[DreamSword]

Episode 34: Wormhole

I'm technically cheating with this one.

While officially, this episode aired on TV as episode 35, in terms of where it takes place in canon, "Wormhole" is 34, and thus I am covering it here.

Fun fact before we get started though, the YouTube uploads aren't the only time this episode has been misplaced. Back when you could find all of Power Rangers on Netflix, Netflix had it listed as the final episode for some reason.

Anyway, this is the second crossover with Power Rangers Dino Thunder, and it serves as the inverse of "History" in practically every way. And personally? I feel that it was not only the right call, but that it was handled very well for the most part. I can't imagine many PRDT fans being displeased with this one.

Well, maybe there might be some displeasure with one detail: While Dr. O shows up, Jason David Frank himself is absent, as Disney was not willing to pay to fly him out for the crossover. Instead, Jeffrey Parazzo, Trent's' actor, does an impersonation of Dr. Oliver as the voice for the Bracchio Ranger. And honestly? His impression isn't bad!

Outside of that though, I found this crossover to be even better than the previous one was, and given how much I liked "History" that's some high praise! Like I said, it's an inverse in many ways. Such as the SPD Rangers traveling back to the past, the B-Squad only having three of their members at first, and there being more film tricks that Dino Thunder had. They even use its screen transition here!

The action is top notch all the way through like always too. Surprisingly though, there's no Super Dino Mode or SWAT Mode to be seen, but we do get some great Double Battlizer action from both of our Reds. Though sadly, if memory serves, this will be the last time we see the SPD Battlizer. Regardless, it's high flying, fun team-up action all the way through. And for anyone who hates the fireballs, they're at a minimum here, with most of the explosives being the classic Sentai Sparks. So you can't blame all of the US footage for those!

But the biggest thing most people remember about this episode is the (in)famous "No one gets inside our circle!" scene. Fans and even other actors have mocked it as silly over the years, but me? I dunno, I think it really works for what it was. It not only showcased the heroic resolve of all of our Rangers, but the resulting fight scene where everyone is holding the line against a horde of enemy forces was just really cool to witness. Maybe I'm just lame though.

Also, it's a small detail, but this is the episode where we learn that Gruumm's' ship is called The Terror. I like it.

Overall, it's a very fun episode, and it's a shame that due to budget cuts, this would be the very last Power Rangers team up episode until Samurai came around.

[Androzani84]

So given that History was meant to feature clones, it can be assumed his was meant to be the actual crossover episode (Jack’s “We wiped your memory the last time we met” feels like an especially tacked on acknowledgement of this, given that the line doesn’t make sense with the timeline presented there).

We also get two SPD series traditions, in the form of using random footage to save costs (Jack and Bridge’s solo fights) and reusing monster suits we can’t do the full episode for with our budget/censorship (Specifically, the guy with the tendrils was murdering random women to harvest their organs to save his sister’s life, the one in the robe trapped Pink in a nightmare so she could drain the latter’s life force to become immortal and the green guy wasn’t evil, he just had a crush on Omega’s counterpart he took to creepy levels).

Also, since neither Tommy or Sam are in the mind wipe scene for obvious reasons, one wonder what the conversation that ensued afterwards went down like.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

(Jack?s ?We wiped your memory the last time we met? feels like an especially tacked on acknowledgement of this, given that the line doesn?t make sense with the timeline presented there).

I mean, it does make sense if you're looking at it from the perspective of B-Squad. No one other than arguably Kat knew the exact time that the Dino Rangers were pulled from, and come the end of "History" they were sent back with the Dino Gems. So yeah, from Jack's' perspective, he is telling the truth.

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Also, since Neother Tommy or Sam are in the mind wipe scene for obvious reasons, one wonder what the conversation that ensued afterwards went down like.

I wonder if the mind wipe would even work on Sam, given his unique physiology at the moment.

[Name]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But the biggest thing most people remember about this episode is the (in)famous "No one gets inside our circle!" scene.

It probably would've worked better if they all nodded to eachother then had a big ol' windup to the whole crew shouting it at the same time.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY: Tommy lost his 1v1 with schmitty of all people and had to be bailed out. If only Disney had paid to have the real Tommy flown in he would've been done.

[DreamSword]

Episode 35: Insomnia

Recap episode.

...

What? You're expecting more out of me? Well actually, I do have a bit of a personal history with this one, and it's an episode that's gotten a surprising amount of attention lately.

The short of it is that while I've always had a soft spot for this episode, it's not one that I feel "changes everything" about SPD as some have claimed.

In essence, this is an episode where most of the team meets up in the middle of the night discuss not only how far they've come, but also putting the pieces together on what Gruumm's' larger goal might be. The catalyst being them overhearing Cruger wondering about the fate of the A-Squad.

So let me get it out of the way up front: Yes, this is a good episode, especially as far as recap episodes go. There's a surprising amount of effort put into all the pieces of it. However, it does not infact "change everything" when it comes to the story or characters of SPD. Rather, it reiterates what has been built up over these past 35 episodes for those who don't have all the pieces together.

