ShyRanger's Blog

500 episodes of The Simpsons

2012-02-20T00:03:00.002-08:00

Tonight was a major milestone episode for the Simpsons, which involved the family getting kicked out of Springfield by the locals and finding a new home in the Outlands. It was a good plot for the occasion and I enjoyed the one-liners about Fox and Homer's original voice from early on. And boy oh boy, those days seem so long ago now. I still remember watching it on its original Thursday night in the early '90s (I was about 10 when it started) and I never got why it premiered with a Christmas special, which didn't really introduce the characters (The actual produced first episode ended up held back and was an old favorite my sister and I liked, with a plot that had the devious "Babysitter Bandit").

I've only missed a few episodes in the 22 years since and the rest I've seen about every way possible - DVR'd, taped, downloaded, on Fox Sunday and months later in some cases when I was never home Sunday evening. There's been a lot of funny moments, many brilliant pop culture references, great episodes I have in a collection - and some weird ones as well. And though I've never been a big fan of merchandise, I did have a Bart Simpson poster on my wall for over 10 years and still have a few other things.

It's safe to say there's almost no way they'll make it for another 500 in this day and age, but I still get laughs out of the Simpsons adventures and will continue to do so until it does come to an end someday.

Closing up 2011

2012-01-01T22:39:00.003-08:00

Looking back on the year, it's easy to say part of it belonged to Smallville. But once summer came, it became easier to move on and 2011 pretty much became a mix of reboots and old school meets new favorites - gradually making it feel like we really were back in the '90s...

This was the first year for Power Rangers under Saban since 2002, trying to recapture the glory of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. As great as it is to have the Rangers again, its failed on some levels between bad acting and forced translations of the Japanese series. Not the same originally from 10 years ago, that's for sure.

Beavis and Butthead returned after its last episode in 1997, making it feel like the boys never went away (and they kinda didn't with a cameo on MTV here and there over the years). Plus the new Thundercats is still pretty awesome.

2011 also brought a fresh new spin on music competitions and was a good time to get back into classic '90s Nickelodeon. Though The '90s Are All That block has proven to be not all that - focusing more on Nicktoons as of late and not completing Hey Dude's run - it's still great to see the classic shows return, especially Hey Dude, Secret World of Alex Mack, Salute You Shorts and Are You Afraid of the Dark.

I'll also remember the year for playing Super Mario Galaxy, very reminiscent of Super Mario 64 which I first played through back in my last year of high school.

More awesome songs from 2011:
"Pumped Up Kicks" - Foster the People
"The Ghost Inside" - Broken Bells
"My Body" - Young the Giant
"Tonight is the Night" - Outasight

Power Rangers Samurai "CLASH OF THE RED RANGERS": Back in Gear

2011-11-30T11:40:00.001-08:00

Prepared for the worse going into this, the teamup special turned out to be a one of PR's biggest surprises for me since Jungle Fury.

Scott piloting SkyRev alone didn't make much sense, otherwise I thought the scene and what appeared to be the wasteland was a nice way to start.

A transdimensional train? Interesting, though I wish they hadn't left it for viewers to decide.

I kinda got an old school vibe from Cog. Felt like could've been part of the Machine Empire. Love the nod to Zeo.

Scott not sure if we could breath the air was a pretty reasonable explanation for why he wouldn't demorph. Doing what they could with the suit and ADR worked well and really helped make the episode much better than if they had to have someone else do Red. Antonio was easily handled worse and not quite in-character.

What's this? Emily seems older and the actings not terrible? Hopefully a sign of better times ahead.

Interesting that the Nighloks have a General ranking. Looking forward to how this plays out in future episodes.

That was some weird zord fight. "Super Serpent"? o_O

I like the idea of this taking place after RPM's season and Venjix returned or a new evil took his place (Something sure went wrong then), but just as well Cog could've been a lost unseen General during the fight against Venjix. Also I wasn't too bothered by this airing out of order and I enjoyed the sneak peak of new powers and weapons. Scott getting to use the shark disc was pretty cool.

Scott and Antonio stuck fixing the car was pretty lame and it would've been nice to see the other Ranger Series Operators for at least a moment, otherwise the special turned out good. RPM and Scott were respected well and I enjoyed seeing a sentai vs and movie in PR. Also I really liked that "Get in Gear" was thrown in as a catchphrase. 4/5

"TRAKEENA'S REVENGE" and "WORMHOLE" are still the worst, but I almost wouldn't even put this with them. This definitely wasn't a teamup like we're used to and I imagine set the stage of future seasons when casts will be contracted to return. And with the anniversary season coming, it'll be interesting to see if similar morphed-only appearances happen again.

Power Rangers Samurai "ORIGINS": Opening Act

2011-10-26T10:40:00.001-07:00

Part I was just alright. Way too much translating. I didn't really like Ji's magical arrows or Jayden creating the horse.

The Red Ranger bit was funny and I liked that the zords were used individually for the first fight.

For being the original first episode when they were just starting out, it was pretty much what I expected and did a semi-decent job of setting up the season, enough that I'll give it a 3/5. If this had aired as the first episode, I wouldn't have been that excited but it would've been nice to see the first morph and clips from the promos on TV MUCH sooner.

Part II was a lot better and really worked I thought.

I expected Bulk would arrive in the city with Spike for a new adventure or something, so it was a nice surprise that he was already there awaiting Spike's arrival. Bonus points to Tony Oliver for mentioning Skull and Bulk's history with the Power Rangers.

The line delivery was still bad and Jayden not looking for Emily with the others could've had an explanation. I did like the focus on her and the morphed battle with Jayden rescuing the girl. The original scenes and background matched up with Shinkenger good I thought.

... Totem Pole Megazord? Haha.

This episode setup the characters pretty well and was pretty on-par with other "2nd episodes" PR's done - enough for me for an easy 4/5. Just wish it had aired in the proper place.

PRS #18 "THE ULTIMATE DUEL": Ultimate Fail

2011-10-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

The problems with Samurai haven't bothered me too much, but it felt like it all came out in this episode. Terrible line delivery and it just dragged on and on. I knew this would not be good when they recapped Mia trying to reason with Dayu - and then flashbacked to it AGAIN.

I didn't care about the MMPR-2 zord fight, but having Antonio sit out from being too weak was lame (at least he coud've taken more damage and demorphed to make it more believable.

I did like the training scene with Jayden & Kevin and the Hydro Bow attack with wire-fu. But it was pretty minimal to sitting through the rest in addition to commercials.

A longer sequence with Jayden honing his skills or maybe Bulk & Spike and I would easily give this a 3. But nope - first time in ages I'm giving a 2/5.

PRS #17 "BROKEN DREAMS": Deal with the Devil

2011-10-06T00:22:00.000-07:00

I thought Dayu's backstory was good for the most part. Sort of resembles Captain Mitchell getting Diabolico to save Ryan in Lightspeed Rescue. Nice foreshadowing with Akumaro and I expect Dalia will return by the last episode.

I was annoyed that the black box plot is being stalled, however I do like that PR is trying to do its own thing (probably holding off until its time for the battlizer, would be my guess).

The dream world was kinda weird and though I liked that Jayden teamed up Lionzord with Antonio in the zord battle, that was a pretty odd MMPR-2 style sequence.

Goodbye summer, hello fall TV

2011-09-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

Getting out in the sun was fun while it lasted and was a nice break, while there were plenty of reasons to stay inside. ABC Family can always be counted on for that, airing new episodes of its shows in winter and summer (and Pretty Little Liars has really turned into can't-miss-TV).

Without my regular programs on, I'll usually watch some DVDs and find things long put off - in this case, I caught up on season 1 of The Vampire Diaries, revisited Dollhouse season 2 and looked back on season 2 of Survivor from 10 years ago. There's usually some special events going on as well, such as VH1's 13 hour MTV 30 marathon at the end of July. This summer also brought the awesome new Thundercats series and The Voice wrapped its trial run - set to return next year to compete directly with Idol.

Without a convention or anything really going on it was kinda nice to find time for other things too, especially a lot of time for Super Mario Galaxy and beginning some major revisions on my websites (starting with Emma Lahana). Next summer will be an interesting one with the Olympic Games and the 3rd Power Morphicon in August, keeping me tied up on the Power Ranger fan message boards.

Meantime, now that fall is here, it's back to my old favorites and some potential new ones. Mostly I'm looking forward to how The X-Factor goes (which so far has sorta been Got Talent meets Idol), Beavis & Butthead returning in October, The Simpsons celebrating 500 episodes in February, plus more Thundercats when new episodes return. And with Smallville over, I'll finally start from the beginning.

A Super 25 Years of Mario Bros

2011-08-22T23:42:00.008-07:00

With the Super Mario Bros 25th anniversary celebration last year and revisiting some old classics, it really got me to think back - to when the latest Mario title was what it was all about. Times sure have changed over the years. I don't buy games when they come out anymore or even within a year they've been out, which I generally used to do (unless it's a special occasion, as was the case with the Super Mario All-Stars special re-release). I'm not as enthused for a new Nintendo console as I used to be either. The big reveal of the Wii 5 years ago was great, but the unveiling of the Wii U in June wasn't quite as cool, partly due to the fact I'll most likely have my current Wii until the Wii U's successor comes out.

But it's looking back on those big moments that I remember most - what is pretty ancient today, was once the greatest thing ever...

I vividly can recall when we first got the NES and tried to set it up in my original bedroom, but ultimately put in in the living room because of connection difficulties. The Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt combo pack was the only cartridge we ever had. I pretty much cared more about what was on TV than playing back then.

One day in class at Eckstein Middle School (probably 6th grade, '91-'92) still sticks out to me... I walked in and Super Mario World was playing, which had come out with the Super Nintendo (SNES) launch August '91. Never new why someone brought it in and besides TV commercials I believe it was one of the first times I saw a Mario game beyond the first one (although SMB2 came in '88 and SMB3 in '90 I hadn't played them). Yeah, the new Mario game looked fun and I sorta wanted that system... Just had no idea when.

Then came January 20, 1993 - the great Inauguration Day storm that wrecked havoc, wiped out power for a couple days and caused an electrical surge throughout the house, frying several appliances - including the NES. Losing it was quickly replaced with the fact we'd get the SNES. It wasn't long before we set it up and the journey in Mario World began began for Sarah (my sister) & I with the introduction of Yoshi.

With 96 course exits and tons of secret paths (complete with a brilliant special world within another special world), the game took awhile and was a lot of fun to play with friends around. From the original save files I can tell it was played through over twice, which was easy back then, especially during summer.

Meanwhile, I had seen ads for an exciting racing game called Super Mario Kart (which had come out last September) and I doubt it was very long before we got it. Mario Kart is up to its 7th incarnation, but this is where it all started. Sarah & I enjoyed playing against eachother & with neighbor friends, especially in summer months. We'd pretend the characters were us & friends and I'd take notes on character mannerisms. It's a relic now, but back then there was nothing quite like it.

Mario mania wasn't about to slow down. Another must-buy, the original Super Mario All-Stars came out August '93. Now I could play graphics enhanced versions of the Mario Bros games, which I had little experience with on the old system. It was also fun to rent games. Yoshi's Cookie was a cute puzzle game Sarah & I liked that we had for awhile as well as Mario Paint.

Fast-forward to Fall '95. A new game starring Yoshi with Baby Mario (officially a Mario World sequel but really a prequel) came out and I got it for Hanukkah. It was more of a simple game than its predecessor with completely different graphics and I enjoyed the egg tossing and Shy Guy stomping, finishing the game not too long after winter break was over.

May '96 had one of the most exciting releases I've ever seen with Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars - the result of Nintendo teaming up with Final Fantasy creator Square. I really didn't get the role-playing genre concept and what followed I could never imagine - Mario could freely walk around the various environments and battles were turn-based. There were new characters, teaming up with the Princess & Bowser, a rich story and my favorite soundtrack of any Mario game ever.

And it just got better from there. The SNES was on its way out and the Nintendo 64 launched in September with Super Mario 64. I couldn't wait to get it and I remember we rented them for a weekend early in '97. In August we went to Toys R Us and I picked Mario Kart 64 first (knowing that's what Sarah preferred). Though not really presents, it was almost like Hanukkah came early that year, between the game, system, controllers, etc. in one haul. When December came around I did get Mario 64 and it was truly revolutionary, moving Mario around in the 3D landscape with the new C stick. It really set the stage for today, with a whopping 120 stars to collect and many other elements still used in Super Mario Galaxy. I hardly ever play through an entire game twice but this was an exception.

As time went on, I got hopeful for a sequel to Mario RPG, but instead Paper Mario came out early 2001, with a lot of the same elements in a paper theme. I was disappointed it wasn't a direct sequel and never played it until a couple months ago, via the Wii Virtual Console service.

