Power Rangers: Ninja Storm, Episode 1
Original Airdate: 2-15-2003
Last Time: Wild Force....my God....Wild Force.
A narrator pops up to tell us that there are secret ninja academies, and that three aspiring ninjas are about to become Power Rangers. It's happening. Deal with it. Credits!
On the waves of, oh, let's just pretend that it's California, Tori is doing some surfing. At the local skate park, Shane is skateboarding, and Dustin screws around with a motorbike, because the producers want to make sure we know how extreme these characters are, even though they're already ninjas. The teens assemble at Tori's hippie van, and Shane discusses that people have different personality types. This somehow leads to them discussing the Power Rangers, who Tori believes are a myth. Also, it's worth noting that her actress is waging a losing battle with a fake American accent. They drive through the wilds of...man, isn't there a part of New Zealand that looks more like America?
Anyway, the reach a waterfall, and are attacked by ninjas. The future Rangers respond by taking off their clothes to reveal ninja jumpsuits, for they too are ninjas. Unfortunately, they aren't very good ninjas, and are defeated. Unfortunately, this does not immediately end the season, as this was just a test. Their sensei flies to the scene in the form of a hawk and scolds them for their ninja failures. Dustin claims that the tongue-lashing wasn't so bad, and seeing as ninjas usually are more ruthless than "mild disapproval," I tend to agree.
At the campus of the academy, the sensei scolds them a bit more, and threatens to expel them....which, given that they're ninjas, probably is a euphemism for summary execution. The sensei's son, Cameron, shows up to wonder why the sensei insists on keeping a ragtag team of multiethnic teenagers around.
The reason soon becomes clear as an ominous spaceship appears in orbit. But since that would be exciting, the show makes us meet some more supporting cast members instead. At a place called Storm Chargers, Dustin is working on something, and suddenly has to leave for class with Shane and Tori. Apparently he has a boss named Kelly who also has a poor grasp of the General Midwestern Accent. Tori stops her car to help some people fix a car, because when I think ninjas, I think good samaritans.
Back at the academy, Sensei realizes that someone named Lothor is back, and races off to meet him. The villain starts sacking the academy with his goons and some mooks named Kelzacks.
Meanwhile, the future Rangers are worried about getting in trouble for being late. It turns out not to be a problem as all of the other ninja students get captured and the academy destroyed.
On Lothor's spaceship, Lothor stops his nieces Kapri and Marah from bickering and decides to conquer Earth, as apparently only secret ninja armies stood in his way. One of his general informs him that there are still three ninja students unaccounted for, and he orders them destroyed. You know, if you're plans of world domination are capable of being foiled by three of the most incompetent ninja trainees on the planet, you really have to rethink things.
At the ruins of their ninja academy, the three idiots find Cam and get attacked by Lothor, who decides to just blast away at them from orbit. Cam leads everyone into a conveniently placed cellar which leads them to a secret ninja base located in a secret ninja base. That kind of sounds neat, let's see how long it takes the writers to ruin it!
Three seconds! A small remote controlled cart pulls up and it turns out that Sensei has been turned into a CGI guinea pig, who is wearing a miniature version of Sensei's normal outfit. Sensei explains that long ago, Lothor was sent into space....by rival ninjas who feared his lust for power. I wasn't aware that the ninjas had their own space program. Anyway, when Sensei fought Lothor, he got turned into a guinea pig and can't turn back. Lothor now plans to attack the Earth, and Sensei decides it's time to hand out the morphers to Tori, Shane and Dustin. Cam is hesitant to trust those three as their primary identifying feature up to this point has been their suckiness, but Sensi insists.
The Rangers get their morphers and Dustin reacts as you'd expect a guy whose smoked about three bowls that day to react. Sensei declares them Wind Rangers, and Shane asks exactly what the hell they're supposed to be doing, and they have no idea. Sensei announces this season's morphing catchphrase, "Ninja Storm, Ranger Form." Christ, that's....no, do it again! Just because it rhymes doesn't make it good!
Okay, time for the first monster fight. The Rangers morph and engage in a fight that sets back ten years of progress in ADR. Anyway, the fight out the Kelzacks until the monster attacks them personally, which leads to them bringing out....hangliders. Wow. When I first started this blog and was going Turbo, I thought, "Man, no mode of transportation is ever going to be dumber than go-karts." Anyway, they eventually blow the monster up by combining their power weapons.
Later, the Rangers celebrate in obnoxious fashion and Sensei points out that there's still 37 episodes to go. Show Over!
Next Time: I take a sabbatical!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Power Rangers: Ninja Storm 101
Another year, another season....
-Transcript Begins-
Doug Sloan: Ah, after six years I'm free, time to conquer Power Rangers! Hey, intern, do you see what I did there?
Intern: Um....yes, hey, when Saban left, his last act was to chain me to this desk, now I can't imagine this is legal so if you could just-
Sloan: No time for that! It's time to create a new season....a better season, that'll show Saban for firing me in the middle of Turbo...
Intern: So, you aren't going to let me go, then?
Sloan: Absolutely not! Now, what was the Sentai footage all about this season?
Intern: Um....Ninjas, I guess.
Sloan: Splendid, who doesn't like ninjas? Now, I think the Rangers should be students at a ninja academy and, to make them underdogs, they'll be the worst students there.
Intern: Wait, a ninja academy? Where does this show take place?
Sloan: Well, we're filming it in New Zealand, so as to escape the evil socialist regulations of the Screen Actors Guild, but we're going to pretend it's in California.
Intern: So, there's a ninja academy in California?
Sloan: There are many ninja academies in California. Anyway, one day, some bad dude attacks all of the Ninja schools and captures all of the ninja students except for the five Rangers-
Intern: Three, sir.
Sloan: What are going on about.
Intern: The footage has only three Rangers for quite a few episodes.
Sloan: Oh....well, okay, then everyone except for the three Rangers, and so they have to become Power Rangers to stop the villain.
Intern: Wait, so, they're ninja students, but then they become Power Rangers?
Sloan: Precisely. Now, we'll need some characters, first up, I want a Red Ranger who isn't White, I think we're ready for a Ranger leader of color.
Intern: Er....T.J. was black.
Sloan: Bah!
Sloan: How about the first Indian Red Ranger, then? No one's done that before!
Intern: According to the actor's bio, he's Maori...
Sloan: Er....well, in that case, let us never mention his ethnicity so that the kids don't figure out that he's not really American.
Intern: Yeah, about that, it turns out that most of these New Zealand based actors aren't really that good at faking an American accent....and that's having a somewhat problematic effect on-
Sloan: Enough of your complaints! Now, hope about the first female Blue Ranger, that'd be pretty groundbreaking, eh?
Intern: Well, yes, but looking at the footage we have, the Blue Ranger basically has to either be a girl or a crossdresser.
Sloan: Is there a reason that you have to ruin everything. I can see why Saban imprisoned you in this office. Anyway, I've decided that the blue Ranger will be a girl and surfer, end of discussion.
Intern: Okay, and her name?Sloan: Oh, who cares, it's the girl of team....and, incidentally, I've decided that she'll be the only girl on the team, so how about Tori?
Intern: Wait, only one girl?
Sloan: Yeah, it's not like girls are buying the toys anyway. Hell, I wouldn't have a female Ranger at all if the footage would let me, but no.......they had to include a girl. Anyway, I just remembered that we don't have a white guy or any sort of comic relief, and you need both of those. Fortunately, I have a plan to combine those two characters into one:
Intern: Dustin? Who's named Dustin?Sloan: Okay, now, the Rangers need a mentor, I was thinking a wise old sensei.
Intern: Well, anything's an improvement over last year's....unpleasantness with Shayla, so I-
Sloan: And he's been turned into a guinea pig.
Intern: Oh, God, why would you do that? Just why?Sloan: Because I can, little Intern, because I can. Finally, we'll need a villain, now I saw last season, and I noticed one glaring problem with that season's head villain.
Intern: In all honesty, you probably should have found a lot more than one problem.
Sloan: The problem, of course, was that he wasn't wearing a cool mask.
Intern: Well....that's....Sloan: Finally, Power Rangers is back on track.
-Transcript Ends-
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The End of the Power Rangers, Part II
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 40
Original Airdate: 11-16-2002
Last Time: Master Org rose from the grave and destroyed all of the Rangers' power and zords, which, this season being what it was, took an entire episode.
The Animarium is plummeting to earth and the Rangers brace for impact. Surprisingly, the impact doesn't hurt anyone of anything, and only briefly knocks the Rangers down. From the surface, the Rangers see Master Org rampaging throughout the city, but aren't quite sure how the hell they're going to do anything to stop him. Cole gives the first of several speeches on the power of the human spirit and rallies the team.
In the city, Master Org is slowly smashing Turtle Cove, which doesn't seem like a particularly efficient way of conquering the Earth, but, whatever. The Rangers are forced to fight some Putrids, in a move that tells me that the story was only about thirty-five minutes long, and they couldn't cut it down to one part. Cole sees a child in danger, and reverts to his most primal instinct by ripping off his shirt, grabbing a vine and swinging over to save him. You know, looking at Cole without his shirt, I suppose it's not surprising that his actor was the only former Ranger to become a male exotic dancer. This rallies the Rangers once again, and they defeat the Putrids. Cole then decides to take it to the next level by using a vine to make a swinging kick into Master Org's giant-sized chest.....which could not have possibly worked. Get it together, Cole!
The Rangers reassemble on a rooftop that gives the Rangers a good view of Master Org's crotch. Master Org taunts them a bit, which leads to Cole giving another speech about spirit or something, and the Rangers then proceed to introduce themselves to Master Org with their code names for some reason. Master Org is unimpressed, but the skies magically clear up and some glowing orbs rain down from the heavens and destroy Master Org's army of Putrids. It turns out that in addition to the two dozen zords the Rangers had this season, there are hundreds of other Wild Zords out there. The Rangers original zords also return to give them their powers back and they morph. The Rangers then introduce themselves again in case we forgot who they were in the intervening minute and a half.
Master Org, realizing that he's probably not going to win against hundred of Wild Zords that can't be killed, freaks out a bit at this turn of events. Several hundred zords then fire on Master Org at once kills him, and the Rangers finish off the Org Heart.
Well, time to wrap things up. Cole says goodbye to the Lion Zord, and the Rangers assemble to immediately be mustered out of service by Shayla, who explains that she must leave to keep the giant animals of death safe from....I don't know, giant metal poachers. She also fires Merrick from his position as bodyguard, who doesn't seem particularly depressed about never seeing Shayla again. Shayla then asks for their morphers and team jackets back. Okay, I can see why she'd need the morphers back, but I'm not quite clear on why she needs to take the jackets away. Maybe she wants to resell the game-worn jackets on the collector's market. They then exchange some platitudes about not forgetting each other. Shayla leaves and takes the Animarium with her.
Narration time! Alyssa tells the story of what happened to the Rangers after the got dismissed. Cole decides to visit his parents' graves again and places some flowers. He also puts a flower on Dr. Adler's grave, because apparently he's forgiven the man for trying to kill roughly three dozen times. He then "helped animals" in ways Alyssa does elaborate on. Taylor rejoined the Air Force, who I guess didn't ask too many questions about where the hell she disappeared to for several years. She then flew a poorly rendered fighter alongside her old zord.
Max and Danny weren't interesting enough to get their own epilogues, so decided to travel the world together, donning many ridiculous and slightly offensively stereotypical costumes agaisnt many greenscreened monuments. Meanwhile Merrick and Zen-Aku decided to wander the Earth together in search of redemption. Christ, why couldn't I have watched that show for forty episodes? And finally, Alyssa became a kindergarten teacher, and just narrated this story to a bunch of five year-olds who don't believe her. Show Over! Season Over! Power Rangers that actually sound American Over!
Next Time: Ninjas and the mystery of the wandering accent.
Original Airdate: 11-16-2002
Last Time: Master Org rose from the grave and destroyed all of the Rangers' power and zords, which, this season being what it was, took an entire episode.
The Animarium is plummeting to earth and the Rangers brace for impact. Surprisingly, the impact doesn't hurt anyone of anything, and only briefly knocks the Rangers down. From the surface, the Rangers see Master Org rampaging throughout the city, but aren't quite sure how the hell they're going to do anything to stop him. Cole gives the first of several speeches on the power of the human spirit and rallies the team.
In the city, Master Org is slowly smashing Turtle Cove, which doesn't seem like a particularly efficient way of conquering the Earth, but, whatever. The Rangers are forced to fight some Putrids, in a move that tells me that the story was only about thirty-five minutes long, and they couldn't cut it down to one part. Cole sees a child in danger, and reverts to his most primal instinct by ripping off his shirt, grabbing a vine and swinging over to save him. You know, looking at Cole without his shirt, I suppose it's not surprising that his actor was the only former Ranger to become a male exotic dancer. This rallies the Rangers once again, and they defeat the Putrids. Cole then decides to take it to the next level by using a vine to make a swinging kick into Master Org's giant-sized chest.....which could not have possibly worked. Get it together, Cole!
The Rangers reassemble on a rooftop that gives the Rangers a good view of Master Org's crotch. Master Org taunts them a bit, which leads to Cole giving another speech about spirit or something, and the Rangers then proceed to introduce themselves to Master Org with their code names for some reason. Master Org is unimpressed, but the skies magically clear up and some glowing orbs rain down from the heavens and destroy Master Org's army of Putrids. It turns out that in addition to the two dozen zords the Rangers had this season, there are hundreds of other Wild Zords out there. The Rangers original zords also return to give them their powers back and they morph. The Rangers then introduce themselves again in case we forgot who they were in the intervening minute and a half.
Master Org, realizing that he's probably not going to win against hundred of Wild Zords that can't be killed, freaks out a bit at this turn of events. Several hundred zords then fire on Master Org at once kills him, and the Rangers finish off the Org Heart.
Well, time to wrap things up. Cole says goodbye to the Lion Zord, and the Rangers assemble to immediately be mustered out of service by Shayla, who explains that she must leave to keep the giant animals of death safe from....I don't know, giant metal poachers. She also fires Merrick from his position as bodyguard, who doesn't seem particularly depressed about never seeing Shayla again. Shayla then asks for their morphers and team jackets back. Okay, I can see why she'd need the morphers back, but I'm not quite clear on why she needs to take the jackets away. Maybe she wants to resell the game-worn jackets on the collector's market. They then exchange some platitudes about not forgetting each other. Shayla leaves and takes the Animarium with her.
Narration time! Alyssa tells the story of what happened to the Rangers after the got dismissed. Cole decides to visit his parents' graves again and places some flowers. He also puts a flower on Dr. Adler's grave, because apparently he's forgiven the man for trying to kill roughly three dozen times. He then "helped animals" in ways Alyssa does elaborate on. Taylor rejoined the Air Force, who I guess didn't ask too many questions about where the hell she disappeared to for several years. She then flew a poorly rendered fighter alongside her old zord.
Max and Danny weren't interesting enough to get their own epilogues, so decided to travel the world together, donning many ridiculous and slightly offensively stereotypical costumes agaisnt many greenscreened monuments. Meanwhile Merrick and Zen-Aku decided to wander the Earth together in search of redemption. Christ, why couldn't I have watched that show for forty episodes? And finally, Alyssa became a kindergarten teacher, and just narrated this story to a bunch of five year-olds who don't believe her. Show Over! Season Over! Power Rangers that actually sound American Over!
Next Time: Ninjas and the mystery of the wandering accent.
The End of the Power Rangers, Part I
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 39
Original Airdate: 11-16-2002
Last Time: The good news is that the Rangers got Shayla back, the bad news....well, the episode is titled "The End of the Power Rangers."
The Rangers are celebrating the end of the Org menace with a timeliness reminiscent of George W. Bush. They realize that with the end of the fight, the team really ought to disband, and none of the team members really have much to go back to. Merrick decides that his work in Turtle Cove is done, and that he must leave Willie's Roadhouse as the life of the cooler is that of the nomad.
But, well, it would be rather odd to have two episodes of the Rangers re-adjusting to civilian life, so the strongest Org yet suddenly materializes in town. The Rangers arrive to see vines crawling everywhere and Master Org shows up and has managed to find an even more ridiculous costume. Merrick explains that Master Org has eaten the Org Heart, just like 3000 years ago. Okay, writers, here's a pro tip, if you want to create suspense, don't make your final battle a repeat of an ancient battle of good vs. evil that was won by the good guys. Master Org soundly defeats the Rangers and Cole trots out the Battilizer one last time, which Master Org promptly destroys.
Pressed for time, Master Org then elects to take the battle to the megazord level. Animus shows up, and the Rangers are happy to see him. They do remember that last time Animus fought Master Org he got killed, right? Shayla shows up to take the Rangers back to the Animarium, and Merrick chooses to stay behind and help Animus, out of guilt for not doing so 3000 years ago. He calls out the Predazord. This proves an exceptionally one-sided fight as Master Org destroys both megazords, destroying Merrick's animal crystals in the process, as well as his morpher. Merrick then finds a dying Animus in Kite form, and the two are teleported up to the Animarium.
On the flying island, Animus has some not particularly inspiring last words and then evaporates in a flash of light. Master Org decides to keep the episode going by attacking the Animarium directly. The Wild Zords try to protect the Animarium, but get killed one by one. The Rangers used their remaining Wild Zords to form the Wild Force Megazord and the Kongazord. The Rangers are briefly able to slow down Master Org with the Deer Zord, and then liquify him with their soccer attack, but, well, it's a two parter, so he just re-forms. Master Org then proceeds to start killing the zords, which takes a while because they're so damn many of them this season. But, hey, the Rangers still have the five zords that make up the Wild Force Megazord, and the zords want to fight it out. The Rangers cheer it on from a safe distance. Max implores it to never give up....and then watches helplessly as Master Org kills it, and thus destroys the Rangers' remaining powers.
The Rangers are quite depressed by this turn of events, especially since Master Org is unharmed. Master Org proceeds to turn to conquering the Earth, which involves making it rain heavily, killing some trees and summoning some Putrids. On the Animarium, the fight with Master Org has damaged the island and left it listing in the sky. To Be Continued!
Next Time: Dei ex Machinae!
Original Airdate: 11-16-2002
Last Time: The good news is that the Rangers got Shayla back, the bad news....well, the episode is titled "The End of the Power Rangers."
The Rangers are celebrating the end of the Org menace with a timeliness reminiscent of George W. Bush. They realize that with the end of the fight, the team really ought to disband, and none of the team members really have much to go back to. Merrick decides that his work in Turtle Cove is done, and that he must leave Willie's Roadhouse as the life of the cooler is that of the nomad.
But, well, it would be rather odd to have two episodes of the Rangers re-adjusting to civilian life, so the strongest Org yet suddenly materializes in town. The Rangers arrive to see vines crawling everywhere and Master Org shows up and has managed to find an even more ridiculous costume. Merrick explains that Master Org has eaten the Org Heart, just like 3000 years ago. Okay, writers, here's a pro tip, if you want to create suspense, don't make your final battle a repeat of an ancient battle of good vs. evil that was won by the good guys. Master Org soundly defeats the Rangers and Cole trots out the Battilizer one last time, which Master Org promptly destroys.
