Tag Becca Barnes

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Crunch Time” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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:E20 – “Crunch Time”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Colby Strong
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: June 25, 2020 (UK), November 28, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: Devon faces pressure to change up his leadership style.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I hated this episode. Absolutely hated it. Almost everybody in it looks like an idiot. The Rangers? Idiots. Commander Shaw? Idiot. Grid Battleforce at large? Idiots. Robo-Blaze? Idiot. It’s my least favorite episode of Beast Morphers, by far. And maybe, just maybe, one of my least favorite episodes the series has produced in almost 30 years.

Let’s talk about it, shall we?

The plot of this episode centers around Robo-Blaze impersonating the real Blaze to infiltrate Grid Battleforce and influence the Rangers, Devon in particular. Conceptually, there’s nothing wrong with that. And the way they play it, the audience knows from the start that it’s Robo-Blaze. They don’t flat out say it until the end. But I would think it’s rather obvious, even to little children. That doesn’t exactly make it a thrilling watch. But it’s a way to go.

The jig is up at the end of the episode when the real Blaze calls the Rangers from a karate tournament in Japan. And if you think about that with even a shred of logic or reason, you see there’s a giant hole in Robo-Blaze and Evox’s plan to get into Grid Battleforce. Blaze is friends with the Rangers. He could have, theoretically, called them any time. Blaze and Evox left themselves totally exposed.

What’s more, it’s common knowledge at Grid Battleforce that Blaze has an evil doppleganger running around. And you’ve got this guy acting uncharacteristically uptight, mean, and critical, especially toward Cruise. And yet nobody, not the Rangers, not Commander Shaw, not anybody at Grid Battleforce, thought to run a precautionary scan on him? Especially before letting him into their damn base?!?

I understand that Power Rangers is, first and foremost, a kids show. And sometimes, you’ve got to simplify the writing for the sake of that young audience. But at the same time, kids aren’t stupid. They don’t necessarily need to be written down to. Unfortunately, that’s what this episode did, to the extent that it was pretty much ruined.

Also, if I hear one of the Rangers say one more time, as Devon does in this episode, that one of the Beast Bots is “more than just a Beast Bot. He’s my friend.”, I’m gonna snap. I don’t know how much that line has actually been said over the course of Beast Morphers. But it feels like it’s been about 20 times. We get it. Enough.

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

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – “Once and Always” Trailer and Images Released

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Pardon me while I scream like a little girl…

The trailer was accompanied by the following images. (Credit to Entertainment Weekly, obviously.)

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

EW also reports that Barbara Goodson (the voice of Rita Repulsa) and Richard Horvitz ( the voice of Alpha 5) are on board for the special!

Do I seem excited? Because I’m pretty damn excited.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always drops on Netflix April 19.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Fossil Frenzy” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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:E19 – “Fossil Frenzy”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Liana Ramirez
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: June 24, 2020 (UK), November 21, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: Zoey takes a big risk to make up for a big mistake.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Jacqueline Scislowski is one of the better actors on Beast Morphers, particularly when it comes to playing vulnerable or distressed. This episode highlights that, as Zoey accidentally destroys a priceless fossil belonging to her brother.

The fossil is burned up with “metachloric acid.” I’m fairly certain that’s not a real thing. There’s a meta-chloroperoxybenzoic acid, but not metachloric acid.

I’m surmising by its use in this episode that metachloric acid is used to move a plot along without burning up any set pieces in the process.

Without the fossil, Zoey’s brother is worried about not having anything to bring to his scholarship meeting. But moments later, Robo-Roxy produces a newspaper that has this new dinosaur species’ discovery as front page news. Couldn’t he have pointed to that, said he was on that expedition, and gotten someone to vouch for him? Seems pretty simple.

Considering Zoey’s brother allegedly discovered a new species of dinosaur with that fossil, she’s able to access the rest of the fossilized remains fairly easily. They basically just put up some flags and string. They didn’t even put a tarp over it. Some scientists…

Seeing Robo-Blaze and Devon get an extended fight sequence was cool. They’ve slowly but surely built up a nice little rivalry over the course of the series.

And so, Robo-Roxy goes down in flames once and for all courtesy of the Beast-X King Ultrazord. Big hat-tip to Liana Ramirez, as she played that evil character perfection. Avatar/Robo-Roxy loved being bad, and it showed.