At the end of 2001 came the GameCube, which I got with Super Mario Sunshine for a Birthday/Hanukkah present a year later, much to my surprise (as noted in an old journal). Soon I got laid off from a job at a printing place and pretty much played a lot. Mario Sunshine was kind of a step down from Mario 64, being more of tropical vacation sidequest to the Mario series that included goofy animated cutscenes and obstacle course challenges that required a lot of trial-and-error. I spent a year working at Target which still gave me plenty of time to play and I developed a routine of going through one game under a year and moving on to the next. Mario Kart Double Dash was fun as well as Nintendo's all-star fighter Super Smash Bros Melee. And although I was playing by myself by now, it felt good to get the GameCube setup after moving in to my place above the garage - at last getting to play whenever I wanted for however long.

After the second Paper Mario game came out late in '04 I finally decided to gave the paper theme a chance and I was happy with the result - a very colorful and humorous game with lots of strategizing you can't get in the main Mario series. During the adventure, I got the DS handheld for a Birthday/Hanukkah present at the end of '05 and when not playing Paper Mario, I enjoyed Mario Kart DS. Later I got DS version of New Super Mario Bros - a nice sorta side-adventure to the big Mario console games. By now I was working at Whole Foods which gradually reduced playing time to mostly weekends and added up to spending a year a half with Paper Mario always in the console.

Smash Bros Melee was fun enough that I didn't hesitate much to get the sequel Super Smash Bros Brawl as soon as it came out in March '08, shortly after getting a Wii. The game was above and beyond loaded with content, 36 total characters (including Sonic the Hedgehog) with an amazing story mode. Between all that and endless fighting matches I couldn't possibly put it away - but other games I wanted started piling up...and piling up. I finally "retired" it last year, which gave me the chance to check out Shaun White Snowboarding and Raving Rabbid Rabbits which can be played with the Balance Board (in addition to Wii Fit of course). Then came Super Mario Bros 25th anniversary and besides the first Paper Mario, I also spent some time with Yoshi's Story from 1998.

2011 began and at last, I got back into the Mario series with Mario Galaxy from 2007. The game has quickly proven to be the freshest experience since Mario 64, with amazing space exploration, crazy upside down<->right side up platforming and star bit collecting - complete with Bowser's army attacking - the best cutscene to start a game ever. Though the fact there's already Super Mario Galaxy 2 (that I played when a friend let me borrow) just shows how behind I got and anything next-gen for the Wii U console and 3DS I won't consider getting.

And I can't forget 1989's Super Mario Land. I still remember getting to play it one day at school when someone happened to bring it. Eventually I got a Game Boy and a few games for Hanukkah - which I've played sparingly over the decades - but still have along with nearly every console, game and accessory.

Thinking back it's been great since the original Super Mario Bros and I wouldn't really change much other than spending too long on some games (It doesn't help I've gone 3 or 4 weeks without even so much turning on the Wii in some cases). I do kinda wish there'd be a new Mario World game where you simply get through the course (reaching either the main exit for the secret exit if there is one). That simplicity has continued on in New Super Mario Bros (DS & Wii) and will in Super Mario 3D Land but I'd like to see it in a Mario series game.

Now for some other game stuff. During all the Mario mania of '94, I decided I wanted try something with entirely different characters one day and bought Tiny Toon Adventures: Buster Busts Loose at Fred Meyer. It was a cute platformer based on the TV show I enjoyed watching that we played with friends a few times, but I didn't care to spend a lot of time with it. A real break from Mario came when Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country towards the end of the year. I was immediately sold on the awesome platforming and beautiful visuals with CGI-style graphics, a huge milestone for Nintendo at the time. The game was a lot of fun and had a real soundtrack (complete with the 'DK rap'), which I really liked. Mega Man X was another I got around the mid-90s - the only game from the long-running franchise I'd ever own. Great game and I'm still a fan of the blue bomber, though I was never able to beat it - just about the only time something like that has happened.

On the Nintendo 64 we had a solid variety of non-Mario games as well, including Wave Race 64 and 1080 Snowboarding (that Sarah liked) and Cruis'n USA. Also Mission: Impossible and GoldenEye 007 were a lot of fun, me being a fan of the movies the games were based on, before the games came out.

And as for The Legend of Zelda... That's a whole 'nother blog for another day with more insights.

PRS #16 "BOXED IN": Season Ending Stalling

2011-06-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

Felt like the show was back under Disney for a moment with the flips and explosions. Good to see the show try to do their own thing and even Bulk & Spike getting in near the action. Though I feel like they'll probably just disappear again. I appreciated the buildings destruction as well to go with the Shinkenger fight.

While Antonio worked on the talisman I kept wondering how it'd be done before the end of the episode. Lame how it looked like the plot would be resolved here with the new powerup, but I do look forward to next time. As long as the we continue where we left off when new eps return, I'm not too bothered by the plotlines getting dragged out.

I didn't think this was a bad episode, I just wish it hadn't been so misleading. Kinda weird that the season's over suddenly. And considering we've only had 16 eps (plus the original first 2), I doubt this was really ever thought of to be the season finale and just where Nick decided to put it. It gets a 4.

PRS #15 "THE TENGEN GATE": Ancient History

2011-06-01T23:36:00.001-07:00

Thought the Megazord fight was pretty good. I really like how Sanzu River went crazy and the Moogers increased during Xandred's power struggle.

Had Turbo/Space flashbacks when Ji said "Black Box." >_>

Good plan from Octoroo to find out the sealing power symbol (and make Jayden suffer). I figure they just wanted to make him more kid-friendly (not that there's anything evil about the original costume in the first place)... But as long as he's out scheming, I don't really care. Liked how Archnitor plotted to become the new King as well.

I love that the show is going somewhere and building up to a season finale similar to the Fox Kids days. We've had enough years of the head villain waiting all year for the big boss to arrive or whatever. 5/5

Goodbye to Smallville

2011-05-28T00:05:00.000-07:00

Best night of TV of any of my shows ever. Finale comments then some insights about the series:

Part I got started with Chloe beginning to read a Smallville comic book a child (presumably her son) in 2018, then cutting to the present and a brief shot of Darkseid's planet, Apokolips. Good tease to kick things off.

The Clark & Lois wedding dragged on a bit, especially hearing the vows a second time. I did like the talk they had beforehand and how the camera kept spinning around the apartment wall.

Pretty cool how Chloe, ever the sharp eye, quickly noticed the ring was gold K (which would've taken away Clark's powers forever) and stopped Oliver. Decent Clark vs Oliver fight, though they could've made it more dramatic when he was freed of the darkness.

Got lost about how Jonathan was really there. Seeing it again, I got the impression Jor-El made it possible for him to appear to Clark & Martha (or just Clark part of the time), which is pretty cool.

Darkseid making another offer to Lionel and using his heart for the completed Lex clone was well done. The big applaud moment for me was when we finally saw him again. At last, Michael Rosenbaum was back.

His scenes with Clark and Tess were written quite beautifully and I liked the visual memory wipe. Totally got a Gene Hackman vibe. Brilliant plan from Clark to attempt to stop Lex once and for all and it was sad to see everything he knew completely go. I can only imagine what it'd be like in the future when Clark faces him again.

Nice speech by Jor-El about the past 10 years being Clark's trials and how he was proud of him. Loved how the clips montage blended together with Clark seeing them in the crystals. All this happening when Clark was in mid-air, then taking control and ramming into Darkseid was awesome. Dead Lionel being possessed was great too. Darkseid being gone after that was a kinda sudden, but ya can't expect too from the show in that department.

Amazing to see Clark finally fly in the real world, though I didn't quite like how the suit transformed from his hand onto him as he flew up, up & away and out of the Fortress.

It was only natural the first 'super' save would be a plane with Lois on it. Felt cheap to only get head and distance shots of Clark (and use a CGI Superman resembling Brandon Routh), but anything more just wasn't going to happen. Great re-creation anyway.

Didn't mind Clark just shoving Apokolips away. He'll have to deal with Darkseid again, might as well deal with the planet later as well. There was no public reveal as Superman which I initially thought was surprising... But considering the show walked a thin line between Clark the reporter and Clark the superhero, it was best to leave it to the imagination.

Returning to the future, I liked how Chloe finished the comic book and then we shifted to the Daily Planet. Felt kinda random how Clark & Lois were about to go get married for real when a news story broke, prompting Clark to take action as the theme from the movies kicked in...

And it all came to a close in a perfect homage. The classic theme, shirt rip, graphics... It was beautiful... :D Really, more that I would've imagined and made up for Tom not wearing a full suit.

Back when I started watching Smallville in season 4, I didn't really know what I was getting into... But I got to like it quickly and realized that it wasn't just young Clark growing up and had a fun variety of freaks of the week and special effects.

No season was really better than the other. The episodes with Justice League and JSA heros were always a treat, as were ones with an alt-reality and the events that really stood out. Love how the show re-created part of the pilot once and baby Kal-El being sent to Earth when Krypton exploded another time.

I don't think I ever gave an episode below a 3 and rarely there'd be a plot that just didn't work. Though the show often cheapened fights with big bads, it had a lot of great action and cliffhangers. When season 4 concluded with a second meteor shower, I hadn't seen anything like it on TV and it was incredible.

While the finale kinda left something to be desired in places, the last episode closed out the show well and the final development with Clark/Jor-El and Lex was perfect. Jonathan & Martha were used nicely and having Jonathan there along with Jor-El provided a lot, especially when Clark was given the suit.

Tess dying wasn't a real surprise and it was quite brave of her to sacrifice herself for Clark's future, guessing she thought Lex might kill her. It was great having Chloe back (Loved how she got the Superman namedrop and her "See ya in the funny pages" quip) and I love how far Lois came from season 4 to star reporter. It was a great run and the show went far in 10 years -- a big highlight being Lois's relationship with the Blur in season 9 and when she found out in was Clark.

Smallville was in a league all its own and nothing quite like this will happen again, especially this day and age with shows getting canceled. Eventually I'll start from the beginning (including 63 episodes I've never seen), plus check out Superman III and IV and the new film coming. Through it all, I'll continue to BELIEVE. ^_^

PRS #12 "ROOM FOR ONE MORE" and #14 "TEAM SPIRIT"

2011-05-27T18:37:00.001-07:00

Antonio reminds me of Trent, between the color theme and the look. And DinoThunder was the last time we had a 6th Ranger with a separate morph. I like it better this way.

Great humor with Antonio having to make space to pose with the others before morphing. But again, certain scenes just don't feel right on this show. I didn't think his grand entrance in Shiba House and speech about joining the team was that good, nor how hard they were on him about not being a "real Samurai" purely to build drama in the episode.

Hopefully the Gold Ranger instant replays won't be around much longer, but I'll let that slide since it is for the target audience. And I'd say we're missing a morphing grid reference here to explain how Antonio made a working morpher. Why gold power, anyway?

It was still good for the most part. I do like the direction the show is in and I'm digging Antonio's excellente attitude. 4/5

--

Great episode. Solid plot with a good sense of danger & urgency and a nice intro for Clawzord. Liked Splitface's attacks and how Antonio used the electronic symbol power as a magnet to get him out of the Netherworld.

The compass directions and spinning wheel is kinda weird, but it does sorta go with Antonio's upbeat personality.

The episode worked even better without pausing the action for a Bulk & Spike scene (The Pink Ranger fantasies are funny but we could've done without Sammy being kidnapped in Blue and the Gold as a means to include them). Throw in a little more backstory with Deker, plus some improved acting and I'd say we're golden. 5/5

Gokai Change into Zyuranger aka MMPR

2011-05-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

Yes!

Smallville Finale Countdown + "Prophecy" Comments

2011-05-09T22:36:00.002-07:00

I've seen plenty of shows end, but nothing really as big as the countdown for the end of Smallville. Whether you've been a fan of the show over the years or at least have been aware of it, anyone can guess what ultimately happens at the very end. It's that anticipation over the final iconic moment the show will have that has made the journey quite fun, especially this season.

If anything, I can only compare it to Buffy, which like Smallville, had a final season and pretty much went all out with guest stars and wrapping up storylines. The last episode and fate of Sunnydale was quite a thrill -- a great bookend to that seasons premiere and the show altogether -- however some of the emotion was lost knowing that James Marsters would be joining Angel after Spike sacrificed himself. I still remember going on the BuffyWorld website and forum often then and enjoyed chatting about the episodes with fellow Power Ranger fans. Other than that, social networking was pretty much limited to LiveJournal and AIM for me -- no where near it is today with tweets from writers and updates via Facebook.

But even Buffy was only on 7 years and changed networks. Smallville has simply moved times and days since joining The WB in 2001. I've heard some people saying this'll be the end of the Donner era of Superman if the upcoming movie does things differently.

I've never been a comics fan and never really looked up to Superman growing up, but I'm glad I've been with the show the past 7 years and finally watched the first 2 Christopher Reeve movies. The backstory about Clark and Krypton in the first film was really cool and the second one had a great plot with Zod and his goons taking over Earth, complete with a big fight sequence.

I'll hold off on the other 2 films for awhile, but in the meantime it's time for destiny to be fulfilled.

"Prophecy":
Liked how Jor-El gave Lois Clark's powers. It was cute how she kept superspeeding and tried supertyping.

Nice to see Oliver and Kara with scenes together. Liked how they stumbled upon eachother and just when Oliver was about to get his hands on the bow -- Nope, not while Granny's still around. Awesome.

