Well, that’s it. Power Rangers just aired its last new episodes for the foreseeable future.

These episodes were not only the conclusion to a year-long arc, which many fans had felt was one of the better seasons we’ve ever had, but it also brings the entire franchise to a close, effectively ending a 17-year saga. That’s more than half my life!

Expectations were understandably high for the series finale, but how much did it live up to the hype that was generated in the gulf between the show’s recent hiatus and now? Ultimately, the finale remains true to what made the show what it was this season, though the execution of its major story elements may have fallen short in some areas.

“Danger and Destiny” begins immediately after the events of the previous episode. Dillon looks as though the virus has overtaken him, but he quickly remarks that he can feel the virus running inside him as he resists it. I found this a cool idea- that he might be dealing with the internal struggle for the duration of the finale. Little did I know how quickly he was going to defeat the virus altogether and move on to something else. I can’t say I loved this choice. After he found Doctor K’s antidote and injected himself, I kept thinking the virus would come back somehow and they would have to deal with Evil Dillon until he finally managed to do the rest of the antidote’s work on his own. At least he kept getting knocked around so it wasn’t just amazingly easy for him, I guess.  

Speaking of knocking things around, Venjix gets proactive in this finale, and drains the memory banks of the lab before “destroying” it. I hesitate to use that word because I know the Rangers spend an awful lot of time in the garage long after Venjix seemed to blast part of it to kingdom come. I do, however, enjoy the fact that Venjix was smart enough to download everything about the Rangers’ bio-fields (aka the Morphin Grid) so he could pretty much whip their asses without even trying.

Meanwhile, Ziggy and K are captured and they get to do what they do best, which is banter and give each other bashful smiles as they try to get out of this latest catastrophe. Ziggy’s ability to slip through his shackles and unlock K’s was nice. Though I had to laugh later on when Scott literally just karate-chopped his father’s shackles in half. Maybe Colonel Truman’s shackles were purchased at the 99-cent store.

I gotta say, the confrontation between Kilobyte and Tenaya felt like it came a bit out of nowhere. Though I will never get tired of seeing Tenaya get hit with a sword and thrown across the room. That sort of attack always feels so much more brutal when they’re not wearing costumes that cover their entire body from head to toe. I just never expect them to go all-out on someone whose face we can see (albeit through a giant, flowing wig to obscure the stuntperson’s identity).

What I loved about this scene was that it was another example of Dillon and Ziggy complimenting each other perfectly. They both had moments to be heroic toward the people they cared for most- Dillon defending his sister, and Ziggy pulling K out of the path of Kilobyte’s gun blast. And Ziggy is the one to grab the antidote vial and toss it to Dillon so he can cure his sister. My only issue with the sequence is that Kilobyte was despensed with far sooner in the finale than I would have liked. Personally, I felt it should have been him in the control tower fighting Tenaya towards the end of the last episode, and the other robot getting blasted to pieces in this moment instead.

So, once the Rangers regroup, and Dillon is down for the count after his valiant efforts to save his sister, Tenaya has once again switched sides. It’s only now that Doctor K comes up with the plan to upload a virus into Venjix and eradicate him completely. Yeah… I seem to recall complaining that the hybrid antidote wasn’t properly set up long before it was imminently needed in order to resolve the plot. I feel twice as strongly about the virus solution here. My sensibilities would have had K working on a virus for several weeks now. All it would take is just showing her busy with something on a monitor and being annoyed when she’s interrupted to deal with the crisis of the week. Anything, as long as she’s able to earnestly say “I’ve been working on a virus for over a month” so it doesn’t feel like she just crapped out a master plan in two seconds. Ah well…

Tenaya, for some reason, has reservations about using herself as a means of uploading the virus. And Flynn gets his last big moment to be awesome, as he tells her to get over herself and start helping them correct the mess she had helped create. I loved it. In a perfect world, Flynn would have gotten many more scenes like this, in many episodes. But at least he wasn’t denied a real moment where the show gets to focus pretty much just on him and what he means to the team. If no one else is going to speak up and tell it like it is, then he will. Awesome.

So, Tenaya gets her rear in gear, but not before Gem and Gemma have been “deleted” by Venjix and his newfound manipulation of the Rangers’ bio-fields. Now, unfortunately, someone thought it was a good idea to tell us exactly what happens to them in a summary of the episode’s premise, so there was no real shock value there for me. And this is not the first, or second, or third time a Ranger has supposedly been killed and brought back five minutes later. But as far as fake deaths go, I’d say this one was fairly effective for me. Of all the people to become casualties, it had to be the ones whose faces were the most innocent (despite all their actions that made them far less innocent than they appeared).