They went back to the whole “Devon freezes up around dogs because of his cheetah DNA” thing for a gag at the end of the episode. They’ve used that maybe twice in the entire series. Which is for the best. Because, y’know, it’s dumb. Not quite as dumb as a dog putting ketchup on a hot dog. But still dumb.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “The Silva Switch” Review (Musical Number!)

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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!***

Musical group shot, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, The Silva SwitchSERIES: 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.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

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.

Nate, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, The Silva Switch

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.

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Goin’ Ape” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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:E17 – “Goin’ Ape”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Liana Ramirez
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Johnny Hartmann
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: June 22, 2020 (UK), November 7, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: Robo-Roxy sets out to destroy Ravi once and for all.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The episode starts off with Ravi and an old lady on a park bench, and the old lady just helps herself to Ravi’s sketchbook. Yes, they had to establish what Ravi had gotten Roxy for their anniversary. But still…rude much?

We also later find out the woman’s name is Stacy. I must admit, I’ve never heard of an old woman character named Stacy. On a kids show like this, you’d think she’d have been named Ethel or Hazel, or something a little more stereotypically mature-sounding.

Indeed, for the first time in many episodes, we see the genuine Roxy as opposed to the robotic version that serves Evox. Roxy was a little too hung up on what she was getting for her anniversary. Apparently in the Power Rangers universe, the thought doesn’t count…

As we’ve seen before with this Ravi/Roxy romance, they lay on the stereotypical lovey dovey imagery. Cast in point, the candles and the rose petals on the date. Even the beach setting when Ravi goes to be alone after the fight. Granted, they subsequent Sentai footage was at a beach, so it was called for. But still…

I noticed during this episode that Roxy’s robot form has the word “escape” printed on her forehead. Turns out Escape is the name of her Sentai counterpart. Conversely, Robo-Blaze’s counterpart is named Enter.

The second fight between Ravi and Robo-Roxy takes place at “Hartmann Nature Park.” Perhaps not coincidentally, Johnny Hartmann does the teleplay for this episode.

Are gorillas notoriously bad-tempered? Part of the premise of this episode is that Ravi, whose DNA has been infused with that of a gorilla, gets so hot-tempered that he turns on his teammates during battle. That’s supposed to be a side effect of the gorilla stuff, right? But is that a thing that gorillas do? Probably not…

Then again, the cheetah DNA-infused Devon freezes up when he sees a dog. Or even just a picture of a dog. Realism isn’t this show’s strong suit.

Ravi goes nuts with anger at the end of the episode, and Roxy is ultimately the one to cool him down. Yet again, a wasted opportunity for a kiss on this show. Just sayin’.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Golden Opportunity” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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:E16 – “Golden Opportunity”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Liana Ramirez
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Chip Lynn
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: June 19, 2020 (UK), October 31, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: Nate must choose between being with his parents and being a Power Ranger.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This episode gives us something I’ve been hoping to get from Beast Morphers: Some time with Nate’s parents. Devon, Ravi, and Zoey all have a parent that we know. It’s only natural that we meet at least one of Nate’s.

Incidentally, the Nate character has grown on me. I thought he was a little bit of a twerp when the series started. But time has softened my stance on him. Maybe it’s just a matter of spending a little time with someone…

This episode is pretty ambiguous about what Nate’s parents actually do overseas. Perhaps that’s on purpose. All the episode really tells us they move around, make things better, and then move on. Sounds like it might be a Peace Corps or American Red Cross type thing.

The little moments between Nate and Zoey in this episode are nice. Abraham Rodriguez and Jacqueline Scislowski don’t have a lot to work with in terms of giving their romance actual substance. But their performances are believable nevertheless. You can say what you want about the acting on Power Rangers, but those two are good.

If these were the Mighty Morphin days, I’d have actually been concerned Nate was being written off the show. This is one of those “move away” stories they always used to use to write characters out. Jason, Zack, and Trini went to Switzerland. Kimberly went to Florida. Now we’ve got an episode about Nate potentially moving to Costa Rica with his parents.

