[Kurona]

I liked the central conflict in this episode a lot, if I'm remembering correctly (It's been a while since I watched these episodes and I can't keep track of episode numbers of even series I love. Unless it's Build 21...). It's got that extra bit of complexity than your standard jealousy episode which helped make it feel a bit more human and grounded -- it's not a simple case of "this character is jealous and that's bad, he should stop being jealous and join in". It actually explores where that jealousy comes from and makes it about more than just that; it has hints of an inferiority complex in there and ideas of how you just don't know how to handle a relationship you've wanted for so long. There's so many sides to Nate being shown off in this episode that makes me admire him and the writers a lot more.

It gives me hope for this era, honestly. This episode is a perfect exemplar of what Beast Morphers is: at its core its storytelling and character building is far beyond anything we got from the last 8 years, but all the trappings and execution of PR's recent offerings is still there -- the way the dialogue is written, the general feel and vibe, the awkwardness and stiffness of it all. Beast Morphers is a very good season struggling to get out from under the weight of this franchise's unfortunate 2010s trends.