Pressed for time, Master Org then elects to take the battle to the megazord level. Animus shows up, and the Rangers are happy to see him. They do remember that last time Animus fought Master Org he got killed, right? Shayla shows up to take the Rangers back to the Animarium, and Merrick chooses to stay behind and help Animus, out of guilt for not doing so 3000 years ago. He calls out the Predazord. This proves an exceptionally one-sided fight as Master Org destroys both megazords, destroying Merrick's animal crystals in the process, as well as his morpher. Merrick then finds a dying Animus in Kite form, and the two are teleported up to the Animarium.
On the flying island, Animus has some not particularly inspiring last words and then evaporates in a flash of light. Master Org decides to keep the episode going by attacking the Animarium directly. The Wild Zords try to protect the Animarium, but get killed one by one. The Rangers used their remaining Wild Zords to form the Wild Force Megazord and the Kongazord. The Rangers are briefly able to slow down Master Org with the Deer Zord, and then liquify him with their soccer attack, but, well, it's a two parter, so he just re-forms. Master Org then proceeds to start killing the zords, which takes a while because they're so damn many of them this season. But, hey, the Rangers still have the five zords that make up the Wild Force Megazord, and the zords want to fight it out. The Rangers cheer it on from a safe distance. Max implores it to never give up....and then watches helplessly as Master Org kills it, and thus destroys the Rangers' remaining powers.
The Rangers are quite depressed by this turn of events, especially since Master Org is unharmed. Master Org proceeds to turn to conquering the Earth, which involves making it rain heavily, killing some trees and summoning some Putrids. On the Animarium, the fight with Master Org has damaged the island and left it listing in the sky. To Be Continued!
Next Time: Dei ex Machinae!
Sealing the Nexus
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 38
Original Airdate: 11-2-2002
Last Time: Jindrax discovered a force that was more powerful than life, mightier than death, more formidable than mortality itself...fishing.
Jindrax and Toxica have taken to the road to escape Master Org. Jindrax reveals that Shayla is still in Master Org's custody, and Toxica points out that this could lead to a problem of season-finale level problems. Toxica decides to come up with a plan.
Elsewhere, the Rangers are looking for Master Org's base, so they can rescue the princess.
In that very base, Shayla asks Master Org to give her details of his master plan, as well as a good ol' motive rant. Master Org's answer is basically to say that he's gone this far and might as well see how much farther he can go.
Meanwhile, Jindrax lures the Rangers into a deadly, deadly....briefing with Jindrax and Toxica. The Rangers are kind of surprised that Jindrax of all people now has the ability to raise the dead, but, well, it's time to get down to business. Master Org resurrects Retinax, Mandilok and Nayzor to guard the three locations putting up a forcefield around the nexus....and you'd think Master Org would want to go with a team comprised mainly of monsters he hadn't personally killed.
Anyway, Toxica explains that they can work together to rescue Shayla, and the Rangers don't really have much choice in the matter. Cole uses his alleged heart-reading ability to declare that Toxica and Jindrax genuinely want to help. The plan works as follows, the Rangers destroy three statues, which will bring down the forcefield, which will then allow Jindrax and Toxica to enter Master Org's base and rescue Shayla. And, of course, Master Org has planted one of his erstwhile generals at each of the points.
First up, Merrick and Alyssa face off against Nayzor...again. Christ, isn't Nayzor tired of Merrick killing him by this point? Max and Danny fight against Mandilok, and Cole and Taylor are matched up with Retinax, who appeared in one episode near the beginning of the season. Nayzor ends up giving the most laughable taunt in history, boldly declaring, "You cannot defeat me a third time!" None of the fights go well for the Rangers, and Master Org starts up some sort of evil incantation to restore the "Org Heart." I guess he took all of Cole's comments about not having a heart personally. Anyway, he ends up with some sort of green goo, which he then proceeds to eat.
All three pairs of Rangers proceed to rally in short order, and Jindrax and Toxica are ready to go into the lair once the forcefield is lowered. The Rangers remember that they don't actually have to beat the monster, just smash the statues, and destroy all three.
Toxica and Jindrax make their way through the lair, which is now shaking ominously. The Rangers have somehow all moved to the same location and are taking on all three generals at once. Cole calls for a final battle between Orgs and Humans that he apparently thinks is going to happen this episode. In fairness, he's close. Toxica and Jindrax rescue Shayla and watch Master Org sitting serenely as his lair collapses around him.
Outside, the Rangers are still fighting the generals, who show off their own evil version of the Savage Slash. The Rangers respond with the Jungle Blaster and kill all of the generals again. Inside the lair, Toxica, Jindrax and Shayla escape as Master Org turns to dust. Cole declares the war with the Orgs over, and Toxica and Jindrax agree. The Rangers not-so-subtly try to get Toxica and Jindrax to leave...immediately. Toxica and Jindrax decide to wander the roads of America. Huh, well, I guess that's....wait, the season is 40 episodes long. Damn it all.....Show Over! Season Should Be Over!
Next Time: Master Org comes back from the dead again!
Original Airdate: 11-2-2002
Last Time: Jindrax discovered a force that was more powerful than life, mightier than death, more formidable than mortality itself...fishing.
Jindrax and Toxica have taken to the road to escape Master Org. Jindrax reveals that Shayla is still in Master Org's custody, and Toxica points out that this could lead to a problem of season-finale level problems. Toxica decides to come up with a plan.
Elsewhere, the Rangers are looking for Master Org's base, so they can rescue the princess.
In that very base, Shayla asks Master Org to give her details of his master plan, as well as a good ol' motive rant. Master Org's answer is basically to say that he's gone this far and might as well see how much farther he can go.
Meanwhile, Jindrax lures the Rangers into a deadly, deadly....briefing with Jindrax and Toxica. The Rangers are kind of surprised that Jindrax of all people now has the ability to raise the dead, but, well, it's time to get down to business. Master Org resurrects Retinax, Mandilok and Nayzor to guard the three locations putting up a forcefield around the nexus....and you'd think Master Org would want to go with a team comprised mainly of monsters he hadn't personally killed.
Anyway, Toxica explains that they can work together to rescue Shayla, and the Rangers don't really have much choice in the matter. Cole uses his alleged heart-reading ability to declare that Toxica and Jindrax genuinely want to help. The plan works as follows, the Rangers destroy three statues, which will bring down the forcefield, which will then allow Jindrax and Toxica to enter Master Org's base and rescue Shayla. And, of course, Master Org has planted one of his erstwhile generals at each of the points.
First up, Merrick and Alyssa face off against Nayzor...again. Christ, isn't Nayzor tired of Merrick killing him by this point? Max and Danny fight against Mandilok, and Cole and Taylor are matched up with Retinax, who appeared in one episode near the beginning of the season. Nayzor ends up giving the most laughable taunt in history, boldly declaring, "You cannot defeat me a third time!" None of the fights go well for the Rangers, and Master Org starts up some sort of evil incantation to restore the "Org Heart." I guess he took all of Cole's comments about not having a heart personally. Anyway, he ends up with some sort of green goo, which he then proceeds to eat.
All three pairs of Rangers proceed to rally in short order, and Jindrax and Toxica are ready to go into the lair once the forcefield is lowered. The Rangers remember that they don't actually have to beat the monster, just smash the statues, and destroy all three.
Toxica and Jindrax make their way through the lair, which is now shaking ominously. The Rangers have somehow all moved to the same location and are taking on all three generals at once. Cole calls for a final battle between Orgs and Humans that he apparently thinks is going to happen this episode. In fairness, he's close. Toxica and Jindrax rescue Shayla and watch Master Org sitting serenely as his lair collapses around him.
Outside, the Rangers are still fighting the generals, who show off their own evil version of the Savage Slash. The Rangers respond with the Jungle Blaster and kill all of the generals again. Inside the lair, Toxica, Jindrax and Shayla escape as Master Org turns to dust. Cole declares the war with the Orgs over, and Toxica and Jindrax agree. The Rangers not-so-subtly try to get Toxica and Jindrax to leave...immediately. Toxica and Jindrax decide to wander the roads of America. Huh, well, I guess that's....wait, the season is 40 episodes long. Damn it all.....Show Over! Season Should Be Over!
Next Time: Master Org comes back from the dead again!
Fishing For a Friend
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 37
Original Airdate: 11-2-2002
Last Time: The Rangers failed to get Shayla back, but did get a new megazord....so, probably an above-average day for them all things considered.
In his lair, Master Org paces alone because all of his lackeys are dead. He decides to go bug Shayla for a bit, but, well, she isn't much frightened by doughy Russians in biege cloaks.
On the Animarium, Cole talks to the Lion Zord for a bit about how they really should rescue Shayla....and one of these days, they just might do it.
In the city, Jindrax realizes that he's pretty much screwed, and looks at the mirror her used to kill Onikage last episode. Apparently, the mirror allows you to communicate with the dead, as Toxica appears and begs Jindrax to save her. Unfortunately, since she's in hell, she can't come right out and tell Jindrax what he has to do in order to save her, and instead makes some cryptic comments about what killed her being the only thing that can bring her back from the dead.
On the Animarium, the Rangers agree that rescuing Shayla should be a high priority, and then remember that they don't actually know where she is.
Oh, and a new Org shows up, and it's the Locomotive Org, and neither side really cares at this point, but the Rangers feel compelled to deal with it, because it's their job and all.
Meanwhile, Jindrax is trying to figure out what the hell Toxica was going on about, and eventually decides that since Toxica got killed by the Rangers shooting her with their Jungle Blaster, if he can get them to blast Toxica's horn with it, that could bring her back to life. Wait, Jindrax has been carrying around a piece of Toxica's corpse? That's....unpleasant. However, he decides he'll need to fish her out of hell, so he goes to the local sporting goods store and get a fishing pole and some string. For some reason, the store owner, instead of being mildly alarmed at the monster who has repeatedly threatened the town, demands that Jindrax pay for the pole. Fortunately, Jindrax has an "Org Express" credit card. No, really. I don't know where it's from, or how he got it. I mean, I guess he had been living as a human for 3000 years, but that wouldn't explain why he has an "Org Express" card...
The Rangers eventually find the Locomotive Org, and Merrick tells the Rangers that this particular Org is stronger than the others. Well, it's the last one of the season, so....sure. Jindrax puts a plan into motion so that he can capture the energy of the Jungle Blaster when the Rangers use it.....and then realizes that the Rangers are losing.
Meanwhile, Master Org is preparing a spell of season finale. Meh.
The Rangers can't hurt the Locomotive Org, seriously depressing Jindrax who just cannot catch a break. He decides to step in and actually help the Rangers in order to save Toxica. Jindrax suckerslashes the monster, and then tells the Rangers to blast away with their Jungle Blaster while Jindrax holds him in place. It works, and Jindrax is able to siphon some of the energy into Toxica's horn.
The Rangers thank Jindrax and he responds by making Locomotive Org grow. Unfortunately for Jindrax, the Locomotive Org remembers Jindrax playing a key role in getting him killed in the first place and tries to crush him. The Rangers call out the Wild Force Megazord and the Predazord, but well, it is a bit early in the episode for them to win, so the monster beats them both, and breaking the megazord. Cole, undaunted, calls on the Kongazord. The Rangers have a deep bench this season.
Jindrax decides to put his mystical fishing plan into action, and uses the magic mirror and Toxica's horn to get Toxica back. Meanwhile, the Rangers continue to make no headway in their fight against the Locomotive Org, and the Kongazord and Predazord also are defeated. The Rangers aren't exactly sure what megazords are available based on what zords are currently damaged. They eventually figure out that they can combine the five or so zords that aren't damaged into a new megazord. You know, that's kind of the problem with this season's megazord fights, they take so damn long. In the old days, if the Rangers had to get beaten down before they won, the monster only had to knock out one megazord. This time, though, the Locomotive Org took out three megazords in a row, and it proved to be more of a speedbump than anything else. Anyway, the new megazord proves to be powerful enough to kill the Locomotive Org, making his previous victories all the more hollow.
Back at Jindrax's attempt to fish his way into hell, he manages to bring Toxica back to life with naught more than a mirror and some basic fishing supplies. That's...rather impressive.
Later, on the Animarium, the Rangers declare that they're really definitely going to rescue Shayla from Master Org....despite making exactly zero progress on that goal for this entire episode.
At a local playground, Jindrax and Toxica chat about what they're going to do now, and decide that serving Master Org may not be the wisest idea.
Speaking of Master Org, the villain declares that Shayla will finally be of "some use" to him. Well, at least she'll be helping somebody for once. Master Org then rips off her necklace. Huh. So I guess he was talking to the jewelry. Show Over!
Next Time: The show keeps limping along to its end.
Original Airdate: 11-2-2002
Last Time: The Rangers failed to get Shayla back, but did get a new megazord....so, probably an above-average day for them all things considered.
In his lair, Master Org paces alone because all of his lackeys are dead. He decides to go bug Shayla for a bit, but, well, she isn't much frightened by doughy Russians in biege cloaks.
On the Animarium, Cole talks to the Lion Zord for a bit about how they really should rescue Shayla....and one of these days, they just might do it.
In the city, Jindrax realizes that he's pretty much screwed, and looks at the mirror her used to kill Onikage last episode. Apparently, the mirror allows you to communicate with the dead, as Toxica appears and begs Jindrax to save her. Unfortunately, since she's in hell, she can't come right out and tell Jindrax what he has to do in order to save her, and instead makes some cryptic comments about what killed her being the only thing that can bring her back from the dead.
On the Animarium, the Rangers agree that rescuing Shayla should be a high priority, and then remember that they don't actually know where she is.
Oh, and a new Org shows up, and it's the Locomotive Org, and neither side really cares at this point, but the Rangers feel compelled to deal with it, because it's their job and all.
Meanwhile, Jindrax is trying to figure out what the hell Toxica was going on about, and eventually decides that since Toxica got killed by the Rangers shooting her with their Jungle Blaster, if he can get them to blast Toxica's horn with it, that could bring her back to life. Wait, Jindrax has been carrying around a piece of Toxica's corpse? That's....unpleasant. However, he decides he'll need to fish her out of hell, so he goes to the local sporting goods store and get a fishing pole and some string. For some reason, the store owner, instead of being mildly alarmed at the monster who has repeatedly threatened the town, demands that Jindrax pay for the pole. Fortunately, Jindrax has an "Org Express" credit card. No, really. I don't know where it's from, or how he got it. I mean, I guess he had been living as a human for 3000 years, but that wouldn't explain why he has an "Org Express" card...
The Rangers eventually find the Locomotive Org, and Merrick tells the Rangers that this particular Org is stronger than the others. Well, it's the last one of the season, so....sure. Jindrax puts a plan into motion so that he can capture the energy of the Jungle Blaster when the Rangers use it.....and then realizes that the Rangers are losing.
Meanwhile, Master Org is preparing a spell of season finale. Meh.
The Rangers can't hurt the Locomotive Org, seriously depressing Jindrax who just cannot catch a break. He decides to step in and actually help the Rangers in order to save Toxica. Jindrax suckerslashes the monster, and then tells the Rangers to blast away with their Jungle Blaster while Jindrax holds him in place. It works, and Jindrax is able to siphon some of the energy into Toxica's horn.
The Rangers thank Jindrax and he responds by making Locomotive Org grow. Unfortunately for Jindrax, the Locomotive Org remembers Jindrax playing a key role in getting him killed in the first place and tries to crush him. The Rangers call out the Wild Force Megazord and the Predazord, but well, it is a bit early in the episode for them to win, so the monster beats them both, and breaking the megazord. Cole, undaunted, calls on the Kongazord. The Rangers have a deep bench this season.
Jindrax decides to put his mystical fishing plan into action, and uses the magic mirror and Toxica's horn to get Toxica back. Meanwhile, the Rangers continue to make no headway in their fight against the Locomotive Org, and the Kongazord and Predazord also are defeated. The Rangers aren't exactly sure what megazords are available based on what zords are currently damaged. They eventually figure out that they can combine the five or so zords that aren't damaged into a new megazord. You know, that's kind of the problem with this season's megazord fights, they take so damn long. In the old days, if the Rangers had to get beaten down before they won, the monster only had to knock out one megazord. This time, though, the Locomotive Org took out three megazords in a row, and it proved to be more of a speedbump than anything else. Anyway, the new megazord proves to be powerful enough to kill the Locomotive Org, making his previous victories all the more hollow.
Back at Jindrax's attempt to fish his way into hell, he manages to bring Toxica back to life with naught more than a mirror and some basic fishing supplies. That's...rather impressive.
Later, on the Animarium, the Rangers declare that they're really definitely going to rescue Shayla from Master Org....despite making exactly zero progress on that goal for this entire episode.
At a local playground, Jindrax and Toxica chat about what they're going to do now, and decide that serving Master Org may not be the wisest idea.
Speaking of Master Org, the villain declares that Shayla will finally be of "some use" to him. Well, at least she'll be helping somebody for once. Master Org then rips off her necklace. Huh. So I guess he was talking to the jewelry. Show Over!
Next Time: The show keeps limping along to its end.
The Master's Herald, Part II
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 36
Original Airdate: 10-19-2002
Last Time: Toxica died and Shayla was kidnapped by Mandilok....come to think of it, neither of those things really changes the status quo of the series all that much.
On the beach, Jindrax is depressed that his best friend, Toxica, was betrayed and murdered while he basically just stood there.
Meanwhile, on the Animarium, Merrick is similarly depressed that he let Shayla get captured. Onikage suddenly appears and the Rangers start to spaz out before Merrick points out that it's just an illusion, and the monster isn't really there. Onikage challenges the Rangers to meet him in the quarry, I assume for either a monster fight or for some sort of dragster race. Come on, dragster race!
Nah, it's just a normal fight, and Shayla has been brought in as bait. The trap? Well, Onikage makes some evil duplicates of the Rangers called Shadow Rangers. Well, I suppose this was bound to happen at some point this season. It goes poorly for the Rangers, and Mandilok celebrates until Onikage talks about serving his one true master, and Master Org teleports in. Everyone's surprised by this, even though the Rangers never actually saw him die, and, in fact, explicitly chose to let him live.
Mandilok decides to cut this short by blasting off Master Org's horn, but it turns out to be real this time. Onikage then reveals that kiling Toxica was Master Org's idea, and Jindrax realizes that he might not have the brightest future in villainy, as both potential big bads have either betrayed him or been betrayed by him. Master Org attacks Mandilok with his extra thick Russian accent as well as a giant energy blast, and that does it for Mandilok. The Rangers take a break from fighting their shadows to note that this is probably a bad thing.