After Devon, Nate, and Steel destroy the Gigadrone with their zords, they rush back to rendezvous with the others as they fight against Robo-Roxy. As usual, they arrive via car. But I mean…couldn’t they have just gotten there in the zords? Why did they need to drive themselves there? And it again raises the question of why they can’t be teleported.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Making Bad” Review (Goldar Returns…sort of)

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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!***

Goldar Maximus, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Making BadSERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E14 – “Making Bad”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Campbell Cooley (Voice)
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Maiya Thompson, James Collins, Cameron Dixon
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: June 17, 2020 (UK), October 17, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: Evox’s forces debate which villain to revive to take on the Rangers.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

“Making Bad” is a strange episode. Not necessarily strange in a bad way. But strange nonetheless.

The premise is that Scrozzle, Robo-Blaze, Robo-Roxy, and the other villains are debating about which villains to bring back next with the Reanimizer. They watch old footage of villains like Koragg, Astronema, Lord Zedd, and Psycho Red before finally settling on their choice. As a long-time fan that’s really cool to see, even if the footage is “watered down” (more on that in a bit).

But from a storytelling perspective, it’s odd that the episode spends so much time teaching us about villains we ultimately won’t end up seeing.  The four villains mentioned above have no impact on Beast Morphers whatsoever. So what’s the point in talking about them? Simple fanservice?

Lord Zedd footage, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Making Bad

Incidentally, seeing how much Lord Zedd is emphasized in this episode and the previous one, I can’t help but wonder if at this point they already knew what they were going to do with Zedd in Dino Fury…

Most of the retro footage we see in this episode has a “watered down” feel to it, as it’s all been re-dubbed by different voice actors. It’s not limited to actors inside suits, either. The “conventional” performances, where you can see the actors’ faces, are dubbed as well. For instance, in the footage we see from Power Rangers in Space, Melody Perkins (Astronema) and Christopher Kayman Lee (Andros) are dubbed over by new actors. And for the most part the original actors, like Perkins and Lee, weren’t used for the dubbing. (The only major exception is Koragg/Leonbow, whose actor Geoff Dolan does return).

According to research done by Linkara, this may have something to do with voice-only tracks for those old episodes not being available. Whether that’s actually the case or not, the effect is the same: It sucks. It really takes the punch out of seeing characters like Zedd and Astronema referenced in modern PR.

Trivia note: The actress who dubs for Rita’s voice, Susan Brady, also voiced the character during her brief appearance in Mystic Force.

After Robo-Roxy suggests Astronema be revived, Robo-Blaze says she should remember Astronema became a good guy from Ranger History Class. So wait, Blaze and Roxy took the class too?!? Who’s in this class, anyway? Did Nate take it too? Are Devon, Ravi, and Zoey still taking it as the series continues? I want to know!!!

Robo-Roxy, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Making Bad

Robo-Roxy is batting a thousand in this episode, as she refers to King Mondo from Zeo as “King Mondu.” Whoops.

While the villains are debating about who to bring back, the Rangers spend some time hunting for a jewel thief who picks his targets in alphabetical order. It ultimately turns out to be a Robotron, who may very well be the stupidest jewel thief of all time.

Evox’s forces ultimately choose to revive Goldar, albeit an “upgraded” and enhanced version of Goldar. He’ll ultimately be referred to as Goldar Maximus, so that’s what we’ll call him here. Once again, Goldar’s original voice actor, Kerrigan Mahan, is not used. I’m not sure if it was a union issue (which Power Rangers has run into historically), an issue of not wanting to pay a certain amount to get him, or something else. Even more than the dubbed retro footage, that hurts the final product. No disrespect to Adrian Smith, who was ultimately picked to voice Goldar Maximus. But as a kid, a huge part of why Goldar had such an imposing presence, especially in season one, was because of the beastly and animalistic voice Mahan used. It just doesn’t feel like Goldar without him doing the voice.

Behind the scenes, the decision to use Goldar was dictated by the Sentai source material they’d been using for “Finders Keepers,” this episode, and the next episode, the movie Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters: The Great Dinosaur Battle! Farewell, Our Eternal Friends. (Yeesh. That’s a title…) The film sees Goldar’s Sentai counterpart, Grifforzer, return in the altered form we see here. So to a large extent, if they wanted to use Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters, they had to use Goldar…

Goldar Maximus, image 2, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Making Bad

Or did they? Would it have been too lame to make the altered Grifforzer suit Goldar’s son, or some kind of relative? That would solve the Kerrigan Mahan issue.

