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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.

MMPR: Once & Always – 5 Questions Heading In…

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By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The Power Rangers franchise is about to celebrate 30 years of action and adventure with an anniversary special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, that’s set to release April 19 on Netflix.

The much-anticipated special got a long-awaited trailer this week…

Once & Always promises to be something special for Power Rangers fans, specifically those of us who grew up with the original Mighty Morphin show. But while the trailer answers a few lingering questions fans have had relating to the story, a few lingering queries and doubts remain. At least in my bulbous, German head. Let’s touch on some of those, shall we?

MMPR Once and Always, Trini photo

1. The question of Trini’s death
We’ve known for awhile now that actress and martial artist Charlie Kersch would be playing a character named Minh, the daughter of Trini, the original Yellow Ranger. Naturally, this sparked questions about how the franchise would, decades after her actress Thuy Trang’s tragic death in 2001, handle her not being there. Thanks to the above trailer, we now have an answer: The Trini character, in her Yellow Ranger outfit for obvious reasons, is killed off by Robo-Rita. It looks like she gets zapped trying to save Billy, and then falls off a cliff.

That’s…not how I would have handled it, necessarily. I’d have done it off screen, and maybe kept things a little vague as to how it happened. Maybe not have her death be the inciting incident that it apparently is here.

But at the same time, I understand that fans have had more than two decades to think about Thuy Trang’s death, the Trini character, etc., and come up with different scenarios in their own minds. When something like this actually plays out on screen, and it’s different than you envision, it can be jarring. In truth, based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s nothing wrong with how Once & Always handles Trini’s death. At the very least, it gives the character the heroic send-off she deserves.

David Yost, Billy Cranston, MMPR Once and Always

2. When did Billy get back from Aquitar?
David Yost, who played the original Blue Ranger Billy, was famously absent from the show when his character was written off. (David Yost had walked off the set, for reasons we wouldn’t know until many years later.) They slapped together a story about him suddenly aging rapidly and having to journey to the aquatic planet of Aquitar to get better. An older actor was brought in to play Billy, an the character was sent off never to be seen again. Until now.

Given the attention Once & Always appears to be giving to to details, as well as the show’s history, I can only assume we’re going to get some sort of explanation for why and when Billy came back. It doesn’t have to be much. A simple expository line would be fine.

Either way, as much as anybody else’s return to the show, David Yost’s comeback deserves to be celebrated.

Rocky, firefighter, MMPR Once and Always

3. What have the Rangers been doing since we last saw them?
Some of these characters have been back before. Johnny Yong Bosch came back for a pair of episodes in 2007 to celebrate the show’s 15th anniversary. Steve Cardenas (Rocky) and Catherine Sutherland (Katherine) were both back as recently as the 25th anniversary episode of Power Rangers Ninja Steel. But Once & Always will be the first chance we’ve had to place emphasis on some of those characters since we last saw them. So naturally, certain questions come to mind. What they’ve been doing, whether they have families and children, etc.

Again, these aren’t things we need to devote extensive time to. Simple expository lines will do. But it can obviously be more than that. Based on what we’ve seen, Adam and Aisha have obviously been up to something together (more on that in a moment). You’ve got to be quick to catch it in the trailer, but Rocky can be seen in firefighter garb (shown above). We also know that Tommy, who we don’t see in the special, has a son named JJ. If we’re to believe, as we’ve been told, that the BOOM! Studios comics are (at least somewhat) canon, then Katherine is JJ’s mother.

These are the kinds of little details that geeks like me obsess over. Here’s hoping we get some more.

Aisha, Adam, MMPR Once and Always

4. What is S.P.A.?
When the first images from the set were released online, fans were quick to notice that Adam and Aisha were wearing matching shirts with tags that read “SPA.” Assuming they don’t work at some kind of intergalactic health spa, this invited plenty of speculation about their connections to SPD, the interplanetary law enforcement agency we saw in 2005’s Power Rangers SPD. As SPD took place in the future (the year 2025, to be specific), are we to assume SPA is some sort of predecessor to SPD?