Onikage then decides that he might as well kill Jindrax, who takes Shayla and teleport away. The Rangers then also retreat from the battle. Actually, come to think of it, this was one of their more successful fights, as an enemy general was killed off.
In a nearby forest, Jindrax and Shayla teleport in to hear Master Org promising amnesty if Jindrax surrenders to him. He then orders Onikage to kill Jindrax. Shayla thanks Jindrax for rescuing her, and Jindrax reveals that he plans to trade her to someone so that he won't be killed. Shaya then tries to comfort Jindrax about Toxica. Yeah, I'm sure that the woman who gave the weapons to guys who killed his brother and his best friend is just the person for that job.
Elsewhere, the Rangers come to a consensus that they should probably rescue Shayla from the bad guys. Cole blathers something about Master Org having no heart or something, and that gives Master Org just the transitional dialogue he was looking for as he arrives with the Shadow Rangers. Cole finds out that hurting the shadows hurts themselves. Quick, Rangers, kill yourselves, that'll solve the problem!
Time to go back to Jindrax's moral confusion. On the one hand, if he goes back to Master Org, Onikage will kill him, on the other, if he doesn't, Onikage will hunt him down and kill him. It turns out to be a moot point as Onikage shows up to execute poor Jindrax. As Jindrax has not won a fight all season, he loses spectacularly, and Onikage steals Shayla. Amazingly, Jindrax crawls away from the fight alive, and swears revenge on the guy who just almost murdered him effortlessly.
Onikage takes Shayla back to Master Org, who is still overseeing the Rangers/Shadow Rangers fight. Jindrax, deciding to push his luck to the limit, has followed them and angrily resigns from villainy, accusing Master Org of having "no heart." Unsurprisingly, the heartless man promptly orders Onikage to kill Jindrax. I guess the moral of this episode is that you shouldn't piss off people with no compunctions about murdering others when they have a highly trained hitman standing right next to them. Onikage, never one to do things the easy, or even logical, way, elects to create a shadow version of Jindrax to kill its original, but Jindrax accidentally reflects Onikage's powers back at the monster, and thus Shadow Onikage is born. Onikage then unwisely reveals that if anyone kills his shadow, they'll also kill him, and it only takes Cole a moment to kill the Shadow Onikage with his Falcon Bow. This also kills the Shadow Rangers, so Master Org decides him might as well get as good a return on his investment and makes Onikage grow before teleporting out with Shayla.
Onikage begins the megazord fight by declaring "everything is out of your control now, Rangers." Oh, no, a giant determinist! He then sends the Rangers to an evil dimension. Giant versions of dead Orgs show up, and Onikage informs them that they're in Org Hell.
Elsewhere, Master Org locks Shayla in a prison cell....as though that somehow impairs the Rangers' capability.
Back in the dimension of evil and cliche, the Rangers try to call their zords. No dice. Shayla, from her prison cell, despairs, and her tears hit her necklace, which shoots out a ball of light that flies to the Lion Zord and doubles its size. The new Pegasus Megazord is formed and flies into the evil dimension and kills, or re-kills, all of the dead Orgs...and then Onikage. The Rangers get back to Earth, and that's the end of that.
Later, Master Org is still laughing despite the fact that capturing Shayla actually ended up creating a new and more powerful megazord that killed his most powerful lieutenant. The Rangers decide that they have to rescue her regardless, and pledge to "Never Give Up" again. Show Over!
Next Time: Jindrax takes up fishing to help him grieve!
Original Airdate: 10-19-2002
Last Time: Toxica died and Shayla was kidnapped by Mandilok....come to think of it, neither of those things really changes the status quo of the series all that much.
On the beach, Jindrax is depressed that his best friend, Toxica, was betrayed and murdered while he basically just stood there.
Meanwhile, on the Animarium, Merrick is similarly depressed that he let Shayla get captured. Onikage suddenly appears and the Rangers start to spaz out before Merrick points out that it's just an illusion, and the monster isn't really there. Onikage challenges the Rangers to meet him in the quarry, I assume for either a monster fight or for some sort of dragster race. Come on, dragster race!
Nah, it's just a normal fight, and Shayla has been brought in as bait. The trap? Well, Onikage makes some evil duplicates of the Rangers called Shadow Rangers. Well, I suppose this was bound to happen at some point this season. It goes poorly for the Rangers, and Mandilok celebrates until Onikage talks about serving his one true master, and Master Org teleports in. Everyone's surprised by this, even though the Rangers never actually saw him die, and, in fact, explicitly chose to let him live.
Mandilok decides to cut this short by blasting off Master Org's horn, but it turns out to be real this time. Onikage then reveals that kiling Toxica was Master Org's idea, and Jindrax realizes that he might not have the brightest future in villainy, as both potential big bads have either betrayed him or been betrayed by him. Master Org attacks Mandilok with his extra thick Russian accent as well as a giant energy blast, and that does it for Mandilok. The Rangers take a break from fighting their shadows to note that this is probably a bad thing.
Onikage then decides that he might as well kill Jindrax, who takes Shayla and teleport away. The Rangers then also retreat from the battle. Actually, come to think of it, this was one of their more successful fights, as an enemy general was killed off.
In a nearby forest, Jindrax and Shayla teleport in to hear Master Org promising amnesty if Jindrax surrenders to him. He then orders Onikage to kill Jindrax. Shayla thanks Jindrax for rescuing her, and Jindrax reveals that he plans to trade her to someone so that he won't be killed. Shaya then tries to comfort Jindrax about Toxica. Yeah, I'm sure that the woman who gave the weapons to guys who killed his brother and his best friend is just the person for that job.
Elsewhere, the Rangers come to a consensus that they should probably rescue Shayla from the bad guys. Cole blathers something about Master Org having no heart or something, and that gives Master Org just the transitional dialogue he was looking for as he arrives with the Shadow Rangers. Cole finds out that hurting the shadows hurts themselves. Quick, Rangers, kill yourselves, that'll solve the problem!
Time to go back to Jindrax's moral confusion. On the one hand, if he goes back to Master Org, Onikage will kill him, on the other, if he doesn't, Onikage will hunt him down and kill him. It turns out to be a moot point as Onikage shows up to execute poor Jindrax. As Jindrax has not won a fight all season, he loses spectacularly, and Onikage steals Shayla. Amazingly, Jindrax crawls away from the fight alive, and swears revenge on the guy who just almost murdered him effortlessly.
Onikage takes Shayla back to Master Org, who is still overseeing the Rangers/Shadow Rangers fight. Jindrax, deciding to push his luck to the limit, has followed them and angrily resigns from villainy, accusing Master Org of having "no heart." Unsurprisingly, the heartless man promptly orders Onikage to kill Jindrax. I guess the moral of this episode is that you shouldn't piss off people with no compunctions about murdering others when they have a highly trained hitman standing right next to them. Onikage, never one to do things the easy, or even logical, way, elects to create a shadow version of Jindrax to kill its original, but Jindrax accidentally reflects Onikage's powers back at the monster, and thus Shadow Onikage is born. Onikage then unwisely reveals that if anyone kills his shadow, they'll also kill him, and it only takes Cole a moment to kill the Shadow Onikage with his Falcon Bow. This also kills the Shadow Rangers, so Master Org decides him might as well get as good a return on his investment and makes Onikage grow before teleporting out with Shayla.
Onikage begins the megazord fight by declaring "everything is out of your control now, Rangers." Oh, no, a giant determinist! He then sends the Rangers to an evil dimension. Giant versions of dead Orgs show up, and Onikage informs them that they're in Org Hell.
Elsewhere, Master Org locks Shayla in a prison cell....as though that somehow impairs the Rangers' capability.
Back in the dimension of evil and cliche, the Rangers try to call their zords. No dice. Shayla, from her prison cell, despairs, and her tears hit her necklace, which shoots out a ball of light that flies to the Lion Zord and doubles its size. The new Pegasus Megazord is formed and flies into the evil dimension and kills, or re-kills, all of the dead Orgs...and then Onikage. The Rangers get back to Earth, and that's the end of that.
Later, Master Org is still laughing despite the fact that capturing Shayla actually ended up creating a new and more powerful megazord that killed his most powerful lieutenant. The Rangers decide that they have to rescue her regardless, and pledge to "Never Give Up" again. Show Over!
Next Time: Jindrax takes up fishing to help him grieve!
The Master's Herald, Part I
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 35
Original Airdate: 10-19-2002
Last Time: All of the past Red Rangers returned! I was happy to see....most of them.
Mandilok is upset the Rangers getting their zords back and fires Toxica and Jindrax for their incompetence. Fortunately, he finds a replacement in Onikage, some sort of Ninja Org. By the way, I hope you guys like implausible ninjas, because we're only a few episodes away from being inundated with them.
Outside the lair, Toxica and Jindrax are bummed about getting fired by Mandilok...again. Onikage offers the two a chance to redeem themselves, by capturing Shayla. Jindrax, being slightly more sensible, realizes that going to the place where the zords live can't be good for your long-term health. Onikage claims to have a way to sneak in undetected, and that's good enough for Jindrax. Toxica reluctantly agrees.
That night on the Animarium, the flaws in the plan become even more clear as the Rangers all sleep within fifty yards of Shayla. The plan fails almost immediately as Toxica touches the magic pool and gets badly hurt as a result. Onikage shows up to make fun of the Rangers' pajamas and Jindrax helps out by mocking Danny's teddy bear. The villains are all wearing ninja outfits, which Onikage claims allows them to sneak anywhere undetected. I guess I'll have to take his word for it. The villains then leave.
Mandilok is unpleased by Toxica's failure and double-fires her. Onikage realizes that Toxica could still be useful as some sort of Trojan Horse. Elsewhere, Jindrax is trying to comfort Toxica, who is afraid that Mandilok will never trust her again. In fairness, he probably should have stopped trusting her several episodes ago. Onikage shows up to offer Toxica another last chance to redeem herself.
The Rangers, meanwhile, are concerned about Animarium security, but have their discussion interrupted by a whole passel of dead Orgs that have come back to life. They turn out to be phantoms, though, and the Rangers aren't quite clever enough to figure out that this is all a diversion.
Anyway, back on the Animarium, Shayla is hiding in the pool until Merrick shows up to protect her....and then she immediately sends him to go help the other Rangers. Merrick immediately finds Onikage and blasts him, making the phantom monsters going away. Shayla cheers him on and then notices that Merrick, or rather a Merrick, is still on the Animarium. It takes Shayla entirely too long to comprehend that the Merrick standing right next to her is fake, and she gets captured.
Down at the fight, Onikage claims that this was all part of his master plan. Shayla calls them to inform them that she's being captured and needs help. The fake Merrick is actually Toxica, which is particularly threatening. Even more so when Shayla starts kicking her ass. The Rangers try to make their way back to the Animarium, but are forced to fight Jindrax and some Putrids first. Onikage looks on from a distance and his pleased with the progress of his plan.
Shayla and Toxica tussle some more, and Toxica claims that Shayla is just like her. Not quite sure where that came out of. Toxica reveals that she actually doesn't know why exactly Mandilok wants to capture Shayla. For whatever reason, this inspires Shayla to taunt Toxica for her lack of moral agency. They grapple for a bit more, and Shayla ends up dunking Toxica in the magic pool, which once again appears to hurt her badly, until she reveals that her horn is fake.
You see, Onikage had told Toxica that if she cut off her horn, she would be able to withstand the waters of the magic pool. Toxica was concerned, but Onikage explained that Duke Orgs like Toxica can grow their horns back, which Toxica didn't know. Shayla tries to explain that Toxica is blindly following the orders of others to her detriment, but that doesn't stop Toxica from finally capturing her.
Back at the Putrid battle, Onikage starts firing indiscrimately into the melee with some sort of ninja bazooka. Jindrax almost gets blown up and decides to stop fighting and retreat in disgust. Cole tries to kill him, but it turns out to be a decoy.
Elsewhere, Toxica shows up with Shayla and presents her to Mandilok and Jindrax. Toxica seems rather hurt, and Jindrax notices that she lost her horn. Toxica explains that it will grow back, and Jindrax doesn't believe it and asks Mandilok for confirmation. Turns out Onikage was lying, and Toxica is going to die as a result of cutting off her horn. Shayla decides to scold Mandilok. who doesn't really care. Jindrax starts freaking out that his bosses have probably killed his best friend and would probably kill him too, given the chance.
The Rangers show up and set up the Jungle Blaster to kill Mandilok, who is smart enough to use Toxica as a Org shield. This causes Toxica to slowly vaporize and both the Jindrax and the Rangers are rather surprised at the turn of events. Mandilok orders Jindrax to take Shayla back to the Org base, and Jindrax agrees, what with Mandilok proving that he's definitely willing to get rid of Orgs who displease him.
Onikage then grows, because, well, it's time for the megazord fight, even if this particular episode hasn't actually portrayed the story beats that typically proceed such a battle. The Rangers call on the Isis Megazord, and the fight starts up.
Meanwhile, Merrick has decided to hunt down an Org and pretty much defeats Onikage by accident. Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are depressed about losing Shayla because....well, I guess they're just kind of obligated to feel bad about their mentor being captured, even if she didn't serve much of a purpose or provide helpful guidance. To Be Continued!
Next Time: Another new megazord, because it's never too late in the season to sell new toys!
Original Airdate: 10-19-2002
Last Time: All of the past Red Rangers returned! I was happy to see....most of them.
Mandilok is upset the Rangers getting their zords back and fires Toxica and Jindrax for their incompetence. Fortunately, he finds a replacement in Onikage, some sort of Ninja Org. By the way, I hope you guys like implausible ninjas, because we're only a few episodes away from being inundated with them.
Outside the lair, Toxica and Jindrax are bummed about getting fired by Mandilok...again. Onikage offers the two a chance to redeem themselves, by capturing Shayla. Jindrax, being slightly more sensible, realizes that going to the place where the zords live can't be good for your long-term health. Onikage claims to have a way to sneak in undetected, and that's good enough for Jindrax. Toxica reluctantly agrees.
That night on the Animarium, the flaws in the plan become even more clear as the Rangers all sleep within fifty yards of Shayla. The plan fails almost immediately as Toxica touches the magic pool and gets badly hurt as a result. Onikage shows up to make fun of the Rangers' pajamas and Jindrax helps out by mocking Danny's teddy bear. The villains are all wearing ninja outfits, which Onikage claims allows them to sneak anywhere undetected. I guess I'll have to take his word for it. The villains then leave.
Mandilok is unpleased by Toxica's failure and double-fires her. Onikage realizes that Toxica could still be useful as some sort of Trojan Horse. Elsewhere, Jindrax is trying to comfort Toxica, who is afraid that Mandilok will never trust her again. In fairness, he probably should have stopped trusting her several episodes ago. Onikage shows up to offer Toxica another last chance to redeem herself.
The Rangers, meanwhile, are concerned about Animarium security, but have their discussion interrupted by a whole passel of dead Orgs that have come back to life. They turn out to be phantoms, though, and the Rangers aren't quite clever enough to figure out that this is all a diversion.
Anyway, back on the Animarium, Shayla is hiding in the pool until Merrick shows up to protect her....and then she immediately sends him to go help the other Rangers. Merrick immediately finds Onikage and blasts him, making the phantom monsters going away. Shayla cheers him on and then notices that Merrick, or rather a Merrick, is still on the Animarium. It takes Shayla entirely too long to comprehend that the Merrick standing right next to her is fake, and she gets captured.
Down at the fight, Onikage claims that this was all part of his master plan. Shayla calls them to inform them that she's being captured and needs help. The fake Merrick is actually Toxica, which is particularly threatening. Even more so when Shayla starts kicking her ass. The Rangers try to make their way back to the Animarium, but are forced to fight Jindrax and some Putrids first. Onikage looks on from a distance and his pleased with the progress of his plan.
Shayla and Toxica tussle some more, and Toxica claims that Shayla is just like her. Not quite sure where that came out of. Toxica reveals that she actually doesn't know why exactly Mandilok wants to capture Shayla. For whatever reason, this inspires Shayla to taunt Toxica for her lack of moral agency. They grapple for a bit more, and Shayla ends up dunking Toxica in the magic pool, which once again appears to hurt her badly, until she reveals that her horn is fake.
You see, Onikage had told Toxica that if she cut off her horn, she would be able to withstand the waters of the magic pool. Toxica was concerned, but Onikage explained that Duke Orgs like Toxica can grow their horns back, which Toxica didn't know. Shayla tries to explain that Toxica is blindly following the orders of others to her detriment, but that doesn't stop Toxica from finally capturing her.
Back at the Putrid battle, Onikage starts firing indiscrimately into the melee with some sort of ninja bazooka. Jindrax almost gets blown up and decides to stop fighting and retreat in disgust. Cole tries to kill him, but it turns out to be a decoy.
Elsewhere, Toxica shows up with Shayla and presents her to Mandilok and Jindrax. Toxica seems rather hurt, and Jindrax notices that she lost her horn. Toxica explains that it will grow back, and Jindrax doesn't believe it and asks Mandilok for confirmation. Turns out Onikage was lying, and Toxica is going to die as a result of cutting off her horn. Shayla decides to scold Mandilok. who doesn't really care. Jindrax starts freaking out that his bosses have probably killed his best friend and would probably kill him too, given the chance.
The Rangers show up and set up the Jungle Blaster to kill Mandilok, who is smart enough to use Toxica as a Org shield. This causes Toxica to slowly vaporize and both the Jindrax and the Rangers are rather surprised at the turn of events. Mandilok orders Jindrax to take Shayla back to the Org base, and Jindrax agrees, what with Mandilok proving that he's definitely willing to get rid of Orgs who displease him.
Onikage then grows, because, well, it's time for the megazord fight, even if this particular episode hasn't actually portrayed the story beats that typically proceed such a battle. The Rangers call on the Isis Megazord, and the fight starts up.
Meanwhile, Merrick has decided to hunt down an Org and pretty much defeats Onikage by accident. Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are depressed about losing Shayla because....well, I guess they're just kind of obligated to feel bad about their mentor being captured, even if she didn't serve much of a purpose or provide helpful guidance. To Be Continued!
Next Time: Another new megazord, because it's never too late in the season to sell new toys!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Forever Red
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 34
Original Airdate: 10-5-2002
Last Time: Animus took away all of the zords....then changed his mind ten minutes later and pretended that it was all a test.
Okay, guys, this one is going to be a doozy, if only because trying to work in ten Red Rangers in twenty-two minutes, while also setting up why they and only they can stop a new threat is basically impossible. If there ever were a Power Rangers story that needed two parts, it's this one. Then again, the primary purpose of Power Rangers is to sell toys, and those toys get cycled out of the toy stores in a matter of months, so I can understand, from a purely economical standpoint, why they'd want to limit this to one part. Think about it this way, there are an infinite number of alternate realities, and that means that there are countless universes where this was a two-parter. Hell, there are countless universes where it's a three-parter. Actually, come to think of it, since there are an innumerable number of universes where any event has happened, that means that there are billions of universes were Forever Red was the only television program ever made. Wait, where was I going with this?
