***As big a Power Rangers fan as I am, I must admit: I’m a little behind on modern PR. Here’s where I attempt to fix that, as I check out episodes of Power Rangers Beast Morphers!***

SERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E18 – “The Silva Switch”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jamie Linehan (Voice)
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: June 23, 2020 (UK), November 14, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: A lab accident switches Nate and Steel’s bodies.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Within the first few minutes, I was fairly certain I was going to be disappointed in this episode. Not because it’s a body-switch episode, but because they swapped Nate and Steel’s voices as well as their bodies. In other words, Abraham Rodriguez (Nate) has his voice dubbed over by Jamie Linehan (Steel), while Rodriguez’s voice is coming out of Steel’s body. I was looking forward to seeing how Rodriguez would inhabit that Steel character, both physically and vocally. So to not get the whole package in that respect was a let-down.

However…

At about the 7:30 mark, from out of absolutely nowhere, the show dives into its first ever Broadway-style musical number, complete with singing and choreographed dancing. I had no idea it was coming and was absolutely blown away. It’s not brief, either. It goes on for almost two minutes on the dot.

I have a new respect for Abraham Rodriguez after seeing this sequence, as he had to be the centerpiece to the whole thing. It’s obviously not him singing. But he pulls off all the physicality and the dancing seamlessly. I can’t find anything that indicates he’s been in musicals before. But the dude was such a natural that you’ve got to believe he at least did it in school at some point.

I’m wondering, however, if he’s not a singer. That might explain why they had Jamie Linehan dub over his dialogue in the episode. That way Linehan, who’s obviously a voice actor, could carry the vocal portion and allow Rodriguez to focus on the other elements of the performance.

Is the whole thing pretty hokey? Absolutely. Did it win an Emmy, or even a Kid’s Choice Award? Nope. But when you can break new ground on a show that’s been around for 25-plus years it’s usually a good thing. No one was expecting, or for that matter calling for, a musical scene in Power Rangers. But this team took the concept, ran with it, and made it into one of the highlights of the entire series. Bravo.

They actually did make me feel sad for Steel when it was time for he and Nate to switch their bodies back. Dude loved being human enough to break out into friggin’ song. We should all love something that much.

Email Rob at PrimaryIgnition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

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