Power Rangers Samurai 'Room For One More'

What Happened

Antonio shows up to officially request to be added to the Samurai team.  Mentor Ji and Jayden are skeptical of whether or not he is ready to be part of the team, as he has not recieved proper Samurai training.
When a Nighlok is sent into the city, Ji confiscates Antonio's morpher and the Rangers face off the monster without him.  The five find out they're not strong enough to defeat the monster.  Later, Mia and the rest of the team help convince Jayden that Antonio is ready to be the 6th Samurai Ranger.
The Rangers meet up with the returning Nighlok.  Together, the six fight together and defeat the monster.  When the monster grows, they combine the Megazord with the Octozord and win the day.

Really worried for that pillow.

What Worked

-Another well timed and genuinely funny dream sequence from Spike.  But yet again it feels totally out of place in this show.

-The villain was cool and kind of menacing.  The fight scenes involving him overall were pretty solid.

-Antonio definetly adds some much missed personality to the main character roster. We see some of his backstory, and his showboating attitude has carried over from his debut.  Moments like trying to find a place to stand during the roll call and the 4th wall breaking slow mo replay works well for the character.

Someone left this perfectly good plot device in the forest.

What Went Wrong

-They really shook things up this episode by giving Xandred something to do.  Swatting at hanging yellow monster ball things.

-Mentor Ji didn't win any popularity points in this episode.  I could maybe understand him wanting the Octozord back, but where does he get off taking Antonio's morpher?  It's not like that would've stopped him from just building another one.

-The flashback stuff was just awful.  Putting aside the acting (c'mon, they're just kids), it added very little to what we had already seen.  I also find it amazing that samurai training consists of repeatedly beating a dummy with a wooden sword without any form or grace.

-Lets break down how Antonio became the Gold Samurai Ranger.  In his own words, it wasn't very hard. Antonio and Jayden meet as children.  Antonio trains alongside Jayden and they vow to become Samurai someday.  When Antonio leaves, Jayden gives him the Octozord without telling Ji.  So far, so good.
So then this kids grows up to be a traveling fisherman, who has nothing to his name but a few fishing polls, a tank, some exploding fish, and a squid robot.  Somewhere during this time he becomes techie, and also taught himself to be a better swordsman than any of the other Samurai Rangers.  Turning into a bit of a stretch, but moving forward...
So he finds a cell phone in the forest and figures out he can speak to the Octozord through texting.  Shorty afterwards, he was somehow able to construct a functional morpher based on things Jayden told him as a child and studying the Octozords systems.  So the self taught master swordsman tech junkie genius who created his own connection to the morphing grid traveling fisherman decides to rejoin his friend Jayden in his fight against the Nighloks.
It wasn't very hard.

-To be a samurai you must trained in the samurai way by a samurai.  It is the way of the samurai, young samurai.  Ya know, throughout the series they never really specify what it means to be a samurai or why it's so great.  It's just a word that's thrown around, and a lazy excuse to not add Antonio to the team.  I don't suppose they could be reluctant to let him join for some legitimate reason, like being over enthusiastic and unpredictable in battle.  Or the fact that being a wandering fisherman doesn't inspire immediate trust or feelings of reliability.

-The last fight sequence was cool and all, but why did it only take Jayden and Antonio to defeat the monster?  From a character standpoint it was kind of cool to see the two of them finally fight together like they dreamed about as kids.  But the entire episode is based around the idea that they need a 6th Ranger to tip the balance of power back in their favor.  And it's not like they even gave the other 4 something to do, they literally just disappear for a few minutes.  Not even a reaction shot.

Traditional Samurai BBQ

What To Remember

-Octo Spear Megazord debut

Bottom Line

Antonio brings some much needed enthusiasm to the show, but little else.

1.5 bananas out of 5

Interview With Mike Ginn

Mike Ginn, also known as Gem (Ranger Series Gold) on Power Rangers R.P.M was kind enough to answer a few questions for Banana Shake. So, without further ado...

BS: What were you like growing up?

Mike: Silly and shy. I remember being a shy kid but around people I was comfortable around I was also very silly. In fact, there’s only one thing I have ever remembered from a school report card and it was from a year on my elementary school report card where my teacher wrote about me, “Mike is often silly”. Growing up, I liked drawing cartoons, LOVED the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, collected spiders, watched a lot of TV, liked video games, loved going into toy shops, was forced to do Karate by my parents and hated it lol.

BS: What was your path to becoming an actor? Is it something you've always wanted to do as a profession?

