The Rangers respond to a tripped samurai alarm in the city. The monster is nowhere to be seen, and the Rangers question whether or not there was a monster at all. When they return to base, they recieve a message attached to an arrow, 'See you soon.' Later that night, Jayden senses the presence of a Nighlok at the base.
The next day the Rangers search the city for the Nighlok. Jayden goes to the docks while the other four come across a fisherman handing out fliers. They realize his fliers have the same handwriting as the letter and the fisherman flees. Meanwhile, Jayden uses water to prevent the Nighlok from spying on him and draws him out.
The Rangers join Jayden and they fight the monster together. When the monster becomes too much for them, the fisherman appears and morphs into the Gold Samurai Ranger. They overpower the monster, and when he grows Gold uses his Octozord to help destroy him. After the battle, Jayden realizes the Gold Ranger is his childhood friend, Antonio.
What Worked
-So for the first time we don't get Bulk or Spike. Honestly I hadn't realized it until I saw someone else mention it, which I guess says something about their role on the show. From a pacing standpoint, it helps when you don't have completely unrelated scenes shoehorned into an episode.
-We see Jayden become a little unhinged, which was a refreshing change of pace from what we've seen so far. His accidental discovery of how to draw out the Nighlok was well done, but I don't think a flashback to something we saw a minute ago was necessary.
-Steven Skylar as Antonio is.. interesting. I'd like to see his performance with a better script in hand, I do think he delivers the lines pretty well. His character has a certain appeal, I liked the way he really plays up the theatrics of being a Ranger. I'm looking forward to seeing how his personality effects the chemistry of the team
-Say what you will about how illogical it is to have an armored power up mode for standing in a zord cockpit, Gold's Mega Mode is just gorgeous to look at it. It makes me wish more and more that before this series is over we get some fight scenes with the Mega Mode armor. It's just too cool looking to not use.
-There was a nice little moment at the end foreshadowing what upcoming episode synopses imply, which is that Kevin and Antonio will be butting heads in the future.
What Went Wrong
-How stupid do these Nighloks have to be to constantly trip these samurai alarms randomly placed around the city?
-"He's so sparkly!" I just don't get what they're going for with Emily's character. Are they trying to write her as unintelligent? Are we supposed to find it funny? Is it too much to ask for an intelligent, strong female role model in this show?
-Man, I loved the the whole 'message on an arrow' callback to the first episode. Ya know, the one that never aired.
-Speaking of Antonio's introduction, I was kind of disappointed they showed us who he was right upfront. There was no mystery whatsoever, even though the rest of the episode tried playing it as if there was some kind of mystery.
-Usually when a 6th Ranger joins the team, it's an event. This felt more like business as usual but with a new guy randomly deciding to show up. If there was a little build up to his introduction it would have really helped. Maybe swap Antonio for the random and useless fisherman from 'A Fish Out of Water' to tease the audience. Have last weeks episode end with them receiving the message on an arrow. Something.
What To Remember
-Jayden and Antonio were childhood friends
-Gold Ranger debut
-Octozord debut
Bottom Line
An average 6th Ranger debut that doesn't quite live up to the gold standard.
3 bananas out of 5
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