And in the eyes of an adult viewer, that could easily come across as condescending, but believe me when I say I fully support this episode. I remember when I first saw this episode on TV as a kid. Keeping up with the show weekly, there were plenty of details I'd either forgotten or overlooked, and having it put here at the forefront of the show's' endgame was a huge help; I felt like I was uncovering the mystery alongside the cast!

On rewatch, there are two aspects of this episode that stand out to me: One positive and one negative. Let's start with the negative, and that's that Sam doesn't make an appearance, even as a light ball. Granted, the episode is pretty dense as it is, but even just giving him a few words or just some nods in the background would've helped to keep the idea of him being involved. Sure he does technically get a mention via the flashbacks that Z provides the episode, but him not contributing anything personally is a missed opportunity.

Now, as for the positive, man, I really gotta give it to whoever was in charge of wardrobe on this one. A big chunk of the episode features the B-Squad in their pajamas, and it could've been so easy to just get everyone the same outfit but in different colors, but no! Every set of night wear is unique to each character ontop of matching their Ranger color. And the style of each outfit is very fitting to the characters ontop of that. I especially love the big green onesie on Bridge, which highlights his more goofy and sometimes childish personality. And interestingly, Jack's' clothes have the least amount of color out of everyone's'...

And of course, the episode itself is plot important, because we finally get a shot at the true big bad of the season, but more on... that thing, at a later time.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Name

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY: Tommy lost his 1v1 with schmitty of all people and had to be bailed out. If only Disney had paid to have the real Tommy flown in he would've been done.

Tommy just didn't wanna hurt his old friend, of course.

[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.

[Androzani84]

So the fun fact of the day is that a guy on Rangerboard called the twist of A-Squad Red being a woman because he had experience with sound editing and could tell the voice had been deepened. And no-one believed him, since Power Rangers had never done a female Red before. After this episode, he had a t-shirt made and got Kalish and the cast to sign it.

And on a lesser note, the first half of the episode with Delex is the last major example of relics from the Sentai script. Most notably, Sky and Z get paired up to take him down because the source episode focused on their shared trauma of what happened the last time they’d met him (namely, the previous DekaRed at the Earth branch seemingly died, but the episode has the current Red, seeing how much not knowing what happened to their former leader is getting his team mates down, flies to SPD’s central headquarters out in space, barges into the Supreme Commander’s office and demands to know what happened to him. Turns out he’s alive and on another assignment, which he’s considering his replacement for by episode’s end). And he doesn’t get a Judgement time sequence because the criminal in Dekaranger had been found guilty for his crimes after 15 years of him being sighted doing so, including attacking officers.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

So the fun fact of the day is that a guy on Rangerboard called the twist of A-Squad Red being a woman because he had experience with sound editing and could tell the voice had been deepened. And no-one believed him, since Power Rangers had never done a female Red before. After this episode, he had a t-shirt made and got Kalish and the cast to sign it.

Honestly, I'd've done the same thing in his position.

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And he doesn?t get a Judgement time sequence because the criminal in Dekaranger had been found guilty for his crimes after 15 years of him being sighted doing so, including attacking officers.

Thankfully SPD covers itself here by having Cruger note that Delex has already been found guilty in other galaxies when briefing the team.

[DreamSword]

There is so much to unpack with this finale that I'm separating the post a bit, just as I did with "Reflection." Even though I'm like 70% sure that the finale originally aired as a combined episode like how "Beginnings" did. Hope that's not an issue!

Episodes 37+38: Endings

The short of both of these episodes is that they're practically nonstop insanity!

Almost right out the gate we've got fighting, fighting, and even more fighting! Lazers, explosions, intense character drama, giant robots! Absolute madness!

And the timing on this part of the rewatch couldn't have come at a better time, because not only is A-Squad a huge part in all of this, but Greg Aronowitz recently made a post on his socials about another very important aspect of SPD: SWAT.

Namely how, when the show first started production, the US crew had no ideas that SWAT Mode was going to even be a thing, let alone what it'd look like. All they knew at the time was that the super mode for the Power Rangers this time around was going to be called "Super Space Mode."

Some viewers might then immediately que in on something, and that is how Greg got incredibly lucky when designing A-Squad, because their design mirrors SWAT Mode perfectly, lending to some incredible visual symbolism alongside the fated duel between the two Squads. And man is it a firefight to be had! B-Squad proves once and for all that nothing they've done up to now has been a waste.

It's a really great fight too. Of course there's plenty of lazer fire given both sides wield giant blasters, but I have to give a huge shout out to both Syd and Jack here. Not only are their contributions very well choreographed, but both of their duels feature the two pulling out their Deltamax Striker and Delta Blasters, respectively, showing that SWAT Mode does not infact lock off the Ranger's' old weaponry. It makes me like SWAT Mode a little more, honestly.

