter in the entire season.

Many fans have fond views of it, and even many of the actors have said that it was their favorite set of episodes.

It's certainly an involved paired of episodes, with all three factions at play against eachother, various different sets being utilized, and of course, the introduction of the super mode for the season: SWAT Mode.

As such, I imagine it was alot of fun for the cast to film, especially given the very obvious nods to other Drill Sergeant shows/movies ontop of the near constant action scenes all throughout both episodes. And in terms of the fanbase, it helps that SWAT Mode itself ties into a certain other piece of the show later on.

Which is why I hate to be the stick in the mid in this situation, because these episodes are the closest in the show that I come to not liking. The short of it being that I feel like they sort of fly in the face of not just what SPD built itself on, but alot of the things that Power Rangers in general has worked with since the franchise's' inception.

The very premise, that, in Cruger's' own words, that the team has done almost nothing but bicker at eachother for the entire year, goes against all of the character development that the cast has gone through for the past... entire show. Which also in turn puts a dead stop to the very strong continuity that the season has otherwise had up to now. If this were the premise of an early episode, sure, I could see. But now? 26 episodes in?

And on the note of continuity, this two-parter directly follows the introduction of the Battlizer, which, given both the timeline placement as well as how the Battlizer fails to defeat our two villains of the week yet the two are easily defeated by SWAT Mode, makes it look as though the Battlizer, the thing that should be the ultimate weapon in any season of Power Rangers, look like it's gotten immediately outclassed in every sense of the word. Can poor RIC really never catch a break?

I take serious issue with Silverback's' lessons to B-Squad too. The biggest sticking point being his idea that the Rangers should instead always be on the offense and be as overkill toward any criminal they can. Not only does that have some very uncomfortable real world implications, but Power Rangers in general have a golden rule: Never escalate a fight, and in turn, only use your powers for defense. It's right there in the Mighty Morphin' theme song! And if that's not enough for you, here's another rule that really should be followed: Villains Act, Heroes React. Flipping that isn't good for anyone involved, especially not in terms of storytelling.

This is gonna sound like serious blasphemy, but I also think that SWAT mode is probably my least liked Super Mode in the franchise? It certainly looks cool, sure, and the added functions to the visors are neat, but outside of that? I really don't like how everyone's' primary weapon is now suddenly just a giant firearm. It'd be fine if it were just Red who got that, but replacing the Deltamax Strikers in their entirety means we go from having a cool, multi-purpose set of weaponry to... another blaster, with really nothing special about it. Even the finisher is just another big fireball that the K-9 Cannon already does better. Again, I feel like poor RIC is getting replaced here!

But, all that said, there is one shining aspect to both of these episodes that overall keep them in my good graces. And that is how much all of the side characters shine in this one. Sam, Piggy, Broodwing, Kat... all of their personalities really shine all throughout these episodes and I very much enjoyed whenever they were on screen playing off those around them. Had this been one or two episodes that more focused on all of the side crew, while the main five of B-Squad were off on a training mission or whatever, I think I would've thoroughly enjoyed that way more than what we ended up getting. Throw Boom in there(who was mysteriously absent this time around) and man, we're set. Such a missed opportunity, here.

If you find these episodes to be alot of fun, that's great, more power to you. But they don't do a whole lot in terms of appealing to me, specifically.

If anything, this also contradicts the principle of SWAT work. That is, the task of this service is to be called in cases when the police fail to neutralize criminals and destroy the threat. So their action is not even a reaction, but the execution of an order.

This is another shot for shot episode, with the most changes being the whole “stolen specs” subplot (in Dekaranger, it was a total coincidence that the second mid-season upgrade for the villains was body armour like what the Dekarangers were getting, so props for tying the two together I guess?), the Battlizer getting subject to the Worf Effect and the few seconds where they swipe a blank containment card against their new big guns.

And since I initially watched the series on DVD, this was the earliest “new” episode I saw after I stopped watching it (since the DVDs only went up to the previous two parter, plus one later episode included as a bonus on Mystic Force’s first dvd). And yeah, it does feel slightly contrived to have the cast suddenly at each other’s throats to serve the plot here (it was less of an issue in the source, since the Dekaranger team had a different resulting plot)

Well, what's a magic show-themed episode without a little misdirection, right? :p

Yeah, I figured. Without SPD in the bad future, Sam wouldn't have much training in synchronized tactics. I guess he's kind of like Aiyon in that way, with how he tries to aggressively carry the fight so his comrades don't have to risk their lives, not realizing that his life is also important and Rangers should protect each other.

It adds extra play value to the toy, but in action, it's kind of disappointing compared to the awesome bike action we got in Episode 22. Maybe it's a credit to the Omegamax Cycle that it actually does more than I need it to do.

I appreciate how Jack's swordsmanship training actually paid off, as this retroactively shows that Episode 18 was a lot more important to his arc than it may have originally seemed, even more than the episode it was adapted from. Like Doggie taught him, the sword is only as strong as its user and Jack totally makes this Battlizer look cool!

More functionality for RIC further proves that he's still far from being obsolete as well. These two guys are both underdogs in their own ways, so it's fitting that they emphasize each other's hidden strengths and this concept of two becoming one must have been popular, as the next 2 shows repeated it.

The repaint of the Omega Morpher is good symbolism to remind the viewer that this power only exists thanks to the intervention of Omega Ranger that saved SPD. Could even be a case of reverse causality, if this inspired the Omega Morpher in the future. Even if it didn't physically exist, there might've been a blueprint or something.

Sky earned that Red Ranger moment for sure. He's come a long way from being that self-entitled a**hole at the start to becoming a reliable teammate and close friend. Him conceding the Morpher back to Jack after the fight is a good moment of acknowledgement that he knows he still has more to learn as the Blue Ranger before he can feel worthy of a permanent color change. The old Sky would never have done that so unreluctantly.

This being mostly a Sky focus episode though, I think it would've been better if he had a more active role in foiling Mirloc's scheme, instead of Sam having to bail him out along with the others. As mentioned, the episode this was adapted from was focused on Sam's counterpart, so him getting to be the hero made more sense there. Of course, I'm not going to deduct points for meta stuff, but with Sam being such a big part of this episode, I believe this is another case where the lack of emotional connection to him, as well as between him and Mirloc, is a detriment to the narrative.