Five Things Dino Charge Simply Must Have

News of Judd Lynn's return to Power Rangers has inspired hope for a return to form for the franchise. Before reality sets in, here's a list of five things I believe Dino Charge simply must have.

5. A Mentor

"I'm going to murder you."

Let's get real for a moment. Power Rangers hasn't had a mentor figure since Jungle Fury. Sure, you have Doctor K, Ji, and even Gosei serve their purpose of handing out power ups and arsenal or expelling expository dialogue. But when was the last time we had a mentor who.... was a mentor to the team? We need a wise old sage who's seen a thing or two. Who has something of value to teach the Rangers, and in turn, the intended audience.

4. Secret Identities

"Oh, goodness. Look at my wrist. I gotta go."

The juggling act of a super hero with a secret identity is not only an integral component of early Power Rangers, but a staple in the entire super hero genre. How the Rangers struggle to keep their powers a secret adds storytelling variety to a series vulnerable to monotonous repetition. Watching the Rangers balance saving the world and homework is a key ingredient.

3. A New Beginning

"Not bad, rookie."

When Abaranger came around, the dinosaur theme was as good an excuse as any to bring the series back to its roots. Teenagers with attitude. Kyoryugerr is presenting a similar opportunity, and after a 20 season team up event, this seems like a good time to start fresh. Lay the groundwork for a new Ranger era. Seal the deal with a well placed torch passing cameo from Austin St. John. 

2. A Story to Tell

All things were possible in Dino Thunder.

The best seasons have a story to tell. It doesn't have to be a complex or particularly complicated story, but a coherent one. This means riding that line of knowing when to draw from the source material and when to veer in a different direction. The Sentai is your road map, but don't stray away from taking detours or finding a new, better way to reach your destination. Make the journey an interesting one.

1. Characters

Run up to any 25 year old and yell "MAKE MY MONSTER GROW!" 

They will instantly know exactly what you're talking about.

Power Rangers has never been a source of nuanced, complicated characters. And it doesn't need to be. We don't need well written characters, we need memorable ones. Villains with big, larger than life personalities. Monsters of the week with distinct voices. Bumbling bullies. Kind hearted allies in the fight against evil. Rangers with unshakable resolve and a cringe inducing need to always do the right thing. In short, give us someone to root for.

That's my two cents. What do you think Dino Charge simply must have?

Power Rangers Megaforce "Mega Mission"

What Happened

Power Rangers Megaforce is the story of a narcoleptic teenager named Troy. While experiencing delusions of grandeur on a bus ride to his new high school, he sees a spandex clad flash mob charging an army of mechanical men. This is the most normal thing that will happen to him today.

After arriving late to his first class, Troy is introduced to four good natured classmates with many great qualities. They would make a formidable fighting force, should a talking wall decoration ever summon them to fight the forces of an evil space alien invasion.

Meanwhile, an evil space alien invasion is about to begin. Some kind of alien, hovering above Earth in his space ship, decides the planet is no match for his army and decides to invade. Once Earth is under attack, Troy and his friends Gia, Noah, Emma, and Jake are teleported into a dark cave that is ventilated with a single fan spinning at a snails pace.

There they meet Olmec, a giant talking head mentored by Zordon, and his counterpart Wall-E. They present the five teens with awesome Ranger powers and send them on a mission that is mega. The teens use their new powers to defeat the aliens and save the city. The team returns to their new base and Olmec congratulates them on their first victory as the Power Rangers Megaforce!

Permission to fangasm? Granted.

What Worked

1. The episode opens strong with premonitions of the Legend War. It even includes an American exclusive shot or two, reassuring the Sentai aficionados they have some unseen footage to look forward to. The fact that it pops up in the opening titles too gives me hope this isn't the last we'll hear about the Legend War until the finale.
   
2. Power Rangers returns to high school and it works pretty well here. Mr. Burley is a welcome addition to the cast of characters, and pulls off an eccentric, but not too over the top teacher. The return of Ernie's as a place for the Rangers to hang out outside of class is a fun nod to the past.
   
3. The first unmorphed fight was well choreographed with each Ranger attacking in a unique style (or in the case of Noah, hiding). It blended will into the morphed footage, which did a good job of demonstrating each Ranger and how their tech works.
4. Initially, the announcement of using Goseiger footage for the anniversary season was confusing at best. After seeing the footage in use though, the Gosei aesthetic mirrors MMPR pretty well.