On the Moon, some Beetleborg rejects are ordering some Cogs (the mooks from Zeo) to excavate something that Lord Zedd left behind when he fled the Solar System. A guy in a cloak who happens to be Andros, watches and realizes that this might be a problem. Andros tries to run but get spotted by two of the villains, who choose to chase him....on horseback....on the moon....On the plus side, having lunar-based robots utilize light calvalry is something that's never been done before. Andros calls for his Galaxy Glider and gets out of there.
Somewhere on Earth, Bulk and Skull have returned! They're now working as bartenders at some sort of resort. Wait a minute, for the entire Lost Galaxy season, it was pounded into the audience's head that no one could get back to Earth from Terra Venture, and Bulk was on Terra Venture the whole time. It was stupid at the time, but the writers held fast to it. Now I'm not a continuity nerd or anything, but this episode is basically continuity masturbation, so you'd think you wouldn't want to fuck something like that up.
Anyway, the phone rings, and Bulk accidentally knocks Skull into a nearby swimming pool. Ah, those were the days. But, the episode then elects to depress me in a profound way, as it turns out that Bulk and Skull now work for Tommy at his resort. That's.....kind of soul-crushing, I mean, they deserve better than to work for someone like Tommy. Also, wasn't Tommy a race car driver last time we saw him?
Carter then shows up in Turtle Cove to retrieve Cole for a secret mission. Carter takes Cole to a secret NASADA base, where the space agency has only now recovered from losing all of those shuttles in the In Space season. Cole meets up with Eric and Wes, and Carter introduces them to....I'm not exactly sure who, as it's clear that Cole knows them, and Carter knows them, and Eric and Wes probably don't need to be told who they are. It's some rather poorly written exposition, although I understand why they did it. Then again, maybe Carter accurately pegged Cole as someone who needed extra assistance in keeping up with all of the Red Rangers. He also introduces T.J.....oh, fuck, everyone's going to die. Andros also shows up and explains that the leader of the Rangers for this mission will be....Tommy. Bummer. Couldn't have been Jason, eh?
Tommy explains that the remnants of the Machine Empire have come together on the Moon in order to invade Earth. Andros then shows off a new Astro Megaship to take them to the Moon. It's a volunteer mission, but, well, the other Rangers are just happy to be there. Andros asks where the hell Jason is, and a motorcycle pulls up in the distance. It's Jason, and he gives the team a look-over. The assembled Red Rangers move off to...wait, aren't we one short? Where's Leo, my second-least favorite Red Ranger? (Note: Apparently the guy who played Leo was still pissed about the....pacing issues in the teamup episide with Lost Galaxy and only showed up for a few reshoots. Not the world's biggest loss.)
On the moon, the head Machine guy shows off his new superweapon and vows revenge. On Mirinoi, Leo decides he probably should head out. On the Megaship, Tommy finally tells the team exactly what they'll be doing once they reach the moon with the help of some version of Alpha. Tommy explains that he and the other Zeo Rangers, who couldn't be here today, but send their regards, destroyed most of the Machine Empire, but that turned out to not quite be enough, as they've regrouped under General Venjix and are excavating Serpenterra. What's Serpenterra, you ask? Well, it was Lord Zedd's awesome gigantic zord that dwarfed any megazord ever built. Oh, it always ran out of power before it could do anything, but presumably this time will be different. Cole immediately leaps to the bold conclusion that the assembled strike force of Rangers should stop the evil robots from destroying the Earth. You know, watching Cole's actor going up against all of the other Red Rangers, who weren't exactly played by legends of the screen, makes me realize just how shitty the acting this season has been. On the plus side, the guy playing T.J. seems a lot better than the last time I saw him.
Anyway, the evil Beetleborgs are about to turn on Serpenterra when the Rangers manage to sneak up right behind him undetected. That's some piss-poor security, there, Venjix. It's time for the unmorphed melee. T.J. is still forgettable! Tommy still has his trademark battlecry! Jason is getting too old for this shit! Eric is still competent! Andros is still playing by a guy who doesn't do his own stunts! Carter still just shoots people in lieu of punching them! Eric should stop wearing that red beret! No one watched this episode to see Cole fight!
The generals decide to just go ahead and board Serpenterra while the Rangers are fighting the Cogs, and Cole tries to stop them. He fails, of course, but gets saved by Leo and Aurico (the Red Aquitar Ranger from the end of season 3, when they ran out of Sentai footage with the original suits but still had about ten episodes to go until Zeo). The Rangers reassemble and Leo unmorphs....and Aurico doesn't because they couldn't get the original actor.
The general pursue the Rangers and realize that they've inadvertently stumbled into the Red Ranger reunion. "It's Morphin' Time!" "It's Morphin' Time!" "Shift Into Turbo" "Let's Rocket" "Go Galactic" "Lightspeed Rescue" "Time For Time Force" "Quantum Power" "Wild Access" And Aurico is already morphed and Rocky....wasn't invited.
The Rangers work in pairs to defeat the Robot Generals, who have got to be gobsmacked by all of the Red Rangers in history showing up. Cole and Jason team up and Cole tries to be endearing by saying "Morphonomenal" his attempt fails. Wes and Tommy fight against the green robot, which ends when Tommy kicks the robot in the chest so hard that it explodes.
Meanwhile, Aurico and Eric team up in the "Do whatever the hell you have to, but we must have ten Red Rangers" fight. Leo and T.J. fight another general in a fight I will know as "the fight of the damned." Finally, that leaves Andros and Carter to eschew close combat altogether and just shoot their enemy until it dies.
Everyone's dead except for the guy Cole and Jason were fighting because Cole's final attack just wasn't good enough. Serpenterra takes off and Carter announces that there's no time to chase it in the Astro Megaship. Time for an epic megazord battle? Yeah, you wish. No, instead Cole calls on the new motorcycle that was awkwardly introduced at the end of last week's episode. He then starts driving it in space, which appears to have the same properties as an asphalt road in terms of manuevering the motorcycle, and then blows up the mightiest zord of them all by flying right into its mouth and firing some lasers. Man, you could not have scripted a more disappointing ending if you tried.
The Rangers then shoot the breeze about there old adventures and whose the best Ranger. Eric declares that the Q-Rex can kick the Dragonzord's ass. Wes claims that he changed the course of history...although it was never made clear that it was for the better. Andros claims to have saved two worlds. And T.J., in his very last T.J. moment, remembers the time he got his team cooked into a pizza. I will miss him most of all. Show Over!
Next Time: Hey, remember how when Master Org was killed, he didn't really die? Well, he's decided that to finally get back in the game by use of a ridiculously circuitous plot to defeat the Rangers.
Original Airdate: 10-5-2002
Last Time: Animus took away all of the zords....then changed his mind ten minutes later and pretended that it was all a test.
Okay, guys, this one is going to be a doozy, if only because trying to work in ten Red Rangers in twenty-two minutes, while also setting up why they and only they can stop a new threat is basically impossible. If there ever were a Power Rangers story that needed two parts, it's this one. Then again, the primary purpose of Power Rangers is to sell toys, and those toys get cycled out of the toy stores in a matter of months, so I can understand, from a purely economical standpoint, why they'd want to limit this to one part. Think about it this way, there are an infinite number of alternate realities, and that means that there are countless universes where this was a two-parter. Hell, there are countless universes where it's a three-parter. Actually, come to think of it, since there are an innumerable number of universes where any event has happened, that means that there are billions of universes were Forever Red was the only television program ever made. Wait, where was I going with this?
On the Moon, some Beetleborg rejects are ordering some Cogs (the mooks from Zeo) to excavate something that Lord Zedd left behind when he fled the Solar System. A guy in a cloak who happens to be Andros, watches and realizes that this might be a problem. Andros tries to run but get spotted by two of the villains, who choose to chase him....on horseback....on the moon....On the plus side, having lunar-based robots utilize light calvalry is something that's never been done before. Andros calls for his Galaxy Glider and gets out of there.
Somewhere on Earth, Bulk and Skull have returned! They're now working as bartenders at some sort of resort. Wait a minute, for the entire Lost Galaxy season, it was pounded into the audience's head that no one could get back to Earth from Terra Venture, and Bulk was on Terra Venture the whole time. It was stupid at the time, but the writers held fast to it. Now I'm not a continuity nerd or anything, but this episode is basically continuity masturbation, so you'd think you wouldn't want to fuck something like that up.
Anyway, the phone rings, and Bulk accidentally knocks Skull into a nearby swimming pool. Ah, those were the days. But, the episode then elects to depress me in a profound way, as it turns out that Bulk and Skull now work for Tommy at his resort. That's.....kind of soul-crushing, I mean, they deserve better than to work for someone like Tommy. Also, wasn't Tommy a race car driver last time we saw him?
Carter then shows up in Turtle Cove to retrieve Cole for a secret mission. Carter takes Cole to a secret NASADA base, where the space agency has only now recovered from losing all of those shuttles in the In Space season. Cole meets up with Eric and Wes, and Carter introduces them to....I'm not exactly sure who, as it's clear that Cole knows them, and Carter knows them, and Eric and Wes probably don't need to be told who they are. It's some rather poorly written exposition, although I understand why they did it. Then again, maybe Carter accurately pegged Cole as someone who needed extra assistance in keeping up with all of the Red Rangers. He also introduces T.J.....oh, fuck, everyone's going to die. Andros also shows up and explains that the leader of the Rangers for this mission will be....Tommy. Bummer. Couldn't have been Jason, eh?
Tommy explains that the remnants of the Machine Empire have come together on the Moon in order to invade Earth. Andros then shows off a new Astro Megaship to take them to the Moon. It's a volunteer mission, but, well, the other Rangers are just happy to be there. Andros asks where the hell Jason is, and a motorcycle pulls up in the distance. It's Jason, and he gives the team a look-over. The assembled Red Rangers move off to...wait, aren't we one short? Where's Leo, my second-least favorite Red Ranger? (Note: Apparently the guy who played Leo was still pissed about the....pacing issues in the teamup episide with Lost Galaxy and only showed up for a few reshoots. Not the world's biggest loss.)
On the moon, the head Machine guy shows off his new superweapon and vows revenge. On Mirinoi, Leo decides he probably should head out. On the Megaship, Tommy finally tells the team exactly what they'll be doing once they reach the moon with the help of some version of Alpha. Tommy explains that he and the other Zeo Rangers, who couldn't be here today, but send their regards, destroyed most of the Machine Empire, but that turned out to not quite be enough, as they've regrouped under General Venjix and are excavating Serpenterra. What's Serpenterra, you ask? Well, it was Lord Zedd's awesome gigantic zord that dwarfed any megazord ever built. Oh, it always ran out of power before it could do anything, but presumably this time will be different. Cole immediately leaps to the bold conclusion that the assembled strike force of Rangers should stop the evil robots from destroying the Earth. You know, watching Cole's actor going up against all of the other Red Rangers, who weren't exactly played by legends of the screen, makes me realize just how shitty the acting this season has been. On the plus side, the guy playing T.J. seems a lot better than the last time I saw him.
Anyway, the evil Beetleborgs are about to turn on Serpenterra when the Rangers manage to sneak up right behind him undetected. That's some piss-poor security, there, Venjix. It's time for the unmorphed melee. T.J. is still forgettable! Tommy still has his trademark battlecry! Jason is getting too old for this shit! Eric is still competent! Andros is still playing by a guy who doesn't do his own stunts! Carter still just shoots people in lieu of punching them! Eric should stop wearing that red beret! No one watched this episode to see Cole fight!
The generals decide to just go ahead and board Serpenterra while the Rangers are fighting the Cogs, and Cole tries to stop them. He fails, of course, but gets saved by Leo and Aurico (the Red Aquitar Ranger from the end of season 3, when they ran out of Sentai footage with the original suits but still had about ten episodes to go until Zeo). The Rangers reassemble and Leo unmorphs....and Aurico doesn't because they couldn't get the original actor.
The general pursue the Rangers and realize that they've inadvertently stumbled into the Red Ranger reunion. "It's Morphin' Time!" "It's Morphin' Time!" "Shift Into Turbo" "Let's Rocket" "Go Galactic" "Lightspeed Rescue" "Time For Time Force" "Quantum Power" "Wild Access" And Aurico is already morphed and Rocky....wasn't invited.
The Rangers work in pairs to defeat the Robot Generals, who have got to be gobsmacked by all of the Red Rangers in history showing up. Cole and Jason team up and Cole tries to be endearing by saying "Morphonomenal" his attempt fails. Wes and Tommy fight against the green robot, which ends when Tommy kicks the robot in the chest so hard that it explodes.
Meanwhile, Aurico and Eric team up in the "Do whatever the hell you have to, but we must have ten Red Rangers" fight. Leo and T.J. fight another general in a fight I will know as "the fight of the damned." Finally, that leaves Andros and Carter to eschew close combat altogether and just shoot their enemy until it dies.
Everyone's dead except for the guy Cole and Jason were fighting because Cole's final attack just wasn't good enough. Serpenterra takes off and Carter announces that there's no time to chase it in the Astro Megaship. Time for an epic megazord battle? Yeah, you wish. No, instead Cole calls on the new motorcycle that was awkwardly introduced at the end of last week's episode. He then starts driving it in space, which appears to have the same properties as an asphalt road in terms of manuevering the motorcycle, and then blows up the mightiest zord of them all by flying right into its mouth and firing some lasers. Man, you could not have scripted a more disappointing ending if you tried.
The Rangers then shoot the breeze about there old adventures and whose the best Ranger. Eric declares that the Q-Rex can kick the Dragonzord's ass. Wes claims that he changed the course of history...although it was never made clear that it was for the better. Andros claims to have saved two worlds. And T.J., in his very last T.J. moment, remembers the time he got his team cooked into a pizza. I will miss him most of all. Show Over!
Next Time: Hey, remember how when Master Org was killed, he didn't really die? Well, he's decided that to finally get back in the game by use of a ridiculously circuitous plot to defeat the Rangers.
The Soul of Humanity
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 33
Original Airdate: 10-5-2002
Last Time: Kite turned out to be Animus, who took away the Wild Zords because he disapproved of humanity. This essentially ceded victory to the Orgs, who happened to be the ones responsible for killing Animus 3000 years ago. I guess Animus is very forgiving.
Cole goes looking for the Lion Zord, but it's very, very gone. He then finds Shayla, and she's very, very comatose. Not really much of a loss compared to the Wild Zords, but I guess it's still a bummer. The Rangers reassemble on the Animarium and feel depressed that Animus thinks they suck.
Down at the Roadhouse, Merrick is too sad even to play Willie in pool. I like how his reaction to Shayla being in a coma is mild depression.
In the evil lair of evil, Jindrax and Toxica celebrate their imminent victory. Mandilok joins in and everyone has a good laugh.
Back on the Animarium, Alyssa tries talking to the comatose Shayla and thanks Shayla for all she's done for the Rangers. What would those contribution be again? All those times she answered the Rangers question with "I don't know." The other Rangers also walk around dejectedly, because they know the next Org is probably going to kill them.
Cole catches up with Merrick and tells him that Shayla is back in a coma. This proves rather disconcerting to Merrick, who remembers last time that happened. The new Org also shows up, Robot Org. It pledges to "destroy all humans." That's a bold goal. The Rangers don't really want to fight it, because they know that the second Toxica makes it grow they're boned, but Alyssa talks them into it.
The Robot Org attacks a construction site where a little girl had unwisely chosen to walk her dog. The Rangers show up, and well, they can handle this phase of the fight with no problem.
Meanwhile, Merrick has gone to visit the memorial to the dead proto-Rangers. He's unsure of what to do, and Animus shows up to explain that Merrick doesn't belong on Earth anymore, and offers to take him to Animus' dimension in the sky. Merrick mulls Animus' offer, as the Rangers struggle to defeat Robot Org, which ends up collapsing the building that the Rangers were fighting in. Mandilok taunts the Rangers about how the humans ran away from the imploding building, and then some rescue workers show up to demonstrate the human spirit. They even save the little girl's dog. Merrick has been listening to this on his morpher, and Animus tells him it's time to go. Cole continues his speech as the Robot Org attacks again. Merrick explains that he really would prefer not let all of humanity die out of spite, and decides to help the other Rangers.
Animus, taking this into consideration, wakes Shayla from her coma. The fight against Robot Org keeps going. Merrick shows up and his crystals still work, and he uses them to kill Robot Org. But, then again, that really wasn't the problem. The megazord battle was where it got a bit problematic. Of course, Merrick still has the Predazord because, I don't know, he doesn't suck quite as hard as the other Rangers. It's not enough, so Shayla runs in and explains that the Rangers' zords are connected to their hearts, which allows them to channel their zords' power into the Predazord. Animus shows up because he always wanted to fight alongside Merrick and they didn't get a chance 3000 years ago. Together, they kill the Robot Org.
Later, Animus, perhaps realizing how ineffective his zord embargo is....seeing as he himself broke it, declares that this was all a test, and the Rangers passed, giving the Rangers their zords back. He then gives Cole a new motorcycle for.....a rather nebulous reason, albeit it's going to be used next episode, and they really, really, really don't have time to introduce it then. Animus decides to leave Earth forever....or for a few episodes, as it will turn out.
Next Time: Crisis on Infinite Rangers! Or "Hey guys, let's have an episode that will only really be appreciated by diehard fans and then introduce a few continuity errors that will be sure to rile them up!"
Original Airdate: 10-5-2002
Last Time: Kite turned out to be Animus, who took away the Wild Zords because he disapproved of humanity. This essentially ceded victory to the Orgs, who happened to be the ones responsible for killing Animus 3000 years ago. I guess Animus is very forgiving.
Cole goes looking for the Lion Zord, but it's very, very gone. He then finds Shayla, and she's very, very comatose. Not really much of a loss compared to the Wild Zords, but I guess it's still a bummer. The Rangers reassemble on the Animarium and feel depressed that Animus thinks they suck.
Down at the Roadhouse, Merrick is too sad even to play Willie in pool. I like how his reaction to Shayla being in a coma is mild depression.
In the evil lair of evil, Jindrax and Toxica celebrate their imminent victory. Mandilok joins in and everyone has a good laugh.
Back on the Animarium, Alyssa tries talking to the comatose Shayla and thanks Shayla for all she's done for the Rangers. What would those contribution be again? All those times she answered the Rangers question with "I don't know." The other Rangers also walk around dejectedly, because they know the next Org is probably going to kill them.
Cole catches up with Merrick and tells him that Shayla is back in a coma. This proves rather disconcerting to Merrick, who remembers last time that happened. The new Org also shows up, Robot Org. It pledges to "destroy all humans." That's a bold goal. The Rangers don't really want to fight it, because they know that the second Toxica makes it grow they're boned, but Alyssa talks them into it.
