Tag Power Rangers Dino Fury

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, “Beast King Rampage” 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!***

Megan, Madeleine Adams, Power Rangers Beast Morphers, Beast King RampageSERIES: Power Rangers Beast Morphers
EPISODE: S27:E7 – “Beast King Rampage”
STARRING: Rorrie D. Travis, Jazz Baduwalia, Jacqueline Scislowski, Abraham Rodriguez, Madeleine Adams
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Tom Furniss
DIRECTOR: Oliver Driver
PREMIERE DATE: April 11, 2020
SYNOPSIS: Evox takes control of the Rangers’ new zord.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Obviously, Megan is back in this episode, her last appearance being in “Sound and Fury.” I was surprised to see her back, though I’m not complaining. Madeleine Adams is a fine actress, and they do a nice little forgiveness story here.

General Burke tells the Rangers about the Beast-X King Zord, which is made with lion DNA. Now that is an animal that puts the beast in Beast Morphers, ladies and gentlemen. None of this jackrabbit, mantis, or beetle crap.

The demonstration of the Beast-X King Zord happens in “Pine Ridge Woods, just outside of Coral Harbor.” I assume that name wasn’t an accident, as Pine Ridge is the setting for the next season, Dino Fury. I imagine production had long since begun on Dino Fury at this point, so they threw that in as a little Easter egg. Fun stuff.

Blaze and Roxy are able to infect the zord with a virus because Megan didn’t install a firewall against malware. You’d think that’d be a pretty basic requirement for a giant battle machine, or for that matter a machine with any kind of military or battle application. I suppose we’ll give Megan the benefit of the doubt, and say they rushed her in finishing the zord.

After Nate and Megan develop the Beast-X King Ultra Bow, the Rangers drive to the battle site so they can use it to cleanse the Beast-X King Zord of malware. Here’s something that’s been bugging me for awhile: Does Grid Battleforce not have a working teleporter? One that’s capable of teleporting humans, that is. We see the Rangers transport their weapons from the base to the battlefield in virtually every episode. So we know they have basic teleportation technology. Why, in urgent situations like this, do they always have to drive to the scene of a battle? It consistently bugs me…

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “The Nemesis” Review (Season Finale!)

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E22 – “The Nemesis”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: The Rangers face Void Queen one final time.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Early in the episode, Zayto essentially dismisses the Orria and the other Rafkonians, telling them to evacuate. From a story perspective, I get why that was done. But from an in-universe perspective, it’s a little dumb. They’re about to go up against the most powerful enemy they’ve ever faced. You’d think they could use all the help they could get…

That Nemesis Beast monster that ultimately serves as the final big enemy of the season is pretty damn cool. I appreciate that it’s taller than the Megazords. Heck, I’d have made it even taller. It gives it a hell of an imposing presence.

We knew once they set up the Dino Master Saber’s ultimate attack that they were going to come back to it. Most likely in the finale. Was it predictable? Yes. But I’m just grateful that they set it up a few episodes ago, as opposed to having it be a last minute deus ex machina kind of thing.

Now that we’ve reached the finale of Dino Fury, I feel like I can officially ask this question: What’s with the “battle stance” shot in the opening credits (shown above)? It doesn’t appear in any episode. So was it just put there for the opening montage?

Another question: What’s with Izzy’s fighting stance? It’s like she’s channeling a cat, or something. Now that I have seen again at different points in the series. Did they tell her to do that? Or is that something Tessa Rao made up on her own? I don’t dislike it. I’m just curious as to what she’s doing.

Seeing the Rangers float down from above the Nemesis Beast and then slide down its body was really cool. The kind of thing you rarely, if ever, see on the show. And then the Hengemen coming out to fight on the body was like something out of a video game. Granted, it was all Sentai footage. But it was still great.

After Void Queen reverts back into Santaura (once again via the power of love, etc), the Morphin Masters seal all the Sporix away somewhere. You’d think as all-knowing masters of the Morphin Grid, they’d know that like, half the Power Rangers seasons begin with the discovery and unsealing of some old evil thought locked away forever…

Mucus lives! We see her in her slimey form oozing out from under a rock after the battle. Somehow, that has a feel-good quality to it. I’ve seemingly grown fond of the character.

Six months after Void Queen’s defeat and Zayto’s apparent death, we learn the Rafkonians are staying on Earth. What’s more, their as aliens will be public. That’s unorthodox. But okay, I suppose. What’s more, there are probably lots of aliens hiding in plane sight on Earth. The Rafkonians are simply the newest.

