[Androzani84]

Alright, let’s get on with week 4, starting off with…

Timeranger Case File 04: The Hostage is an Alien 05/03/2000

Unusually, we open not on the heroes, or the regular villains, but our escaped criminal for the week, Kidnapper-Murderer Nabal, as he uses invisibility to stalk a pair of kids (No, I am not going there… yet).



Nabal shifts into his human disguise and approaches the two kids, who are looking for a fun game to play.



And now I can make that joke, as we cut to one of the kids’ mother receiving a phone call in the dead of night, having not seen her child all day.



He demands a ransom in exchange for their safe return. Elsewhere, we cut to Londarz, where Lila is counting their gains.



As she and Dolnero wonder when they’re going to get more money in, Gien reveals that he’s already sent out Nabal.



He reveals that Nabal was locked up for 200 years for kidnapping and murdering (well, duh), after which Dolnero reveals his grand goal in collecting money is to build an enormous solid gold castle which only he and the Family will live in. Meanwhile, Sion is opening for business and we get our first look at the Tomorrow Research uniforms (with Sion’s being sleeveless).



He then goes inside to try and see if he can help the others, but Ayase is memorising motor terminology (apparently, speed limits aren’t a thing in the year 3000)?



Yuri is watching a news report on kidnapped children (how convenient)…



And Tatsuya is writing a sign for his business using calligraphy. Which Sion proceeds to accidentally ruin, before deciding to go and help Domon.



As Tatsuya watches Sion goes and basically thinks “That boy ain’t right”, Yuri’s news channel viewing gets some focus.



Domon, as it turns out, is trying to recruit women to join his self-defence class. Unsurprisingly, they aren’t into a guy insisting they look like they could use some lessons from him.





Sion tries convincing Domon to teach him self-defence, but since the latter isn’t a woman (at least out of suit), Domon pays him no mind… until Sion’s declaration of love causes the woman Domon was trying to hit on, er I mean recruit, to storm off in disgust.

Domon’s response? Throw Sion over a fence! And then leap down to save him, because he’s not that bad a guy.



As Domon leaves Sion to fend for himself, he stumbles upon Nabal (though he doesn’t know this, obviously), once more trying to lure kids with promises of candy.



But these kids are too smart to fall for that, so he has to settle for the friendly green-haired guy looking for his friend.



As Domon returns to the apartment to reveal he basically left Sion in the lurch, Yuri has reached a break in the case.



As if on cue, Nabal calls them with his ransom demand for Sion (so was his captive carrying one of those bracelets with an emergency number, or is Tomorrow Research improbably already in the phone book?)



Tock can tell it’s not a prank, because the voice matches that of Nabal, a known child kidnapper.



Elsewhere, Nabal lets Sion know he’s been kidnapped and reveals his true face.



But fortunately for the others, when Sion calls to let the others know he has been kidnapped and that there are two children there, Tock tracks his location, while Tatsuya voices his thoughts.



Tock clarifies a big bombshell in response.



Tatsuya is shocked to learn that Sion is an alien (me personally, the title was a bit of a giveaway), which leads Domon to reveal that “alien” is a slur by the 30th Century.



And Ayase points out the obvious fact that should’ve been staring Tatsuya in the face (I mean, what did Tatsuya think those guys were if not aliens? Yokai?)



Tatsuya: Oh wow! So aliens exist…

Domon: Like I told you, stop calling them aliens!

Tock finds Sion’s location and the others head out to rescue him, as Tock explains Sion’s status as the last of his species in the known universe, thanks to a war in the year 2984.





Tock’s continues to explain that Sion was treated more as a curiosity as the only known survivor of his species and for his super-intelligence, so one day he ran away. The other Timerangers are the first friends he ever had, which makes Domon feel even guiltier. Meanwhile, Nabal decides to up his game.



But Sion stops him from killing the kids and attempts to fend him off without using his Chrono Suit.



But the others arrive in time to prevent Sion from meeting a grizzly end and assure him that they’re his friends. And thus, they strip down to their futuristic bathing suits to transform.



Domon: TimeYellow!

Sion: Green!

Yuri: Pink!

Tatsuya: Red!

Ayase: Blue!

All: Timeranger!

Domon: Londarz, You’re under arrest for violating the Time Protection Law!

Domon decides he?s going to take Sion’s offer up and beat up Nabal by himself.



But Nabal declares he’s no pushover as he’s able to fight back effectively.



And we get our first insert song for the season, Chase Timeranger. And unlike the Hurricaneger thread, I will be providing karaoke for the songs, courtesy of my chosen subbing group.

The exciting battle of the century has begun!

Rise up in the light...
...you invincible five!

That conspiracy to twist the future

Violently punch it out with that fist of justice!

Chase those lawless punks to the end of times!

That evil lurking in the pitch-black darkness

Cut it up! Slice it cleanly with twin blades!

Now! Chase! Chase! Chase! TimeRanger!

With that strength that protects dreams!

Oh! Fight! Fight! Fight! TimeRanger!

Tear down that wall of time!

Sion gets invited to join in after a brief grapple, and ends up defeating Nabal with his own Vector End variant. Vector End: Beat Nine.



The 5 summon and fire the Voltech Bazooka… but Nabal triggers a rebound to escape it, resulting in our giant battle. Nabal tries tossing TimeRobo Beta away, but they’re able to bounce back by USING THE SKY AS A TRAMPOLINE!



They then switch into TimeRobo Alpha, and defeat Nabal with the Press Blizzard, with Domon debuting our “post-victory catchphrase” for the season.



Sometime later, Yuri puts the frozen Nabal alongside Jecker and Keys in her cabinet (now helpfully labelled “Do not disturb”).



Everyone is now fussing over Sion, as Domon proves ana ctually quite capable medic.



Tatsuya notes that now he knows Sion isn’t human, he can stop wondering if his green hair is dyed (the IRL answer: it was and it wasn’t, since the actor didn’t want to dye his hair green for a whole year. So it’s actually colour corrected blonde hair)… only for Sion to reveal that it IS dyed.



The epusode proper ends with Tatsuya and Domon getting weirded out by their Hubbardian team mate again… but the preview for next episode is notably different, not only for using different music, but being almost entirely narrated by Yuri.



Will Yuri choose to arrest this criminal, or execute him? Find out in Timeranger Case File 05: The Third Formation.



Final thoughts: A slightly darker episode than usual, given our criminal’s M.O, and his willingness to murder children for money. But it also gives us some extra context towards Domon and Sion, and gives them a bit of a bond that will hopefully pay off in later episodes.