On Evox’s order, Goldar kills Sledge for his insolence. That’s a nice little feather in Goldar’s cap, as Sledge was, of course, a lead villain. And I have no doubt Sledge will be back somewhere down the line. Beast Morphers was the third consecutive series he’d appeared in, after Dino Charge and Ninja Steel. The guy is hard to keep down, that’s all I’m sayin’.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Finders Keepers” Review (Dino Charge Team-Up!)

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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!***

Devon, Tyler, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Finders KeepersSERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E13 – “Finders Keepers”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jamie Linehan (Voice)
GUEST-STARRING: Brennan Mejia, James Davies, Yoshi Sudarso, Davi Santos, Camille Hyde (Voice), Michael Taber (Voice)
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Denise Downer
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: June 16, 2020 (UK), October 10, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: A scramble ensues for possession of Ryjack’s villainous artifacts.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Keeper (who we know from Dino Charge) arrives to search for Ryjack’s villainous artifacts amid the wreckage of his ship, and Ravi remarks that he recognizes him from “Ranger History Class.” They have to take a class?!? Who teaches said class? Presumably a Ranger alum, right?

Actually, you know who’d be a really fitting teacher? Alpha 6. Or if they really wanted to go old school, Alpha 5.

This episode doesn’t do Zoey any favors. Granted, part of the story is her learning a lesson about rushing into things. But she still looks pretty stupid running headlong into a strange spaceship. Then you’ve got her slapping Keeper with the compliance collar. Didn’t she take Ranger History Class too? Wouldn’t she know who Keeper is, what he looks like, etc?

Among the objects in Ryjack’s collection are: Lord Zedd’s staff, Goldar’s sword, and Sledge’s blaster. Mind you, those are merely the items I immediately recognized. How Ryjack got these various items is a question for fanfiction. For instance, one could reasonably make the point that Zedd’s staff and Goldar’s sword were destroyed by the Zordon wave at the end of “Countdown to Destruction.” But one could just as easily assume that Zedd had more than one staff, Goldar had more than one sword, etc. Remember, a lot of these guys had been around for millions of years…

This episode leaves something to be desired as far as telling us who the Dino Charge Rangers are. It more or less assumes the viewer knows them coming in. As someone who, as of this writing, has not seen Dino Charge, that kind of sucks. It does a disservice to the characters. I had no idea, for instance, that the Dino Charge Gold Ranger is apparently a knight from the 13th century. I can only imagine certain people’s confusion as to why the Blue Ranger is talking like a cave man…

Though in all fairness, “Finders Keepers” has a lot to accomplish for one episode. So there’s not necessarily time to explore character dynamics with the Dino Charge team. However, it would have been nice to at least formally get their names. I’ve had to do a little bit of background research just to get them myself.

On the subject of returning Rangers, Camille Hyde (who plays Shelby, Dino Charge Pink) and Michael Taber (Riley, Dino Charge Green) were apparently unable to return in person for this episode, but did do voice cameos. That’s really nice, and not something to be taken for granted. As we’ll see in the next couple of episodes, it’s a luxury we won’t always have.

During the truck chase sequence, which consists mostly (if not entirely) of Sentai footage, we briefly see a street sign in Japanese (shown above). That isn’t a big deal to me. But that kind of thing is usually edited out of Power Rangers episodes. I’d be curious to know why they didn’t do it here.

This episode also features the unheralded, and not even acknowledged return of the Triptoids from Dino Thunder. They’re simply there for no apparent reason during the fight scene when the Dino Charge Rangers show up. A line or two introducing them would have been nice. But again, there isn’t necessarily time in this episode. 