We also learn that Santaura is pregnant. They list off a few paint colors for the baby’s crib: Briarwood green, Corinthian sunset, and Ocean Bluff blue. These are little hat-tips to Mystic Force, RPM, and Jungle Fury, using the names of the cities they all took place in. Interesting that they used Corinth for one. Is the existence of a parrallel dimension common knowledge in the PR universe? Or am I just overthinking a cute little Easter egg? More likely it’s the latter, I think.

On the subject of hat-tips, Jane mentions the creation of Buzz Blast Angel Grove. Which is, of course, a nod to Mighty Morphin.

Jane and J-Borg end Dino Fury by pigging out on some Rafkonian cuisine (shown above). That would have been a fair enough way for them to go out, I suppose. This isn’t the end for them, though. Kira Josephson’s Instagram has indicated they’ll be back for Cosmic Fury in some capacity. I’m glad for that. It wouldn’t have been right for them to bring all the Rangers back, but not the two of them.

The Rangers are called back to Dinohenge, where we learn Zayto is alive (and in a new Ranger suit). What’s more, Lord Zedd has escaped and the Rangers need to go after him. Thus, we have our set-up for Cosmic Fury.

I can only assume Zayto’s new costume (shown above) is going to be the suit they use for him in Cosmic Fury. In which case, that’s an awful lot of silver and not much red, considering it’s a Red Ranger suit. I’ll say this much: It’s different.

Zayto indicates that he was saved by the Morphin Masters, but he isn’t sure how. As I’ve said before, I don’t like the idea of the Rangers having cosmic big brothers that can bail them out of a bad situation. It waters down the stakes in any given every episode. I’m sure we’ll get more info about how and why Zayto was saved when we get to Cosmic Fury. Here’s hoping it’s a good explanation…

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “The Truth” Review

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

Amelia antennae, Power Rangers Dino Fury, The TruthSERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E21 – “The Truth”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale
DIRECTOR: Simon Bennett
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: Amelia learns the truth about her parents…and herself.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

In viewing Pop-Pop’s memories, Amelia learns that her parents were from Rafkon, and gave her up to save her from the destruction of Area 62. Thus, Amelia is able to sprout antennae like Zayto and Aiyon.

This was out of left field for me. But not in a bad way. It was a genuine surprise, and a nice way to connect Amelia’s family drama to the Rafkon story.

My only big complaint about the reveal of Amelia as a Rafkonian is that they didn’t give us a scene, or even a single line of dialogue, where Ollie is shocked and has come to grips with the fact that his girlfriend is…y’know, an alien. I’m assuming there just wasn’t time to do it. But it would have been fun.

One more minor complaint: Amelia’s subsequent line, “Guys, I think my parents were from Rafkon.” It comes off a little air-headed. I mean…duh? You’re standing there with antennae jutting out of your head just like the Rafkonians. Where else would they have been from? Aquitar?

Amelia, Rafkon reveal, Power Rangers Dino Fury, the Truth

Seeing Void Queen and Mucus on the Buzzblast set was cool. Sort of a “worlds colliding” type thing.”

Low and behold, Void Queen destroys Mucus to further empower herself in her cocooned form. Great villain moment for her.  Only a true heel would sacrifice her comic relief minion…

One thing I loved about this episode: It set up very specific, concrete stakes. We learn that if Void Queen’s cocoon explodes as she intends it to, “everything in a 30-mile radius will be vaporized.” We even get a little visual via the computer simulation. They could easily have gone with a much more vague, generic set-up. Something like, “Void Queen will become so powerful she’ll take over the world!” This was better. Much, much better.

Amelia gives Ollie a kiss on the cheek just before the other Rangers spring into action. If they were going to give those two a proper kiss this season, that might have been a good place to put it. Oh well. There’s always Cosmic Fury…

As if it’s not obvious, Amelia gets a lot of emphasis in this penultimate episode of the series. I can appreciate that. She’s been one of the better developed characters in Dino Fury. She and Izzy might be the top two. Dino Fury has definitely been one of the strongest shows on the female side of things that PR has ever done.

The Rangers whipped up a new morpher for Amelia pretty fast. A little too convenient, don’t you think?

When Amelia opens the safe from Pop-Pop’s memories and finds it empty, Izzy says, “I’m sorry Amelia. That really sucks.”Is that the first time someone has said that something “sucks” on Power Rangers? As far as I can remember, it is. Yet another memorable line for Izzy, I suppose.

The music during the flashback sequences was pretty effective. Kudos to Bert Selen.