Again, little details…

5. Where did Robo-Rita come from?

Our enemy for Once & Aways is a robotic version of Rita Repulsa, the original Power Rangers baddie. Her line, “I found a new body!” is a little perplexing. It seems to imply she was drifting around in some invisible, perhaps spiritual form for a long time. That doesn’t fit with what we saw happen to Rita in “Countdown to Destruction” back in Power Rangers in Space. But we’ll see what the special tells us…

So where did this new Robo-Rita come from? It could have been any number of places, I suppose. But I do know one guy who could very well have had a hand in it…

Robo-Rita Repulsa, MMPR Once and Always

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

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 19: The Convert” Review

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E3 – “Chapter 19: The Convert”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Omid Abtahi, Katy M. O’Brian, Emily Swallow
WRITERS: Jon Favreau, Noah Kloor
DIRECTOR: Lee Isaac Chung
PREMIERE DATE: March 15, 2023
SYNOPSIS: Now in an amnesty program, Dr. Pershing seeks to do more for the New Republic.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!**

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I recently stumbled across an article from ComicBook.com in which Jon Favreau briefly discusses all the Mando/Grogu stuff that took place on The Book of Boba Fett. As I’ve talked about that in this space, it’s worth looking at now.

Favreau said: “I knew that I didn’t want to dedicate a lot of screen time within The Mandalorian to a period of time where there wasn’t a lot of character progression. Both [Din Djarin and Grogu] were kind of stuck, as far as character progression goes, until they were reunited. So, my feeling was that it would allow me to do both of those things and freed me up now two years later to have a whole new context for these two characters to have a relationship and move forward.”

While I acknowledge and respect on Jon Favreau for having led the creation possibly the best Star Wars content since the original trilogy, I don’t buy his reasoning there. Having Mando in The Book of Boba Fett was fine. Heck, him acquiring the N-1 during Boba Fett was fine with me. But the reunion between Mando and Grogu should have taken place on The Mandalorian. They could, and should, have led off this season with it. You talk about character progression? Grogu abandoning his training with Luke is a hell of a progression in my book…

This might be the only episode of The Mandalorian we’ve seen thus far that won’t hold up well to repeated viewings. Not because it isn’t a good episode, per se. But because it’s a fairly quiet episode. We spend most of  it in one place, in settings that are mostly pretty mundane. We get a lot of what I call the “domestic” side of Star Wars. What a bedroom looks like, for instance. What food is like in the Star Wars universe, and how some of it is different. What a large assemblage of wealthy people looks like. Stuff that’s all fine, but doesn’t always make for thrilling television.

As a Star Wars geek, this episode held my attention. But Mrs. Primary Ignition was not impressed. She actually fell asleep during the last 15 minutes or so.

On the subject of me being a Star Wars geek, I knew immediately what the TIE Interceptors and TIE Bombers were when they attacked Mando and Bo. They’ve been part of Star Wars lore for decades, dating back to the original trilogy.

Noah Kloor is listed as a writer for this episode, alongside Jon Favreau. His previous credits include working as as a staff writer on The Book of Boba Fett, and as a co-writer TV movie called Alien Xmas. I’m curious as to what his specific contributions to this episode were. Did he write  the Pershing/Elia Kane stuff, while Favreau did the Mando/Bo stuff?

It’s interesting to me that they had a character talk about getting the Empire, the Rebels, and the New Republic all confused. As if these wars barely effected some of the wealthy on Coruscant. I like that idea. It feels very true to the real world.

We get a little more info in this episode about Pershing’s research, his work for the Empire, etc. We knew he was a cloner, a geneticist, etc. But having some of that stated plainly is nice.

It’s also worth noting that in The Rise of Skywalker, Palpatine was a clone. I assume that’s what at least part of Pershing’s research will lead to.

Those yellow biscuits, complete with the Imperial logo on the packaging, served as a nice little temptation metaphor. Well done.

Having Pershing and Elia Kane explore the abandoned Star Destroyer is obviously reminiscent of what Rey did in The Force Awakens. But they made this one look different enough that, as a set, it stands well on its own.

Two questions:  Firstly, was Pershing’s mind, in fact, wiped at the end of the episode?

Secondly, is Elia Kane about to become our big villain for the season? Or is she simply one of the main villains? I assume one of her priorities is going to be to free Moff Gideon…

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

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore” Review

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The Mandalorian, season 3, Bo-Katan poster, Katee SackhoffSERIES: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E2 – “Chapter 18: The Mines of Mandalore”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Katee Sackhoff, Amy Sedaris
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR:  Rachel Morrison
PREMIERE DATE: March 8, 2023
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian and Grogu journey to Mandalore for the first time.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!**

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I haven’t yet seen the majority of Star Wars: Rebels. But my understanding is that during the events of that show, Mandalore is mercilessly bombed by the Empire, to the point that the planet’s desert sands crystalize. Thus, the green crystal we saw Mando with last time. The Mandalorian has explained this to us before. But it bears repeating heading into this episode.