When Gem says “We would have kept fighting” I believed him. I genuinely felt bad that he wasn’t going to be there for them the way he wanted. Gemma’s “Never give up” immediately reminds me of the Wild Force season, as that was the catchphrase of some of their characters (and I suspect this was done intentionally) but it obviously applies here, and felt like an earnest plea from a dying hero. Forgetting, for a moment, that I wasn’t convinced that they were really dead. The fact is the other characters had no idea. And the cast’s performances were all fantastic as the grim reality of their situation set in. Kudos. I also loved Dillon’s straight-forward attitude about the loss, as he knows there’s work left to be done and wants to prevent more “deaths.”
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Got this courtesy of GaijInside. The OG Rangers are back! Now… it would appear that everyone else was excited about this but me. I just don’t get excited about re-releases or prequels. If I know how the story is going to end, that takes a lot out of the excitement for me. The last time I was excited was back in 1996 when world came down from on high that the Dukes of Hazard were returning to television. But that was back before high speed internet, YouTube and Bit Torrent when it was near impossible to try and watch those episodes any other way. Now with all the above and a rerun of the series under the Power Rangers OTO banner.. it’s just never left the public’s social consciousness.

I don’t see what all the huhbub is about…. bub. BUT you know what? Fuck it! Fans are hyped, people are excited, and we’re getting to see MMPR in the blessed and immaculate HD format that has never been seen before. Annnnd seeing Jason, my man-crush, back in action again will really be something to behold. NOBODY commanded a zord or a team like that guy did.

Click on and enjoy and if you’re still feeling nostalgic, click up the Forever Red Panel we released on HJU Radio to hear some stories from the days of yore. I got some other “Lost Files” to release too. Maybe I’ll drop another of ‘em pretty soon.

Enjoy and have a Morphinomenal Holiday!

Dr. Tristan of HeroPower

Well, here we are, at the end of the year-long season of “Kamen Rider Dragon Knight.” We got here a lot faster than I was expecting to, considering the show was basically cancelled only weeks before the finale would have aired. In an unanticipated move, 4Kids released the final four episodes of the series all in one shot. Which is how I chose to watch them. And as I try to separate the feeling of loss associated with ending another American toku show, from my overall critical sense of how well the episodes were made, the strongest thoughts the show has left me with are a desire for more.  

When spoilers from the spanish-language dub of the show came rolling into the fandom, I avoided all of it, but could not help but notice complaints about the show’s ending. It was assumed long before this that the series would end with a clip show chronicling the key plot points of the story while wrapping it up in an epilogue. I can’t say I was excited by the idea, but since there were so many plot elements left unresolved, I remained hopeful that they would find a way to make it work.   

And so, the true climax of the series would take place within the two-part episode just before the epilogue, titled “For Ventara and Earth.” And what a climax it was. For the first time, there were more than just a few Kamen Riders gathered in one area for a fight sequence. By the time we reached the end of the mission to storm Xaviax’s base, all thirteen of them had reappeared.

KRDK has had no shortage of quality action, but they definitely saved their best material for last, as Xaviax took on Eubulon and his Riders. Meanwhile, I thought it was clever how they used the anti-Rider shield as a means of making Trent and Maya essential to the final battle, sneaking in to give the Riders a portal through the shield.     

And just as I suspected all along, Pryce comes to Maya’s rescue, and whatever beef Maya was having with him because of his Mirror Twin JTC was squashed. I assume they’ll have a few Kamen Rider babies running around in ten years or so.

But speaking of the Mirror Twins, there was one element about the climax that I would have done quite differently, and that’s how the remaining Ventaran Riders were handled. Some of these actors had not been seen at all since their Earth counterparts were vented months earlier. A couple of these characters should have provoked a fairly major reaction from the main characters. In particular, the Ventaran Kamen Rider Sting, counterpart to Chris Ramirez, who had become good friends with Kit and Len before his eventual venting. The man doesn’t even get so much as a close-up.

And I was so excited to see these actors return. When the time came for Eubulon’s portal to open, and all the armored Riders stepped forth, it was a triumphant moment. But when it was all over, the “new guys” were treated as though they were hardly anything special. In the end, what should have been an emotional sequence of events was reduced to cameo appearances. Don’t blink, or you’ll miss the black dude. Whatever his name is. I honestly have no idea.