Amelia learns that Santaura (Void Queen) is her mother and Tarrick (Void King) is her father. Also, they are all Rafkonians.

The revelation of Santaura and Tarrick as Amelia’s parents wasn’t a surprise, based simply on the flashback we saw in “The Invasion.” It was clearly them. Also, Amelia’s been talking about her parents for two seasons now. So you knew there had to be some kind of big reveal involving them. And the idea that it would been Void Queen and Void King made sense from a story and drama perspective. So it wasn’t entirely out of left field.

That being said, it’s a cool moment and a nice pay-off to all the build-up. Also, I didn’t expect them to be from Rafkon. That was a neat way to weave this family drama into the larger story of the series.

Once Void King realizes Amelia is his daughter, he reverts back to Tarrick. So Void King was defeated by…wait for it…love. Very cheesy. But not to the point that I don’t buy it.

There is, however, a giant plothole here. So two decades ago, Tarrick placed Santaura in suspended animation after she’s hurt in Area 62’s explosion. He then uses the Dino Knight morpher to become Void Knight. And then…nothing for 20 years? So what was he doing for all that time while Amelia was growing up? Did he also go into suspended animation for some reason? Was he off on some kind of quest? Could he have encountered other Power Ranger teams along the way? That’s a pretty frustrating plothole, and one uncharacteristic of Dino Fury. Unless I’m forgetting something…?

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “The Invasion” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

Orria, Power Rangers Dino Fury, The InvasionSERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E20 – “The Invasion”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Guy Langford, Cameron Dixon, Steve McCleary
DIRECTOR: Craig Wilson
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: Void Queen launches a full-scale assault on Pine Ridge.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

As the episode begins, a spaceship arrives just outside the city. This prompts Jane to say: “Finally, it’s Pine Ridge’s turn for some extraterrestrial action!” I assume that’s a cute little nod to the fact that plenty of other cities on this show have been invaded by aliens. Between that, and Javi’s line about “Lord Zedd, with Galvanax and Venjix…” this episode seems to know it’s the beginning of a finale.

The ship turns out to be filled with Rafkonians, who want Earth to be their new home. But the Rafkonian leader, Orria, calls humans “greedy and selfish and incapable of working together.” Zayto and Aiyon obviously object. But…yeah, she pretty much nails it.

Of course, she changes her mind by the end of the episode. But how bad is it when you’re so cynical that you’re actually siding with the alien invasion force?

Orria, group shot, Power Rangers Dino Fury, The Invasion

On the subject of Orria, she’s pretty awesome. Fighting the monsters with no powers, using just twin daggers? I love her! More please.

Izzy and Javi’s mother says that with the mayor out of town, their father is “in charge of civil defense.” Hold on…what’s this guy’s job again? Park Warden? I call B.S. There’s no deputy mayor or anything?

I understand why you can’t show blood on this show, or really any kids show. But if there were ever a time to show even a tiny bit of blood, it would have been during that last scene with Amelia and the injured Pop-Pop. Sometimes blood does wonders for drama. Just ask pro wrestlers.

Fearing he may die, Pop-Pop reveals that Amelia is an alien, given up by her parents at Area 62 when she was a baby. More than any other twist or turn this series has taken thus far, I can honestly say I didn’t expect that one. What’s Ollie going to say?!?

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “Guilt Trip” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E18 – “Guilt Trip”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Maiya Thompson
DIRECTOR: Charlie Haskell
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: Void Queen’s forces try and divide the Rangers’ attention across the globe.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Ollie and Amelia are looking to book a stay at the Stine Hotel, which is supposedly haunted. I can only assumed that’s named after famed kids horror author R.L. Stine.

I wonder how much mileage they got out of that gag with the “bird poop” on Ollie’s mom. You think the little kids laughed at that? Hmm…

It’s always nice to see the actors on different sets and in different environments, i.e. something other than the usual locations. Dinohenge, Buzzblast, etc. The set they came up with for Osaka, Japan, seems a little on-the-nose as far as the look of the little buildings, the paper lanterns, etc. But I suppose they have to get the point across to the little kids, right? I appreciated the lab set too.

Sugarhit, the monster in this episode, throws pies and tries to lure the Rangers into a trap using a giant meringue shell. That’s not quite as cheesy as the Rangers getting baked into a giant pizza back in Turbo. But it’s close.

Either way, this show is gloriously ridiculous.