The episode kicks off on Tatooine, as we go back to Peli Motto’s hangar. We learn that it’s Boonta Eve. The only place I can recall hearing this term before is in The Phantom Menace, when Anakin entered the Boonta Eve podrace. It never occurred to me to look into what the holiday was about. Apparently it honors the rise of the hutt Boonta Hestilic Shad’ruu to godhood… Okay, sure.

Peli sells the droid R5-D4 to Mando, so that he can test the air on Mandalore before he breathes it. I was a little unclear on this, but I checked: R5 is in fact the droid from A New Hope that Owen Lars nearly purchases before it breaks down. It’s a small galaxy, after all.

I miss the Razor Crest. The repurposed starfighter is sleek and cool. But it’s also small, and feels kind of cramped. Especially now that they’re traveling with a droid.

I love the look of post-purge Mandalore. Especially the city portion beneath the surface. Very creepy. Very memorable. The bit of action between Mando and the cave aliens was great too. Mando came off legitimately threatened, overwhelmed, and outmatched.

I always thought Mando was controlling Grogu’s little pod thing via magnetization. But as Grogu is able to float away from the big alien robot crab thing, apparently there’s also a mode where he can control it himself. Good to know.

After he’s captured, Mando sends Grogu back to Bo-Katan Kryze on Kalevala. This thought occurred to me last time, and then again this time: What does Bo-Katan do all day in that castle? Is it just her and the droid? It looks like she just sits in that big chair and broods…

Grogu guides Bo back to the caves where Mando is being held. She starts to tell him that she knew Jedi back in the days before the purge. She doesn’t actually drop any names, though. There they go, teasing Clone Wars fans with references.

Incidentally, how old is Bo-Katan supposed to be? Katee Sackhoff is in her early forties. But. I think Bo might be older than that. Late forties? Early fifties, maybe?

As she’s talking to Grogu, Bo refers to Mando as “your dad.” I think that’s the first time we’ve heard Mando formally referred to as Grogu’s father. As he’s not with Luke anymore, I suppose it’s official now, isn’t it?

This episode is also the first time we hear someone refer to Mando simply as “Din.” That might take some getting used to.

And now for another timeline question: How long did Grogu train with Luke Skywalker? It seemed like it was only a short time. But Jon Favreau has indicated they were together for, get this…two years. I don’t know that I buy that, quite frankly. It was two years before Mando tried to visit Grogu? It was two years bef0re Luke brought Yoda up to him? It just doesn’t add up to me.

It would, however, explain how Grogu’s Force abilities are more advanced now, i.e. the big leaping somersault we see him do in this episode.

Am I detecting a hint of something romantic between Mando and Bo-Katan? Not sure how I feel about that…

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

Catching Up With The Mandalorian – “Chapter 15: The Believer”

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Mandalorian, Season 2, posterSERIES: Star Wars: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S2:E7 – “Chapter 15: The Believer”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Bill Burr, Richard Brake, Gina Carano, Temuera Morrison
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR:  Rick Famuyiwa
PREMIERE DATE:  December 11, 2020
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian and his allies recruit Migs Mayfeld in their quest to save Grogu.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!**

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

We’ve got Bill Burr back as Migs Mayfeld. I was thrilled to see his image at the end of last episode, as “The Prisoner” might very well be my favorite season one episode. I’m hopeful this is an indicator we’ll be checking in with this character every season. Why the hell not? Bill Burr is awesome. Having the Mayfeld character see Mando’s face, as he does in this episode, is a great way to bond them together for such purposes.

You know who else from “The Prisoner” I’d like to check in on? X’ian, the purple twi’lek from that episode. She made it seem like she and Mando had a romantic history. I’d like to know more about that.

It feels a little weird in this episode and the next one that a character as important as Boba Fett is essentially relegated to being the driver. I mean, I guess somebody’s got to do it. But still.

I’m still not used to seeing vehicles on wheels in Star Wars. I wonder why they didn’t make those tanks into hovercraft…

Mayfeld’s skeptical dialogue about the New Republic vs. the Empire, the Mandalorians, etc., seems tailor-made for Bill Burr. It’s not funny, but it’s on brand for his type of humor.

The music during the chase sequence was really good, as most of the music on this show is. As always, my hat’s off to Ludwig Göransson.

I’ve always wondered to what extent, if any, the toymakers are involved in the creative process for Star Wars projects. These new Imperial trooper costumes feel like they were created with new toys in mind.