I don't mind Kara going to the future so much and Jor-El basically telling her she needs to leave for Clark to fulfill his destiny... But she didn't say goodbye or even have any scenes with Clark.

Hope we see Toyman's team of villains again and I like how we at least know that in-show continuity will have a fight again Justice League in the future.

That Lana mention came across like the writers were saying "Here's the cameo!"

Trying to use Lois to kill Clark before she quickly snapped out of it was lame. And Clark shutting off Jor-El felt old with how many times he's gone against his wishes. I'd wager Jor-El's last gift to Clark on the show will be having the suit appear to him.

Also, thought the prophecy about the good and evil balance was pretty cool. I did expect a little more from this episode (It doesn't help that I'm really amped-up for the finale), but overall I liked what this episode was able to do to keep things rolling.

I got to thinking you have to look at it as their's really 2 separate episodes left. I imagine Part 1 will be more buildup with the core cast, then we'll really get moving with the last act of the hour followed with returning cast, which'll hopefully include Lionel and some Justice League.

PRS #11 "UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL": Golden Boy

2011-05-06T00:01:00.001-07:00

Thought the plot in this was neat, with Vulpes spying on Jayden in an effort to learn the sealing symbol power. I kinda like Antonio's flamboyant attitude, but the acting wasn't all that good and it would've been nice if we had seen him before -- in "A FISH OUT OF WATER" or quietly keeping an eye on the team.

I like when the 6th Ranger doesn't use the team morph call and I was glad Antonio didn't say "Gold Ranger." We have Trey after all -- hopefully still out there with the gold Zeo power -- continuity be damned.

With how much Shinkenger footage we get per episode it was nice to have more scenes with our cast for a change. I'll give it a solid 4 for being a fun episode and enjoyable 6th Ranger intro for this season.

S-10.19 "Dominion"

2011-05-01T21:12:00.000-07:00

A little too much padding and slo-mo battle scenes in this.

Didn't really like Lois with the gun either.

Still a pretty good episode. It was great having one last Phantom Zone episode and Zod appearance. Pretty cool that he merged with the Phantom.

S-10.18 "Booster"

2011-04-26T01:13:00.000-07:00

Liked how Clark trying to work out his new persona connected with Booster Gold and what he was going through. Going in the direction of getting people to think that there's no way Clark can be the Blur this close to the end is an interesting choice. I'm finding it kinda funny and am not surprised Cat Grant bought into it easily. Also, I liked how Cat pretended to be one of Booster's girls and how Clark had to save her. The Blue Beetle tech sneaking away with Jamie and taking over him was cool too.

This was a nice light-hearted episode before the impending doom and gloom. I enjoyed how it progressed and learning about Booster's struggles. Wasn't sure if they'd really get into his background. Bonus points for the phonebooth sequence and Booster's suggestion about using "super."

PRS #09 "TEST OF THE LEADER": Dawn of Destiny

2011-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

Aside from them going too far making Jayden a Shiba and Najee's line delivery being god awful at times -- I loved this episode.

Liked how we began with Xandred sending out as many Moogers as possible. Good fight scenes and calling out Jayden was pretty cool. Extra points for building destruction. Liked the flashback of the past Samurai Rangers as well.

Bulk & Spike were great. Kinda wish they'd give Bulk more confidence after all he's been through facing monsters, but I'm optimistic there's a lot more in store for them. Like how the Pink Ranger crush has begun.

I'm finding Xandred's medicine coverup quite funny. Sure, it's most likely medicine in the script, but I'd like to think the Nighloks just call it that when it's really something else. Why else would Xandred seem hungover? Besides the lasting effects from the last time he was sealed, all those years suffering clearly drove him to drink. >_>

Despite the continued translation raping of Shinkenger plots, this is one of those episodes that I'd give high marks to no matter what season. And yeah, it could be considered lazy for editing our Rangers over Shinkenger's in places instead of filming new scenes, but I think it's pretty nicely done when I can't even tell until it's pointed out. 5/5

PRS #08 "FOREST FOR THE TREES": Green with Envy

2011-04-02T01:02:00.000-07:00

Giving Mia the Beetle was silly but it did a decent job of setting up the plot. Ji having enough problems with Mike to take his samurizer was outta left field, but otherwise the episode was pretty good with Hector easily being the best actor among the Rangers. And a nature lesson for the kids never hurts. :P

Liked the focus on symbol power and how we got to know a little more about Ji. Nice to see him get out for once. Really annoying to hear "Mentor" over and over again.

Another fun scene with Bulk & Spike as they slowly get closer to learning the Rangers identities.

Also thought it was cool to see the MOTD trip a gap sensor for the first time.

Having not seen any Shinkenger is making these episodes more fun for me to watch. I initially thought to give it a 5, but yeah -- that's being too generous as long as plot points are being brought over that just don't work that well here. Still an easy 4/5.

PRS #07: "I'VE GOT A SPELL ON BLUE": Mind Games

2011-03-26T01:02:00.000-07:00

Liked the setup for the plot in the beginning with Jayden and Kevin morphed and sparring.

The fight scenes were pretty good I thought. The unmorphed Rangers blended nicely with the Shinkenger clips.

The interaction between Xandred and his crew was nicely done. Felt like we got to know more about them and I liked the reactions to Deker finally paying them a visit.

Only complaint is Madimot was quite annoying and Jayden gained control of Tigerzord too quickly, otherwise I enjoyed this one. 4/5

PRS #06 "THERE GO THE BRIDES": Dayu Nightmare

2011-03-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

This episode definitely had its moments. I liked how kidnappings had been going on for awhile and the team setup a fake wedding to lure the Moogers in a trap. Dayu kidnapping the brides and using the tears to make a dress to get revenge for something that happened to her was cool, but I'd be nice if we knew more about her past. And I liked how Emily snuck in with the captured brides and helped freed them. Also, the bakery part was cute and it was nice to see Bulk & Spike nearly meet the Rangers.

The acting is still atrocious at times (especially from Erika Fong) and some of the dialogue comes off kinda awkward in the translation from Shinkenger -- otherwise good episode.

All For Buffy @ ECCC '11

2011-03-15T20:59:00.000-07:00

Besides anime and Power Rangers, I hadn't really been to any other conventions before, so I didn't quite know what to expect as I headed downtown on Saturday the 5th. I made sure to show up early, getting to the convention center about 10:00. It was pretty quiet as I easily walked up to the sales booth on the 4th floor and was good to go. There was a SoyJoy booth handing out samples and bags, while a DJ spun, so I just hung out there for awhile. Eventually I went to the 3rd floor where the media guests were stationed and after an hour or so in line, I met James Marsters and bought a Spike photo. James was great and after asking me if I was a Superman fan, joked about how he loves working on Smallville because they pay him so much and how Tom Welling (Clark) is a real jerk. I knew he'd be awesome. ^_^

Next I got in the photo-op registration line, which ended up taking around an hour and a half. It was stuffy, crowded and smelly at times -- hard to stand in line so long -- despite I hadn't even been at the convention very long. After I got signed up for 2:20 (when the Buffy cast would have their turn), I got something to eat and chilled for a bit.

At 2:00 I got in line for the photo-op and could tell I wasn't feeling right. Soon I got my pic with James & Nicholas Brendan and one with Clare Kramer (Glory, season 5). Then I headed back to the 4th floor to get ready for the Buffy panel, which already had a HUGE line snaking several rows in a big open room next door. The panel got started late by the time everyone was seated, but it was still fun enjoying James, Nicholas and Clare chat it up for a half hour and answer some Qs. Afterwards, I went over to Clare's autograph table, which had barely any line all day. She was very nice and liked the pic of us and signed her Buffy headshot I purchased. Nicholas was kind enough to sign my Buffy season 6 DVD cover for no money, after I told him I didn't have enough cash.

And with that, I hightailed it outta there by about 4:30, not feeling well at all (which, aside from a wonderful store party, lasted ALL last week -_-). To finally meet some of the cast from Buffy close to home was amazing and ultimately worth the money and health I paid. If they get anyone else from Buffy/Angel, I'll definitely go back.

PRS #05 "A FISH OUT OF WATER": True Blue to the Rescue

2011-03-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

I really liked this one. The plot just really worked for me -- how Yamiror made the Rangers sick and Kevin had to retrieve the Swordfish Zord to save them. Yeah, the fisherman was kinda random (Kevin could've told him he was a Ranger), but I'm used to this sorta thing on PR.

I love when our heros get beaten badly and demorph in battle. Saban's doing a great job of having the Rangers dirty and not always remain clean cut like before.

5/5. I don't think there'll be many focus episodes that I'll like more than this.

Also check out episode 5 of my podcast, talking about some early thoughts of Power Rangers Samurai, "THE TEAM UNITES" and "DEAL WITH A NIGHLOK."

Podcast Powered By Podbean

S-10.16 "Scion"

2011-03-06T20:56:00.000-08:00

I really like how Alexander became a scion to Clark. Enjoyed watching him learn about his powers. The heat vision was funny.

Great to see Luthor Mansion again -- or whats left of it.

Faceless double for Lex. Check.

Obligatory Oliver/Chloe mention. Check.

DARKSEID!! Did they know Rosenbaum would be returning when this was filmed? I'd imagine so. My guess is that yeah, Lex is revived at the cost of Lionel's life (depending on whether he shows up again). And nice to actually see Lex's headstone after all this time.

The episode was well played out. Good one to start a break on. Now alt-Jonathan is coming? Also, nice that they'll be showing the pilot, but a 10 year special would be better.

PRS #04 "STICKS & STONES": Yellow Trouble

2011-03-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Liked the flashbacks of Emily with her sister and her bonding with Mike.

Some of the insults were lame, but the one-liners worked better this time.

I like how the Nighloks actually harm civilians and cause accidents. Would be nice if they'd bother to explain they grow by getting a second life.

Some of the acting is still pretty wooden, but this was a good focus episode for Emily and I'm quickly getting to like her. 4/5

S-10.15 "Fortune"

2011-02-27T20:19:00.000-08:00

This was a fun, easy-going episode to balance out the finale that will most likely cost a fortune.

Wasn't sure how well this would turn out, but I gradually got into it. Nice to see Clark teamup with Chloe for one last time, Oliver with Lois and... Tess/Emil? That was a pleasant surprise.

Cute trick from Zatanna. Makes me wish Serinda would appear again.

The drunken antics were great. Loved Clark having trouble with super speed and when he took the armored car.

Liked how Emil got to be the victim for once and Clark had to save him.

Bonus points for Batman and Wonder Woman mentions. Hope Chloe makes one more cameo, but either way, it was a nice sendoff for her.

Powered Up For a 'Super' 2011

2011-02-20T18:22:00.001-08:00

I thought about doing my usual year end review last month, but really, a lot of 2010's memorable things happened early in the year (Survivor's 10th anniversary, Winter Games in Vancouver, Valentine's Day) -- followed by a summer with team builds and outdoor activities, capped off with the trip to Pasadena. Plenty of good times, but also a feeling of going stale... Between the lack of new Power Rangers ("reversioned" MMPR instead), American Idol needing a change and spending forever with Nintendo's all-star fighter Smash Bros Brawl, when there are plenty of Wii Mario and Zelda titles out there. It adds up to much anticipation for the next several months and it'll be well worth it.

Not since The Secret of World of Alex Mack ended have I watched Nickelodeon much. Now 13 years later there's reason again with the return of Saban's Power Rangers. What seemed impossible a year ago now has become reality. It's great to be back to old school PR with people and a network who actually care and it looks beautiful with HD cameras and higher budgeted sets. Although the episodes themselves won't always turn out that good with plots directly lifted from the Japanese series.

This year will also have a new music competition when the X-Factor starts in the fall and I look forward to Smallville's big ending and playing Super Mario Galaxy.

S-10.13 "Beacon"

2011-02-13T23:44:00.000-08:00

Another step in Clark becoming the future beacon of hope to the world.

This episode was very well done. Really enjoyed the plot with Alexander trying to kill Martha to get to Clark and the end of the VRA at last.

Awesome to have evil Lionel again. His interactions with everyone couldn't have been written better. Great references throughout.

Liked how future Clark was brought up and what'll lead to Clark eventually being his own disguise.

Shocked to see Luthor Mansion go. Nice touch with the silent exchange with Martha to rescue Lionel and Clark just throws him to the ground. XD

S-10.12 "Collateral"

2011-02-06T17:52:00.000-08:00

This episode was a good one to come back from break on.

Chloe's return and the virtual world were very cool. Loved seeing her with powers.

Liked how Clark had a difficult time trusting Chloe after she had been gone and Dinah had a hard time as well.

Thought it was funny how Courtney and the others just disappeared between eps. >_>

Now that Clark knows he can fly, it could feel like a long wait until he does for real (If we do have to wait for it in the last episode).

Nice appetizer and I can't wait for the main course -- Lionel, Lex clone and -- Martha!