Javi before a fight with Sugarhit: “Let’s pound this cake!” That…is not a line I would have used. Let’s just say that. Let’s just say the double entendres aren’t fit for a young audience.

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “Things Unspoken” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

Fern, Green Ranger, Power Rangers Dino Fury, Things UnspokenSERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E17 – “Things Unspoken”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Maiya Thompson
DIRECTOR: Charlie Haskell
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: Izzy’s Ranger duties jeopardize her relationship with Fern.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

“Things Unspoken” is a really good episode, with Izzy facing some serious secret identity drama. Not just with Fern, which is obviously the center of this episode, but with her choice of college, as well as her father. Power Rangers doesn’t always maximize its potential for drama when it comes to the heart-wrenching “hero life vs. personal life” stuff. But it does with “Things Unspoken,” and it’s the fans that ultimately reap the benefits.

So Izzy doesn’t want to attend her original college of choice, because it would take her away from Pine Ridge, the epicenter of her Ranger duties. This jeopardizes her relationship with Fern, who is attending said college. It also potentially puts her at odds with her father, who’s been working with her toward getting into that school.

The way this episode was assembled made me think of the way the show would write a character off back in the Mighty Morphin days. Jason, Zack, and Trini went away to a peace conference. Kimberly went away to be a competitive gymnast. And if the show were still operating the same way, Izzy would have gone away to college with Fern.

Green Ranger, Power Rangers Dino Fury, Things Unspoken

That entire playground fight sequence with the Green Ranger, Mucus, and the Hengemen was excellent. It looked like at least part of it was Sentai footage from Ryusoulger. If that’s the case, the transition between the Japanese and American footage was pretty seamless. Well done.

As Fern is leaving Pine Ridge on the bus, she calls out to Izzy: “May the power protect you!” That was a nice little moment. It does pose the question, though: Is that phrase public knowledge? I thought it was just a thing for Rangers…?

Oh well.

If we were ever going to get a same-sex kiss on this show, that last scene at the bus station would have been the time. Not that I was expecting one. This show is reticent enough about male-female kisses. Let alone one between two women.

Still, we got an “I love you” from both sides. By Power Rangers standards, that’s pretty good.

I had a thought about Fern as the episode was ending: As we know, the Dino Fury Rangers are sticking around through next year’s Cosmic Fury season. But if they wanted to extend the Dino Fury stuff out even further, they could make Fern into a Ranger in whatever incarnation of PR follows Cosmic Fury. I’m sure Jaqueline Joe, who plays Fern, would be up for it. And Tessa could come back here and there to do cameos. Seems like a win-win scenario to me!

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “Wishful Thinking” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E16 – “Wishful Thinking”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Guy Langford
DIRECTOR: Chris Graham
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: A Sporix Beast grants the Rangers’ wishes…with major consequences.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Torum Heng, who provides the voice for Mucus, also portrays her in human form in this episode (shown below). I love that this show gives voice actors like Heng and Campbell Cooley (who voices Scrozzle and Slyther) a chance to show off their in-person acting chops. Voice actors are often some of the most versatile and flamboyant performers you’ll ever see. Heng’s work in this episode is a testament to that.

The monster in this episode turns Ollie into an action figure, Amelia into a 12-year-old, and Izzy into a…smaller version of the T-Rex Champion Zord? I love that. What I love even more is that she actually fights as the zord. It’s pitch-perfect Power Rangers silliness.

What’s more, you’ve got to know Tessa Rao had fun doing those voiceover lines. The woman got to roar like a Tyrannosaurus, for cryin’ out loud! What’s not to like?

Then of course, we get the capper of the Red Ranger riding on the damn robot dinosaur during a fight. They were batting a thousand with this Izzy/T-Rex thing.

Shavaughn Ruakere returns as Ollie’s mother…whose first name is Lani, according to a Power Rangers wiki. She’s remarkably calm during her talk with Javi about not letting fame skew his priorities. Considering, y’know, her son is now six inches tall and made of plastic.

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “Rafkon Revealed” Review

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

SERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E14 – “Rafkon Revealed”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Maiya Thompson
DIRECTOR: Chris Graham
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: The Rangers travel to Zayto and Aiyon’s home planet of Rafkon.

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

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

So the Rangers are leaving Earth undefended while they travel across the universe to Rafkon, eh? Who am I kidding? We just saw the Beast Morphers team in the previous episode. They’re around if something goes down, right?

The Rangers finally travel to Rafkon…and it looks exactly like Earth. I understand that Power Rangers is, and always has been, a kids show on a strict budget. But as far back as the mid-’90s, the show has had a simple trick to make mundane shooting locations feel like other planets: Tint the screen a certain color.