The Robot Org attacks a construction site where a little girl had unwisely chosen to walk her dog. The Rangers show up, and well, they can handle this phase of the fight with no problem.
Meanwhile, Merrick has gone to visit the memorial to the dead proto-Rangers. He's unsure of what to do, and Animus shows up to explain that Merrick doesn't belong on Earth anymore, and offers to take him to Animus' dimension in the sky. Merrick mulls Animus' offer, as the Rangers struggle to defeat Robot Org, which ends up collapsing the building that the Rangers were fighting in. Mandilok taunts the Rangers about how the humans ran away from the imploding building, and then some rescue workers show up to demonstrate the human spirit. They even save the little girl's dog. Merrick has been listening to this on his morpher, and Animus tells him it's time to go. Cole continues his speech as the Robot Org attacks again. Merrick explains that he really would prefer not let all of humanity die out of spite, and decides to help the other Rangers.
Animus, taking this into consideration, wakes Shayla from her coma. The fight against Robot Org keeps going. Merrick shows up and his crystals still work, and he uses them to kill Robot Org. But, then again, that really wasn't the problem. The megazord battle was where it got a bit problematic. Of course, Merrick still has the Predazord because, I don't know, he doesn't suck quite as hard as the other Rangers. It's not enough, so Shayla runs in and explains that the Rangers' zords are connected to their hearts, which allows them to channel their zords' power into the Predazord. Animus shows up because he always wanted to fight alongside Merrick and they didn't get a chance 3000 years ago. Together, they kill the Robot Org.
Later, Animus, perhaps realizing how ineffective his zord embargo is....seeing as he himself broke it, declares that this was all a test, and the Rangers passed, giving the Rangers their zords back. He then gives Cole a new motorcycle for.....a rather nebulous reason, albeit it's going to be used next episode, and they really, really, really don't have time to introduce it then. Animus decides to leave Earth forever....or for a few episodes, as it will turn out.
Next Time: Crisis on Infinite Rangers! Or "Hey guys, let's have an episode that will only really be appreciated by diehard fans and then introduce a few continuity errors that will be sure to rile them up!"
Monitoring Earth
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 32
Original Airdate: 9-28-2002
Last Time: The Rangers summoned every single zord at their disposal for what's in all likelihood the longest megazord battle in the show's history.
In the evil base o' Orgs, Mandilok realizes that something's up with Kite, and decides to convince him to be on the Org's side.
Back on the Animarium, Kite has woken up early and is watching TV. Unfortunately, the TV appears to be tuned to the 24-hours Environmental Disaster Network. This makes Kite angry, and the Rangers explain that destroying the environment is the price of progress. Kite wants the Rangers to take a more militant stand in regards to protecting the environment, and Taylor takes umbrage at the budding eco-terrorist's rant. Kite runs off. The Rangers except for Taylor go after him, while Taylor really can't be bothered. The Rangers have no luck, and Taylor is reasonably sure that Kite will be back.
Down at the nearest Superfund site, Kite laments how much man has destroyed his own planet. Mandilok and his two goons show up to make a pitch to Kite about killing all the humans.
At Willie's Roadhouse, Merrick is playing some pool while Cole complains about not finding Cole. I'm kind of surprised that Merrick didn't beat Cole with a pool cue the minute he stepped foot in Merrick's homebase. Merrick explains that Kite is no ordinary boy, and that he's definitely someone from Merrick's past.
Meanwile, Mandilok has taken Kite to some sort of hellish trashyard, and convinces Kite that the humans totally deserve to be killed by the Orgs. We see the birth of the Television Org, which comes complete with Goldar's voice. The TV Org starts its assault by sucking people into television screens or monitors or really anything of the sort. This includes an unrealistically large crowd that appears to have come to see a youth soccer game.
The Rangers move in to deal with the new monster at the soccer stadium. They see the people trapped in the Jumbotron. Mandilok shows up to announce the defection of Kite to the Orgs. Apparently he's so upset with the Rangers for not stopping the humans from polluting that he's decided to throw in with the group who want to kill everyone and everything on the planet. We'll learn later that this is even dumber than it appears. The Rangers make an abortive attempt to rescue Kite, which becomes quite unnecessary when Kite stops an SUV coming at him with his mind...and then drops it on the Rangers. Merrick and Cole manage to recover enough to kill the TV Org dead, though.
This frees the people trapped in the monitors, but that doesn't mean that the Rangers can skip the megazord leg of the fight. The Rangers call out the Wild Force Megazord ominously early. Mandilok convinces Kite that the Wild Zords are being used as weapons by the evil, evil humans. Merrick, who's fighting Toxica and Jindrax, tells him not to listen to Mandilok, who could not look and sound more obviously villainous if he tried.
The TV Org makes a bunch of copies of itself...which proves a useful tactic for roughly five seconds before the Rangers kill them all. A bug lands on the Wild Force Megazord and the villains take control of it for the second episode in a row. Kite decides to reveal his true form....Animus. No, I don't believe it! The Rangers realize that this might be a problem.
Animus declares that he's taking his Wild Zords and going home, leaving the Rangers and Orgs to kill each other without their support. Mandilok decides to use the Wild Force Megazord to kill Animus before things get out of hand, but Animus defuses the bug in about five seconds. The villains flee in a panic.
The Rangers, meanwhile, try to reason with Animus, but he's decided to take away the Wild Zords from the Rangers. Taylor points out that that leaves the Rangers at a rather crippling strategic disadvantage, but Animus doesn't really care. The Wild Zords all vanish, and Shayla collapses. The narrator comes back to inform us that the writers ran out of running time to explain what her deal is, but that she's in a coma until the Wild Zords return. Thanks, Mr. Narrator! To Be Continued!
Next Time: The Rangers teach Animus a lesson about the human spirit...or something!
Original Airdate: 9-28-2002
Last Time: The Rangers summoned every single zord at their disposal for what's in all likelihood the longest megazord battle in the show's history.
In the evil base o' Orgs, Mandilok realizes that something's up with Kite, and decides to convince him to be on the Org's side.
Back on the Animarium, Kite has woken up early and is watching TV. Unfortunately, the TV appears to be tuned to the 24-hours Environmental Disaster Network. This makes Kite angry, and the Rangers explain that destroying the environment is the price of progress. Kite wants the Rangers to take a more militant stand in regards to protecting the environment, and Taylor takes umbrage at the budding eco-terrorist's rant. Kite runs off. The Rangers except for Taylor go after him, while Taylor really can't be bothered. The Rangers have no luck, and Taylor is reasonably sure that Kite will be back.
Down at the nearest Superfund site, Kite laments how much man has destroyed his own planet. Mandilok and his two goons show up to make a pitch to Kite about killing all the humans.
At Willie's Roadhouse, Merrick is playing some pool while Cole complains about not finding Cole. I'm kind of surprised that Merrick didn't beat Cole with a pool cue the minute he stepped foot in Merrick's homebase. Merrick explains that Kite is no ordinary boy, and that he's definitely someone from Merrick's past.
Meanwile, Mandilok has taken Kite to some sort of hellish trashyard, and convinces Kite that the humans totally deserve to be killed by the Orgs. We see the birth of the Television Org, which comes complete with Goldar's voice. The TV Org starts its assault by sucking people into television screens or monitors or really anything of the sort. This includes an unrealistically large crowd that appears to have come to see a youth soccer game.
The Rangers move in to deal with the new monster at the soccer stadium. They see the people trapped in the Jumbotron. Mandilok shows up to announce the defection of Kite to the Orgs. Apparently he's so upset with the Rangers for not stopping the humans from polluting that he's decided to throw in with the group who want to kill everyone and everything on the planet. We'll learn later that this is even dumber than it appears. The Rangers make an abortive attempt to rescue Kite, which becomes quite unnecessary when Kite stops an SUV coming at him with his mind...and then drops it on the Rangers. Merrick and Cole manage to recover enough to kill the TV Org dead, though.
This frees the people trapped in the monitors, but that doesn't mean that the Rangers can skip the megazord leg of the fight. The Rangers call out the Wild Force Megazord ominously early. Mandilok convinces Kite that the Wild Zords are being used as weapons by the evil, evil humans. Merrick, who's fighting Toxica and Jindrax, tells him not to listen to Mandilok, who could not look and sound more obviously villainous if he tried.
The TV Org makes a bunch of copies of itself...which proves a useful tactic for roughly five seconds before the Rangers kill them all. A bug lands on the Wild Force Megazord and the villains take control of it for the second episode in a row. Kite decides to reveal his true form....Animus. No, I don't believe it! The Rangers realize that this might be a problem.
Animus declares that he's taking his Wild Zords and going home, leaving the Rangers and Orgs to kill each other without their support. Mandilok decides to use the Wild Force Megazord to kill Animus before things get out of hand, but Animus defuses the bug in about five seconds. The villains flee in a panic.
The Rangers, meanwhile, try to reason with Animus, but he's decided to take away the Wild Zords from the Rangers. Taylor points out that that leaves the Rangers at a rather crippling strategic disadvantage, but Animus doesn't really care. The Wild Zords all vanish, and Shayla collapses. The narrator comes back to inform us that the writers ran out of running time to explain what her deal is, but that she's in a coma until the Wild Zords return. Thanks, Mr. Narrator! To Be Continued!
Next Time: The Rangers teach Animus a lesson about the human spirit...or something!
Taming of the Zords
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 31
Original Airdate: 9-28-2002
Last Time: The Rangers went to the carnival....of death! Okay, technically the only person that died was Jindrax's brother, but still....
The episode begins with yet another rendition of Shayla's song about how much she looooooves nature. Kite, who apparently is just living on the Animarium, watches through the magic pool. Max happens by and asks if Kite remembers his past yet, as we flashback to last episode when Kite remembered being friends with Merrick.
Time for the Org of the week! This week, it's the Lion Tamer Org. Er....I thought the Orgs were possessing man's technology as some sort of consequence for man polluting the world. Jindrax is as skeptical as I am, as he's reasonably sure that the Lion Tamer Org isn't quite up to the task of avenging Jindrax's dead brother. Lion Tamer fails to tame a stray cat....and, yeah, that seems like a problem. But, hell, he's the best monster available so Toxica and Jindrax send him to fight the Ranges.
Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are edgy because they keep getting woken up early every morning by Shayla's song. Shayla shows up and demands that the Rangers appreciate the song, as the Wild Zords do. This mention of the Wild Zords further stirs Kite's memory. The monster attacks and the Rangers move out.
Lion Tamer Org shows his chops by making Alyssa jump through a flaming hoop by mind control. He then forces the Rangers to sit. Lion Tamer Org asks to join Team Carnival. Er...I thought Jindrax disbanded the team after the unfortunate business last episode.Anyway, Jindrax and Toxica decide to move the plot forward by just making the Lion Tamer Org giant-sized now, as opposed to waiting for the Rangers to kill him at normal size first. Seems reasonable enough to me. Toxica then prompts the Rangers to call their zords, which the Rangers find suspicious....but not suspicious enough to not do it. They're kind of dumb that way.
Anyway, it turns out that the Lion Tamer Org is able to tame the Lion Zord. God, I'd hope so...I mean, that's the monster's only schtick. He then forces the zords to form the Wild Force Megazord, which he then sets loose on the Rangers.
Back in the Animarium, Kite asks why this is happening. Shayla explains that it's because the Lion Tamer put then under mind control of some sort. Merrick shows up in the Predazord to fight the megazord, and wins. Lion Tamer Org tries to take control of the Predazord, and Merrick responds by punching him in the gut. The Wild Force Megazord gets back up, and Shayla recommends using the Kongazord. You know, bringing as many zords as possible into a battler with a monster that can control zords may not be the wisest course of action. Toxica and Jindrax perform some ringside commentary which ends with the Gorilla Zord throwing a giant banana at them.
The fight continues rather inconclusively and Lion Tamer Org gets the Lion to call in the Elephant and Giraffe Zords. That proves too much for the Kongazord, and Shayla recommends calling in the Deer Zord...since they've called in everything else, anyway. Kite disappears mysteriously for reasons that will become obvious shortly. Eventually, the Rangers run out of megazords and things look grim as Lion Tamer Org takes control of the Kongazord. The evil megazords then eject Merrick from the Predazord as well. Meanwhile, Jindrax and Toxica have been commentating this entire time, which got less and less funny as it went on, and it wasn't that amusing to begin with.
Kite finally makes it to the battle and demands that the zords stop fighting each other and summons a magical wind. Merrick finally realizes what's going on as the zords are returned to the Rangers control. Kite then collapses from the strain. The megazords then kill Lion Tamer Org dead. Cole realizes that he hasn't summoned the Falcon Zord yet, so remedies that by summoning the Isis Megazord.
The Rangers find Merrick still holding an unconscious Kite, and Merrick explains that he felt Kite's wind before, 3000 years ago. That should probably clue the Rangers in as to what's happening....but well, it won't.
Next Time: The Rangers finally, finally, finally, discover Kite's true identity.
Original Airdate: 9-28-2002
Last Time: The Rangers went to the carnival....of death! Okay, technically the only person that died was Jindrax's brother, but still....
The episode begins with yet another rendition of Shayla's song about how much she looooooves nature. Kite, who apparently is just living on the Animarium, watches through the magic pool. Max happens by and asks if Kite remembers his past yet, as we flashback to last episode when Kite remembered being friends with Merrick.
Time for the Org of the week! This week, it's the Lion Tamer Org. Er....I thought the Orgs were possessing man's technology as some sort of consequence for man polluting the world. Jindrax is as skeptical as I am, as he's reasonably sure that the Lion Tamer Org isn't quite up to the task of avenging Jindrax's dead brother. Lion Tamer fails to tame a stray cat....and, yeah, that seems like a problem. But, hell, he's the best monster available so Toxica and Jindrax send him to fight the Ranges.
Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are edgy because they keep getting woken up early every morning by Shayla's song. Shayla shows up and demands that the Rangers appreciate the song, as the Wild Zords do. This mention of the Wild Zords further stirs Kite's memory. The monster attacks and the Rangers move out.
Lion Tamer Org shows his chops by making Alyssa jump through a flaming hoop by mind control. He then forces the Rangers to sit. Lion Tamer Org asks to join Team Carnival. Er...I thought Jindrax disbanded the team after the unfortunate business last episode.Anyway, Jindrax and Toxica decide to move the plot forward by just making the Lion Tamer Org giant-sized now, as opposed to waiting for the Rangers to kill him at normal size first. Seems reasonable enough to me. Toxica then prompts the Rangers to call their zords, which the Rangers find suspicious....but not suspicious enough to not do it. They're kind of dumb that way.
Anyway, it turns out that the Lion Tamer Org is able to tame the Lion Zord. God, I'd hope so...I mean, that's the monster's only schtick. He then forces the zords to form the Wild Force Megazord, which he then sets loose on the Rangers.
Back in the Animarium, Kite asks why this is happening. Shayla explains that it's because the Lion Tamer put then under mind control of some sort. Merrick shows up in the Predazord to fight the megazord, and wins. Lion Tamer Org tries to take control of the Predazord, and Merrick responds by punching him in the gut. The Wild Force Megazord gets back up, and Shayla recommends using the Kongazord. You know, bringing as many zords as possible into a battler with a monster that can control zords may not be the wisest course of action. Toxica and Jindrax perform some ringside commentary which ends with the Gorilla Zord throwing a giant banana at them.
The fight continues rather inconclusively and Lion Tamer Org gets the Lion to call in the Elephant and Giraffe Zords. That proves too much for the Kongazord, and Shayla recommends calling in the Deer Zord...since they've called in everything else, anyway. Kite disappears mysteriously for reasons that will become obvious shortly. Eventually, the Rangers run out of megazords and things look grim as Lion Tamer Org takes control of the Kongazord. The evil megazords then eject Merrick from the Predazord as well. Meanwhile, Jindrax and Toxica have been commentating this entire time, which got less and less funny as it went on, and it wasn't that amusing to begin with.
Kite finally makes it to the battle and demands that the zords stop fighting each other and summons a magical wind. Merrick finally realizes what's going on as the zords are returned to the Rangers control. Kite then collapses from the strain. The megazords then kill Lion Tamer Org dead. Cole realizes that he hasn't summoned the Falcon Zord yet, so remedies that by summoning the Isis Megazord.
The Rangers find Merrick still holding an unconscious Kite, and Merrick explains that he felt Kite's wind before, 3000 years ago. That should probably clue the Rangers in as to what's happening....but well, it won't.
Next Time: The Rangers finally, finally, finally, discover Kite's true identity.
Team Carnival
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 30
Original Airdate: 9-21-2002
Last Time: The music.....the horrible, horrible music....
Max, being a typical urban youth, is dribbling a basketball through the local farmer's market. He happens upon Kite stealing some food....wait, didn't I have to do this episode during Lightspeed Rescue? Is this going to end up with the Rangers wearing ridiculous disguises as the local boardwalk? Max is displeased with the young godling.
Back at the evil lair of unspectacular nicknames, Toxica is wearing an apron and has made some more food for Mandilok out of machinery. Jindrax tries to serve a rusty muffler, but is rebuffed. Jindrax feels depressed at his basic uselessness....until he decides to find his brother and form a new team...a better team....a carnival team.
On the Animarium, the Rangers are wondering how the hell Animus came back to life. Shayla claims to have seen Animus get destroyed, despite the fact that I'll relatively sure that the flashback that was shown was originally from Merrick's point of view. The Rangers wonder where Animus is and Max and Kite wander in to answer that question.
Down at the local carnival, Jindrax meets his brother Juggalo to re-form Team Carnival.
Meanwhile, Taylor is barely able to conceal her hatred for Kite, and is the only one concerned about having a random boy be privy to all of the Rangers' secrets. Cole decides that it's time to find Kite's parents, because that process worked out so well for Cole. This somehow leads to Taylor being forced to babysit Max and Kite as they look for Kite's parents. Of course, Max and Kite basically being completely immature, this leads to the three of them going to the carnival....as do Jindrax and Juggalo, who suggests that they put on some disguises....despite being at the only place that the two of them actually don't need to put on a disguise to blend in.
Anyway, Taylor gets forced onto a roller coaster, and we all learn that Taylor is afraid of those rides....despite having been an Air Force fighter pilot. Seems like being afraid of heights and high G-factors would negatively impact your flying career. Jindrax and Juggalo have dressed up as mascots, and Jindrax is ready to throw a knife directly in Taylor's back....as usual, he fucks it up.
Kite and Max ask Taylor how she can be afraid of roller coasters but not jets, and it turns out that it's the loss of control that upsets Taylor. Yeah, that sounds about right. Jindrax's hunt of Taylor continues, but he manages to repeatedly miss her with his knives, and Jindrax decides to give up and just kill Max and Kite instead.
This plan works a bit better, as Jindrax traps Kite on the roller coaster with some Putrids as Jindrax and Juggalo introduce themselves and the concept of Team Carnival. The clowns then manage to actually hurt Taylor and Max with their juggling of knives. Their success is short-lived as Taylor and Max turn the tables on them by switching weapons...which somehow makes the Rangers more effective.