All About The WB/CW: From Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Vampire Dairies

2010-12-30T23:27:00.000-08:00

I realized the other week that watching Gossip Girl/Smallville/Vampire Dairies/Hellcats on The CW is about as much as I've watched the network since Buffy/Angel/Roswell/7th Heaven in 2001, before Buffy and Roswell moved to the UPN network.

The sense of watching many of my shows (or at least something) on the network hasn't changed that much over the years. I fondly remember when The WB launched in 1995 and had a fun, fresh feel about it with a singing Michigan J. Frog from Looney Tunes as the mascot. Unhappily Ever After (From the creator of Married... with Children) was my first favorite program they had. Summer of '97 would be spent watching Buffy, which I started getting into a couple weeks after its debut in March. There were other shows here and there the network had that I'd check out as well.

Between 1998-2007 Mondays were about 7th Heaven and not too long after it was gone, I started watching Gossip Girl. It took awhile, but I hung in there and love the show now. There's often a bit of a "been there, done that" feeling with plots revolving around Serena, but creative writing, plot twists and drama always keeps the show good n' juicy. And Kristen Bell is amazing as the mysterious girl who sees everything while no one ever sees her. The other characters are great too. I really like the cast, which in a sense, makes it similar to One Tree Hill, which I watched when it first started in '06 because I thought the cast was great. I eventually gave up on it though, partly due to conflicting with American Idol.

Between 1999-2002 the best night of TV was always Buffy/Angel Tuesdays before Buffy moved. I'd religiously tape the shows which I realized later was silly and I never did anything with the tapes. Angel would go 2 more seasons and a couple months later I started getting into Smallville, which sorta filled the void left behind.

Despite all the TV I watch, it's not very often that a show I watch goes into a season knowing it'll be the last and tries to do as much as it can before it ends. Buffy did and it was glorious. Angel rushed its end (The WB really blew that one), Roswell somewhat, while 7th Heaven had a wonderful "last episode" -- and tossed it all aside for a luckluster season to help launch The CW.

The story of Clark Kent has come a long way in 10 years, over 200 episodes with many twists, deaths, teamups, cast changes -- and it's all coming together for the end when Clark will finally fly and become the hero everyone knows. They're really going all out including a ton of guest appearances, that will hopefully include Michael Rosenbaum (Lex) returning for the finale, after leaving the show over 3 years ago. Since then they creatively wrote the character out and one of the things I really like about this season is, with an rapidly aging clone, they're progressing the character to became the Lex who's Supermans' nemesis. Only way this story can properly end is with the real Lex (Rosenbaum) coming back. And once it's over, I look forward to finally watching the first 3 seasons, which (aside from a few eps) I've never seen.

Meanwhile, I started watching The Vampire Dairies in September after hearing about it from a friend. It's quite an interesting show with hot characters and drama. It took awhile to get used to a vampire show different than what I was used to, but I soon realized they do the "good vs. evil" thing pretty well. Like Buffy/Angel, I always enjoy flashbacks to hundreds of years ago. And this is another great cast. I look forward to Netflixing season 1 in 2011.

There's also Hellcats -- pretty much a Bring It On TV series with Ashley Tisdale. The plots not quite my thing, but it's something to keep handy on the DVR to watch during dinner or to kill time.

I'll also give props to UPN, which had Buffy 2 years until it ended and Roswell -- together on Tuesdays for a year until Roswell was canceled. Chris Rock's Everybody Hates Chris started there, which I always thought was pretty funny.

Basically, Tuesdays were always a big night for me, with American Idol since '04. As we begin a new Idol season soon, the performance night moves to Wednesday, which with Survivor and Modern Family, is the new big night.

S-10.11 "Icarus"

2010-12-12T22:22:00.001-08:00

Despite the awkwardness Tom and Erica had in the cold when Clark proposed to Lois, it was still a very touching scene. Loved the falling petals.

What kind of a S.W.A.T. raid was that? I was expecting stuff breaking everywhere. Clearly they didn't even bother looking around the barn much. >__>

I think it's pretty cool how they're tying the darkness to real historical events and those eras having heros of their own.

Great to see Hawkman fight Slade and get an awesome entrance. Liked how a big fight took place in Luthorcorp for once.

Bonus points for Slade calling it "Operation Icarus."

Since when is Zatanna part of the Superclub? It'd be nice to see her in Watchtower if they can get Serinda hopefully. And have we ever actually seen Bart's Impulse costume?

Interesting cliffhanger. What better way to end on then our heros falling in a perfectly laid trap.

This episode had to have been a minute or so longer than usual. Sure felt long, besides the fact the interrogations kinda dragged things out (and it was 9:01 when Supernatural came on).

Good episode to end the first half on. I look forward to the rise of evil Lex, finally getting more of Darkseid and his goons and everything really coming together to close out the show. I'm pretty intrigued about the "complete mythos alignment" too.

S-10.10 "Luthor"

2010-12-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe it took 10 years for Luthor to be an episode title.

Kryptonian artifacts still around? Nice, quick setup for Clark to get his hands on the Mirror Box. I liked how Clark was hard on Tess and discovered the clone had been staying in the lab. Good anticipation for the return of teen Lex soon.

Holy crap, alt-Clark was perfectly badass and Tom did an amazing job.

Swann, Veritas, Earth Two... Good references.

Interesting how the Luthors were able to take control of the Fortress in the other dimension.

Great to finally have some Tess/Lionel scenes. Can't wait for the real thing in this dimension.

And what about Chloe? Without Clark in her life, do you suppose she simply would've been a journalist?

How did Lionel end up on the street and not Watchtower? This threw me way off into thinking this dimensions Lionel was back, not alt-Lionel via the Mirror Box (I know, should've been obvious >_>). And I gotta say I'm fascinated by the concept that Lionel was automatically switched to "good" sort-to speak when he was transported (as he should be).

S-10.09 "Patriot"

2010-11-22T20:32:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help but feel like a patriot after that.

The focus between A.C. and Clark was well done. I liked how Clark was hard on him for blowing up the refinery before learning the reason.

Loved how Lois became part of the team and was introduced to Watchtower. Nice to see her meet Dr. Hamilton as well. Great line about him being part of the group, despite Clark never needing a checkup.

Ending speech was awesome.

Also like how the VRA plot is moving along and how Oliver had no clue what he was getting into.

A very solid episode all-around and one of the best for a JLer.

S-10.08 "Abandoned"

2010-11-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

I always appreciate how the show doesn't leave viewers feeling abandoned.

Great to finally learn Tess's backstory as a little girl and find out that she's a Luthor. Didn't think they'd reveal so much in this episode. Don't really like how "Lutessa Luthor" sounds, but I look forward to seeing where this goes.

Liked how Lois went to the Fortress to try to help patch things up between Jor-El and Clark after watching the video of her mom. Yeah, I sorta wish Jor-El wasn't such a dick and would say something, but we know he's pissed, teaching a lesson and it'll obviously get all worked out by the end. And well done getting Sands and Slater back to do the hologram bit and Hatcher.

Nice to Desaad and Godfrey alongside Granny, especially with Darkseid not having much of a presence so far this season.

Wow, Clark has a ring and Lois has a...dress? They're not setting up for another "Bride" are they? >_>

This episode packed a lot and gave us plenty to look forward to. It did make me think that after hearing about Tess being a Luthor a couple weeks ago, I may wanna consider heavily avoiding rumors like this as the show winds down next year.

S-10.05 "Isis"

2010-10-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

Didn't really care for the Lois possessed filler much, but everything else was awesome.

Great to see Clark, Ollie and Tess working together and Tess getting to officially head Watchtower for now.

The continuation with Clois from "Homecoming," capped off at the end was very nice.

Smallville #200 "Homecoming"

2010-10-17T22:02:00.001-07:00

I'm reckoning this was a great homecoming for the series.

Great to see Marsters again, in what I'd guess was his last appearance.

Liked how Clark looked at the nametags laid out, which setup the Lana clip. Revisiting The Torch with the high school kids and flashback was nice too. Gosh, it was funny how young everyone was (including Lois after watching "Reckoning" again).

Brainiac showing Clark what actually happened right before Johnathan died and revisiting the funeral were well done.

Black K was a mistake? Loved it.

Future Clark was awesome. Loved how straight he was and knowing Past Clark would be there to lend a needed hand.

Also liked how Clark got very cautious about Future Lois knowing his secret and was relieved realizing she was protecting it. Looking forward to when she tells him in the present.

So much for Chloe "faking her death"... >_>

Great speech by Oliver and Clark witnessing it. Only on Smallville do you get the big interview at the top of the show and the superhero talking about superheros can glance at one without anyone thinking anything of it. <_<

Why'd the reunion have to abruptly end? A slow fade-out of Clark/Lois would've been better.

S-10.03 "Supergirl"

2010-10-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

This episode was really not all that super.

Thought Lois would be away for another episode or 2. Yeah, it was more centered around her than Kara. Would've been nice to have more focus on Kara, while Lois is still in Egypt -- But I guess they wanted to wrap this up quickly before the 200th.

Liked how Darkseid possessed Godfrey 3 weeks prior and how they extended the shot from the end of "Lazarus."

Kara quickly stopping the billboard was kinda cheap. I was hoping for another shot of her flying, like when she last left Smallville.

The whole bondage thing was kinda creepy (especially with someone who's not really human). Nice touch with calling it Club Desaad. I always like when Lois goes undercover.

Lois not saying "Supergirl" was worse than Jimmy's "Super....guy." >_>

Oliver deciding he had to reveal himself was nicely done.

Kara's staying on Earth? Alright, but she has to come back or they better come up with a damn good excuse.

Still a pretty good episode and great to see Laura again, despite the somewhat misleading title.

Smallville Final Season Premiere "Lazarus"

2010-09-26T22:10:00.001-07:00

Another great opening sequence. Love the mix of clips spanning the series.

A little surprised to see the Fortress repaired already.

Great to have Lex back in some form. It was as if he was never gone. Interesting that the real Lex is still dead, as far as that clone knew. Weird that Tess is now caring for the little Alexander.

Clark stopping the globe was excellent.

This episode did spend a little too much on the past (especially with Clark's attitude), but otherwise great start to the final season.

Go Go Power Morphicon

2010-09-17T20:36:00.010-07:00

With these conventions, I never quite know what I'm getting myself into. Sure there's Power Rangers -- and LOTS of it, but the convention doesn't go until midnight, leaving the nights open. How would this go?

THURSDAY
Got to Sea-Tac early and awaited Tyler S. and Ryland to show up, as the 3 of us had seats together. Coming up from Tacoma took longer than expected and we missed our 9:00 flight. The Alaska Air staff was nice about quickly switching us to a 10:00 flight, however, Ryland now had a separate seat from us and was charged $50 (likely due to not checking in online before).

We arrived at LAX a bit before 1:00 and soon met up with Tom, and Evan and Sean -- 2 guys making their first appearance at a gathering. Ryland was hoping I had arranged a limo or something to take us to Pasadena, but I figured we'd just get something there. We eventually got a Super Shuttle van and arrived at the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel around 3:00. I got settled in my room and was glad to let go of my sisters bag. I texted the guys who had gone out for mexican food and learned that Johnathan -- who I had an ugly falling out with a couple months ago -- was there too. It was inevitable we would see eachother, so may as well get it over with. I was surprised by his response when I sat down and I didn't say a word the whole time. Everyone soon left and I eventually went back to the hotel, trying to fend off what happened get to me. If I hadn't gone, he probably would've said something later and now I could just avoid him.

I then mostly hung out in the lobby, while the guys had joined some of the convention staff to check out the convention center and begin setup (pretty much getting the gift bags ready and rolling up posters). Knowing I'm not on good terms with Chris Funaro, it was best to not get involved. Soon after 8:00, my roommate Tyler W. arrived from Baltimore and we chatted a bit before he wanted to go help with setup. I was hesitant about joining in with Chris there, but since my entire posse was there along with the staff and volunteers, I changed my mind and asked if I could do something. They put me to work and we were here until the convention center needed to close around 9:45. A group of us then debated where to go to eat and settled on a nearby hamburger place in the same plaza that had the mexican. Afterwards, some of us went to a bar in the hotel lobby, although their wasn't much going on.

FRIDAY
Headed to the registration area outside the convention center about 10:00 and mostly hung out there in the sun after I got my "Gold Ranger" member bag of goodies. Their was a nice grocery store across the street, so I got a pastry and juice.

The doors officially opened a little before noon and once inside I looked around at the Bandai (PR's toy maker) displays and several different booths with everything -- toys, props, clothing, DVDs, artwork and more toys -- that you could purchase (Not just PR but a ton of Japanese stuff as well). I was expecting some sort of an opening ceremony, but instead, Paul Schrier (Bulk, seasons 1-7) kicked things off with a few words on a mic. Not too long after, the Bulk & Skull Panel got underway and Paul tore it up along with Jason Narvy (Skull, seasons 1-6) for about an hour. This was Paul's only afternoon at the convention and it was a great way to get started. Afterwards, I hung out in the main area and began to get some autographs and take pics. At one point I noticed a couple older well-dressed gentlemen standing around, who I assume were there on behalf of Saban Brands (more on that later).

