[ComicGuy89]

The latest show I finished was Dino Thunder. Spoiler warning for those who haven't watched it.

Dino Thunder is often heralded as one of the better Power Rangers seasons so I was quite eager to see it for myself. Overall, I have to say that I liked it, but I wouldn't rank it among my top seasons.

I think there were elements that I think are brilliantly done. I enjoy how the season seems to focus more on the high school part than any other Power Rangers series I've seen yet, despite many other seasons being based in high school. They also decided to switch it around a little bit by making the team a bickering, G-rated Breakfast Club bunch, which I think works well. Each of the Rangers has a distinct personality, and their interactions were fun to watch.

I particularly enjoy Trent's character. His internal conflict is intriguing, and I think it was a nice twist that the "evil Ranger" character this time is actually a pretty well-meaning kid. Tommy was a nice guy too, but the conflict between his good and dark side wasn't quite as balanced or as pronounced as Trent.

Finally, Mesogog and his human counterpart Anton Mercer are both fantastic. Mesogog has a wicked cool design and he's very menacing. It's also a nice touch that the required many failures of the villain are instead mostly attributed to his henchmen's incompetence, rather than being his own creations.

However, where Dino Thunder gets things so right, it also gets some things wrong, at least in my opinion. Because it really tries to play up the edgy high school theme, the writing oscillates between being brilliant and sometimes just not great. There are some quips or sarcastic remarks between the Rangers that feel a bit forced, such as when Conner remarks on how he likes girls that smell nice. *yech*

The other aspect of the writing I'm not so fond of is with Tommy. Aside from the nostalgia factor, Tommy isn't really utilised very well. Yes, he's absent for a large part of the season (and I actually preferred him when he was stuck in-suit) but he has great potential as a legendary Ranger mentor and as a teacher. Both sides are underutilised, and he never does anything particularly mentor-ly despite his role. Hayley acts as the better mentor. Plus, he makes some very bad, un-Ranger-like decisions and never gets called out on it! Genetically engineered mutant creatures? Being so willing to kill a former human colleague?

This talk of Tommy brings me to my least favourite aspect of the writing: how they treat Trent. I get that they're trying to play up the "evil Ranger" factor, but when a large part of what happens to Trent isn't his fault, why is everyone so repeatedly against him? Conner, I might understand, given his occasional immaturity, but Tommy was distrusting a number of times too. Given that he was a Ranger with so many years of experience, you'd think he knew better than to jump to conclusions.

And finally, I think the worst offender in Dino Thunder is actually the Ranger aspects. I don't think the Ranger part of Dino Thunder meshes very well with the out-of-suit sections, and they feel a bit jarring, kind of like MMPR. The battles also start to get very repetitive (Tommy and Zeltrax?), and they feel strained in such a way that you can tell they're struggling to accommodate the Abaranger footage. I can say that I didn't enjoy watching the Ranger scenes that much, and I think that's the worst thing a Power Rangers season can do.

Anyway, if all this sounds that negative, it isn't really too bad. It's a fun season for what it is, and the out-of-Ranger scenes are rather good. It's not a terrible series by any means, it's just that my experience was hampered by a few of what I perceived to be its flaws.