Mike: Ever since I was small, yes, being an actor was something I’ve always wanted to do. My first memory of a profession I wanted to do was probably when I was 4 when I wanted to be an “artist” cause I liked drawing. Was probably a few years later when I got introduced to acting from doing a skit in elementary school and a girl coming up to me afterwards and telling me I was good, which was possibly the inception of my dream ever since. I actually wasn’t involved in doing any acting after that besides living the dream in my head until I after high school and wanted to pursue it seriously. I went to drama school for 3 years and after graduating, been acting and pursuing my dream ever since!

BS: When you're not working what kind of hobbies do you enjoy?

Mike: I enjoy video games, hanging with friends, watching cartoons and movies, working out, Twitter, and recently having relocated to LA I love exploring places here.

BS: You've said in the past you visited forums to see fan reactions while filming, so you probably know the fandom was pretty evenly split on their opinion of Gem and Gemma. Where you expecting such a big reaction when you and Li Ming Hu joined the cast?

Mike: To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. But I did like that Gem and Gemma were something to talk about, I enjoyed lurking on forums and reading all the controversy they were stirring, some people really loved them, and some people hated them haha, but I’m glad they were something for the fans to talk about and get into.

BS: Halfway through RPM the series lost a few writers and gained a new Executive Producer. Had Eddie Guzellian stayed on as EP, would your character have changed in any way?

Mike: I don’t know, I’ll have to ask Eddie that some time. I don’t know what Eddie had planned for Gold and Silver. I personally would’ve loved to have seen what happened to them after the end of the Dr K flashback in the wasteland till they met up with the other rangers!

BS: What was your favorite moment while working on the show, on or off screen?

Mike: My favorite moments while working on the show was just going into work every morning, putting on the gold ranger suit, I loved the fights, and a favorite moment I had was when I was home one of the days after the shoot and on the balcony of my apartment and I remember thinking how appreciative and lucky I was getting to do what I was doing then.

BS: Is there anything about your time on RPM you regret or wish you had done differently? Any aspect of Gem's character you wish had been explored but never made it to the show?

Mike: Nothing I regret, but if I had to go back, I might’ve played more “excitement” and “fun” sounds into ADRing those fight scenes. When I created Gem’s character, I planned for when he was in the midst of fighting to be slightly more focused and so my fight sounds sounded pretty standard. If I had to go back to change something I’d put more Gem&Gemma-isms into the fight ADR sounds to give my fights more color, I think that might’ve been a slightly better choice.

BS: Your resume mentions you know karate and kickboxing. Did you get to do any of your own stunts during filming?

Mike: Stunts, no, the stunt actors do that, and I really am amazed what some of them do on that show, I remember seeing that playground fight with Ziggy/Scott/Baby in stroller and seeing a grinder leap backwards landing on the side of the slide on his back and thinking how do these super human people do this take after take after take! I notice the difficulty of stunts in films I see ever since working on RPM and have a lot more appreciation of what they do.

Did I get to do my own stunts... noooo, call in the stunt guy everytime! lol

BS: Eventually we should start seeing RPM in reruns on Nick. Your portrayal as a Ranger will live on forever in syndication for future generations. Do you find that at all overwhelming?

Mike: No way I wouldn’t be overwhelmed in the least, that sounds awesome!! I like seeing myself on TV haha

BS: Japan is doing an anniversary season this year for Sentai. Hypothetically speaking, if Saban Brands adapted that season for Power Rangers and you got the call to come back for a cameo/guest spot, would you do it?

Mike: Yep

BS: Is there any part in television or film you haven't played yet that you'd love to do? Any dream roles?

Mike: The big kid in me would love to do roles in film adaption of favorite cartoon and tv shows I liked as a kid, but I don’t have a dream role. I just hope to continue working in film and tv in roles that stretch me emotionally and that are outside of who I am as a person, so I can grow as I discover new parts of myself that I need to portray these characters.

BS: What have you been up to since RPM? Any upcoming projects you can tell us about to look forward to?

Mike: Since RPM, I’ve done a few more projects in New Zealand, most recently a feature film called ‘My Wedding and Other Secrets’ which opened at number 3 at the box office last month. But the biggest thing was my relocation to Los Angeles a few months ago, where I now live and continue my acting career.

Thanks for reading everyone, if ya wanna chat look me up at http://www.twitter.com/mikeginn

Power Rangers Samurai 'Unexpected Arrival'

What Happened

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.

Behold the quick reflexes of the samurai.

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.

When I grow up, I wanna be a Ranger. And American.

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.

Shippers, on your mark. Ready. Get set. GO!

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