Jindrax then reveals that he's already captured Kite, and the Rangers immediately surrender. Juggalo then messes them up for a bit. The other Rangers show up and Jindrax releases some Putrids in a last-ditch effort to prevent his imminent defeat. Taylor and Max free Kite and the end draws near as the Rangers hand out some new power weapons based on their auxillary zords. The new weapons join together to form the Turbo Blaster, which kills Juggalo in a single blast. Jindrax is forced to make Juggalo grow in order to give him a bit more life. The Rangers respond with the Wild Force Megazord Classic. It quickly becomes clear that Juggalo is about to get killed again, and Toxica shows up to get her staff back, as Jindrax had apparently stolen it earlier.
Jindrax, preferring not to see his brother murdered, has stolen some of the growing seeds and intends to use them in order to help his brother, or at least die trying. Toxica tells him that if he dies when he's giant, then he's permanently dead. Team Carnival briefly outnumbers the megazord, but then Merrick shows up with his megazord and kills Juggalo. So...die trying it is. Jindrax shrinks back to normal size inadvertently, and thus gets to live. Apparently the magic seeds aren't very good...or the writers didn't want to kill one of the more likeable characters this season.
Later, Jindrax is depressed because his brother was just murdered in front of him. Toxica shows up to cheer him up....which works surprisingly well seeing as his only family is irrevocably dead.
The Rangers celebrate and Kite is there too. The boy sees Merrick and realizes that he met the Wolf Ranger a long time ago. Merrick furrows his brow as someone finally starts to figure out who the hell Kite really is.....but such revelations are for next time. Show Over!
Next Time: Such revelations!
Original Airdate: 9-21-2002
Last Time: The music.....the horrible, horrible music....
Max, being a typical urban youth, is dribbling a basketball through the local farmer's market. He happens upon Kite stealing some food....wait, didn't I have to do this episode during Lightspeed Rescue? Is this going to end up with the Rangers wearing ridiculous disguises as the local boardwalk? Max is displeased with the young godling.
Back at the evil lair of unspectacular nicknames, Toxica is wearing an apron and has made some more food for Mandilok out of machinery. Jindrax tries to serve a rusty muffler, but is rebuffed. Jindrax feels depressed at his basic uselessness....until he decides to find his brother and form a new team...a better team....a carnival team.
On the Animarium, the Rangers are wondering how the hell Animus came back to life. Shayla claims to have seen Animus get destroyed, despite the fact that I'll relatively sure that the flashback that was shown was originally from Merrick's point of view. The Rangers wonder where Animus is and Max and Kite wander in to answer that question.
Down at the local carnival, Jindrax meets his brother Juggalo to re-form Team Carnival.
Meanwhile, Taylor is barely able to conceal her hatred for Kite, and is the only one concerned about having a random boy be privy to all of the Rangers' secrets. Cole decides that it's time to find Kite's parents, because that process worked out so well for Cole. This somehow leads to Taylor being forced to babysit Max and Kite as they look for Kite's parents. Of course, Max and Kite basically being completely immature, this leads to the three of them going to the carnival....as do Jindrax and Juggalo, who suggests that they put on some disguises....despite being at the only place that the two of them actually don't need to put on a disguise to blend in.
Anyway, Taylor gets forced onto a roller coaster, and we all learn that Taylor is afraid of those rides....despite having been an Air Force fighter pilot. Seems like being afraid of heights and high G-factors would negatively impact your flying career. Jindrax and Juggalo have dressed up as mascots, and Jindrax is ready to throw a knife directly in Taylor's back....as usual, he fucks it up.
Kite and Max ask Taylor how she can be afraid of roller coasters but not jets, and it turns out that it's the loss of control that upsets Taylor. Yeah, that sounds about right. Jindrax's hunt of Taylor continues, but he manages to repeatedly miss her with his knives, and Jindrax decides to give up and just kill Max and Kite instead.
This plan works a bit better, as Jindrax traps Kite on the roller coaster with some Putrids as Jindrax and Juggalo introduce themselves and the concept of Team Carnival. The clowns then manage to actually hurt Taylor and Max with their juggling of knives. Their success is short-lived as Taylor and Max turn the tables on them by switching weapons...which somehow makes the Rangers more effective.
Jindrax then reveals that he's already captured Kite, and the Rangers immediately surrender. Juggalo then messes them up for a bit. The other Rangers show up and Jindrax releases some Putrids in a last-ditch effort to prevent his imminent defeat. Taylor and Max free Kite and the end draws near as the Rangers hand out some new power weapons based on their auxillary zords. The new weapons join together to form the Turbo Blaster, which kills Juggalo in a single blast. Jindrax is forced to make Juggalo grow in order to give him a bit more life. The Rangers respond with the Wild Force Megazord Classic. It quickly becomes clear that Juggalo is about to get killed again, and Toxica shows up to get her staff back, as Jindrax had apparently stolen it earlier.
Jindrax, preferring not to see his brother murdered, has stolen some of the growing seeds and intends to use them in order to help his brother, or at least die trying. Toxica tells him that if he dies when he's giant, then he's permanently dead. Team Carnival briefly outnumbers the megazord, but then Merrick shows up with his megazord and kills Juggalo. So...die trying it is. Jindrax shrinks back to normal size inadvertently, and thus gets to live. Apparently the magic seeds aren't very good...or the writers didn't want to kill one of the more likeable characters this season.
Later, Jindrax is depressed because his brother was just murdered in front of him. Toxica shows up to cheer him up....which works surprisingly well seeing as his only family is irrevocably dead.
The Rangers celebrate and Kite is there too. The boy sees Merrick and realizes that he met the Wolf Ranger a long time ago. Merrick furrows his brow as someone finally starts to figure out who the hell Kite really is.....but such revelations are for next time. Show Over!
Next Time: Such revelations!
The Flute
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 29
Original Airdate: 9-21-2002
Last Time: A stupid kid named Kite was more than he appeared to be....but not a lot more.
Cole is walking down the street and decides to talk to some pigeons about where to find Kite. Apparently they haven't seen the boy for a week....or maybe Cole has just lost his fucking mind.
Elsewhere, Jindrax and Toxica have dressed up as chefs and prepared Mandilok a breakfast of assorted mechanical parts. Shayla's nightmarish folk song once more begins playing, and that pisses Mandilok off. Toxica and Jindrax explain that Shayla and Merrick play that song every morning, and rightly call it horrible.
At the scene of the morning concert, we get another painful reprise of that damned song. Kite also hears the song, and wonders why the song brings tears to his eyes. Well, because it's so awful that your body is trying to do whatever it can to protect itself. But the new Org of the episode, the Flute Org, shows up and starts playing a counter-tune. This interrupts Merrick's flute playing and Shayla starts laying into him. Merrick points out that it wasn't him making that sound, and Shayla accuses him of not wanting to spend time with her. She insults him a bit and storms off. The Deer Zord runs off in protest.
Anyway, Mandilok hears the Flute Org's music and orders Jindrax and Toxica to send the new Org to kill the Rangers.
Back on the Animarium, Shayla is still upset over Merrick....even though Merrick didn't actually do anything. She accuses Merrick of being selfish and immature and promises to never sing with him again. That's.....some pretty great news! The flute music of evil starts flooding the city and forcing the people to do some tai chi by the looks of it. The Rangers show up to fight the monster, and Merrick recognizes it as the music from that morning. The Org proves to be even more inept than usual, and so Toxica and Jindrax escort him from the battlefield.
In the evil lair of blandness, the Flute Org explains that if he gets more power, he can totally use his music to control the Rangers. Mandilok, apparently not remembering that his predecessor's tenure as chief villain ended due to mutiny, decides to sap some of Jindrax and Toxica's power to boost the Flute Org.
Later, Kite finds Cole and recognizes him as the Red Ranger. Because Cole is almost as stupid as Shayla, this does not set off any alarm bells in his brain. Back on the Animarium, Danny claims that he'll be sorry not to hear Shayla sing anymore and Max looks at him like he's fucking insane. You know, I like Max about ten times as much just for that reaction. Shayla shows up and explains that the monster was making some terrible flute music. This causes Shayla to slowly understand that she pissed off Merrick for nothing. But, that will be for later, it's time for a monster attack!
....Actually, first Kite and Cole are going to have a brief conversation about being orphans. Great. Okay, now it's time for the Rangers to fight the Flute Org again. Once again, the monster is forcing people to dance. The Rangers show up, and, much like that one dream sequence on The Simpsons, forces them to dance with his powers. Shayla is confused by this, as she is by all things. Merrick arrives on the Animarium to apologize for....er....he didn't actually do anything wrong, but, you know, Merrick is nothing if not slightly beaten down by life. Anyway, he explains that he doesn't like visiting the Animarium because it happens to be the place where all of his friends died and he got imprisoned for 3000 years. That's....a rather good point. Shayla, in somewhat of a corner due to her being so clearly in the wrong, admits that Merrick "isn't a terrible musician." Then she finally remembers that the Rangers are still trying to fight that Flute Org and decides to take Merrick and help out. You know, maybe it's a good thing that whatever kingdom was around 3000 years ago fell, I'd hate to see a country run by Shayla.
Back in the town, the Rangers are still dancing, only to be freed by Shayla and Merrick's song. The Flute Org recoils in horror at the melody, and I can't blame him. Kite also hears the music and runs off. Mandilok has had enough and shoots Merrick and Shayla to stop them from playing anymore. Unfortunately, the Deer Zord shows up and breaks Flute Org's instrument. Shayla and Merrick banter, which ends when Shayla accidentally pushes Merrick off of a building. He barely survives by morphing mid-fall. Wow, Shayla, every time I think, "Well, she can't get any dumber," she proves me wrong.
The fight against the Flute Org finally begins in earnest, and it's rather one of the mill. Kite shows up and draws the attention of Mandilok and Toxica. Not that it does the Flute Org much good, as he gets killed again. The Flute Org gets grown and somehow prevents the Rangers from summoning their zords. Some zords, not the Rangers, show up it turns out that they're the component pieces of Animus, who is, in reality, a megazord. Animus then proceeds to destroy the Flute Org's flute, and that gives the Rangers a chance to call on the Isis Megazord. Sic Transit Flute Org.
Later, the Rangers celebrate the return of Animus, except for Merrick, who's reasonably certain that he saw Animus get killed 3000 years ago. Animus declines to take questions and disappears. Merrick is rather puzzled by this, and Shayla ropes him into to singing to the Deer Zord again. Cole tries to look for Kite, but the kid has mysteriously vanished. And by "mysteriously" I mean, he's obviously fucking Animus....I mean he is Animus, I'm not saying that he's having sex with the megazord-God....that would be weird....and anatomically difficult. Show Over!
Next Time: Jindrax re-forms Team Carnival, the circusiest villains in town!
Original Airdate: 9-21-2002
Last Time: A stupid kid named Kite was more than he appeared to be....but not a lot more.
Cole is walking down the street and decides to talk to some pigeons about where to find Kite. Apparently they haven't seen the boy for a week....or maybe Cole has just lost his fucking mind.
Elsewhere, Jindrax and Toxica have dressed up as chefs and prepared Mandilok a breakfast of assorted mechanical parts. Shayla's nightmarish folk song once more begins playing, and that pisses Mandilok off. Toxica and Jindrax explain that Shayla and Merrick play that song every morning, and rightly call it horrible.
At the scene of the morning concert, we get another painful reprise of that damned song. Kite also hears the song, and wonders why the song brings tears to his eyes. Well, because it's so awful that your body is trying to do whatever it can to protect itself. But the new Org of the episode, the Flute Org, shows up and starts playing a counter-tune. This interrupts Merrick's flute playing and Shayla starts laying into him. Merrick points out that it wasn't him making that sound, and Shayla accuses him of not wanting to spend time with her. She insults him a bit and storms off. The Deer Zord runs off in protest.
Anyway, Mandilok hears the Flute Org's music and orders Jindrax and Toxica to send the new Org to kill the Rangers.
Back on the Animarium, Shayla is still upset over Merrick....even though Merrick didn't actually do anything. She accuses Merrick of being selfish and immature and promises to never sing with him again. That's.....some pretty great news! The flute music of evil starts flooding the city and forcing the people to do some tai chi by the looks of it. The Rangers show up to fight the monster, and Merrick recognizes it as the music from that morning. The Org proves to be even more inept than usual, and so Toxica and Jindrax escort him from the battlefield.
In the evil lair of blandness, the Flute Org explains that if he gets more power, he can totally use his music to control the Rangers. Mandilok, apparently not remembering that his predecessor's tenure as chief villain ended due to mutiny, decides to sap some of Jindrax and Toxica's power to boost the Flute Org.
Later, Kite finds Cole and recognizes him as the Red Ranger. Because Cole is almost as stupid as Shayla, this does not set off any alarm bells in his brain. Back on the Animarium, Danny claims that he'll be sorry not to hear Shayla sing anymore and Max looks at him like he's fucking insane. You know, I like Max about ten times as much just for that reaction. Shayla shows up and explains that the monster was making some terrible flute music. This causes Shayla to slowly understand that she pissed off Merrick for nothing. But, that will be for later, it's time for a monster attack!
....Actually, first Kite and Cole are going to have a brief conversation about being orphans. Great. Okay, now it's time for the Rangers to fight the Flute Org again. Once again, the monster is forcing people to dance. The Rangers show up, and, much like that one dream sequence on The Simpsons, forces them to dance with his powers. Shayla is confused by this, as she is by all things. Merrick arrives on the Animarium to apologize for....er....he didn't actually do anything wrong, but, you know, Merrick is nothing if not slightly beaten down by life. Anyway, he explains that he doesn't like visiting the Animarium because it happens to be the place where all of his friends died and he got imprisoned for 3000 years. That's....a rather good point. Shayla, in somewhat of a corner due to her being so clearly in the wrong, admits that Merrick "isn't a terrible musician." Then she finally remembers that the Rangers are still trying to fight that Flute Org and decides to take Merrick and help out. You know, maybe it's a good thing that whatever kingdom was around 3000 years ago fell, I'd hate to see a country run by Shayla.
Back in the town, the Rangers are still dancing, only to be freed by Shayla and Merrick's song. The Flute Org recoils in horror at the melody, and I can't blame him. Kite also hears the music and runs off. Mandilok has had enough and shoots Merrick and Shayla to stop them from playing anymore. Unfortunately, the Deer Zord shows up and breaks Flute Org's instrument. Shayla and Merrick banter, which ends when Shayla accidentally pushes Merrick off of a building. He barely survives by morphing mid-fall. Wow, Shayla, every time I think, "Well, she can't get any dumber," she proves me wrong.
The fight against the Flute Org finally begins in earnest, and it's rather one of the mill. Kite shows up and draws the attention of Mandilok and Toxica. Not that it does the Flute Org much good, as he gets killed again. The Flute Org gets grown and somehow prevents the Rangers from summoning their zords. Some zords, not the Rangers, show up it turns out that they're the component pieces of Animus, who is, in reality, a megazord. Animus then proceeds to destroy the Flute Org's flute, and that gives the Rangers a chance to call on the Isis Megazord. Sic Transit Flute Org.
Later, the Rangers celebrate the return of Animus, except for Merrick, who's reasonably certain that he saw Animus get killed 3000 years ago. Animus declines to take questions and disappears. Merrick is rather puzzled by this, and Shayla ropes him into to singing to the Deer Zord again. Cole tries to look for Kite, but the kid has mysteriously vanished. And by "mysteriously" I mean, he's obviously fucking Animus....I mean he is Animus, I'm not saying that he's having sex with the megazord-God....that would be weird....and anatomically difficult. Show Over!
Next Time: Jindrax re-forms Team Carnival, the circusiest villains in town!
Homecoming
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 28
Original Airdate: 9-14-2002
Last Time: Zen-Aku returned to win Merrick's heart, with mixed results.
At the lair, Toxica and Jindrax introduce Mandilok to their base, and it turns out that all of the other generals were pre-emptively killed by Master Org during one of his rages. Mandilok decides that he'll need some lackey who aren't completely incompetent, and that means it's time for fresh blood. The new henchmen are called Artilla and Helicos. Those are terrible names.
Meanwhile, a little boy is playing at a construction site, he tries to steal some donuts and gets caught by the construction workers. Cole shows up and the workers explain that the kid has been stealing their food all week. They ask Cole to keep the kid away because...I don't, I guess they assume Cole is in charge of him or something. Anyway, Cole agrees, and asks the kid his name, which turns out to be Kite....that's also a terrible name. Kite kicks Cole in the leg and escapes. Before Cole can chase after him, the Orgs attack and I pretend for a moment that that's the last we'll be seeing of Kite.
Mandilok is directing his lieutenants from a distance while he enjoys some steak. The Rangers show up and claims that he is known as the ''devourer of worlds." Um....I'm pretty sure that's Galactus, but fine. The Rangers are surprised that Mandilok has lackeys that aren't completely useless and get defeated. Kite observes the fight pensively.
Later, the Rangers reflect on the revolving door of Org leadership, and Cole suddenly remembers that Kite is probably a homeless orphan. In fact, Kite is facing off with the new Orgs immediately, and manages to distract them by kicking one of the monsters in the shin. The Rangers show up to save him, with Cole managing to wreck his motorcycle in the process. Kite is depressed that he caused Cole to lose his bike, and the Rangers get beaten up again. The Rangers crawl from some wreckage and realize that Kite is missing.
Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are coming up with a plan to ambush Mandilok that involves a giant map. Cole is still distracted by Kite's plight, and Shayla volunteers to find the boy.
The ambush goes poorly, and it turns out that Mandilok's interest in this particular part of town was because he wanted to eat some new buildings. The Rangers once again lose to Mandilok.
Elsewhere, Shayla finds Kite and lures him out of hiding with spaghetti and some sort of sandwich. Given what we'll later learn about Kite, this doesn't make a ton of sense. Anyway, this being Shayla's plan, it backfires as it attracts Mandilok. Kite shows up and demands that Shayla leave. Mandilok shows up, and the Rangers find that their crystals aren't working. Merrick goes off to stop Mandilok while the other Rangers kill Artilla and Helicos. This causes Mandilok to stop fighting Merrick and summon Jindrax and Toxica to grow the downed Orgs.
Unfortunately....the zords aren't working for some reason. Shayla comes to the realization that something is preventing the zords from functioning properly. Genius! Kite starts saying odd things about protecting the animals and runs off to a construction site where the ancient zords were apparently buried. Apparently the dead zords are angry at their graveyard being desecrated and are preventing the other zords from coming. Merrick manages to find where all of his friends were buried and is mildly depressed. Shayla asks that the dead zords allow the living zords to help out, and that solves that problem. The Rangers summon the Isis Megazord because it hasn't been selling as well and use it to kill the Orgs.