But the final note about A-Squad is that SPD actually had some tie-in comics, and in those it was stated that A-Squad was actually brainwashed by Gruumm. And while some fans liked this angle, I personally never did. Because it flies completely in the face of the entire bit of foreshadowing that's been surrounding the team since the very first episode, and is also far less emotionally impactful than the team deciding to walk down the wrong path in contrast to our heroes. It's a moot point anyway though, because remember, it was established earlier in the show that Morphing with the SPD Morphers undoes mind control. Regardless, as far as I know, those comics aren't ever really considered anymore.

Oh but Part 1 isn't quite done there. Because Broodwing is here to show that Gruumm isn't the only one who can use diversion tactics. While most of the Rangers are busy, he launches a direct take over of SPD Command. Sure, the base getting sieged is somewhat of a tradition for Power Rangers, but tell me, has any previous team had their very own base turned against them!? And then said Rangers have to then perform a siege on their own base in return?? It's such a great scenario all around!

I appreciate that literally everyone is getting in on it too other than Cruger, who's been captured. Kat shows off her flips again! RIC gets to take out two monsters and blast a door open in a callback to the first episode! A monster gives Boom a wedgie! No one is safe here! And especially not when the bigger bad, The Omni, is looming on the horizon.

Oh yeah, The Omni. The giant brain with a tentacle eye. Not much is revealed about it here, but Aronowitz has said that Gruumm's' brain being exposed is an intentional design choice made to subtlely hint at how this creature came to control Gruumm in the first place...

When I said everyone got in on this, I meant everyone.

A bunch of the extras gets to be part of the big explosive final battle too! Cruger's' wife, Isinia, gets to join in! Piggy gets to join in! Silverback and Birdy show up out of nowhere to join in! It's all hands on deck!

It's also here that we fully see what the end goal Gruumm has been building to was: He was putting together parts to turn The Terror into its own Megazord known as The Magnificence, which serves as a new, all powerful body for The Omni. And I always liked its golem-esque design.

It's not like the whole episode is one giant Megazord fight though, because again, so much happens here. Piggy has a change of heart, Boom gets to give a rousing speech, and another Power Ranger from the future arrives: The Nova Ranger! She's the Silver Ranger of the team, and is friends with Sam. Makes one wonder if Sam has any other Rangers he knows in the wings...

Speaking of Sam, while the action is all well and good in these two episodes, the emotional climaxes of a ton of the character involved are where this really shines.

Keeping note of Sam specifically, having his goodbye scene being punctuated with a brief talk with Z is an incredibly great touch, given their history together. And we even get to see Sam and Nova unmorph before leaving! For a long time, it was unknown who these two actors were, but within the past few years we actually got the answer. Sam is portrayed by Kevin Dufty, who was a makeup artist on the show. Meanwhile Nova is portrayed by Naomi Alice Marsh, though voiced by Antonia Prebble, who'd later play Clare in Power Rangers Mystic Force.

Having the actual final fight of the show be a standoff between Cruger and Gruumm is also a great move, given how the two's' rivalry was established very early on. Heck, Cruger himself has a ton of great moments throughout the episode. Like his cold cutting down of Mora's' monsters(and great one-liner when he confines her), and the sheer lengths he goes to in order to not only save his wife, but the world at large.

But of course, the big thing most people remember about how the episode, and the show itself, ends is that Jack steps down from being a Power Ranger, and Sky gets promoted to take his place. It's a great scene that calls back to the test of character that Cruger gave Sky during the very first episode, and everyone getting to meet up again at the very end is very heartwarming after all that's happened. Jack might not officially be in SPD anymore, but he's still very much a part of B-Squad's' found family. But duty calls, and the adventure never ends. I honestly couldn't think of any better way to cap this all off!

Apparently Disney, Aronowitz, and Bruce Kalish had some ideas though, because now I get to talk about what might be the final bit of production trivia I have for this thread: Did you know that SPD was almost the first Power Rangers season since Mighty Morphin' to have a second season? From what I understand, given what Greg himself has said on socials as well as at cons, Disney really didn't like how SPD was being produced at the same time that Dekaranger was, and thus was thinking of calling for SPD to get a second season that would use what little stock footage of Dekaranger they had(including the Dekranger movie), as a means of stalling for time to let Magiranger get further in production.

The plot would've involved Jack temporarily rejoining the team in order to help fight whatever new threat the Earth faced at the time, though it's unclear if he'd've returned to being the Red Ranger, or if he'd end up being Blue or Green, given the promotions of both Sky and Bridge. In either case, the idea was later reduced down to a movie that'd air the following year instead, until eventually Disney just went "screw it" and went ahead with production of Mystic Force anyway. That didn't stop Greg Aronowitza from trying though, as he proposed the idea to Disney to let him and the other writers begin writing Young Adult Tie-In Novels to SPD as a mean of telling a bunch of story ideas that the crew had. Disney, however, said no to the idea.

That's not to say that the story of Space Patrol Delta was over forever though, because it did infact get one big follow-up many years later. But we'll be talking about that next time.