At 3:00 was the Creating Power Rangers with Judd Lynn Panel, marking Judd's first ever public appearance at any Ranger event. Judd was responsible for writing most of the episodes between 1998-2001 and was with the show before that too. He was also a substitute Executive Producer in 2009 (when the show was on the way to ending) and under a different name, wrote 2 great episodes during the writers strike in 2008. He's a great guy, even giving away original film slides to fans on Saturday. One of things I really liked about his era of writing on the show is how story driven the seasons were, which is something Judd really pushed for, compared to the stand-alones and simple plots of MMPR. I never got his autograph or anything, but just being in his presence after all this time made part of the convention for me (as I'm sure it did for many others).

At 4:00 I saw the SPD Panel followed by a panel with a couple cast/voice actors representing Lost Galaxy, Lightspeed Rescue and Wild Force. A special "Gold Ranger" event screening of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie was supposed to start at 6:00 but was delayed over 30 mins while we waited for Jason Narvy to come back to the convention center for live commentary.

It was close to 9:00 before I left for the night and I soon metup with a couple of the guys, as well as Eric and his friend, Rita. Pretty much hung out in Evan & Tom's room for awhile, ordered pizza and then went to the hotel lobby bar at 11:00, where others from Rangerboard (and other people) were hanging out. I mostly sat quietly, keeping my distance from Johnathan and his friends. A few actors were around and some dude sang and played guitar as well.

SATURDAY
Slept in until 9:30 then hustled out grabbing a snack from the lobby gift shop. Meanwhile, a "Gold Ranger" event breakfast was going on with a dozen or so actors that I kinda wanted to go to, but it was nice to sleep in (which would help staying up at night later) and I saved $40. So much for hustling to the convention center -- The breakfast ran late and people weren't let in for the panel with Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers/Power Rangers Zeo cast until after 10:30.

At noon I watched a screening of an episode of Kamen Rider Dragon Knight then left for awhile while the last episode clip-show was playing. Returned for Q&A with the cast and people behind the show, which was followed by autograph signings. Despite the fact the show ended up being not that good and had nothing to do with Power Rangers or Saban, it was great to meet a bunch of the cast who were really cool and it was nice they were invited to the convention.

At 4:00 I saw the Villains Panel, then one with a mix of cast from Turbo, In Space, Time Force and SPD. That was followed by a Q&A with Ron Wasserman, who did the original "Go Go Power Rangers" and all the music the first few years -- as well as the SPD theme in 2005. He signed autographs afterwards as the main area closed for the night. Then Tony Oliver (a producer for MMPR and currently doing some writing for the upcoming season) had a video presentation, showing some stuff we saw at the first Morphicon, along with some stuff we didn't. At 9:00 there was supposed to be a MiSTing with Ryland, Chris and a self-proclaimed "internet celebrity" doing running commentary about 2 episodes, but was delayed and by the time it started, there was only time for 1 episode. Afterwards, my gang and I went up to Tom & Evan's room, ate pizza, talked about the day and horsed around. Tyler W. and I left and I went to bed about 2:00.

SUNDAY
Got up after 9:00 and hung out at the hotel until my sister came by to get her suitcase. We had lunch at the Pasadena Whole Foods -- a large, fresh-looking, 2 floor version of the store. Then returning to the convention center, I mostly worked on getting autographs and pics in addition to sitting in on a female Rangers panel at 1:00. Later at 4:00, as many as the center would allow crammed into one of the rooms for a short closing ceremony, hosted by Jason Narvy and most of the actors, voice artists, crew and head of the Power Morphicon staff spoke one last time.

I pretty much hung out, while the convention was still open, taking in everything one last time, before it all started to come down and get boxed up. Soon I met up with the gang and we walked to Panda Express for dinner. Then with Evan gone already, we chilled in Eric & Rita's room for awhile. Word had gotten out about a pool party that was supposed to be happening, so we went out to the pool outside the hotel just to find -- no one. We chilled there anyway, while I used the hotels free wi-fi to check-in for the Monday morning flight. Eventually people did start to come over to the pool (including the guy who wanted to have it to begin with). Johnathan and his posse came over too, but my group and his didn't interact that much and we stayed away from eachother. After being out here 2 and a half hours or so, we went back to Eric & Rita's. Again, I went to bed about 2:00, with Tom in Tyler W.'s bed who left already.

MONDAY/FINAL THOUGHTS
Got up about 8:15, took a shower and packed, then took a walk outside the convention center, hopped across the street to a espresso place for breakfast and came back to my room. Eventually Tyler S. and Ryland met us there. The hotel staff, figuring we were cutting it close, quickly got us a taxi and after Sean joined us, we left for LAX about noon (The flight boarded at 1:00, so yeah, we made it fine, but could've gotten going sooner). Ryland, Tyler S. and I arrived at Sea-Tac, I said my goodbyes and got home about 5:00.

It was a great weekend and despite the sorta rocky start, I had a lot of fun spending time with friends from Rangerboard and the chatroom we hang out in. Compared to Power Morphicon '07 and Anime Central '08, it was a bit different without their being any sort of "Rangerboard Party" -- instead people in their own groups, like I was.

The convention layout was nice and quick to navigate (albeit a little crammed at times), compared to the first Morphicon at Wilshire Hotel. There was even a "Morphin' Kitchen" food stand you could purchase lunch and snacks from.

Another bigger difference was that this time there were scheduled photo-ops you could purchase tickets for and get your pic taken with the cast member at the scheduled time -- although some still didn't mind having their pic taken with fans for free. (I got some pics with cast and didn't bother with the photo-op, different than getting in pics with everyone before). I did get a lot of high-quality autographed pics and the cast members were really great -- most asking where you were from and stuff.

Their was definitely room for improvement as well. A lot of people didn't like how the Gold/Silver/Red Ranger membership levels were handled. I liked getting priority seating in the first few rows. The 2 panel rooms were a little small and it literally got to 100+ degrees in one of the rooms at one point.

Next time I plan on focusing more on getting autographs on Friday and go to panels later. This weekend showed that the convention can still be overwhelming at times (no matter where it's at or who it's run by) -- between trying to decide if I wanna go to Panel A, Panel B, or get autographs (In all I got 33 and missed about 6 I wanted). I don't expect to get involved in setup again either, even if my group does. The real challenge would probably be getting Jason David Frank's autograph (Tommy, seasons 1-5, 11). Their was a line just for him all weekend, snaking up 3 rows of stairs.

And now that Saban has the show again, their should be more of presence from Saban Brands next time, which was pretty much absent (As part of the free stuff you got, I was kinda surprised to see a "Super Legends" Red Ranger poster and refrigerator magnets, both copyrighted to Disney -- but I guess it makes sense since the official convention announcement was made with Disney's sanction, close to Saban's purchase happening). Some cast from other defunct Saban shows were at the convention as well, which I wasn't interested in.

2012 we'll do it again and in the meantime, the power lives on...

Check out the gallery here.

Countdown to Morphicon

2010-08-25T18:48:00.011-07:00

It's been an interesting summer, beginning with the news Saban bought back the show. It was quite unexpected, especially after it was declared canceled a year prior and it looked like maybe it'd return in a few years. Boy, that was fast. Filming is staying in New Zealand, but will now be shot in HD, so it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. And this was the first summer being able to follow real-time updates of the casting process via Rangerboard with people with twitter/other connections, so that was pretty cool.

MMPRv2 has been forgettable and has had some questionable editing, but what the heck -- It's something and I have liked some of the graphics (Can't wait for the ORIGINAL eps on Nicktoons this fall >_>). No new season has helped make time for other things, such as watching GaoRanger and an english dub of Bioman. I'll check out a few eps of Shinkenger when PR's adaptation premieres, but the desire to watch recent sentai (after 4 years of MagiRanger, Boukenger, GekiRanger and Go-Onger) is pretty much history.

Now the second Power Rangers convention is upon us. A bunch of voice-actors, writers and crew from the old days will be making first ever appearances (some with their own panels), which will be fun. Unfortunately, their will be few (if any) New Zealand and Aussie cast from the Disney years, which will be different from meeting the Mystic Force and Operation Overdrive casts last time. Their should also be a lot more sitting around at panels and less wandering around watching for actors to appear in the halls and hanging out in the dealers room. The con should also be more organized and smoother overall than the first one as well. ACEN '08 was great, but it's time to get back to some good old PR festivities and keep "Mario" at home. And it'll be nice to meet people from the chatroom and board who didn't make it to ACEN or the first Morphicon, while hanging out with others I've met before.

Smallville Season Finale "Salvation"

2010-05-19T00:57:00.000-07:00

This was absolute salvation for Bloomsday and Jor-El's Fortress self-destruct.

Future Metropolis! Good to know for sure Lex is alive. Considering they went to the trouble of using doubles/voice alteration before, I gotta think they'll involve him in the story next year, especially if it is indeed planned all year as the end. Also loved how they vaguely showed Superman (was too excited the first time to realize you could see him taking control of the plane). And Martha's present... Just beautiful. ^_^

Liked how Zod again tried to pose as the Blur, but pushed too hard and Lois figured it out. Good "Charade" callback.

I was surprised Waller/Checkmate remnants weren't in this at all. Initially thought the person knitting was her keeping a low profile. And what happens with Tess now?

The cameos... Not what I was really expecting (Knew it would happen when only Vala and Basquat were actually credited). Nonetheless, it was still cool to see Watchtower rallying the troops. Perhaps they'll save the real JSA/JL teamup for when the shows actually ending?

Holy crap, Lois saw the journal! Great end to the Lois/Blur story. The way Clark told her by kissing her was excellent and as always, the creative shadowing really added to the scene. Now, will she get mindwiped or some crap? >_>

Clark vs Zod! A real throwdown at last!

Personally hope it's John Jones who flies in to save Clark. I could see him offering advice while he's injured.

What a season. The alternate future, flashbacks on Kandor, JSA, reveal of Checkmate's plans, Maxwell Lord coming in as the Black King and Martha as the Red Queen really made for a fantastic year. I enjoyed having Zod and the Kandorians around much of the time... plus it was great to have Lois in more episodes finally and our martian manhunter with powers. I hadn't been this excited since season 5 and the whole thing with Fine/Brainiac.

I love how far the show has come, with Clark facing more and more who he'll become... and having to balance the relationship with Lois and the one she had with the Blur. I still never expected them to go as far as they did with Lois and Clark's double identity.

S-9.18 "Upgrade" and 9.19 "Charade"

2010-04-25T22:20:00.002-07:00

Have to say I enjoyed John's attitude Upgrade.

I thought this episode moved things along nicely. Liked the focus between John & Lois and Clark & Zod teaming up. Loved the part in the FoS.

Props for returning to Seattle.

All the focus on the whole Charade of Clark's was a great surprise.

Loved how the relationship lines really blurred together. Lois realizing she can't know the Blur's identity speaking to Clark that he can't reveal who he is was well done. Had no clue they'd go so far as so have them touch hands. Yeah, it's possible she could realize deep down that it's Clark.

Will Zod try to pose as the Blur again? A quick scene like that would be nice.

Clark jumping through the glass and overlapping the image was another one of the most beautiful scenes the show has done. Checkmate Attic = Instant Win

My guess is that the Red Queen is Martha (in which case that was clearly a stand-in) or might be someone new. I can't see it being Chloe.

S-9.17 "Checkmate"

2010-04-11T21:35:00.005-07:00

Going back to season 8, this episode checkmated about the past 19 episodes.

Awesome opening scene. Sorta got a Disney PR vibe with how slow some shots were. Usually when there are fewer I wouldn't give it much thought.

Still trying to grasp the fact Tess has a hidden jump tube. >_>

Beautiful rescue scene. For something fairly simple, it worked wonders.

I have to admit, I about jumped outta my chair in excitement when it was revealed John had impersonated Waller. It was the icing on an already very sweet cake.

Ugh... Where's Mia? I generally like just about everything, but not this Chloliver thing. o_O

And yeah, it's great how Clark has no problem threatening Tess on the edge of buildings and she's genuinely scared he'd kill her.

Wait, another player? Red Queen? (long pause) Martha? OMG!

Just like last year at this time, Smallville delivered again. The focus on Checkmate and getting to see John in action with his powers easily made for some of the best scenes since the Davis/Lex flashbacks and pilot re-creation.

MMPRv2 update

2010-03-26T20:47:00.000-07:00

Now that we're 12 episodes into the reversioning, I'd have to say it hasn't been that bad lately. I come to realize that season 1 wasn't all that great to begin with.

"TEAMWORK" and "BIG SISTERS" were especially bad as far as the episodes go and the 'new' stuff didn't help. On the other hand, "SWITCHING PLACES" and "FOUL PLAY IN THE SKY" were easily some of the best early eps they did. Mostly, I like the Ranger-centric bumpers and the gags they do with Bulk n' Skull. The word pop-ups make some scenes more fun, but it feels really unneeded during morphed footage. Re-showing the beginning of "DAY OF THE DUMPTER" again and again is cringe-worthy, although the last time they showed it ("I, EYE GUY") had a creative segway.