Mayfeld and Valin Hess talk about “Operation Cinder.” That’s a nice reference to the events of the Star Wars: Battlefront II video game.

Richard Brake makes a great Imperial officer. Tremendous casting.

Mando calling back to Moff Gideon’s dialogue from “Redemption” about how “He means more to me than you will ever know.” was a nice touch. Nice continuity.

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

Catching Up With The Mandalorian – “Chapter 8: Redemption”

Rob Siebert 3 Comments

The Mandalorian, season 1 posterSERIES: Star Wars:  The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S1:E8 – “Chapter 8:  Redemption”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Taika Waititi (Voice)
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR:  Taika Waititi
PREMIERE DATE: December 27, 2019
SYNOPSIS: Trapped, the Mandalorian and his allies struggle to keep the child out of Moff Gideon’s hands.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Taika Waititi, who directs this episode, and is also widely known for directing Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder, serves as the voice of IG-11. Fitting, as this episode is a big one for the repurposed droid.

That scout troopers punching the child in the bag is one of those things that makes you hate the bad guy, but where you also can’t help but laugh a little. What can I say? It was funny. As was the target practice bit moment later.

This episode is the first time we hear the Mandalorian’s given name: Din Djarin. Not the worst name, by Star Wars standards. “The Mandalorian” has more mystique, of course.

The appearance of the super battle droids in the flashback sequence was a nice touch. It set the period.

It was pretty bad-ass to see IG-11 riding through that town on a speeder bike, twin guns blazing. Question: If his new base function is to nurse and protect, why does he bring the child into a town occupied by Imperial troops? Granted, none of them can shoot…

It’s funny to me how none of the stormtroopers can hit a target, as this episode makes light of. But when the episode needs him to be, Moff Gideon is a crack shot.

Din Djarin, The Mandalorian, Redemption, Pedro Pascal

I’d never seen or heard of Pedro Pascal prior to The Mandalorian. So what he looked like was news to me. He didn’t necessarily look how his voice suggested he looked. But that’s not a good or a bad thing, per se.

The armorer tasking Mando with reuniting the child with its own kind was a great hook for season two. As the last of the Jedi, the obvious implication was Luke Skywalker. Or perhaps Ahsoka Tano. But we couldn’t have realistically expected to see either of them…could we?

The big moment in this episode is when IG-11 sacrifices itself to save the rest of the group. I’ll say this much: The episode does a great job making us care about the repurposed robot, which we didn’t see again until the previous episode. It feels genuinely sad as he walks through the lava.

Something I appreciated about this group mission as opposed to some others we see in Star Wars is that there were consequences and casualties. Kuiil and IG-11 didn’t make it, and Mando was wounded to the point that he wouldn’t have survived if left to his own devices. The bad guys come off threatening and dangerous even in defeat.

Mando taking on Moff Gideon in the TIE fighter was a cool climax for the season. Suitably suspenseful, as you’d expect a man in a jetpack trying to take down a plane to be.

Din Djarin, The Mandalorian, Redemption

The one thing I didn’t like about this episode was how rushed everything was after said climax. Mando literally lands from taking down the TIE fighter, and everyone announces what they’re going to do going forward. Felt uncharacteristically clumsy.

The revelation of Moff Gideon with the Darksaber at the end was a fun little moment. Star Wars geeks knew what it was, obviously. And those who didn’t know would come to know as the series progressed.

Disney bet a lot on this first season of The Mandalorian. The first episode premiered with the launch of Disney+, so it was a great added incentive to give the service a try. But beyond that, it set the standard for all live action Star Wars TV projects to come. And thankfully for the fans, that standard wound up being pretty high. The Mandalorian season one isn’t just great Star Wars television. It’s great television, period. It’s compelling, intriguing, gorgeous to look at, and perhaps most importantly, very accessible to those not well-versed in Star Wars. (I’m trying to get my parents to watch it to this day.)

All in all? It was a home run for everybody involved.

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

Catching Up With The Mandalorian – “Chapter 7: The Reckoning”

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Mandalorian, season 1 posterSERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S1:E7 – “Chapter 7: The Reckoning”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Nick Nolte (voice)
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Deborah Chow
PREMIERE DATE: December 18, 2019
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian recruits help to take down his former client.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!**

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The objective in this episode is to neutralize Mando’s former client, played by Werner Herzog, thus ensuring the safety of the child. Herzog’s character is only known as “the client.” He gets no name, no backstory details, nothin’. That’s not to say we need a lot in that sense for this character. He shows up, serves his purpose, and exits at the natural time. The fact that (and the way that) Werner Herzog plays him is enough to make him memorable. It would just be nice to have something to call him other than “the client.”

