[DreamSword]

Episode 36: Resurrection

If there have been at least two things consistent about Jack throughout SPD, it's been that he falls for a pretty face quite easily, and that he never really wanted to be a part of the SPD lifestyle.

So when he stumbles upon an woman who offers him a chance at returning to his old lifestyle, but legally? This raises a bit of a dilemma.

Make no mistake, Jack has certainly become quite good at being the Red Ranger of B-Squad over the past year, but it's not like the passion he had for his old life ever faded. Remember, the only reason he even joined SPD was out of concern for Z(and not wanting to rot in jail).

So in the end, which side will Jack choose?

Not a whole lot of time to think that over though, because not only is a new monster on the loose, but the A-Squad has finally returned! And in what was a major twist at the time: Their Red Ranger is a woman! A first for the franchise, despite what both Samurai and Cosmic Fury might try to tell you. Notably, the team also has a male Yellow Ranger and an alien Blue.

So for those who don't know, when penning the show, Greg Aronowitz and Bruce Kalish originally wanted the Red Ranger of Power Rangers SPD to be female, but Disney veto'd the idea with the same logic they had for why Syd and Z weren't allowed to have motorcycles. So as a compromise and workaround, the show runners made A-Squad's' Red a woman instead. It really makes me wonder just how much of Jack's' personality was altered as a result, if at all.

The episode overall makes for a very interesting hook into the finale of the show as a whole, although not without a couple of caveats. The first being that it's a shame that Z doesn't have much input into the whole situation, given that she was Jack's' (literal) partner in crime for years. The other being a question that doesn't come up often in SPD discussion, but one that I find valid: Does this hook with Jack come into the show too late? Afterall, in many other shows, a conflict of interest like this typically comes along at around the halfway point.

While I personally think that this final bit to Jack's' arc works well for what it is, I don't blame anyone for thinking it should've maybe gotten a little bit more emphasis at an earlier point in the show. I'm slightly more miffed about Z than anything, but in the end it's all fine. I still rather enjoy this episode for what it is. The lead in to the finale is certainly one thing, but the actual finale? Well, we'll have plenty of time to discuss that next time.