S-9.14 "Persuasion" and 9.15 "Conspiracy"

2010-02-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

Awesome seeing Clark destroy Zod's towers as a last-ditch effort. One of the best uses of heat vision ever.

Surrounding Tess in the fire ring and nearly killing her wasn't bad either.

... What the hell, Chloe?!

Zod getting his powers back was pretty predictable. After Clark stabbed himself, I started to get what was going on. And awesome way to end the sweeps.

It's great having such a prominent villain on the show again. Sure, we got 6 eps until the final battle, but it feels like it could be the next ep, which I like. :)

The Kandorians in the FoS... Can't wait.

Two pretty good episodes.

S-9.13 "Warrior"

2010-02-14T21:57:00.003-08:00

Forget Warrior Angel, we all know the real warrior is Zatanna. >_>

Liked how Zatara had put a spell on the never-opened comic, leading to Zatanna having to get involved. And those eyes... ^_^

Nice to see Allison direct an episode actually centered on Chloe this time.

After Zod was suddenly hanging out in Clark's house before, I wondered if there'd be any scenes with them in this. Not surprised there weren't.

This was a nice, fun and pretty flexible episode.

Smallville: Absolute Justice

2010-02-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

Even for a non-comics fan like myself, this was an absolute thrill.

Awesome seeing the Icicle/Star-Spangled Kid fight through Chloe's POV.

Liked how the former heros got mixed up with the government and taken to jail for refusing to work for them. Clark learning about them and uncovering the museum was well done.

THE CAPE!

Awesome match between Icicle/Stargirl.

Guess Fate didn't feel like telling Clark Lex isn't really dead. Interesting way they sorta danced around this.

HE'S BACK! Had a feeling John was getting his powers backs in this, even cemented with a badass line.

A little overboard with slow-mo final battle, but it's what I expect from the show. And I did like how the camera panned around between everyone using their weapons.

OH SNAP! Could Tess's ties with Checkmate have to do with Lex giving her the Luthorcorp position?

Loved the nods to Justice League, "Lois & Clark" and John's appetite for cookies.

When Pam mentioned the apocalypse, I naturally thought, well, isn't that what'll happen if Zod succeeds? >_>

The lesson and encouragement about fighting together more and spending time with eachother outside of that was nice.

Even Cordelia was more human than Chloe in late s3 of Angel -- and she was half demon!

Hopefully the new Dr. Fate will be part of the storyline later, since we know a character or 2 usually appears after the teamup. Can't wait to see what they do next year. For this year, it was great and the 2 parts made the pacing pretty good.

Wrapping up KRDK, RPM and more...

2010-01-23T22:53:00.000-08:00

RPM #29 "IF VENJIX WON" Password Panic | #30 "END GAME": Countdown to Destruction

2009-12-26T17:58:00.001-08:00

#29:
I really hoped this would turn out better, after ideas for what would happen started going around months ago. I didn't really like how K's video would come on when incorrect passwords were typed in and the Rangers' guesses were lame. Although I gotta say nice work with showing mostly relevant clips and brief run-downs of each Ranger.

I kept holding on for something throughout the ep, but whatever reference to past PR we were supposed to get, didn't even happen.

The other part of this with the Ziggy/K focus was cute. I liked how the password turned out to be Ziggy. ^_^

#30:
Liked Gem and Gemma's idea of how to find the location of Venjix Palace.

Nice to have a little Ziggy/Dillon bonding again.

Although Venjix giving Kilobyte the shaft feels kinda sudden, I like how he activated Hicks -- and in turn spoiling the master plan a little early and pissing Venjix off.

And damn, Vasquez too (... and a bunch others in the army)! Wasn't expecting that. Loved Truman's reaction to her.

Started out kinda slow but ended with a great prelude to the finale. Kinda reminded me of "RESURRECTION" and this time, I'm hoping for something along the lines of "COUNTDOWN TO DESTRUCTION"/"JOURNEY'S END." Bring it, Chip.

S-9.09 "Pandora"

2009-11-22T23:14:00.000-08:00

Wonderful episode. Seeing the various Luthorcorp tech get used again took me back to the days of the Luthors.

Great job showing just what happened to Lois, tying in when she first put the ring on to when she returned with Alia.

It's interesting to think about this timeline in which Lois was gone and Clark had much more training with Jor-El (without the distraction of Lois being around). I have to wonder just how much of the events that happened and will be coming up (Wonder Twins, Zatanna, JSA, etc) would've occurred.

Can't wait to see how everyone tries to prevent their doom and Zod's ultimate plan.

Dragon Knight update

2009-11-11T21:53:00.000-08:00

Despite the big slump and very slow pacing its gone through, I've stuck with the show and have to say "XAVIAX'S WRATH" has been my favorite all season. Didn't think they'd actually vent Kit. I always thought, if anything, I'd be Len and Kit would be alone (albeit for a short time). I love the discussion of what might happen coming up with Eubulon (the Advent Master) and Adam hopefully showing up.

Loved how Xaviax stood there after Wrath disappeared and gave one of his best lines ever. Possessing Vic/Wrath was really fun to watch. Still wish we could have an "IF XAVIAX WON" episode.

The big grieving scene was nicely done, especially with the lack of flashbacks and being silent.

I really hope Ninja Maya isn't a dream of hers.

And I've enjoyed the 'No Men' plot for the most part. The fight with the 3 agents in the white room was pretty lame, though.

S-9.07 "Kandor"

2009-11-08T21:09:00.001-08:00

Loved this episode. Great flashbacks all around.

Great use of powers by Clark. Unearthing the S shield in the desert was pretty cool.

Ollie as Clark's sidekick this time was a nice change.

Well done with the Davis/Doomsday tie-ins.

Was sorta expecting a little more from Tess when she met Jor-El, like a mention of Lex and how she basically inherited his obsession.

Tess finally getting what she wanted from Clark was awesome. Liked that he just went ahead and super-sped in front of her, without thinking about it.

S-9.06 "Crossfire"

2009-11-01T22:05:00.001-08:00

It was like the plots in this ep were caught in a Crossfire.

I could've easily give this an average, based on how the Ollie/Mia storyline started out, but love the Lois/Clark stuff as always, making the ep turn out pretty good. The return of Zod/Tess interaction was done well also. Pretty cool introduction to the future solar towers and Zod as a new company head.

More time spent with Ollie watching Mia before approaching her would've been nice. Sorta surprised she was back on the street at the end. Liked Ollie's "Why dontcha take it easy there, Speedy..."

Clark stopping the bullets and saving Ollie and Lois was awesome.

It was great to see the entire cast in this, now that Lois is in more eps and they have one less actor. Between all the stuff happening, the episode flowed pretty well.

S-9.04 "Echo"

2009-10-19T01:36:00.000-07:00

If you think I loved this episode, you'd just be reading my mind. ^_^

Great to see Toyman again. Christopher Gauthier pulls it off brilliantly. It's like having Smallville's own William O' Leary.

Seeing Clark super-speed the people outta the factory and leave his trademark was pretty nifty.

Clark hearing Lois's thoughts was cute. Liked how it was a temporary gift from Jor-El and how it tied into the plot.

Ace of Clubs... of course. Might as well use it for all its worth since it means no pad for Oliver. :\

I like that Oliver is still being haunted by Lex's image.

Awesome how Tess is having Schott figure out how the krypto-heart works.

S-9.03 "Rabid"

2009-10-11T18:08:00.001-07:00

I went into this episode with low expectations, mostly looking forward to Lois and Clark moving forward a bit. I'm not a big fan of "xx hours earlier" eps that we get every year, but overall this was actually pretty good. The makeup, lighting and camera effects were done very nicely, making it look really creepy.

I always appreciate references to past characters... well usually. Davis sure, Lana notsomuch.

Guess that means Green Arrow is dead. :(

Love how Zod has no idea about Clark and is thinking it's Jor-El. Gonna make things really interesting later.

RPM #27 "CONTROL-ALT-DELETE": General Deception | #28 "RUN ZIGGY RUN": Green Courage

2009-10-09T22:30:00.000-07:00

Liked how Tenaya 15 was intro'd, with Venjix referring to her as his new weapon, before they actually showed her.

At first I thought the key quickly falling outta Scott happened too soon, but I liked how the plotline turned into Dillon/Tenaya.

So Shifter really was smart. I suspect Crunch really isn't.

Scott's helmet falling off was weird, but the posing was cool. I really liked how he just owned Shifter. The whole fight with Dumbbell-Bot was pretty cool as well. I enjoy when they mix it up by having solo morphs than everyone just getting in a group and morphing.

5/5. Sorta fitting how Garber's last episode was excellent, much like his first ("IDOL").

"RUN ZIGGY RUN" turned out better than I thought. I didn't think I'd wanna give this a 5 also, but it was a pretty good wrap-up to Ziggy's past with the mafia. Even tying in to the main story by sending Tenaya to get something for Venjix from Fresno Bob was pretty cool. That's exactly what the show should do -- start to piece together Venjix' final plan, now that there's not much time left. And using Shifter's upgrade for himself -- awesome.

Love the Ziggy/K stuff.

Another fun battle, this time with Kilobyte.

Liked how Ziggy/Gemma and Dillon/Gem teamed up during the zord battle and how all the MZs fought individually for a bit before forming Ultrazord.

I could careless about Go-On's comedic antics, but there's some great stuff coming from it.

RPM #25-26 "KEY TO THE PAST"/"BEYOND A DOUBT": Truth Discovered

2009-10-04T16:53:00.001-07:00

Nice to see Tenaya 7 follow up on her threat to Shifter. Didn't really like how Venjix banished him so quickly. I do like that he's no longer a dumbbell and is becoming a big threat to the Rangers. The suddenness of it could've been handled better though.

Dillon finally realizing the truth was nicely done. I thought Tenaya's visor would break and he'd recognize her. I like that he used the "tire spin" on her. Tenaya having to face who she really is was done well also. Best part had to be when she flashbacked while hanging on.

The screeching tires effect hasn't been used for Tenaya much I don't think, so I liked that they did that too.

Always nice to see a semi-demorph.

Surprised to see actual blood on the show -- and not from some guy in a suit.

Nice continuing right where we left off with"BEYOND A DOUBT." The zord action was handled pretty well -- from evil PaeloMax to the big combination. More great story with Tenaya and Dillon as well.

I like how Judd went with a bunch of their own cockpit scenes, which obviously makes life easier when the mecha battles getting edited to death as it is.

Loved the shot of all the zords and how the Ultrazord uses holograms of the Megazords with their finishers.

And the happy ending is ruined. :( Next time: "Venjix' Revenge"

Also, there's just something about editing Hellgaille Palace onto the wasteland that I always get a kick out of.

5/5 for both eps.

Smallville Season Premiere "Savior"

2009-09-28T00:03:00.001-07:00

As usual, this show is the Savior of my TV viewing.

That has to be the best opening they've ever done. Nice to see the new clips added and more wiggle room with one less person.

Awesome seeing Clark underway with Jor-El's training and questioning his lack of ability to fly.

Liked the mention of Kara and Tess pointing out that Zod isn't the voice that spoke to her. Also liked Chloe's attempt to try to get Clark to use the ring to prevent Jimmy's death.

If Clark was really giving up his humanity, he should've ended his ties with the farm. And sweet fight with Alia.

It's gonna be another great year. ^_^

RPM #24 "ANCIENT HISTORY": Day of the Dino

2009-09-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

I felt like this episode should've been done sooner, but better late than never. Nice Truman/K focus about moving on from the past for a brighter future.

Why'd Venjix not send Tenaya 7 to the rundown Alphabet Soup sooner? I liked the plot and how snooping around the old storage awakened the DinoTrain. I thought it was funny that of all the props to use as old Ranger tech, they had an Overdrive helmet.

Pretty funny with the holograms.

The sudden Megazord practice felt out of place. To me, it's reasonable enough Ziggy thought they should train, figuring Drill-Bot would go large soon anyway. Though it would've flowed better if Drill-Bot had actually run away or something. Also, wouldn't have thought Corinth has a train system.

After a pretty average ep in "THE DOME DOLLS" and sorta weird clip show mash-up, RPM bounced right back to a 4/5.

RPM #21 "NOT SO SIMPLE": A Silver Lining

2009-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Nice to see it's Gemma's turn after Gem had his. Although cutting the sentence-finishing was abrupt, it worked well enough.

I genuinely laughed the first time Flynn tried to get Dr. K to trust him and when he asked Gemma about finishing his sentences. XD

Tenaya's 100% robot? LIES!

Warrior Wheel Mark II!

Boy, is Truman gonna rip K from her high horse in a few eps from now... >_>

This episode was....simply brilliant. I was surprised Matt Negrete wrote it (probably the last script before Lynn and Tellegen fully took over), which made it feel like an Eddie Guzelian ep, I thought. Awesome character focus and footage adapting.

