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

Power Rangers Super Samurai 'Shell Game'

What Happened

The Rangers must defeat a new foe with an impenetrable shell before he destroys the city.  Without the aide of Antonio, the team must rely on teamwork and the new Super Samurai mode to defeat the Nighlok.

This is 'Fran picks up Lilly's Solar Morpher' level of cruel 
teasing.

What Worked

-I thoroughly enjoyed the fight sequence with Armadeevil.  The different tactics used by the Rangers helped prevent the monster fight from becoming another by the numbers brawl.  The different elemental attack combos were great.

 -Some of the physical comedy from Bulk and Spike, as well as the visual gags involving an unaware Antonio made for some genuine humor. 

Ladies and gentlemen, your 6th Samurai Ranger.

What Went Wrong

-This episode began with another clumsy attempt at foreshadowing the events of the episode.  Still not quite as as obscene as the intro to I've Got a Spell on Blue.

-The Bulk and Spike subplot was frustrating.  It was a funny concept, but as the episode wore on I realized nothing significant would come of it.  They were basically an excuse for Antonio to not have his morpher.  They served their purpose for the episode, but there were so many more potential yuks to be had.

-Antonio really looked like a dunce, sitting there fishing while the city was engulfed in flames behind him.  Minor point.

The yellow, hanging non sequiturs make their triumphant 

return.  Continuity!

What to Remember

-Super Samurai Mode (Blue) Debut

Bottom Line

The missing phone and missing Ranger was a sleight of hand designed to trick you into believing that Shell Game was anything other than filler.

2 bananas out of 5

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

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