Go back and look at episodes like The Power Transfer in season two, or A Friend in Need in season three. The Rangers travel to other planets in those episodes, but if you pay attention to what’s actually around them, they’re almost never on any kind of extravagant sets. The show created an illusion using a fairly cheap trick. A trick that came in especially handy once they got to seasons like Power Rangers in Space. So what’s stopping them from using that trick here?

A shot from inside Lord Zedd’s visor (shown above)! That’s an old Mighty Morphin staple! I didn’t even realize how much I missed it!

But hey, right there! They tinted the shot red! So why can’t they use that trick (albeit not such an intense red the entire time) for a larger chunk of the episode?

Perhaps inevitably, it feels like Zedd has eclipsed Void Queen as far as being the big bad of Dino Fury. At least as far as these past few episodes are concerned. They had to know that was going to happen, to an extent. In addition to being a character from back in the day that longtime fans would naturally gravitate toward, design-wise Zedd is cooler than all the other villains by a mile. Hopefully they up Void Queen’s evil quotient as we inch closer to the end of Dino Fury. She certainly shouldn’t be shoved aside.

The Green Morphin Master appears at the end of the episode, having saved the Rangers from a face-off with Zedd. I was initially going to nitpick about them not bringing in former cast members to do the voices of these Morphin Masters. (Because why the hell not?) But as it turns out, they did!

Beth Allen, who voices the Green Morphin Master, had an on-screen role way back in S.P.D as a friend of Jack’s. She was later in Operation Overdrive as Tyzon’s fiancee, and then did the re-dubbing of Udonna’s voice in Beast Morphers. She never played a Ranger, and she’s never had what I would call a major role on the series. But she is technically a former cast member. So they get by on a technicality on that one…

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

Power Rangers Dino Fury, “Love Hate” Review

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

SERIES: Power Rangers Dino Fury

EPISODE: S29:E13 – “Love Hate”
STARRING: Russell Curry, Hunter Deno, Kai Moya, Tessa Rao, Chance Perez, Jordan Fite
WRITERS: Becca Barnes, Alwyn Dale, Maiya Thompson
DIRECTOR: Robyn Grace
PREMIERE DATE: September 29, 2022

SYNOPSIS: Lord Zedd takes control of Ollie on Valentine’s Day.

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Campbell Cooley once again voices Scrozzle. Cooley also voices Slyther. At some point, Scrozzle and Slyther need to have some sort of dialogue together, just so I can hear Cooley’s two voices rub against one another.

Lord Zedd says Scrozzle “retrieved my staff from the Crystal Dimension.” Apparently that’s a thing from Beast Morphers that I haven’t gotten to yet. I’m assuming its some kind of place where villainous items from the past can be retrieved. I recall seeing Zedd’s staff in a clip from a Beast Morphers episode. So it must have been in this Crystal Dimension for some reason…

Tessa Rao, who plays Izzy, was really good in the Dinohenge scene where she learns about Ollie and Amelia’s feelings for each other. She came off genuinely happy and sympathetic.

Zedd to Ollie: “This is what you get for calling me radiator face!” That line is a callback to another callback.

Zedd and Scrozzle resurrect Boomtower as Boomblaster and give him some upgrades to take on the Rangers. Or rather…he’s a monster built with data from Boomtower? Eh. Let’s not split hairs. It’s Boomtower.

They finally leaned into the Ollie/Amelia romance for this episode. That’s obviously something the show had been building toward and teasing for a long while. In that sense, this episode is really satisfying.

I was pleasantly surprised that they ended up together at the end. I thought they’d draw the whole thing out a little longer by having Ollie lose his memory or something. But nope, they’re a couple!

But of course, they’re a couple who can’t kiss. (At least not until the end of the season…) That’s why Amelia wakes Ollie up at the end not by kissing him, but by telling him she likes him. Hokey, but perhaps a necessary concession on a show meant for young children.

At the end of the episode, we find out Zedd has the missing part of the Rangers’ Rafkon message. But it must be asked: Where did he get it?

The only potential hint for longtime PR fans is the fact that Rafkon is revealed to be “in the crux of the Onyx nebula.” A reference to the Onyx Tavern from in Space and Lost Galaxy, perhaps? I mean, probably not. But you never know.

I like that we now have two factions of villains: Void Queen’s group and Zedd’s group. It gives the show the feeling of having a rogues gallery, akin to a Batman or Spider-Man story.

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