Even years later, I can’t decide if it’s a little too convenient that the people Mando recruits for the mission just happen to be the ones he’s recently met during the events of the show. Obviously I get it in the sense that they’re telling a story, and it might be a little late in the season to be introducing new allies. It just feels a little, well…convenient. You’d think he’d have some other contacts or comrades, not unlike the lot we met in “The Prisoner.”

After picking up Cara Dune, they travel to Arvala-7 to meet with Kuiil. When he sees the child, Kuiil remarks, “It hasn’t grown much.” How much time has passed since the last time these two saw each other? A few months, maybe? How much did Kuiil expect the kid to have grown?

We see Kuiil has repurposed IG-11 as a sort of butler/protector. It definitely makes sense that someone as small as Kuiil would want a guardian of sorts. He’s apparently very resourceful, but doesn’t seem like a fighter.

Mando and Cara pass time aboard the ship by arm-wrestling. Even with a Force-powered little goblin on my side, I don’t think you could pay me to wrestle Gina Carano. I base that purely on the size of her arms compared to mine…

Nice little monologue by Werner Herzog’s character about what life was like under Imperial rule as opposed to what things have been like since “the revolution.” Great insight into his character, his privilege, and his justification for the horrors of the Empire.

We meet Moff Gideon in this episode, played by Giancarlo Esposito. I mention this in a future review, but I’ll say it here too: Moff Gideon really wants to be Darth Vader. He’s got the black armor, the cape, his own personal TIE fighter. I wouldn’t be shocked to see he had a black helmet laying around somewhere.

In our final shot of the episode, we see that the speeder bike troopers have killed Kuiil and taken the child. Kind of a shame to see Kuiil go. But like the client, he arrived and left the story very naturally, and was memorable in his own right. I couldn’t have asked for much more from him.

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

The Mandalorian, “Chapter 17: The Apostate” Review

Rob Siebert 3 Comments

The Mandalorian, season 3 posterSERIES: Star Wars:  The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S3:E1 – “Chapter 17:  The Apostate”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Emily Swallow, Marti Matulis, Katee Sackoff
WRITER: Jon Favreau 
DIRECTOR:  Rick Famuyiwa
PREMIERE DATE: March 1, 2023
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian continues his journey toward absolution.

***New around here? Check out our Star Wars review archive!***

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I know this gripe has been…uh…griped, by many already. But it must be said: This premiere should have been about how Din Djarin and Grogu are ultimately reunited after the latter’s time training with Luke Skywalker. Instead, they did that story on The Book of Boba Fett, stealing thunder that should have been reserved for this third season. Choosing to give us those critical moments under the banner of a different show was the biggest, and perhaps only major, mistake The Mandalorian has made thus far.

Simply put, The Book of Boba Fett should have been about Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and the characters that show is specifically about. The Mandalorian should, conversely, be about Mando and Grogu’s journey together. Going forward, let’s not color outside the lines anymore. If they want these characters to appear in one another’s shows, be my guest. But events and moments that are critical to a particular show, should be done on said show. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Between this new season of The Mandalorian, and the success of The Last of Us on HBO Max, I think we can all agree Pedro Pascal is living his best life right about now.

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who thought that opening sequence was a flashback to Din Djarin’s childhood. It would have made sense, given this episode, and apparently this season overall, are about him seeking redemption in the eyes of his people. Mando did get a nice entrance, though. So there’s the upside.

Vane and the other pirates want to break into an in-session school before being stopped by Mando and Greef Karga. That’s a nice heelish bad guy move.

I call BS on the notion that Mando thinks IG-11 is the only droid that can help him in his quest to find the living waters of Mandalore. IG-11 had a nice little story in season one. I even liked the statue in town being dedicated to him. We didn’t need to revive him for more.

Gorian Shard, the big lead pirate behind Vane and his crew, looked like, in Mrs. Primary Ignition’s words, “a swamp monster.” I did, in fact, get a Swamp Thing vibe from him. That’s not a bad thing. Just a thing. Either way, you know we haven’t seen the last of him this season.

Seasons one and two were largely held together by Grogu’s story. Mando’s quest to learn his origins, get him back to the Jedi, etc. This season, we don’t have that. So I’m very curious to see what they’re going to do with the Grogu character going forward. As fun as it is to watch him do cute things, there has to be more to him than that.

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.