That’s not to say that I wasn’t appropriately psyched about the final confrontation. Ultimately, seeing all thirteen Riders standing together in one room, with Xaviax pretty much laughing in their faces, is an awesome moment whether you know all the extra characters or not. I know Xaviax, and his final speech to all the Riders was so well performed it almost makes me regret that this will likely be the last chance we have to ever see him. William O’Leary has spent this entire season elevating every scene written for him with his performance, and I’m going to miss having a dose of his threatening, sarcastic personality every week.

What I will not miss are the clip shows.

Seriously, who makes three different recap episodes out of a single block of forty episodes? Especially considering the length of the recaps that appear at the start of every episode, including the epilogue which is meant to wrap up the whole story anyway. And the thing is, I could have found a way to still be satisfied by an epilogue story. But in order for it to really work, it would have needed to accomplish a number of things.

First and foremost, the Earth Riders. The real epilogue took about five seconds out the twenty-two in order to tell us that all the vented Earth guys were brought home and had their memories erased so they could live their lives like nothing happened………. Wait.

THAT’S IT?!

What about Chris? For pete’s sake, he was the first real good guy to get vented, and his loss was one of the huge turning points for the series. His friendship with Kit and Len was strong enough that I expected him to return much earlier, and for it to be a fairly emotional moment. Instead, we don’t even SEE Chris meet up with his friends again. The closest we get is a brief glimpse of his nameless Ventaran twin, and a quick voiceover by Maya about how he went on to be in the military. I felt like I had just lost a contest and was being handed a consolation prize. Lifetime supply of toilet paper, anyone?

There’s also the fact that Wrath was written as Len’s mentor. The man who “taught him everything he knows.” There’s no interaction between them. Not even a throwaway line about Wrath being proud of him, or one of those “meaningful wordless nods” these shows are so fond of using.

How about showing JTC getting arrested for all his crimes (before his Rider days, I mean)? Particularly if Pryce and Maya are there to watch him get dragged off. And then there’s the Cho Brothers, whose reunion might have been nice to see, even if they were basically criminals with very little substance until one of them was vented. And I really would have liked to see a fleshed-out scene where Kit gets his father back, for real this time. I mean, the list of possible final moments between the twenty-something characters just goes on and on.

And maybe there were a few scheduling issues with some of the actors. If they were being paid as recurring characters, then I’m sure money might have also been a factor. But if you got them to do those appearances in the base set, would it really have been too expensive to at LEAST have one genuine scene with Chris instead of shunting him off into obscurity with all the others? 

I think the best parts of the epilogue were the ones taking place in present time. Obviously, Aunt Grace was never going to come back into the story, but it was amusing to find that the store had now become enormous, and that Maya was there signing books. I really enjoyed her lines about the value of telling the story, whether it be fictional or not. One of the few times where I felt like the writers were trying to get out a specific message about the show and what it might stand for. 

It was nice to see Lacey again, though I honestly don’t understand why she wasn’t involved in the last several episodes, without so much as an explanation as to what she was doing this whole time. And no, “getting some air” doesn’t count. At least it was nice to hear that Trent was now working with the No-Men, accomplishing what had been his goal the entire time. Trent got a lot of flack from certain fans who questioned his role in the series, but I enjoyed his presence, especially when he became an agent. If there was ever a sequel to KRDK (which I know isn’t likely) I’d be happy to see him return.

And the idea of returning might have been on the writers’ minds when they crafted the final scene. While I had my reservations about how quickly they did it, I did like the idea that they would discover new worlds beyond Earth or Ventara, paving the way for new adventures. Whether or not the story continues, the season ends on a good final note. With Kit, Len, and Kase all transforming for what may be the last time we see them. 

I find myself saddened that this truly may be the end, not just for those characters, but for American Kamen Rider in general. Regardless of its flaws, I was among the show’s loyal fans that would not miss an episode, and wanted it to succeed and make way for future projects. I found myself loving the action, and having a sense of wonder about the possibilities with the alternate universe and the greater mythology behind the story. 

“Kamen Rider Dragon Knight” was by no means perfect. But for a year of my life, I had an American toku show that acted as a companion piece to Power Rangers, the only other show of its kind that I could watch on my own television. It was there for me to love, or to hate. To geek out over one week, and be infuriated by the next. To speculate about, and to be surprised by. Regardless of the criticisms I’ve offered for the show, I know that as we step into the next year, I’m going to miss having the show around. Hell, I miss it already.

