[DreamSword]

Mega Force

Pre-Show Preamble

Yes, you read that right. I like Mega Force more than Dino Charge. It has better villains, more memorable characters(even if they are more basic), and is all around just alot more fun for me to watch.

One thing Mega Force is often criticized for is, due to taking a show that was originally 50 episodes and cutting it down to 20, the Rangers get new power-ups "every episode." Which, while yes, they do get them quite often, it is not infact, "every" episode. Also "power-ups" is technically incorrect since it's mainly new Zords, but I digress.

But here's the thing... even if it were every episode, I actually supported what Mega Force was doing in that aspect. Because to me, it seemed like a simple but effective setup: New problem arises that requires a new life lesson being taught, the focus Ranger of the episode learns said lesson, a new toy is rewarded, and the day is saved. This is in no way a bad set up in my eyes. It not only introduces something new and cool every week, but has our characters continue to grow as people all throughout the season.

I've found that alot of the aspects I like most in Mega Force are mainly thanks to writer James W. Bates, who, based on what I've read, had a very different vision for the show as a whole back when it was originally just going to focus on adapting Goseiger. After Gokaiger was thrown in and alot of other behind-the-scenes shenanigans though, he was relegated to handing only a handful of aspects on the show. The most notable of which being Robo Knight.

Jake might be my personal favorite of the crew, but there's no denying that the character that went through the absolute most growth is Robo Knight, and that's who we're focusing on today with today's' episode.

Episode 18: The Human Condition

Despite James W. Bates being the one in charge of everything Robo Knight, this episode was actually written by David McDermott; Bates serves as the editor.

We start off with a scene of Malkor emerging from his cocoon, reinvigorated and ready to lay waste to the Rangers with his newfound power.

Meanwhile, the real star of this episode, Robo Knight, decides to go people watching at the park, in an attempt to better understand humans. What proceeds is a pretty humorous string of events where Robo Knight asks each Ranger about specific aspects of humanity. He asks Troy(who is doing karate in the park for no reason) why humans cry, and Troy gives a simple "idk ask my bff emma." When Emma says that tears and comfort can be born of love, Robo Knight totally ditches her mid-sentence to ask Gia about love(first to reference Haddaway loses). Gia sarcastically remarks that Robo Knight should ask Jake, which results in my favorite line/scene in the whole season:

"There is nothing I can learn from him."

Again, just like the line from Vekar in Super, I was out and out dead when I first heard that.

Quick side tangent here: You guys ever notice that everyone in this show totally hates Jake for no reason? Like even in this episode everyone totally rags on the guy with very little provocation. This is apparently leftovers from Bates' original concept, where he wanted Jake to be someone super self-interested to the point of wanting to market himself and make money off of being a superhero, thus leading to the rest of the team working on knocking him down a peg.

Did I mention that this episode is really funny yet? Because it is. When Robo Knight reaches Noah, Noah mentions that human psychology is something people have written about for hundreds of years, so it's not like--aaannd Robo Knight is out the door and off to read every book at the local library.

I like the touch of everyone being afraid of Robo Knight too. It makes sense considering all of the recent robot attacks by Vrak, ontop of the Robo-Racism we see come SPD's' time.

Another aspect I've always really liked, both in this season and in SMF, is the villains, despite their silliness, being portrayed as a powerful and oppressive force. It's a fine balance that not many seem to be able to pull off effectively. Dino Charge certainly didn't, atleast. But, Mega Force managed to do it and kept up the momentum, even with two show's' worth of stock footage to sift through. The attack by Malkor is properly bombastic and intense, and he manages to beat the team down with little effort.

Also shout outs to another simplistic yet pretty effective plan: Just ramming the spaceship directly into the city, since they know the ship can take it. Everything else though? Not so much.

But all of that's not really important though, because meanwhile, Robo Knight bonds with a kid over music!

I joke but it actually is a pretty sweet scene, and I just can't help but get a laugh and love the implication that Robo Knight and this kid are just totally oblivious to literally everything going on right outside. City being vaporized? Eh, we got sick tunes to listen to!

This episode is also the debut of the Ultra Gosei Great Megazord, whose origin is a simple matter of throwing out literally everything the team has at that point. And hey, it works! Malkor is defeated, Robo Knight learns more about life and passion, and the Earth is safe for another day.

Like I've said about the SMF episode I've covered, is this a perfect episode by any stretch? No, but it has enough going for it that I ended up enjoying it overall, and it served as yet another great step in Robo Knight's' arc. Special shout out to the similarly named yet totally different episode "The Human Factor." Another one I rather like!

Oh yeah, and Robo Knight raps at the end. You groan, but he has legit better rhymes than I do.

After-Show Bonus

If you want some insight on the show that could have been, I recommend reading this article. It makes me really wish that we had gotten a Goseiger adaptation headed by Bates as a celebration of the 20th year of Power Rangers, and a separate Gokaiger adaptation as a celebration of the 20th series/entry of Power Rangers.