And....er....we're out of time, so a narrator shows up to help wrap things up. The Rangers moved the dead zord memorial, which apparently appeased the spirits, and they held a lovely rededication ceremony to boot. Merrick realized that he was never going to get that money the other proto-Rangers owed him back. Show Over!
Next Time: Flutes!
Original Airdate: 9-14-2002
Last Time: Zen-Aku returned to win Merrick's heart, with mixed results.
At the lair, Toxica and Jindrax introduce Mandilok to their base, and it turns out that all of the other generals were pre-emptively killed by Master Org during one of his rages. Mandilok decides that he'll need some lackey who aren't completely incompetent, and that means it's time for fresh blood. The new henchmen are called Artilla and Helicos. Those are terrible names.
Meanwhile, a little boy is playing at a construction site, he tries to steal some donuts and gets caught by the construction workers. Cole shows up and the workers explain that the kid has been stealing their food all week. They ask Cole to keep the kid away because...I don't, I guess they assume Cole is in charge of him or something. Anyway, Cole agrees, and asks the kid his name, which turns out to be Kite....that's also a terrible name. Kite kicks Cole in the leg and escapes. Before Cole can chase after him, the Orgs attack and I pretend for a moment that that's the last we'll be seeing of Kite.
Mandilok is directing his lieutenants from a distance while he enjoys some steak. The Rangers show up and claims that he is known as the ''devourer of worlds." Um....I'm pretty sure that's Galactus, but fine. The Rangers are surprised that Mandilok has lackeys that aren't completely useless and get defeated. Kite observes the fight pensively.
Later, the Rangers reflect on the revolving door of Org leadership, and Cole suddenly remembers that Kite is probably a homeless orphan. In fact, Kite is facing off with the new Orgs immediately, and manages to distract them by kicking one of the monsters in the shin. The Rangers show up to save him, with Cole managing to wreck his motorcycle in the process. Kite is depressed that he caused Cole to lose his bike, and the Rangers get beaten up again. The Rangers crawl from some wreckage and realize that Kite is missing.
Back at the Animarium, the Rangers are coming up with a plan to ambush Mandilok that involves a giant map. Cole is still distracted by Kite's plight, and Shayla volunteers to find the boy.
The ambush goes poorly, and it turns out that Mandilok's interest in this particular part of town was because he wanted to eat some new buildings. The Rangers once again lose to Mandilok.
Elsewhere, Shayla finds Kite and lures him out of hiding with spaghetti and some sort of sandwich. Given what we'll later learn about Kite, this doesn't make a ton of sense. Anyway, this being Shayla's plan, it backfires as it attracts Mandilok. Kite shows up and demands that Shayla leave. Mandilok shows up, and the Rangers find that their crystals aren't working. Merrick goes off to stop Mandilok while the other Rangers kill Artilla and Helicos. This causes Mandilok to stop fighting Merrick and summon Jindrax and Toxica to grow the downed Orgs.
Unfortunately....the zords aren't working for some reason. Shayla comes to the realization that something is preventing the zords from functioning properly. Genius! Kite starts saying odd things about protecting the animals and runs off to a construction site where the ancient zords were apparently buried. Apparently the dead zords are angry at their graveyard being desecrated and are preventing the other zords from coming. Merrick manages to find where all of his friends were buried and is mildly depressed. Shayla asks that the dead zords allow the living zords to help out, and that solves that problem. The Rangers summon the Isis Megazord because it hasn't been selling as well and use it to kill the Orgs.
And....er....we're out of time, so a narrator shows up to help wrap things up. The Rangers moved the dead zord memorial, which apparently appeased the spirits, and they held a lovely rededication ceremony to boot. Merrick realized that he was never going to get that money the other proto-Rangers owed him back. Show Over!
Next Time: Flutes!
Unfinished Business
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 27
Original Airdate: 9-14-2002
Last Time: Master Org had his final confrontation with Cole that turned out to not be very final at all.
In the forest, Zen-Aku's mask reforms....I like where this is headed.
At Willie's Roadhouse, Merrick is practicing some pool, more specifically, he's trying to simulate the number of balls and the positioning that he uses in his billiards-based attack. Old Man Willie is kind of confused as to why Merrick only tries that shot, and decides to demonstrate the fakest-looking trick shot in history. It involves hitting the cue ball in such a way so that it flies up in arc, comes to rest on the table, and then suddenly shoots up into the air. Holy fuck, where was Willie in 1963, because I think I solved the mystery of the magic bullet! Merrick's only response is amazement that Willie used to play pool. Oh, Merrick. Anyway, Merrick's plot-sense tingles, and he has to run off.
Merrick ends up near a bridge where he hears the flute-music of imminent Ranger pain. Zen-Aku's back, and he's angry. Merrick is confused, especially since it was never made clear exactly who or what Zen-Aku is independent of Merrick. Anyway, Zen-Aku finishes his flute solo and says hello to Merrick.
Shayla, for the first and last time, is actually on top of the ball, and calls the Rangers to help Merrick. Then again, she's calling in the Rangers to fight Zen-Aku which....didn't go so well the last ten times.
Merrick and Zen-Aku begin their contest, which goes about as well for Merrick as you think. The other Rangers show up and are also confused, because they thought Merrick was Zen-Aku. Merrick asks them to keep the hell out of it. Zen-Aku explains that when Merrick broke the curse of the mask, he was made free to do as he pleases....and what he pleases is to rejoin with Merrick and beat up the Rangers some more. Alyssa helps Merrick escape and the other Rangers fight Zen-Aku. Merrick is less-than-pleased, because Zen-Aku is his enemy, not the Rangers.
Merrick fights Zen-Aku some more, and both tumble down a cliff. The Rangers can't find either of them, and Merrick's wolf crystal appears, which does not bode well for the Wolf Ranger.
Cole decides to ask Shayla for advice, as Zen-Aku is apparently even more powerful than before. Shayla's explanation is that Zen-Aku is much more powerful without a human host for some reason. On the plus side, she knows that Merrick is still alive.
That night, Merrick is sitting by a campfire when Zen-Aku shows up to fight him even more.
Back in the Animarium, Shayla looks at Merrick's wolf crystal and the Wolf Zord shows up to tell the Rangers that there's another Zen-Aku/Merrick brawl that needs attending to. Zen-Aku and Merrick end up on the beach where the monster finally beats Merrick. The Wolf Cycle shows up to bail out Merrick, for which he is grateful. The other Rangers show up, for which he is less grateful. Merrick isn't exactly thrilled about sending in the Rangers to get slaughtered by Zen-Aku, but, well, they're quite insistent on dying for his sake. Zen-Aku, whose beaten the Rangers about a hundred times, is unimpressed. Merrick then pounces on Zen-Aku's one weakness: Snooker.
Zen-Aku decides that he might as well become giant-sized. Merrick calls on the Predazord, and the Rangers call out the megazord with the stupid soccer attack. Zen-Aku, however, isn't about to get killed by that damned attack twice, and manages to block it and throws the Armadillo Zord back at the Rangers. Technically, that's a handball. Just then, Merrick has an idea: The Rangers have a ridiculous attack that shouldn't work, why not him? He copies the pool trick that Willie taught him at the top of the episode and mortally wounds Zen-Aku.
The Rangers celebrate and Merrick still doesn't want to party with the other Rangers. They're rather insistent. He still ditches them, though and heads back to the Roadhouse, where he plays a game of pool with Willie instead. Oh, Merrick, I love you and your anti-social impulses most of all. Show Over!
Next Time: Erutan lives!
Original Airdate: 9-14-2002
Last Time: Master Org had his final confrontation with Cole that turned out to not be very final at all.
In the forest, Zen-Aku's mask reforms....I like where this is headed.
At Willie's Roadhouse, Merrick is practicing some pool, more specifically, he's trying to simulate the number of balls and the positioning that he uses in his billiards-based attack. Old Man Willie is kind of confused as to why Merrick only tries that shot, and decides to demonstrate the fakest-looking trick shot in history. It involves hitting the cue ball in such a way so that it flies up in arc, comes to rest on the table, and then suddenly shoots up into the air. Holy fuck, where was Willie in 1963, because I think I solved the mystery of the magic bullet! Merrick's only response is amazement that Willie used to play pool. Oh, Merrick. Anyway, Merrick's plot-sense tingles, and he has to run off.
Merrick ends up near a bridge where he hears the flute-music of imminent Ranger pain. Zen-Aku's back, and he's angry. Merrick is confused, especially since it was never made clear exactly who or what Zen-Aku is independent of Merrick. Anyway, Zen-Aku finishes his flute solo and says hello to Merrick.
Shayla, for the first and last time, is actually on top of the ball, and calls the Rangers to help Merrick. Then again, she's calling in the Rangers to fight Zen-Aku which....didn't go so well the last ten times.
Merrick and Zen-Aku begin their contest, which goes about as well for Merrick as you think. The other Rangers show up and are also confused, because they thought Merrick was Zen-Aku. Merrick asks them to keep the hell out of it. Zen-Aku explains that when Merrick broke the curse of the mask, he was made free to do as he pleases....and what he pleases is to rejoin with Merrick and beat up the Rangers some more. Alyssa helps Merrick escape and the other Rangers fight Zen-Aku. Merrick is less-than-pleased, because Zen-Aku is his enemy, not the Rangers.
Merrick fights Zen-Aku some more, and both tumble down a cliff. The Rangers can't find either of them, and Merrick's wolf crystal appears, which does not bode well for the Wolf Ranger.
Cole decides to ask Shayla for advice, as Zen-Aku is apparently even more powerful than before. Shayla's explanation is that Zen-Aku is much more powerful without a human host for some reason. On the plus side, she knows that Merrick is still alive.
That night, Merrick is sitting by a campfire when Zen-Aku shows up to fight him even more.
Back in the Animarium, Shayla looks at Merrick's wolf crystal and the Wolf Zord shows up to tell the Rangers that there's another Zen-Aku/Merrick brawl that needs attending to. Zen-Aku and Merrick end up on the beach where the monster finally beats Merrick. The Wolf Cycle shows up to bail out Merrick, for which he is grateful. The other Rangers show up, for which he is less grateful. Merrick isn't exactly thrilled about sending in the Rangers to get slaughtered by Zen-Aku, but, well, they're quite insistent on dying for his sake. Zen-Aku, whose beaten the Rangers about a hundred times, is unimpressed. Merrick then pounces on Zen-Aku's one weakness: Snooker.
Zen-Aku decides that he might as well become giant-sized. Merrick calls on the Predazord, and the Rangers call out the megazord with the stupid soccer attack. Zen-Aku, however, isn't about to get killed by that damned attack twice, and manages to block it and throws the Armadillo Zord back at the Rangers. Technically, that's a handball. Just then, Merrick has an idea: The Rangers have a ridiculous attack that shouldn't work, why not him? He copies the pool trick that Willie taught him at the top of the episode and mortally wounds Zen-Aku.
The Rangers celebrate and Merrick still doesn't want to party with the other Rangers. They're rather insistent. He still ditches them, though and heads back to the Roadhouse, where he plays a game of pool with Willie instead. Oh, Merrick, I love you and your anti-social impulses most of all. Show Over!
Next Time: Erutan lives!
The Master's Last Stand
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 26
Original Airdate: 8-10-2002
Last Time: The Time Force Rangers showed up to remind us how much better they were. Mission accomplished.
Master Org is still looking at that picture of Cole's parents, and decides to make a suicide run at the Rangers for some reason.
In the desert, Toxica and Jindrax are looking for something to kill off the current Master Org. They find some sort of tomb.
Back in Turtle Cove, Alyssa is walking to class when she overhears some students talking about how they found Dr. Viktor Adler alive in the Amazon. Alyssa decides to share the news with Cole despite the fact that turning up alive after twenty years in the Amazon seems like an obvious trap.
Cole is down at his parents', and his, graves, and decides that he has to talk to Dr. Adler so that he can find out what happened to his parents. Well...on the plus side, Cole is definitely going to find that out. The other Rangers explain that just because Dr. Adler survived doesn't mean that his parents did, but Cole needs to know. They rush into the room and Dr. Adler is up and locks the Rangers in. Undeterred, Cole introduces himself and asks about his parents. Mercifully, Master Org decides to spring his trap and captures everyone.
Toxica and Jindrax continue to look for a new boss in the tomb.
But enough forward progress, it's time for flashbacks by the gallonful! Master Org has taken the Rangers to some sort of factory and Cole wakes up to find Dr. Adler walking towards him. Cole in confused, so Dr. Adler helpfully reveals that he is, in fact, Master Org. He reveals that he's trussed up the other Rangers, and tells Cole that he "destroyed" Cole's parents. Cole asks Master Org to clarify, and the villain explains that he "finished off" the Evanses. Also, he "ended their worth existence." Cole demands that Master Org reveal how such a thing came to pass in the form of a flashback, and Master Org decides to complain about some sort of nebulous pain that they caused him that led to him murdering them, and Cole is still confused.
Flashback Time! Dr. Adler used to work with Cole's parents in researching the location of the Animarium, and fell in love with Cole's mother, but just as he was about to propose, Cole's dad beat him to the punch. So, that meant that Dr. Adler had no choice but to kill everybody, but felt compelled to do it in a theatrical way. So, he continued working with the couple, even after Cole was born, until they headed off to the Amazon. Oh, and this whole process also made him want to destroy the Earth. Anyway, while in the Amazon, the team found some evil seeds, and Dr. Adler identifies the seeds as the remnants of Master Org. I'm not sure how the fuck he knew that, but sure. Having secured some Master Org seeds, Dr. Adler was finally ready to proceed with his murders, which he did by eating the seeds and becoming the pasty fellow that he is today. He then killed Cole's parents with some vines.
Cole is devastated by the news that his parents are very, very dead, and is especially depressed that they got killed by their most trusted friend. Well, enough of that, it's time for Cole to fight Master Org, which starts with the villain flinging Cole into a pipe.
But, hey, that fight would be exciting, so it's time to check in on Toxica and Jindrax. They resurrect a new general named Mandilok. Meh.
Back to the fight! The Rangers encourage Cole to stop sucking and fight back. Cole gets a speech that pretty much sums up the problems with this season:
Cole: (slowly) I swore with my life...to protect all of nature. (yelling) I'M A GUARDIAN OF THE EARTH! AAAAAAAAH!
The other Rangers, now covered in some sort of sap, cheer him on. Cole morphs and starts kicking a sixty year-old doughy white guy's ass. Meanwhile, Merrick is riding around looking for the Rangers, but probably not looking very hard. He eventually sees a big fire in the factory and frees the other Rangers. Cole summons his Battilizer and it's time for the ultimate showdown...well, as much as a showdown as there can be with fourteen episodes left in the season. Master Org gets the Org beaten out of him and returns to being Dr. Adler, but still tries shooting vines out of his hands. The Rangers decide to just leave him. Dr. Adler asks Cole why he's too much of a pussy to kill him, and Cole gives some dumb speech about the cycle of revenge or something.
Dr. Adler limps back to his base, only to find it under new management. Mandilok, a truly creepy monster with two mouths, one of which has a male voice, the other female, explains that he...or it...or something is now in charge, and throws Dr. Adler off a cliff.
Back at the cemetary, Cole puts some flowers on his parents' grave. He also tells them that they'll be happy to know that the Animarium is real. Incidentally, Cole's grave is still there, which will always be amusing for some reason.
Down at the bottom of a mountain, Dr. Adler grows a horn and turns out to be not quite dead. Oh, the suspense....Show Over!
Next Time: Zen-Aku comes back to kick some more Ranger ass!
Original Airdate: 8-10-2002
Last Time: The Time Force Rangers showed up to remind us how much better they were. Mission accomplished.
Master Org is still looking at that picture of Cole's parents, and decides to make a suicide run at the Rangers for some reason.
In the desert, Toxica and Jindrax are looking for something to kill off the current Master Org. They find some sort of tomb.
Back in Turtle Cove, Alyssa is walking to class when she overhears some students talking about how they found Dr. Viktor Adler alive in the Amazon. Alyssa decides to share the news with Cole despite the fact that turning up alive after twenty years in the Amazon seems like an obvious trap.
Cole is down at his parents', and his, graves, and decides that he has to talk to Dr. Adler so that he can find out what happened to his parents. Well...on the plus side, Cole is definitely going to find that out. The other Rangers explain that just because Dr. Adler survived doesn't mean that his parents did, but Cole needs to know. They rush into the room and Dr. Adler is up and locks the Rangers in. Undeterred, Cole introduces himself and asks about his parents. Mercifully, Master Org decides to spring his trap and captures everyone.
Toxica and Jindrax continue to look for a new boss in the tomb.
But enough forward progress, it's time for flashbacks by the gallonful! Master Org has taken the Rangers to some sort of factory and Cole wakes up to find Dr. Adler walking towards him. Cole in confused, so Dr. Adler helpfully reveals that he is, in fact, Master Org. He reveals that he's trussed up the other Rangers, and tells Cole that he "destroyed" Cole's parents. Cole asks Master Org to clarify, and the villain explains that he "finished off" the Evanses. Also, he "ended their worth existence." Cole demands that Master Org reveal how such a thing came to pass in the form of a flashback, and Master Org decides to complain about some sort of nebulous pain that they caused him that led to him murdering them, and Cole is still confused.
Flashback Time! Dr. Adler used to work with Cole's parents in researching the location of the Animarium, and fell in love with Cole's mother, but just as he was about to propose, Cole's dad beat him to the punch. So, that meant that Dr. Adler had no choice but to kill everybody, but felt compelled to do it in a theatrical way. So, he continued working with the couple, even after Cole was born, until they headed off to the Amazon. Oh, and this whole process also made him want to destroy the Earth. Anyway, while in the Amazon, the team found some evil seeds, and Dr. Adler identifies the seeds as the remnants of Master Org. I'm not sure how the fuck he knew that, but sure. Having secured some Master Org seeds, Dr. Adler was finally ready to proceed with his murders, which he did by eating the seeds and becoming the pasty fellow that he is today. He then killed Cole's parents with some vines.
Cole is devastated by the news that his parents are very, very dead, and is especially depressed that they got killed by their most trusted friend. Well, enough of that, it's time for Cole to fight Master Org, which starts with the villain flinging Cole into a pipe.
But, hey, that fight would be exciting, so it's time to check in on Toxica and Jindrax. They resurrect a new general named Mandilok. Meh.
Back to the fight! The Rangers encourage Cole to stop sucking and fight back. Cole gets a speech that pretty much sums up the problems with this season:
Cole: (slowly) I swore with my life...to protect all of nature. (yelling) I'M A GUARDIAN OF THE EARTH! AAAAAAAAH!