And I don't think Series Gold and Silver will be displayed along the wall with the others. :\

RPM #19 "THREE'S A CROWD": Megazord Mishap | #20 "HEROS AMONG US': Good as Gold

2009-08-25T00:44:00.003-07:00

Power Morphicon 2

2009-08-16T18:09:00.003-07:00

Thought I'd share a few thoughts about the next con, officially announced back in June. It's already getting exciting, as a ton of PR alumni are already on board, including nearly everyone who was at Anime Expo -- and it's still a year away.

I'm glad things are happening a lot smoother this time around. Last time, the huge delay in info from the website lead to me scrambling to be on the forum as much as I could during the final month or so (which wasn't easy during May sweeps) and perhaps a better effort to find a roommate could've been made. For next years con, the details will be out in a more timely manner and the roommate situation -- we shall see. I can't wait to see the schedule, which is bound to be jam-packed, better structured and have panels for a majority of the seasons. It'd be nice to buy something from the merch tables this time as well.

I still don't know what I was thinking -- not bothering to spend even a lunch going through the booklet of my then-new digital camera -- instead figuring it out while using it. It was just one trip after another to that gift shop. -_- Next year though, will go MUCH better and I'll definitely have a stash of rechargeable batteries so I can just keep switching them out when needed (more Rangers = more pics).

One thing that was great about the first PMC was the very intimate feel -- tons of impromptu autograph signing and pics, as fans could casually chat with the PR alumni in the hallways -- whether they were passing by or just hanging out. That's likely to change.

I'll look forward to arriving at the location a day or 2 early and be ready for actors who happen to show up the evening before it starts. And being my 3rd PR gathering, things shouldn't be so freakin' awkward. It'll be great to meet actors again who were at the last PMC and ones making their first appearance at the con, all while hanging out with people I know from Rangerboard and talked to at ACEN. ^_^

RPM #18 "BELLY OF THE BEAST": Blockbuster

2009-08-08T18:24:00.001-07:00

This was an excellent episode to cap off the recent Dillon focus and what ultimately became Eddie's last episode. :(

Supervising a huge production value while having someone else write the script was never more obvious than the past 2 eps.

This episode alone felt like more of a mid-season blockbuster than "DARK WISH" ever was -- especially how involved Truman and his men were, the impending doom and Truman and Hicks present for Dr. K's speech for once.

Pretty cool how they were able to change the doomsday machine to become a whale at the last moment and fool the Saw-Bot by forming the new MZ.

And I gotta say I love Tenaya 7's attitude. "KEY TO THE PAST" can't come soon enough.

RPM #17 "PRISONERS": Go For 'Boom Time'

2009-07-19T21:43:00.001-07:00

Great episode. Enjoyed the plot again -- and tied in with more of Dillon's backstory only made it better.

It's moments like Ziggy stumbling to get outta the slave clothes that I really appreciate from the writers. It was cute when he and Summer both called front seat. ^_^

Shadow puppets save the day!

The only complaint has to be Saw-Bot getting defeated quickly after the core 5 had so much trouble with him. An entire episode for this (similar to some of the old ones in the later Saban years) would've been nice -- on the other hand, the more time spent on story is great too.

I kinda like Gem and Gemma always showing up already morphed, but it'll be nice when we finally see their morph and the suits case expands to include them (I'm guessing the big group shot at the at the start of the theme is from the next ep).

I just can't say enough how phenomenal it is how well this shows written and how great these characters are. 5/5.

RPM #16 "IN OR OUT": Aired Out

2009-07-11T20:08:00.000-07:00

This episode was well put together, I thought. I liked the attack on the air supply plot.

Loved how Dr. K had something different to say to each Ranger along with giving them hugs and how awkward it was for everyone. Dillon's only there as part of a "work release agreement." Ha. Poor Ziggy. Like how they're undoubtedly building up something between him and K.

Gem and Gemma finishing eachothers sentences is annoying as hell, but I'll get used to it. It's interesting having Rangers who're basically insane. Doing their own sound effects while going over the plan was pretty funny.

I liked how Truman put his foot down with them, but ultimately they were the ones who were right. The others reactions to Gem and Gemma are good as well. No one (but maybe K) likes their attitude.

Liked the use of powers to get out of the dome.

Nice to see Summer lead another morph in Scott's absence.

Ugh, quick zord battles seem even worse when a Megazord is just there suddenly. >_>

5/5

RPM #15 "GHOSTS": The Wings of RPM

2009-07-05T21:36:00.001-07:00

Pretty much what I expected -- a good, action-packed intro for Series Gold and Silver.

I doubt they'll classify Gem's zord as a falcon, after Flynn's joke about it being a chicken... and hey, they're clearly avoiding naming Ziggy's zord, so why name Gem's?

Perhaps we need more MOTDs with bombs -- then the explosions wouldn't feel so unnecessary. Although it's kinda nice if it's unique for Dyna-Bot.

Great fight scenes for Gem and Gemma, showing off their powers and moves.

It was a bit odd to see Shifter alongside Venjix, when there was no sentai footage which would call for it. And the death of Project Go-Onger was really cheap.

No 5/5 this time, but still a pretty good 4.

RPM #14 "EMBODIED": Road Trip

2009-06-21T19:36:00.000-07:00

Kinda wish the episode had started out with the Rangers reaction to what Dr. K said, but Dillon's little outburst sorta made up for it.

Gosh, was that ADR crappy. I do like when we have an early zord battle and we get into the episode right after it.

Oh man, another WIN with the Go-onger RV. I actually had to quickly pause the ep to collect myself. Never would've imagined some of the already minimal sentai footage this season would include their mobile base. All that's missing now is Bomper. ^_^

Nice work trying to spruce up the same old quarry with piles of rocks and changing the color tone. I love that they do it for all the wasteland scenes.

The big battle with Venjix was nicely done. I like some of the different wire-fu moves they've been doing all season (especially for Ziggy).

Interesting attitude Venjix has going on. Tenaya should just overthrow him, then she can take over. >_>

RPM #13 "BROTHER'S KEEPER": Leader and Brooder

2009-06-13T23:32:00.000-07:00

... That was one of the most misleading episode titles I've ever seen. Thought for sure it would involve Marcus somehow, maybe more about Scott's relationship with Colonel Truman. Nope. But hey, it's great to be surprised. And since episode summaries are out now (I haven't read all of them myself), this is the last time to have no idea what to expect.

The first part at the beach was pretty good. Liked how Tenaya 7 was just there suddenly.

Loved the observation by Dr. K (in her slippers and PJs, no less) about Summer liking Scott and Dillon.

Liked how Scott and Dillon were stuck chained together, although it felt sorta like a cop-out that they could've morphed sooner to break it. And nice to see the Wheel Blasters used in a ground battle.

Great end to the episode -- Dr. K revealing to the Rangers that she's responsible for Venjix.

5/5. Nicely done.

RPM #12 "BLITZ": Back to Black

2009-05-30T23:00:00.001-07:00

Usually eps like these are an excuse to burn through sentai battle footage. Instead, RPM just did all its own stuff. Not a bad episode at all -- just different than what we've had.

I had the sense this episode was re-cut after Eddie left, which explains more morphed fights than usual and Judd Lynn also being credited for EP. I expect eps like these anyway, so it wasn't a big deal (Clearly it's what "ROBOTPALOOZA" should've been).

Gotta say, I really liked the start of the episode, getting back to Dillon's haunting past with a dream. Nice use of sound effects and Kelson returning to PR to voice Sat-Bot. Although Dr. K is a bitch for trying to shut down Series Black twice, it was very interesting how Dillon over-rode it and a virus in him activated.

Will Dillon go totally evil and join Venjix' army? Will Dr. K ever find a cure? Can't wait to see how this develops...

RPM #11 "DOCTOR K": Smart Child Slavery

2009-05-18T21:14:00.001-07:00

Wow, Dr. K's remark to Ziggy was c-c-cold, but now that we know the trauma she went through, I'm not surprised.

Liked that they brought up the issue how the Venjix hardware is getting stronger quick.

Nice foreshadowing to Gem and Gemma returning with Series Gold and Silver, while Dr. K is saddened having believed they died.

So Broodwing became a Government agent who's partially responsible for seeking and looking after smart children -- enslaved to work on computer programming. Makes sense to me. <_<

Another great callback, seeing K make the recording to the citizens to go to Corinth. Hopefully they'll fill more of the background soon of when Summer, Scott and Flynn were recruited and received their morphers.

Clever plan to bring the defunct bot to The Garage so they could get a mirror copy of the part needed for Zenith Megazord. These Megazord intros tied in with the episodes plot are exactly how it should be done. And with all the times the villains have been/will be in the Rangers base this year, I'm gonna be hoping it'll finally get destroyed in the finale (Judd Lynn did blow up the Power Chamber for good after all).

Loved the violin over the zord battle. Absolutely perfect how it went with K playing it. Nice piano music too. Interesting how she seems to use musical instruments to focus and find solutions to problems.

Yeah, zooming inside the helmets was cool at first, but got way overdone. I'd say Eddie got a little too happy using their own cockpits.

Overall, this was one of the most beautifully executed episode ever, especially the music and butterfly scene. RPM continues to squash the past couple years.

Smallville Season Finale "Doomsday": Going Dark

2009-05-17T23:20:00.002-07:00

You know, I love the season re-caps they always do. I knew the episode itself would be about as fast paced.

Clark should have sent Bloomsday to the Phantom Zone, but Chloe staying alive has altered things and now Clark will die. Love this timeline stuff and how the Leigon has to get involved. Fun to imagine if Clark had sent the beast to the future.

Nice moment between the RBB and Lois. Didn't think they'd come back to it this year.

Clark got what he deserved for speaking for the group that Oliver was off the team, only to have Bart and Dinah stick with him. Wish we could've seen more of the JLs and an attempt to weak Doomsday with their powers.

Loved how Jimmy found out Clark's secret -- and Davis kills him! One of the biggest surprises all year. Never thought one of the deaths would be him. I like how they set up his little brother to be the actual comics Jimmy.

Damn, Lois is in the future? Hopefully they'll do something with this and she won't just come back.

Great to finally see Doomsday without clever shadowing. Yeah, I was expecting more mayhem and a longer fight.

Interesting ending between Clark and Chloe. I felt like this was the darkest he's ever been, like Kal-El took over or something. Very symbolic having him vanish. As this went on, I started to wonder what the cliffhanger would be...

Sure enough, the Orb starts going crazy. Tess hurries to the window and Zod appears! I was sorta expecting Davis would re-awaken as Zod. Guess we'll have to wait until the season premiere. Was hoping they'd do more with Tess as well, especially after the scene at the end of "Eternal."

All in all, this was a good year with some interesting changes. The addition of Tess made up for the departure of Lex and her progression of doing Lex's dirty work and ultimately turning a new leaf after his betrayal was well done. I'm glad she's not going anywhere. Oliver's slow turn to darkness and his issues with Clark was great too.

Can't wait to see what happens with the characters next season, especially Zod. We all know these things get wrapped up pretty quick (Lex-Zod, Bizarro), so it should be exciting if he is the big villain next year. Great way to keep Sam Witwer too. Looking forward to what the hecks going on with Kandor as well. And maybe they'll bring back Doomsday for sweeps.

S-8.21 "Injustice": Search and Betrayl

2009-05-10T21:55:00.001-07:00

You know what's really injustice? All this talk of Kandor when Laura Vandervoort's not returning anytime soon (AFAWK). >_>

Very sneaky having Eva impersonate Chloe. Going into the ep, I wondered why Chloe would be back suddenly.

I was really digging the all black going on.

Good focus on the Ollie/Tess relationship. Yes, Ollie has got to stop trying to kill people. Looks like it'll get addressed.

And yeah, the "Doomsday" trailer looks great. I wonder what the Lois/Tess catfight over the Orb is all about...

RPM #10 "RANGER BLUE": Total Flynn and Pure Win

2009-05-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

HOLY CRAP. Talk about pure win -- This episode was it.

Acknowledging the zords eyes, why they have to yell the morph call and even the explosions -- Absolutely brilliant. If RPM had roll calls, I wonder what Dr. K's response would've been for 'em... >_>

Flynn's backstory was nice and pretty straight forward. They way the zipped through him getting dismissed from various jobs was awesome.

About time the Generals got out and fought. Cute little run-through by Tenaya of the Rangers.

I liked when Scott and Summer morphed off-screen and we saw the suits disappear.

It was great how Flynn owned Dr. K. And a solo morph explosion that's actually part of the plot? Amazing.

S-8.20 "Beast": Impending Doom

2009-05-04T22:44:00.000-07:00

Pretty good episode. Feel bad at the mess Chloe's gotten herself into when she really is trying to protect Clark.

I liked the continuing focus on the relationship between Clark and Ollie -- and how Clark had to save him.

Kinda surprised how Brainiac's crystal seemed to come outta nowhere. As others probably did, I felt like "wait, what?" when Clark mentioned it.

Now that the season is about to come to an end, I gotta say the supporting cast roulette has been pretty annoying this year, with the addition of Tess/Davis/Ollie. I wish Tess had been in more episodes and Lois had gotten more shoutouts like Ollie had (at least she had 2 or so). On another note, I'd say the Davis/Doomsday storyline has been paced very well.