Let’s Ride.   

Kickass interview from NPS and Jessica confirms her and Wild Force Blue will be hitting the Morphicon!

<Episode 43>

Anderson stared a hole into Mitchell as he stood in front of the desk. Part of him had to give the human credit, he wasn’t withering from the gaze. He personally knew of a couple of greens who would have begun sweating right about now. It was one of the reasons why he was usually proud to be associated with this particular human. Then last night happened. Evenly he spoke, “I am extremely disappointed with you Mitchell.”

“I know sir,” Mitchell replied while staying attention and staring straight ahead.

“We had Haily,” he was having a hard time keeping his temper under control. “She was captured and in our custody. Half of the job was already done. She was Davidson’s support system, without her he would have been easier to deal with if not captured out right.” Slowly he stood and stared him in the eyes. “Then you decided to play a game.” Slapping his hand on the desk he demanded, “Why would you think that would be even remotely acceptable?”

“I was testing out something I discovered during a previous encounter with Jack,” was his only explanation.

“And what was that?”

“That Rachel was a hole in personal armor. I was trying to exploit it.” Many men would have started making excuses why the plan didn’t work. Mitchell left it there apparently realizing there was nobody to blame but himself.

“So you had her play the damsel in distress against her will.” Anderson dropped back into his chair. “And the reason why you didn’t think you could test this,” he searched for the right word, “experiment here was?”

“I didn’t think he’d come. We have captured rebels before and brought them here and not once have they made an attempt to rescue any of them.”

“That maybe Mitchell but in this case your estimate was wrong.” Anderson studied his face for any hint of a reaction but that poker face of his was as strong as ever. “You see Mitchell while you just saw a man relaying on his luck as you put it, I watched him while he was still here and read the reports of how he was acting after he left. I do believe I can safely say that with or without the rebels consent Davidson would have found a way to make an attempt.” Again the human said nothing. “Instead of following procedure you went out on your own and ended up with the garbage. Dismissed!” Mitchell saluted, turned around sharply and exited the office. Anderson sat back and tried to get himself under control, slamming his fist on the desk when he could not do so right away.

***

It had been a week since anything had happened. Melissa knew it was the build up until something big happened, but she didn’t have the heart to dampen the relaxed vibe she had been getting around the habitat. Actually it was nice to get that vibe again. Some of the adults were playing ball with the children. A lot of people were sitting around and shooting the breeze. Even Jason seemed less grumpy than usual. Then there was Jack and Rachel. He was sitting on a crate and she was standing against it looking in a particular direction. Staying behind them she leaned against it and asked, “So what are we looking at?”

“The new hot item underground,” Rachel answered. Looking between them she saw Sparky and Angie across the room doing the couple thing, holding hands and looking happy to be together.

“Ah, young love in bloom,” she glanced at both of them to gauge their reaction to her choice of words.

Dense as ever Jack said, “I don’t know if I should be happy Sparky found somebody or sad Angie apparently settled at a young age.”

“Now don’t talk like that,” Rachel told, oblivious to what she said as well. “We should be happy they found some happiness in all of this mess. Some people don’t know what they have until they lose it.”

“No kidding,” he agreed. “I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen people have it right under their nose and not realize it.” Silently Melissa watched them as an awkward silence grew between them. Rachel turned her head and started to say something but quickly found something else completely interesting. Jack pulled back the sleeve of his jacket than glanced at her before looking in another reaction. Melissa dropped her head in frustration. What she really wanted to do was reach out and crack their heads together, but she was afraid that would hurt Rachel more than anything. Looking back up she silently urged one of them to make the first move already.

Resisting a very strong urge to shout out, “one of you say I love you already,” she said out loud, “It’s probably a good thing nobody else thinks like you do Jack. Otherwise they wouldn’t stand a chance.”

She got something weird from him right before he said, “Then you might want to have a little discussion with Arron, he’s taking bets on how long they’re going to last.”

“You’re kidding?” One look from Rachel gave her the answer, “You’re not kidding.”

“This idiot put in five bucks,” Rachel informed her.

Jack tried to defend himself, “I gave them four years, that’s a lot longer than anybody else gave them. Arron was saying six months tops. I probably won’t even remember if I won or lost money on that bet.”

