[Sh Ranger]

Episode 4:

If this season is doing the Mystic Force thing of having 2-word episode titles, then this episode title is chea ting. Or, now that I think about it, maybe it's actually a clever way of showing that the teamwork is broken.

Two out of the four monsters on Ollie's team are adapted from Sentai generals. There's Scorpio from Kyuranger who has a very different personality and Nalia from Zyuohger, which sadly makes me think the latter show isn't going to get adapted. Unless they write her out, but that would mean they'd have to make new footage for the monster enlargement scenes.

Speaking of Ollie's team, it's interesting how this episode makes a point that even though he's evil now, he's still operating cognitively like a Ranger, preaching teamwork and tactics that his allies don't seem to understand. Lord Zedd claims this methodology is the reason he keeps losing, like evil and teamwork are mutually exclusive. Like, I believe that he believes that, but based on the fact that Ollie survived the encounter while all his allies got destroyed by not following his advice, maybe Zedd should reconsider his own methodology instead.

For critics of the Cosmic Fury suits, maybe they'd appreciate the more familiar aesthetic of the new Dino Fury Evil Blue Ranger? Feels like they're setting up Cosmic Fury Blue to be the Sixth Ranger at this point, since even Zenith debuts before him. Turns out Ollie's new triceratops-themed weapon actually comes from his Evil Blue suit, even though we see Cosmic Fury Blue using it in the poster as well. I wonder if Evil Blue claiming that Red doesn't suit Amelia is a shot at the people who thought she was unfit to lead?

They rescued Zayto, but Aiyon is concerned that something is wrong with him. Can't read his mind anymore. The tree's ominous line about enjoying the time he has left. The fact that his white Dino Fury suit was called Ghost Ranger. Aiyon has an almost infallible perception of anything that can go wrong, so if he's worried, then we should definitely be worried. Maybe the Dino Master Saber killed Zayto extra hard, as the Masters creating a weapon deadly to its wielder wouldn't be a problem if they could revive him like they did for Steel. It would explain why they only revived Zayto after Zedd's escape 6 months later, instead of doing it right away.

Episode 5:

And there's Bungray from Zyuohger as Ollie's new ally. Like Javi, he also has a prosthetic arm, since I guess the clone-making arm is still attached to the Cubal suit. Honestly, if Super Mega Force can remove Basco, then I think Bungray is even more expendable to a potential adaption, considering he's not even a Deathgalien.

Izzy singing heavy metal to an audience of monsters wasn't something I expected to see here, but it's entertaining to see what kind of creative crazy episode plots the staff can come up with when they don't have Sentai ground fight footage to rely on. We get some development for the Fern/Izzy dynamic, with Fern trying to be more useful and equal while Izzy sees her as someone who needs her protection. It's not as big a problem as Amelia/Ollie currently being morally opposed, but I can understand why Fern feels an imbalance in their relationship, considering they used to be competitive rivals. Hmm, if only she could become a Ranger....

Fitting that Zenith gets to be the first one to pilot the Cosmic Dragon Zord, as Rocky also went from tyrannosaurus to dragon. I like the beige color on him, but maybe purple would've made more sense to match this Zord and also as a reference to his connection to Void Knight's power.