My mentor Ernie placed me here to serve smoothies to the planets youth.

What Kinda Worked
  

1. Mega Mission is clearly intended to be an homage to Day of the Dumpster, but plays more like an outright remake. That's not a bad thing, but I feel like there were a few missteps.
   • There's no refusal to the call to adventure by the Rangers, and they seemed way too willing to believe everything that just happened to them.They were in disbelief for all of two seconds before charging onto the battlefield. Shortening the following fight could have given this scene more time to breath and be a bit more believable.
   • Some of the direct references felt unnecessary or out of place. The Kimberly line at the end didn't fit the tone of the scene and felt out of character for Gia.
   • It was nice they brought the Juice Bar back, but did it really have to be called Ernie's?
     
     
2. The base of operations looks a little cheap at times. It's hard not to chuckle the first time Gosei speaks. The Ranger statue decorations lining the walls are a nice touch, though. I'm curious to hear an in-show explanation for why the base is lined with past Rangers, unless it's strictly because 'it's an anniversary season!' Then I will be sad.
    
3. A few nuggets of continuity were tossed around this episode. How they decide to follow up on these callbacks, if at all, will effect my opinion of said callbacks. 

'Creeping Loogie' needs to be added to Urban Dictionary.

What Went Wrong

1. The villains are exceptionally generic this year. None of the monsters have any presence and I wouldn't have known who was in charge if not for one of them being called 'Master.'
2. It seemed a little early to toss out the first Monster of the Day. Having the Rangers scrape with one of Malkor's generals would have helped the flow of the episode.

Bottom Line

Mega Mission is a solid opener that offers hope that Megaforce will be a worthy anniversary for Power Rangers.

3 bananas out of 5

Power Rangers Super Samurai 'Trading Places'

What Happened

As the Fire Ferrets prepare for the Pro Bending championship match, Amon issues a warning to Republic City that they must cancel the event.  Korra and Lin convince the council to let the match continue.. Wait, this isn't right.

"With my last breath, I curse Tarlock!"

What Worked

-Anytime this series makes reference to the past or foreshadows future events I must award it a gold star.  We were treated twice this episode with Switchbeast mentioning his boss, who i'm assuming will be Serrator (thanks Clash of the Red Rangers!), and Mike recalling a past monster fight.

-The whole trapping people in objects schtick reminded me of the Mighty Morphin' days, and not in a bad ways. 

 -Most of the body switching gags were admittedly pretty amusing.  Adding a sense of urgency with the cat eating Antonio and Bulk on the wrong side of a boot helped the momentum of the episode.  

-Say what you will about Alex Heartman, his performance as Jayden as a lawn gnome was impeccable.

Some comment about the wooden performances in 
Samurai are probably in order.

What Went Wrong

-This felt like a half-hearted attempt at a Mike focus episode.  It seems a little weird that the Ranger characterized as the loner would be apprehensive about fighting nearly solo.  Maybe it could have been about Mike becoming so reliant on others after joining the team that he needed a situation like this to break his overdependence.  Or maybe i'm making too much out of that scene.

-There goes Ji again, overlooking the female Ranger in favor of giving Mike the power up.

-I don't think Mike thought through the possible rammifications of putting the soul of a monster of the week in a Ranger body.  Thankfully Switchbeast was too stupid too summon a Zord or Symbol Power a portal to the Sanzu River or something.

-As with Shell Game, I feel the biggest flaw with both episodes is how unremarkable and forgettable they are.  Once could argue that describes Samurai and Super Samurai as a whole, but this string of episodes in particular leave very little to reflect on.  Other than Kevin wearing a tutu, of course.

I'm really looking forward to episode 30 to see if 
Kevin's choice has to do with his lifestyle.

Wait, What?

-According to Emily, the power of the Black Box allowed Mike and herself to pilot the Megazord by themselves.  Nevermind the fact that the team had reverted back to normal already and could have joined in the fight.

What to Remember

-Super Samurai Mode (Green) Debut

Bottom Line

Super Samurai fanatics aside, you'll probably find yourself wishing you could trade places with someone watching a different program.

2 bananas out of 5