[Androzani84]

Okay, we are definitely back in the swing of things this week. Hopefully, I can keep it up.

Time Force Episode 10: Future Unknown

We open with a recap of last time, kind of, as Ransik shows off that he somehow got footage of the previous battle (and at the same angles we saw it) to Frax.



He then admonishes his robot for thinking he could conquer the city without a mutant, insisting that only a mutant can destroy the Rangers (Make your own X-Men jokes), before pushing him under a console.



But as it happens, the part of the console Frax was pushed under contains a hatch helpfully labelled ?X Vault? with a key inside (at least they explain where he got it from, because Timeranger was kind of ?screw you? about it)



He thus unlocks the supposedly fabled area of the prison (how does futuristic building somehow have a part considered just a myth? Did the villains not inventory their new lair at all?) and picks out a cryogenic container helpfully marked with a danger sign (and I finally get a decent shot of that sight).



After the credits, we see Katie looking at a photo of her parents/aunt and uncle (it?s not clear which), along with a similarly aged male relative. (And I apologise for my horrible picture of? a picture)



But enough emotion, Jen is asking Circuit if there are any other weapons like the Raimei in 2001, having decided the Rangers could do with all the help they need. But Circuit informs her that, prior to Ransik travelling back through time, the tank didn?t exist (which contradicts a line in the previous episode stating they?d been working on the project for 20 years, but I assume they just never finished it in the original timeline because they couldn?t get the funding without a necessary threat to use it against).



This causes a suddenly homesick Katie to get despondent, wondering if her family still exist after they?ve visibly changed history (unless we?re going for the paradox duplicate/time remnant version of time travel, then the fact she still exists should probably answer her query), and runs off and leaves behind the photo for Wes to find.



Back at the prison, Frax checks to make sure everyone?s out of the room before enlarging his new mutant (adapted from Blaster Madou), who demands to know where Ransik is (they probably meant for him to want to serve the big bad, but the actor?s delivery makes it spun like he wants revenge for something). Frax basically plays the ?you owe me? card to bring him in line.



And surprisingly, they adapt that our villain this week is a bomb throwing anarchist, complete with ordinary people being sent flying by kalishplosions.



The Rangers appear in response to the mutant attack, but Katie is slower on the uptake. As the mutant blows up nothing in particular (everything looks remarkably intact), the Rangers arrive, with Wes christening him ?Vexacon?. He proceeds to throw every attack the Rangers throw at him back at them, while attacking with the guns built into his chest (I?m assuming he?s a cyborg of some kind). And it turns out, I was right. Here, the car he blows up is empty (though he does throw a ?hope you have insurance? gag at nobody in particular).



After another failed battle with Wes taking the bullet (erm, laser) for a pair of civilians, Katie decides to stop everyone ask what they?re even fighting for, given the future they come from may no longer exist (which seems slightly selfish of you ask me. Even if the future you come from is gone, this criminal is still going around with murderous intent), and she has no guarantee her family is still there. As Vexacon continues his rampage, all the Rangers state their reasons for fighting before morphing and running into battle: Lucas because people are in trouble now (thank god for common sense).



Jen because she wants to capture Ransik and avenge Alex.



And as the two fight Vexacon, Trio states his reason: Because heroism, in effect.



And finally, Wes tells her that Katie has more to fight for than she thinks, before fighting (okay, but what?s Wes?s reason to fight? I can?t tell s/)



Katie acknowledges that Wes is correct? before yelling at the heavens because she doesn?t know what?s wrong with her.



But after admitting she?s afraid of never going home, Katie recovers her resolve and joins the fight. She suggests the strategy of attacking from two angles, before they blast Vexacon with the Vortex Blaster. But this exposes his DNA and makes Vexacon grow giant. Circuit is able to call for the Time Fliers, with Totally-Not-Alex-Still-Alive sends the Shadow Winger (which Jen somehow fails to recognise as the Time Shadow immediately).





Vexacon manages to beat both the Time Shadow and the Megazord?s Saber, forcing the latter to change to Mode Blue for extra power. Circuit then downloads a service update telling him that the two Megazords can combine into the Shadow Force Megazord, with the robot in the future sending a yellow object back in time.



The two Megazords combine into the Shadow Force Megazord Mode Blue, with the yellow object becoming its weapon, the Shadow Force Megazord Saber (not the most creative name).



They then defeat and recapture Vexacon with the pool/clock hybrid themed Time Target.



As the Megazords go back to the future, Katie assured the others that they?ll be able to go home as long as they don?t give up.



Meanwhile, Frax discovers that Ransik rummaged through his trash and found the X Vault canister.



But instead of being mad, Ransik is happy that Frax found a Mutant that almost defeated the Rangers, which inspires Frax to go back into the X Vault (represented by the same footage from earlier), deciding to make further use of it.



After a dinner scene with the Rangers, we get a next time trailer, which shows that Trip is apparently such a klutz that the others decide to bench him.

Final thoughts: A pretty decent episode, with some escalation, plot progression and good interactions all around. Granted, the episode is probably good fuel for the argument that Time Force is near one-to-one for Timeranger (there are only minor changes, at best) and it?s our first episode with Katie and doesn?t really cast her in the best light pre-moral of the story. And surprisingly, they did a good job making Vexacon seem like a bigger threat in spite of the unfortunately necessary censorship.