“Finders Keepers” sees the Reanimizer revive Sledge, Snide, and a few other villains from Dino Charge. And they’re still around at the end of the episode. And yet, after the immediate threat has passed, Keeper and the Dino Charge Rangers hightail it back to their dimension, saying they’re needed there. From an in-story standpoint, I call BS on that. Keeper, Tyler, or somebody from the Dino Charge side of things could have stayed behind to help or advise the Beast Morphers team. Thanks for the help, ya jerks…

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “The Greater Good” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

***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:E12 – “The Greater Good”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jack Buchanan
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Johnny Hartmann
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: June 16, 2020 (UK), October 3, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: The Rangers learn more about Captain Chaku as Ryjack continues to threaten the city.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Ah, so the Putties and the Vivix are sticking around until…er…well, for the foreseeable future. I know what’s coming in a few episodes. But I won’t go into it yet…

For those of us who remember the old VR Troopers TV show, it’s not necessarily an accident that Chaku looks like he could be one of them. Like Chaku, the Troopers were adapted from a season of the tokusatsu show Metal Hero Series.

Ryjack grows himself giant-sized using a gizmo he says he found “in the ruins of Andresia.” Andresia was the decimated home planet of the Silver Ranger, Orion, back in Super Megaforce. Nice reference. These episodes are pretty well-versed in PR lore. I’m digging it.

I know this is the Sentai footage, but Chaku looked awesome in the night shots during the zord battle, specifically right before boarding Reptillobeast (shown below). It was almost like his armor was shining in the moonlight.

What’s the N on Nate’s sweater supposed to stand for? Surely it can’t be his name…can it?

Nate uses a plot convenience machine to change Chaku from a cyborg back into a human. I assume he still has his powers, though. So the Rangers could conceivably call him back from the G5 galaxy to help them. They won’t do that, of course. But in theory, they could.

From a moral standpoint, I’m finding myself wishing Chaku had stayed a cyborg. Make it a “your daughter will love you no matter what” type thing. Granted, they touched on that idea earlier in the episode. But I’d have ended with it too.

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

Power Rangers Beast Morphers, “Intruder Alert!” Review

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

***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!***

Captain Chaku, Red Ranger, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Intruder Alert!SERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E11 – “Intruder Alert!”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Jack Buchanan
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Johnny Hartmann
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: June 12, 2020 (UK), September 19, 2020 (US)
SYNOPSIS: The Rangers are quick to judge a mysterious newcomer.

New around here? Check out the Power Rangers review archive!

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

First thing’s first: The Captain Chaku character is adapted from the Space Sheriff Gavan character from Metal Hero Series, another tokusatsu show much like Super Sentai. In Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, the show which Beast Morphers is adapted from, the Gavan character teamed up with the titular heroes. Thus, the footage we see here.

Captain Chaku is voiced by Jack Buchanan. Maybe it’s the old school Power Rangers fan in me, but I could have sworn he was voiced by Sean CW Johnson. Johnson, of course, played Carter back in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. Maybe they both just have that authoritative quality to their voices.

One little trivia note about Chaku: He was at one point going to be called the “Silver Senturion,” as a nod to the Blue Centurion character from Power Rangers Turbo. So said Jason Bischoff, the former Global Director for the Power Rangers franchise, on Twitter.

Ryjack, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Intruder Alert!

This episode introduces us to Ryjack, a big blue Rhino-looking guy who for some reason has a thick Austrailian accent (provided by Kevin Keys).  He’s an intergalactic criminal who wants all the Ranger take from Nate’s vault, which we saw in “The Evox Snare.”

But here’s my question: Why the Austrailian accent? I mean, the things we see on this show are so silly that I guess you could counter with, “Why not an Austrailian accent?” But for whatever reason, every time Ryjack speaks it yanks me right out of the show. Not a fan.

Incidentally, a Rhino is yet another animal that’d be more fitting for a Ranger to have than a jackrabbit, much less a mantis or a beetle. Just sayin’.

Ryjack uses a “Reanimizer” to resurrect Vargoyle. He does so by using the device on Vargoyle’s old blaster. Ryjack is then able to control Vargoyle using an inhibitor collar.

So where does one get a Reanimizer, per se? I don’t care what universe you’re in, that kind of thing would be pretty highly sought after.

Keep an eye on that Reanimizer. I get the sense it’ll be important for certain developments later in the season…

Also, make note of that inhibitor collar. We’ll later see that technology used on a much more high-profile villain.

Ryjack summoning the Vivix from Dino Charge, and especially the Putty Patrollers from Mighty Morphin (shown above), with the Reanimizer was a very pleasant surprise. As an old school PR fan, seeing the Beast Morphers team fight off Putties was a trip.

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