[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episodes 7+8: Sam

While these two episodes are technically our first episodes focused on Z, her spotlight is shared with Sam. It's through Sam that we learn more about Z and vise-versa, and it's something that I feel many viewers sort of either forget or ignore outright when it comes to these episodes. The two are mirrors of one another, and in terms of the narrative, very purposefully so.

How fitting that Z is the last letter of the Roman alphabet and Ω is the last letter of the Greek alphabet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Both are outcasts who became desperate for acceptance due them being born with powers that most "normal" people don't have. Growing up on the streets definitely didn't make life any easier either. But the big difference between the two is that whereas Z eventually found Jack, Sam has no one; Seemingly not even having any sort of parental figure in his life either. Sam is thus easily lead by his craving for acceptance, while Z has always had someone to keep her grounded.

Z joined SPD as she saw that it was her opportunity to make a big difference for persecuted people like herself, while also comfortably staying on the right side of the law. So she'd definitely get ticked off at someone like Bugglesworth presenting himself as a savior, like Jack to Z, while actually exploiting Sam's loneliness and encouraging cynicism towards other people to make him complicit in the abductions. It shows how some people can become criminals, when they lose faith in human kindness. But Z is a Ranger now, so she has the power to save Sam and put him back on the right path.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But hey, Sam, Z, and Jack aren't the only ones with powers, right? All of B-Squad does, and it becomes a rather important plot point in these episodes, as we learn of the deeper connection that everyone has not only with eachother, but with SPD as a whole. Turns out it wasn't just Sky's' parents who worked with SPD, but so did the rest of the Squad's', with everyone eventually breaking off on different paths. And while it's glossed over in the episodes themselves, if one thinks about it, paints a very interesting picture of the kinds of parents our heroes were born to. Not everyone who works with the police is a 1000% goody-goody, you know.

This explains why Doggie drafted Jack and Z in to the Rangers even though they had none of the formal SPD training that the others did. They were all basically destined to become Rangers since their childhood. Their parents' morality is left kind of ambiguous, but it certainly raises some questions about parental responsibility, especially with Jack and Z living on the streets until joining SPD in contrast to Syd who lived like a princess.