“That’s not the point,” Rachel told him. “You’re betting on your best friend’s love life. That’s like them betting on us for some reason.” Melissa didn’t have the heart to tell them there was a wager going on for when they would actually “do it”. Then again she hadn’t lost the bet yet so there was no point really. Come to think of it Arron started that bet too. Melissa was going to have a talk with him one of these days.

“My best friend is standing right here,” Jack said pointing right at Rachel. That took Melissa a bit by surprise. “I though we had this discussion already.”

“I though you were trying o make me feel better,” Rachel told him.

“Have I ever done or said anything to make you feel better?” Jack looked confused for a moment, “Wait, that didn’t sound right.”

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Image courtesy of MegaRed of Rangerboard.

 That’s right, kids. “Kamen Rider Dragon Knight” may be over, but the Riders are crossing over into the world of “Power Rangers RPM!!!” … Well, not really. But hey, I can pretend.

“If Venjix Won” marks the triumphant return of what I would call one of the best seasons of Power Rangers ever. Sadly, it was the first of only four episodes that remained before the end of the entire franchise (remastered reruns aside). But putting all bitterness about the show’s demise behind, I was delighted to see the show again. In many ways, I had forgotten how to watch this thing. It may sound like an odd comment to make, but it had been so long since the last time I had seen it, I found myself struggling to remember different plot points and character dynamics. 

Which, in a way, made it even better that ”If Venjix Won” was actually a clip show. So, instead of immediately tossing me back into the complexities of the major story arcs, I could ease my way back into this universe with the help of flashbacks that reaquainted me with the series. And luckily, this wasn’t one of the lazy clip shows, where they just load us up with an endless number of old scenes and give us nothing else to hold onto. “If Venjix Won” actually weaves a legitimate story between all the obvious money-saving clip segments.        

I laughed aloud when the episode began with Summer sitting in Flynn’s car, instructing the mechanic on how to fix his own personal vehicle. And the Mary Sue comments just keep on coming.  

Ziggy’s looking for someone to hang out with, and of course, nobody’s interested… except Doctor K, who uncharacteristically wants to go outside. And here comes the awesome.

I still find it mildly surprising whenever I encounter a fan who actually couldn’t see that these two characters were always meant to have some kind of love connection. I mean, it seemed so blatantly obvious. The playful banter, the emotional deflection on the part of Doctor K, and the amazingly persistent ribbings from Ziggy. All of it was leading us to this point, and I was so glad not to be dissapointed when we got here. The finale may give us a bit more, but this is when their connection is finally solidified beyond any possible doubt. I defy any fan to say they’re not into each other at this point.

And hey, we got some Ziggy/K battle action out of the whole deal. Even better! 

I have to say, I thought it was hilarious when Ziggy sliced through the pipe in K’s hands with his axe. Not because he broke her only weapon. But because, for a split-second, it looked like he was going to accidentally chop K in half. Clumsy Ziggy is clumsy! So clumsy, in fact, that his teleportation trick sends them into a random cave of randomness, where they are trapped for most of the episode.

This is the sort of scenario that I have always loved. Two characters are forced into a situation where they have no choice but to interact with each other, unable to help themselves until the others rescue them. This sort of thing is a dramatic gold mine, and this episode used the plot device very effectively. Although I thought their excuse as to why they couldn’t teleport out to be a bit weak. They don’t seriously expect us to believe that K recharges their morphers after every single miniscule little fight, do they? I’m sure, if we looked back at all the episodes, there would be some inconsistencies with that somewhere. I would have preferred if they had contrived up some reason for the morpher to need recharging, like she had been making alterations to it earlier in the day or something.

In any case, the Rangers try to access K’s computer, only to find that it requires a password. And these guys input some of the most ridiculous passwords you could ever possibly imagine. Seriously, they could have just closed their eyes and smashed the keyboard and still probably would have had better luck than with those crazy guesses. But as they fail time and time again, a recording of K tells them about the history of the team, and thus we have our clips.

I think some fans were bothered by the lack of important information for survival by whoever might find the recording “if venjix won.” I prefer to think that the part of the recording they watched was there more as a time capsule than as an actual explanation of anything imminently relevant. And honestly, I appreciated that the clips they showed us had some kind of dramatic value to them. It told us a story, rather than just tossing a bunch of random fight scenes at us with no sense of progression or subtance, as so many other clip shows are shamelessly guilty of.

