Continuing from "SECRET STRUGGLE," this was a solid 5/5 start for Beast Morphers final stretch run. I thought Evox would possess Mayor Daniels awhile longer, but I get that Devon wanted to save his dad quickly and get this resolved. The show doesn't always get the references right, but they were spot on here with Devon contacting Dr. K for help. I just wish the Vault had been at least hinted at sooner, plus how exactly did GB acquire some of that stuff? Can't help but hope Venjix wasn't in one of the acquired RPM morphers... >_>
As for the Chaku two-parter, I really liked seeing Gavan in original footage, the storyline around
it, and how this all leads to the teamup. Ryjack was one of the best MoTDs in awhile. Some great unmorphed action in this with the reanimated foot soldiers. With so much MMPR
nostalgia and remade Ranger suits in this day and age, I didnt think
even think about the fact the original Putties hadn't been seen since season 1,
only Z-Putties in PRiS. Also, I like Hasbro's new lightning bolt graphic to start
the show. Things then took a bit of a downturn. I would've liked it better if Chaku had stayed RoboCop and perhaps his boss could've convinced him to go home to see his daughter, instead of Nate doing it, and making him human with the neural aligner. Plus it makes me realize how much Ranger tech has turned into magic now, unlike the old days of just being tech (like in PRLR), something I'm too sure about. We could've done without Ben & Betty in this episode with the Mario-ish Piranha Plant as well. 5/5 & 4/5
"FINDERS KEEPERS" was a
great part 1 of the teamup, ultimately becoming a lot better than the following episodes, easily earning a 5/5. I love how Sledge returned with the classic "IT'S A BOMB," asks for his crew
and Scrozzle reanimates EVERYONE, even Curio & Fury, previously forgotten about. Some great throwbacks with the van chase and old school back to back BM/DC team morphs.
While the Megazord battle felt tacked on, it worked as a way to keep the BM Rangers away from the ground fight I thought, nothing like SPD's weird usage of Dekranger in teamups. Seeing the Psycho data card, what are the chances Nate reformats and they actually use it?
"MAKING BAD" potentiality could've been good but was squandered with the clip show unable to use the episodes original audio. Mystic Force was about the only decent part, since they got
Leanbow, Koragg and Gekkor back for the redub. Apparently that was
supposed to be Xander saying "He's a Ranger"? And how did they manage "Korogg" and "Mondoo" making it in? O_o
I did like they had Antonia Prebble return as Astronema, Beth Allen as Udonna and Susan Brady (Mystic Mother) for Rita. But yeah, Zedd was terrible especially that Zeo finale scene, clearly the show just getting a familiar VO to do it (Stig Eldred, the Neo Saban era Narrator among others). This made me think of "LOST & FOUND IN TRANSLATION" and coincidentally Steel/Vargoyle was AbareRed in that episode. Also, come on Evox, you only watched season 1 Goldar, for like a minute. Really hard to buy it was the same one with that voice. No fair Sledge is vaporized instead of given a bomb one last time, but that was pretty minor to the bigger issues.
Bastardizing the sentai is nothing I haven't seen before but "GRID CONNECTION" was up
there with "LEGENDARY BATTLE" and "WORMHOLE" for bad ideas/fight
sequences in crossovers. Having watched the morph a hundred times online
before had made me even more hyped. Oh boy.
Why did the Morphin Grid have to send the meteor? Why couldn't GB have
sent out a distress call and Jason comes in WITH the Power Coin? How did
Rocky seemingly lose possession if not given to Jason? Why waste time
with the moral and not start the action sooner? Jason coming in and
revealing himself to be the real head of GB would've been cool.
I always feared the MM and DT Rangers would just show up, and sure
enough they did. Plus the idea of using the Power Coin energy to send a message
didn't make things any better. I felt like we needed an in-show reason
for Snide to be brought back again, than to speculate Evox or Scrozzle
must've liked him enough to have him teamup with Not-Goldar. I get
including DT defeating Snide and didn't mind the redub, but there really
should've been more room in between all this fast-paced action. I
didn't quite get he zord summoning (which I assume was more of a footage
thing) but do appreciate seeing the cockpits again, and Beast-X King
joining DC Megazord. I just wish the zords could've done more.
I did like that this took place in the DC Dimension which I wasn't
expecting and Devon going in the Grid was better than the Overdrive approach with making it a physical object. As a fan of
Tyler/Brennan, I always like how they work in his catchphrase.
I'm just going to call part 1 the real teamup of the season. This wasn't any better than a 3/5, as is the clip show. Now hopefully they can bounce back and pull out all the stops in time for the finale.