The other Rangers, now covered in some sort of sap, cheer him on. Cole morphs and starts kicking a sixty year-old doughy white guy's ass. Meanwhile, Merrick is riding around looking for the Rangers, but probably not looking very hard. He eventually sees a big fire in the factory and frees the other Rangers. Cole summons his Battilizer and it's time for the ultimate showdown...well, as much as a showdown as there can be with fourteen episodes left in the season. Master Org gets the Org beaten out of him and returns to being Dr. Adler, but still tries shooting vines out of his hands. The Rangers decide to just leave him. Dr. Adler asks Cole why he's too much of a pussy to kill him, and Cole gives some dumb speech about the cycle of revenge or something.
Dr. Adler limps back to his base, only to find it under new management. Mandilok, a truly creepy monster with two mouths, one of which has a male voice, the other female, explains that he...or it...or something is now in charge, and throws Dr. Adler off a cliff.
Back at the cemetary, Cole puts some flowers on his parents' grave. He also tells them that they'll be happy to know that the Animarium is real. Incidentally, Cole's grave is still there, which will always be amusing for some reason.
Down at the bottom of a mountain, Dr. Adler grows a horn and turns out to be not quite dead. Oh, the suspense....Show Over!
Next Time: Zen-Aku comes back to kick some more Ranger ass!
Reinforcements From the Future, Part II
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 25
Original Airdate: 8-3-2002
Last Time: Some half-mutant, half-Org creatures showed up and the Wild Force Rangers and half of the Time Force Rangers teamed up to stop it and it finally dawned on me just how much worse this season is than last season....and I didn't even like last season that much.
On the Animarium, the two teams of Rangers are rather depressed about losing. Wes also wants to know why Jen didn't tell him that she was in the past, but she's rather evasive. You know, Wes, she once heartlessly dumped a guy that looks identical to you, isn't that enough of a warning bell? Shayla interrupts them to explain that some sort of mechanical owl appeared in the Time Force Rangers' viewing screen and it confused her. Circuit calls and explains that the rest of the team is coming back in time to help out. The time ship lands and Lucas, Katie and Trip come out...also Nadira and Ransik. Jen is understandably concerned that the guy who kicked the shit out the Rangers at the end of last season is once again in the past, but Ransik promises that he's only there to help. Cole trusts him, and it's a shame that he isn't wrong, because I would have liked to see Ransik massacring both teams.
Anyway, Ransik decides that he probably should explain how the hell the Mut-Orgs came to be, as he's the one who created them. You see, back when Ransik was just a hideously scarred mutant wandering the world that hated and feared him, he found some sort of Org temple and released some Orgs so that they could team up and kill all the humans. The Orgs took some of Ransik's DNA and became Mut-Orgs and Ransik gained the ability to pull swords out of his body. But, hey that was a long time ago, and Ransik really wants to help kill the Mut-Orgs. Jen, having realized that she never really liked Alex that much anyway, and thus Ransik's murder of him being no big deal, takes the manacles off Ransik so he can fight. He immediately snaps her neck like a twig. Okay, that might not have happened, but it would have been pretty awesome if it did.
Later, Wes and Jen have another conversation about their relationship. It's as thrilling as it was last season. Eric shows Taylor his Quantum Defender and continuing flirting, which, given that they're two of the angriest Rangers in the franchise, consists mainly of insulting each other.
But Master Org has decided to move the plot forward and dispatches the Mut-Orgs to blow up a power plant. The Rangers, plus Ransik and Nadira head there to stop them, and Ransik explains that only he can stop the Mut-Orgs. This crossover, in addition to probably being the best one in the franchise's history, is also interesting because you can see the clear contrast between a guy like Ransik, who's played by a guy who can act, and is hamming it up intentionally, and a guy like Cole, who is played by a guy who just cannot act at all.
The Rangers split up and Trip goes with Lucas, Danny and Max to override the controls so the power plant won't explode. Everyone fights some Putrids, which may be the least successful mooks in Power Rangers history, as even the lowly Piranhatrons did things right occaisionally. Ransik, Nadria, Wes and Cole run into the Mut-Orgs, and Nadira gets knocked out the fight almost immediately. Ransik elects to defeat the Mut-Orgs with the suitably insane plan of blowing himself up to kill them. Ransik being Ransik, it doesn't quite work, but he does manage to destroy their mutant powers, at the cost of badly injuring himself. Trip then deactivates the reactor and Taylor blows up the bomb or something with Eric's gun. Okay, so we're done here?
Merrick, finally having remembered that he was supposed to show up and help, arrives and cuts off the Mut-Orgs escape, and it's time for crossover morphing and introductions! With that out of the way, it's time for the grand melee portion of the crossover, which is accompanied by some oddly out-of-place techno music. As is traditional, the Rangers all work with their same-color counterparts. Plus, since this is all American-made, it's time for the Battilizers, which still look just terrible. The Mut-Orgs get killed and there will be no megazord team-up.
Ransik recovers, and, for some reason, his face has been healed. Who the hell knows why. Huh....still a couple of minutes short, eh? Okay, so the Rangers from both teams decide to have a picnic, which for some reason includes a techno remix on that awful song Shayla was singing a couple of days ago. I imagine that the writers asked the producers if they could have a megazord fight, but no one really wanted to pay for it, so they just did this instead. Max tries to hit on Nadira until Ransik shows up and scares the shit out of him. Lucas then proves more successful. Eric and Taylor snipe at each other, which is how they show that they like each other. Oh, and Katie beats Danny at arm-wrestling because not one episode can go by without something to remind us how much Danny sucks. Cole and Wes hold a race.
Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "That's an odd way to end a crossover." But you see, the writers were actually making a homage to the works of antiquity. As you know, the Iliad ends not with Achilles' triumph over Hector, but instead with a lengthy description of the funeral games that Achilles held for Patroclus, which included various Greek heroes competing in contests of skill and strength. So, in a way, this picnic sequence is actually an extended allusion.
No, you're not buying it? Well, I tried. Show Over!
Next Time: You know these last two episodes weren't so bad, and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. I mean, it's not like the writers would be dumb enough to follow these episodes with a story where Cole and Master Org trade idiotic monologues for the better part of twenty minutes....right?
Original Airdate: 8-3-2002
Last Time: Some half-mutant, half-Org creatures showed up and the Wild Force Rangers and half of the Time Force Rangers teamed up to stop it and it finally dawned on me just how much worse this season is than last season....and I didn't even like last season that much.
On the Animarium, the two teams of Rangers are rather depressed about losing. Wes also wants to know why Jen didn't tell him that she was in the past, but she's rather evasive. You know, Wes, she once heartlessly dumped a guy that looks identical to you, isn't that enough of a warning bell? Shayla interrupts them to explain that some sort of mechanical owl appeared in the Time Force Rangers' viewing screen and it confused her. Circuit calls and explains that the rest of the team is coming back in time to help out. The time ship lands and Lucas, Katie and Trip come out...also Nadira and Ransik. Jen is understandably concerned that the guy who kicked the shit out the Rangers at the end of last season is once again in the past, but Ransik promises that he's only there to help. Cole trusts him, and it's a shame that he isn't wrong, because I would have liked to see Ransik massacring both teams.
Anyway, Ransik decides that he probably should explain how the hell the Mut-Orgs came to be, as he's the one who created them. You see, back when Ransik was just a hideously scarred mutant wandering the world that hated and feared him, he found some sort of Org temple and released some Orgs so that they could team up and kill all the humans. The Orgs took some of Ransik's DNA and became Mut-Orgs and Ransik gained the ability to pull swords out of his body. But, hey that was a long time ago, and Ransik really wants to help kill the Mut-Orgs. Jen, having realized that she never really liked Alex that much anyway, and thus Ransik's murder of him being no big deal, takes the manacles off Ransik so he can fight. He immediately snaps her neck like a twig. Okay, that might not have happened, but it would have been pretty awesome if it did.
Later, Wes and Jen have another conversation about their relationship. It's as thrilling as it was last season. Eric shows Taylor his Quantum Defender and continuing flirting, which, given that they're two of the angriest Rangers in the franchise, consists mainly of insulting each other.
But Master Org has decided to move the plot forward and dispatches the Mut-Orgs to blow up a power plant. The Rangers, plus Ransik and Nadira head there to stop them, and Ransik explains that only he can stop the Mut-Orgs. This crossover, in addition to probably being the best one in the franchise's history, is also interesting because you can see the clear contrast between a guy like Ransik, who's played by a guy who can act, and is hamming it up intentionally, and a guy like Cole, who is played by a guy who just cannot act at all.
The Rangers split up and Trip goes with Lucas, Danny and Max to override the controls so the power plant won't explode. Everyone fights some Putrids, which may be the least successful mooks in Power Rangers history, as even the lowly Piranhatrons did things right occaisionally. Ransik, Nadria, Wes and Cole run into the Mut-Orgs, and Nadira gets knocked out the fight almost immediately. Ransik elects to defeat the Mut-Orgs with the suitably insane plan of blowing himself up to kill them. Ransik being Ransik, it doesn't quite work, but he does manage to destroy their mutant powers, at the cost of badly injuring himself. Trip then deactivates the reactor and Taylor blows up the bomb or something with Eric's gun. Okay, so we're done here?
Merrick, finally having remembered that he was supposed to show up and help, arrives and cuts off the Mut-Orgs escape, and it's time for crossover morphing and introductions! With that out of the way, it's time for the grand melee portion of the crossover, which is accompanied by some oddly out-of-place techno music. As is traditional, the Rangers all work with their same-color counterparts. Plus, since this is all American-made, it's time for the Battilizers, which still look just terrible. The Mut-Orgs get killed and there will be no megazord team-up.
Ransik recovers, and, for some reason, his face has been healed. Who the hell knows why. Huh....still a couple of minutes short, eh? Okay, so the Rangers from both teams decide to have a picnic, which for some reason includes a techno remix on that awful song Shayla was singing a couple of days ago. I imagine that the writers asked the producers if they could have a megazord fight, but no one really wanted to pay for it, so they just did this instead. Max tries to hit on Nadira until Ransik shows up and scares the shit out of him. Lucas then proves more successful. Eric and Taylor snipe at each other, which is how they show that they like each other. Oh, and Katie beats Danny at arm-wrestling because not one episode can go by without something to remind us how much Danny sucks. Cole and Wes hold a race.
Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, "That's an odd way to end a crossover." But you see, the writers were actually making a homage to the works of antiquity. As you know, the Iliad ends not with Achilles' triumph over Hector, but instead with a lengthy description of the funeral games that Achilles held for Patroclus, which included various Greek heroes competing in contests of skill and strength. So, in a way, this picnic sequence is actually an extended allusion.
No, you're not buying it? Well, I tried. Show Over!
Next Time: You know these last two episodes weren't so bad, and I'm feeling cautiously optimistic about the rest of the season. I mean, it's not like the writers would be dumb enough to follow these episodes with a story where Cole and Master Org trade idiotic monologues for the better part of twenty minutes....right?
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Reinforcements From the Future, Part I
Power Rangers: Wild Force, Episode 24
Original Airdate: 7-27-2002
Last Time: The Rangers got a new zord....again.
Taylor has a new car and speeds along the streets until she gets pulled over. The officer who stops her? It's Eric! Wait, the Silver Guardians are now making traffic stops? So, they've taken over the jobs of the police entirely, then? Man, didn't anyone learn anything about the dangers of privatizing police functions from Robocop 2? Anyway, as you might guess, Eric has no mercy and writes her up. Back in the car, he and Wes banter for a bit before driving off.
But hey, the crossover's going to need some monsters, right? Three rather unremarkable monsters appears from an energy portal of some sort and Jindrax and Toxica try to recruit them. The new monsters turn out not to speak English, and this leads to Jindrax and Toxica getting beaten up and thrown into some cardboard boxes.
Anyway, the monsters attack the city....although I'm not clear on which city it's supposed to be, and the Silver Guardians move in. Fittingly, the Silver Guardians get manhandled in the very last appearance. Wes and Eric morph, but it doesn't do them much good. Eric and Wes are confused, as they thought that they'd gotten rid of all the mutants....and then Cole shows up. Damn it, I was pretending that Time Force was still running and that this whole season was just a bad dream, but no, Cole has to come along and bring me back into cruel reality. The other Wild Force Rangers show up, and this leads the monster to retreat.
Eric is suspicious of the new Rangers, and Taylor recognizes him as the one who gave her that ticket. Eric wants nothing to do with the Wild Force Rangers, and the two teams argue about whether or not the monsters are mutants or Orgs. Wes and Eric decide to leave, and Taylor fumes about Eric's dismissive attitude.
On the Animarium, Shayla continues to have no idea what's going on and asks if the other Rangers were nice. Taylor is still angry about Eric.
Meanwhile, Wes and Eric have elected to do something useful and call the future to find out about what they're facing. They get ahold of Trip who admits that, yes, three mutants did escape into the past. Also, Jen is in the past, but no one's been able to get in contact with her. Wes wonders if he's gotten a second chance with his mildly psychotic ex-girlfriend.
Later, the monster converse about creating more Orgs and destroying the future, and a mysterious woman in a cloak, let's just ruin the surprise and call her Jen, eavesdrops on them.
The next day, Eric and Wes ask Taylor for help. Taylor is still pissy about Eric, but agrees to take them to the Animarium. Eric is unimpressed with Taylor's Eagle Zord, as he has a fucking T-Rex on call. Shayla shows up and Wes asks her some questions about the monsters. Shayla admits that they're Orgs, but has no other information. Trip calls from the future and explains that the monsters are, in fact, half-mutant, half-org, or Mut-Orgs, and then helpfully supplies the Rangers with someone who knows more. So, Trip is roughly one thousand times better at being a mentor than Shayla then.
And who is the man who can help the Rangers with their troubles? Well first they stop by a local school to recruit Nadira to help them. Yeah, apparently Nadira is now a school teacher. You'd think what with all of the felonies they wouldn't let her....but, well, the future is a very different place. Lucas explains that they need her help.
Meanwhile, Max and Danny are feeling self-conscious about how much they suck. So they shout 'never give up' a bunch of times as Eric and Taylor look on with scorn. Eric remembers when he used to hate the other Rangers on his team....then again, they were roughly ten million times less annoying than Danny and Max.
Elsewhere, Wes explains to Cole that there are other Ranger teams.....and they're all much, much better than the Wild Force Rangers. But hey, we'll get definitive proof of that later in the season.
1000 years later, Nadira goes to visit Ransik. Katie, Trip and Lucas show up to tempt fate.
Back in the past, the monsters attack again, and the Rangers on scene assemble to stop them. Eric makes it clear that he doesn't give a shit about what type of monsters they are anyway. The Mut-Orgs wipe the floor with the Rangers for a while, and Wes is about to get killed when Jen shows up. She has crazy-looking hair and is wearing all leather. So...she's finally lost that last bit of sanity, then? Wes is rightly confused and the Rangers retreat.
Meanwhile, Master Org and the Mut-Orgs meet up with each other, and the Mut-Orgs swear fealty to Master Org. To Be Continued!
Next Time: A climactic showdown between three monsters and twelve Rangers!
Original Airdate: 7-27-2002
Last Time: The Rangers got a new zord....again.
Taylor has a new car and speeds along the streets until she gets pulled over. The officer who stops her? It's Eric! Wait, the Silver Guardians are now making traffic stops? So, they've taken over the jobs of the police entirely, then? Man, didn't anyone learn anything about the dangers of privatizing police functions from Robocop 2? Anyway, as you might guess, Eric has no mercy and writes her up. Back in the car, he and Wes banter for a bit before driving off.
But hey, the crossover's going to need some monsters, right? Three rather unremarkable monsters appears from an energy portal of some sort and Jindrax and Toxica try to recruit them. The new monsters turn out not to speak English, and this leads to Jindrax and Toxica getting beaten up and thrown into some cardboard boxes.
Anyway, the monsters attack the city....although I'm not clear on which city it's supposed to be, and the Silver Guardians move in. Fittingly, the Silver Guardians get manhandled in the very last appearance. Wes and Eric morph, but it doesn't do them much good. Eric and Wes are confused, as they thought that they'd gotten rid of all the mutants....and then Cole shows up. Damn it, I was pretending that Time Force was still running and that this whole season was just a bad dream, but no, Cole has to come along and bring me back into cruel reality. The other Wild Force Rangers show up, and this leads the monster to retreat.
Eric is suspicious of the new Rangers, and Taylor recognizes him as the one who gave her that ticket. Eric wants nothing to do with the Wild Force Rangers, and the two teams argue about whether or not the monsters are mutants or Orgs. Wes and Eric decide to leave, and Taylor fumes about Eric's dismissive attitude.
On the Animarium, Shayla continues to have no idea what's going on and asks if the other Rangers were nice. Taylor is still angry about Eric.
Meanwhile, Wes and Eric have elected to do something useful and call the future to find out about what they're facing. They get ahold of Trip who admits that, yes, three mutants did escape into the past. Also, Jen is in the past, but no one's been able to get in contact with her. Wes wonders if he's gotten a second chance with his mildly psychotic ex-girlfriend.
Later, the monster converse about creating more Orgs and destroying the future, and a mysterious woman in a cloak, let's just ruin the surprise and call her Jen, eavesdrops on them.
The next day, Eric and Wes ask Taylor for help. Taylor is still pissy about Eric, but agrees to take them to the Animarium. Eric is unimpressed with Taylor's Eagle Zord, as he has a fucking T-Rex on call. Shayla shows up and Wes asks her some questions about the monsters. Shayla admits that they're Orgs, but has no other information. Trip calls from the future and explains that the monsters are, in fact, half-mutant, half-org, or Mut-Orgs, and then helpfully supplies the Rangers with someone who knows more. So, Trip is roughly one thousand times better at being a mentor than Shayla then.
And who is the man who can help the Rangers with their troubles? Well first they stop by a local school to recruit Nadira to help them. Yeah, apparently Nadira is now a school teacher. You'd think what with all of the felonies they wouldn't let her....but, well, the future is a very different place. Lucas explains that they need her help.
Meanwhile, Max and Danny are feeling self-conscious about how much they suck. So they shout 'never give up' a bunch of times as Eric and Taylor look on with scorn. Eric remembers when he used to hate the other Rangers on his team....then again, they were roughly ten million times less annoying than Danny and Max.
Elsewhere, Wes explains to Cole that there are other Ranger teams.....and they're all much, much better than the Wild Force Rangers. But hey, we'll get definitive proof of that later in the season.
1000 years later, Nadira goes to visit Ransik. Katie, Trip and Lucas show up to tempt fate.
Back in the past, the monsters attack again, and the Rangers on scene assemble to stop them. Eric makes it clear that he doesn't give a shit about what type of monsters they are anyway. The Mut-Orgs wipe the floor with the Rangers for a while, and Wes is about to get killed when Jen shows up. She has crazy-looking hair and is wearing all leather. So...she's finally lost that last bit of sanity, then? Wes is rightly confused and the Rangers retreat.
Meanwhile, Master Org and the Mut-Orgs meet up with each other, and the Mut-Orgs swear fealty to Master Org. To Be Continued!
Next Time: A climactic showdown between three monsters and twelve Rangers!
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