Meanwhile, Doctor K reveals the “real” reason she wanted to go outside: It was her birthday. Which, by the way, was an awesome excuse to show clips of her past at Alphabet Soup, since she had most of her birthdays there, and was always being told she couldn’t go outside. It’s rare that old clips can cause me to feel something, but those memories just took me back to the emotion of the original scenes. I felt bad for K all over again.

Ziggy’s attempt to cheer her up was fantastic. Nice callback with his ridiculously complicated shadow puppets making her smile. And awesome moment when she passes out from lack of oxygen right after.
 
And I laughed yet again when Summer figured out what the password must be. This was the funniest usage of clips, because it looks as though Summer was remembering events that she wasn’t even there to witness. For my own sanity, I choose to believe that the clips just represent her thinking process from an abstract point of view, and not that she magically saw into the past because she’s Summer, and she can do whatever the plot needs her to do. Though honestly, I would have loved it if it was Flynn that figured it out. Poor Scottish bastard. He never gets any love. 

The password, amazingly, is Ziggy’s exact name. No extra letters or numbers. Just plain “Ziggy.” K must really love this guy to place the fate of the human race on a computer with the most easily crackable code known to man. 

Of course, Summer has to keep the code to herself after she types it in and Ziggy is able to return with K. How cute. They kinda sorta maybe bonded there for a second. 

The episode was not perfect, but I found the Ziggy/K interactions to be extremely entertaining and worth the wait. The way they used the clips, for the most part, was clever and engaging enough that I didn’t find myself wondering what I was going to have for lunch in the middle of the episode, as I often do during clip shows. In fact, it’s easily one of the better clip shows the franchise has ever had. As it should be. It’s perhaps the last one we’ll ever see. 

“If Venjix Won” gets a B+. 

Bring on the finale!  

-Dr. Tristan of HeroPower.

This Saturday will see the two-part series finale of RPM, but in many ways, “End Game” functions as the beginning of that final story. Or at least as a nice prologue. And in many ways, it reminds me of the SPD episode, “Resurrection.” Both episodes happened to be set directly before the season finale. Each one had a sense of rising tension, leading us into the events of the last episodes. Each one did a great job of setting up what promised to be a massive send-off for their respective shows. But they also had the issue of juggling what might have felt like two different episodes all rolled into one.

The first half of “End Game” is a fairly banal action story relating to a monster that we all know is bound to lose. Not that it wasn’t amusing to hear the latest sound effects that took the place of the monster’s dialogue (which I loved, by the way) but it was clear that this particular enemy wasn’t going to be the thing that breaks the team.      

Dillon is struck with a haunting dream about the possibility of being overcome by the Venjix virus. While the sequence itself is sufficiently creepy, and a great piece of foreshadowing of things to come, I couldn’t help but think “OMG, Dillon’s about to get tentacle-raped!” 

Meanwhile, Kilobyte is hard at work on his latest project, which Venjix is so deliciously disinterested in. I know it’s an old whore of an idea to have so much infighting between the villains at this stage, but I do so enjoy the irony of how Kilobyte and Tenaya’s roles on the show have completely reversed since he first showed up. In many ways, it’s Kilobyte’s own fault for being seen as obsolete, after he brought Tenaya back to be upgraded. 

So, after a long battle, they finally get the random monster out of the way, and Dillon is sluggish enough to prompt another scan from Doctor K. The Dillon/Ziggy interaction in this episode was awesome. They’ve been a consistently fun duo for the duration of the series, and Dillon’s reaction to Ziggy’s buffoonery (some of which is intentional, because he knows how to make people smile) was priceless. 

Dillon is understandably freaked about the possibility of losing his battle with the virus. But he doesn’t have to feel TOO bad because Doctor K has apparently been working on a cure for a long time now… Great… It would have been nice to hear about this an episode or two before it became so imminently needed for the current plot, but at least they didn’t wait five minutes before they injected the thing into him. It’s also a nice bit of extra jeopardy that it could end up killing him instead of healing him. I can only assume that they’re going to mass produce the antidote and put it through the air vents or weather system or something to cure everyone else in the finale. But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. 

In Kilobyte’s attempt to be relevant again, he activates one of the many hybrids who have been living in Corinth the entire time. I absolutely love the fact that the first hybrid to be identified is Hicks. I’ve loved him all season long as the bumbling assistant of Colonel Truman, who just can’t catch a break, no matter how much abuse he’s subjected to. For Power Rangers at least, it was extremely disorienting to see him just walk into the command center and open fire on Truman, with a completely emotionless expression on his face. (Also, Scott’s spinning kick move to stop him was pretty badass, now that I think about it.) 

This is one of the reasons RPM is among the best seasons Power Rangers has ever had. It’s still very much a kids show, but it approaches the storytelling in ways that few other shows of this type ever would attempt. There’s emotional complexity, difficult situations that don’t always have the perfect solution for the characters to use. Ultimately, whether the Rangers save the city or not, the rest of the world is still destroyed and will most likely stay that way until they can rebuild. If the finale stays true to these ideas, then it will mark one of the few times when the show proves that a hopeful message doesn’t necessarily have to be couched in sunshine and rainbows in order to get the overall positivity of victory across. 

As more hybrids are revealed all over the city, slowly being activated by Tenaya’s pulse device, tension begins to rise with great effect. I like that Mason and Scott were both arguing over what to do, and that neither side was completely wrong in what they were fighting for. Mason wanted to protect the city, but Scott felt a bolder, more dangerous course of action was the right one. And then the revelation of active hybrids forces them to go with Scott’s plan because there suddenly is no other alternative. They’re backed into a corner, rather than simply deciding to try something new. 

That was one of the problems I had during the Ninja Storm finale. It felt as though they had just randomly decided to finally seek out Lothor’s ship and save all their friends, who had been sitting there all season long, with the main characters hardly ever even thinking about them, let alone bringing them up in daily conversation. There was almost nothing motivating them to actually go save them, except that the plot demanded that it finally happen because the show was ending. In RPM’s case, they’re motivated to change their strategy by the very real fear that they’ll all be wiped out if they don’t. 

Scott tells his father that he needs every available guard that isn’t infected in order to pull off his last-ditch effort to save them. I love this line, because it’s smart and just plain cool. What is not smart or cool is that, within two minutes of that moment, Vasquez is pointing a gun at Truman because she’s a hybrid and apparently nobody scanned her. 

The only way I can excuse this is to assume that whoever’s doing the scanning has found ways to trick the sensors, or mess up their readings so that they give a false positive. I suppose that’s as good an explanation as any. And really, I do so love the idea that the heroes think they’ve eliminated the threat by apprehending Hicks, only to find that Vasquez is just as dangerous. It’s a great moment, dramatically. Though I wish there was a little more explanation as to how she could operate undetected like this. 

And finally, Venjix himself steps into the base. “You work for me now.” 

Awesome. I just hope he’s not going to take Truman back to his living ship to meet his not-dead wife with dreadlocks next week. 

“End Game” gets a B+. 

-Dr. Tristan of HeroPower.

UNCANNY X-MEN #519
Cyclops takes a voyage into the head of Emma Frost in hopes of containing the horrifying piece of the villainous Void that has been stuck there since UTOPIA. Can they possibly defeat the awfulness that has haunted the most powerful being in the Marvel U? Tensions are rising on Utopia as the X-Men deal with the new members of their team and the fact that the island is…well…sinking. And Wolverine and a classic pal take one of the craziest journeys you’ve ever seen. Parts 4 and 5 (of 8).

GREEN LANTERN #49
BLACKEST NIGHT continues!
John Stewart comes face to face with his greatest failures, the planet Xanshi and his wife and fellow Green Lantern, Katma Tui. Plus, what does Fatality truly want with John?

Read the rest of this entry »

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episode 37, “Dark Deception”

This is it, Riders… grab your decks, strike a pose, and get ready to take the fight to Xaviax himself. All bets are off and… well, you know the drill. Click on and enjoy the Final Five Kamen Rider Dragon Knight episodes. It’s been quite a trip and I got some further content in mind to book end our year long journey with Kit and Len so stay tuned.

Once you’re done, drop into the forums to discuss your final thoughts on the series.

Ride on, Riders…. Ride on.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episode 37, “The Enemy Within”


Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episode 38, “For Ventara and Earth, Part 1″


Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episode 39, “For Ventara and Earth, Part 2″

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight Episode 40, “A Dragon’s Tale”

Vangelus comes through again with a kickass HLJ.Com toy review. This toy selling for a very generous 13 bucks! Click on and enjoy the review of the YF-19, one of my all time favorite mechs. See why in the below dog fight.

http://hlj.com/product/YMT00069