RPM #09 "RANGER YELLOW, Part 2": Wedding Woes

2009-05-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

LOVED the guys fighting Grinders unmorphed while talking about the recent events and how it continued after they morphed. Perfect job fitting the ADR lines.

Nice wrap-up of Summer's backstory. Andrews dying right there on screen was quite a surprise. LOL at him on a block of legos. >_>

Was expecting Summer to actually have joined the medical team, but just deciding on-the-spot to save Scott was OK too. Great job intertwining a few clips from previous eps.

Don't really like 25 second zord battles, but it did make more time for other scenes, like the awesome fight in the Garage amidst the wedding stuff. I'd hate to say it, but it sorta reminded me of "THREE'S A CROWD" (the episode with Wedding Dress Org). <_< It's a nice change having an episode with less morphed stuff for once.

I'd put Part 2 a bit lower than Part 1 overall, mostly for being sick of Summer's parents attitude when the episode began and Chaz' royalty -- I wasn't feeling.

RPM #08 "RANGER YELLOW, Part 1": Girl Power

2009-04-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

Nice to see two-part eps acknowledged as such in the titles again and none of the Kalish "adding a II" crap.

I thought the Q&A with the kids was enjoyable and sorta felt like a jab at the fandom.

Summer was really cliche in her flashback, but I like how they were daydreams and most likely some exaggeration of what actually happened. I really like what they're doing with her and her motivation to be a better person.

Nice to see Tenaya 7 out on another mission. While I do like how heavily focused the Rangers are while the villains are limited to monsters, Grinders and Tenaya (as Venjix oversees everything), more with them would be nice. Like maybe have Tenaya in more episodes if Shifter and Crunch are gonna stay in the scrap heap?

This episode had great fight scenes too and did a nice job of having Summer save the day.

The parents were dumb, but meh, big deal. Remember how goofy Boom's parents were? >_>

So on a scale of female Yellow eps, I'd give this a solid "WAY OF THE MASTER" out of a "INVASION OF THE BODY SWITCHER."

RPM #07 "RANGER RED": Flying Low

2009-04-19T22:16:00.001-07:00

This episode sorta put me on the fence. While part of it was good, part of it was just weird too.

Scott getting in some screentime with Ziggy and showing him the ropes was nice. Using the stroller against the Grinders was funny, but just felt kinda wrong, I thought, with the baby inside.

Pretty decent flashbacks for Scott. I especially liked how he witnessed his brothers death when the jet exploded. Didn't really like how he was able to return to the crash site a year later and find the envelope still there. And really bad CGI. >_>

Wasted chance for a full screen of Scott's complete morph.

Cool intro for the CrocCrawler.

3/5 overall. Every season -- no matter how good -- has a plot or something I don't care much about and it doesn't help that aviation doesn't interest me.

RPM #05 "HANDSHAKE": Creepy Crawly

2009-04-07T22:48:00.001-07:00

Love the tension Dillon has with Dr. K. Nice follow-up with the invisibility power getting tested. Yeah, I can see why we aren't getting "RANGER BLACK" for the foreseeable future, which is just fine since Dillon's had more focus than anyone until now.

Wow, I forgot how PR can be GENUINELY FUNNY. The blaster coming out of the fridge made me laugh which doesn't happen very often.

Tenaya's remote hand ala Addams Family was pretty cool. GREAT callback using the blaster to kill it. Loved how she commented on the monsters wacky design.

General Crunch asking if Venjix was gonna supersize Nozzbot then, or wait until the Rangers beat him was great too. And Crunch's new voice fits better.

The only real complaint is that Ziggy was given his zord without anything being said when Dr. K gave Dillon his. Otherwise, another great episode, right down to Ziggy's on-the-job learning of how to fight. 5/5.

S-8.18 "Eternal"

2009-04-05T22:53:00.001-07:00

Flashback episodes are generally pretty good and this one didn't disappoint.

Wow -- loved how they perfectly added new scenes with Young Davis to the pilot footage, even adding stand-ins for the Kents walking away. Hopefully Young Lex returns next year for an episode or 2.

Clark and Chloe figuring out what's been going on with Davis was nicely done. Good to see Clark get on her about it.

Great continuity with the Traveler storyline again. The way Tess told it was pretty nice. Great to see that facility again too.

I know, I'm lame. Had no idea what Chloe was looking at on the couch (before Clark threw it in the fire), until someone filled me in. -_- I'll definitely start watching the DVDs by next year.

Geez, Clark is such a dick, but it does make for a great plot point...

Clark: Fuck you, bitch. I don't care you're not a Luthor. I'm not telling you anything.
Tess: Fine, we'll play it you're way... Kal-El.

Damn, now Tess has Lex's map to the Fortress! Hmm, Tess possibly controlling Clark for the season finale cliffhanger would make up for Lex not getting to do it. And it could be the only way he fights Bloomsday.

RPM #04 "GO FOR THE GREEN": Infiltration Failure

2009-03-31T20:17:00.000-08:00

The auditions for Green were funny, maybe a little too over-the-top, I thought. Ziggy's ambition was great. And nice to see our heros NOT have secret identities this year.

Liked the explanation of the Ranger suits unique power traits.

Good plan by Venjix to infiltrate the Rangers from within using Tenaya 7. A female Green would've been interesting. I like how whistling is her calling card. The interaction between Ziggy and Tenaya was well done. Nice use of a battle helmet so Dillon doesn't recognize her.

Ziggy bonding with the morpher and insta-morphing as a last resort was also done well. Looking forward to "RANGER GREEN" and more of his past involving the mafia.

Also, I'm liking the use of the sound effects in battle.

A slight step down, otherwise still very good. 4/5.

S-8.17 "Hex"

2009-03-29T23:45:00.000-08:00

This was a pretty nice episode. Enjoyed meeting Zatanna and Chloe playing Lois.

Almost thought Oliver was gonna wish for Lex to come back or something. >_>

I liked how Chloe officially became the Watchtower. Kinda hoping Bart (along with Victor) is one of the JLers returning, since he was mentioned twice in just this episode and you know, it would make up for them not being able to be in "Odyssey."

RPM #03 "RAIN": Dillon's Decision

2009-03-24T14:38:00.000-08:00

I like the tension between Scott and Dillon and how Scott kinda seems jealous of him. Summer and has good chemistry with Dillon, which is cool.

Now THAT was one of the best explanations about Ranger suits and powers we've EVER had. Nice tie-in to the morphing grid. I like that Summer said "morpher."

Interesting brief look at whatevers haunting Dillon. They way he fondly looked at the kids playing (sorta an "In Space" moment), makes it look like Tenaya 7 will turn out to be related to him.

Bah, so the MOTDs do talk. I thought it'd be kinda cool if they didn't. I like how they can get into Corinth through various ways (such as the water system), although the city should be better guarded. The gas ventilation blocking the entry was neat, I thought.

Funny how Dr. K keeps being referred to as a man. Can't wait to see their reaction.

Ziggy continues to bring some good Bridge-style comedy relief while not acting as some poor mans Dax.

I really like how the Ranger suits stand in the cases and disappear when they morph.

Dillon's training sequence and first morphed fight were cool. Great to see someone besides Red get the slowww solo morph.

Even if the ending was sudden, I liked how Scott was concerned for his car. And the Megazord battle ending in the last minute, instead of the lighthearted moments we've had for years adds another fresh change in the mix.

This was basically the conclusion of the premiere, one of the most well paced and thought out beginnings to a season ever -- something you wouldn't expect with only 32 eps. 5/5.

S-8.15 "Infamous" and 8.16 "Turbulence"

2009-03-22T23:16:00.000-08:00

"Infamous" just didn't sit right with me.

Clark revealing himself to the world -- at first being the hero, but soon getting slammed with paparazzi, with people wondering why he can't be everywhere, was pretty well done. It got kinda sad though, especially when his friends were in danger. Nice touch with Clark on the phone with Martha.

For what wasn't a dream, Linda's quick come-n-go near the cameras and people suuure made it seem like one.

The Clark/Lois scenes were good as always, but it was a bit disappointing they didn't meet up at the end, especially with Clark standing right there. I guess we have to expect more of this with another season to go.

While Davis confessing to Chloe was good, I don't like that it was erased anyway. Surely Clark could've gone back knowing about Bloomsday, but nooo... I wonder if he'll instead find out when/if they show Davis complete transformation in the season finale.

I liked how Davis in the hospital was reset and Linda wanted to see him, although her dying by suffocation was really lackluster. Doomsday should've killed her. >_>

And shouldn't Clark try to do something about the Fortress which could result in Brainiac's return?

Eh, perhaps this episode would've been better as another what-if AU, instead of actually happening before using the Leigon ring to reset the day.

"Turbulence" was pretty good, focusing on Davis and his trying to control the inner beast, while Jimmy returns to Metropolis and regrets it.

Davis realizing he can control the beast from coming out -- by killing -- is getting pretty creepy.

Heh, Clark practicing quick changes. Loved the photo booth super change.

Liked how Tess kept trying to get Clark to open up and how she staged the plane
explosion.

Wow, kudos to Jimmy to standing up and ripping Chloe a new one, after all he want through and how paranoid he was. Well done.

I get the feeling this is a step in the 'bye-bye Chloe' direction. >_>

RPM #01-02 "THE ROAD TO CORINTH" /"FADE TO BLACK": "It's time for a change"

2009-03-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Gearing up for RPM, while KRDK holds strong

2009-03-09T21:45:00.001-08:00

Some final thoughts before I watch RPM tomorrow (comments start next week)...

What a couple weeks its been. I gotta say this is the most excited I've been for a new season since pretty much DinoThunder. SPD comes in a close second with it's cool roll call promos.

The 4 minute trailer was nothing short of a grand reinvention -- similar to reinventions in Zeo and Lost Galaxy (inspiring me to make the teaser below).

RPM will have a LOT to live up to and based on Eddie Guzelian's posts and how much effort and care he put in -- I don't think it'll be a problem. I'll be more concerned about what'll happen to the episodes when they shift to Judd Lynn (especially considering he was NEVER told how Eddie would've finished the storylines), but that's not until the 19th episode.

News of PR not continuing production is really no surprise, considering we almost didn't even get RPM, if Disney hadn't been obligated to keep going and what-not. RPM could very well be one heckuva final season to go out with a bang, instead of merely "NOW THE FINAL FURY." >_>

Meanwhile, Dragon Knight continues to be pretty good. I like what they've done with the characters and how Xaviax pretends to be different people to trick the guys he wants to become Riders.

S-8.13 "Power"

2009-02-01T22:15:00.001-08:00

I know a lot of people didn't think this episode was as good as others have been, but I liked it. I always like re-created flashbacks and was happy to finally find out what Lana had been up to and how she made the DVD so quickly.

I liked the path they gave Lana and how she convinced Dr. Grohl to let her have the invincibility suit. Watching her cut her hair was really unneeded, nor was kissing to end the episode again (I'd say it should've been left off "Bulletproof").

I love they're pushing forward with Lex being a badass once again. I wonder if they'd flashback to Lex saving Tess or offering her Luthorcorp. And doesn't Tess know what happened to Gina, after she came out that she loved Lex? >_>

So is Davis stuck as Doomsday now? Does Lex still know Clark's secret? I'm half expecting something will happen to his mind as a result of the experiments if he does, or maybe he doesn't know anymore, considering they're going so far as to give him a modified voice with the body double. It must've been a helluva time rescuing him and getting him hooked up after the Fortress collapsed.

Power Rangers RPM update and comments

2009-01-31T22:35:00.002-08:00

You know, I was SO confident RPM would be on Disney XD -- clearly a perfect match, but nooo... I won't rule out the possibility that my ABC affiliate will return to showing PR, but baring a miracle, this'll be the first time I'll be relying on encodes for the entire season. (On a side note, the worst incident I had back when episodes were being first-run on ABC between 2002-03 was sitting down to watch the Ninja Storm premiere off the VCR, just to find out my affiliate opted to show infomercials instead. >_<)

I like that for the first time since Wild Force, we'll have 4 females on the show: A mentor named Dr. K (Olivia Tennet), Tenaya 7 -- a "hot villain" (Adelaide Kane), plus the Yellow and Silver Rangers.

It'll be interesting to see how it turns out, knowing that Bruce Kalish original replacement (Eddie Guzelian) was fired half-way through the season and someone -- who it sounds like changed the shows direction to be more lighthearted -- took over.

The most depressing news out of all of it (besides being on ABC only), would have to be that Jackie Marchand left as a result of the EP problems, joining some other staff out the door. :(

This kinda sounds like a mash-up of Turbo and Wild Force. For me, Turbo was essentially the equivalent of a Kalish Disney season and the last time I really didn't care much to watch and/or record the show -- mainly during some of the second-half fillers. As the saying goes, "everything but the kitchen sink," which is what they were throwing at us. Most episodes weren't more than average. The detonators plot got done to death. Some of the CarRanger footage was used pretty bad at times and PR gave no explanation (the zord crash course in ep 3, the awkward giant Porto fight, the villains running off... bah). A couple story plots were dropped as well when Hilary Turner took over Divatox and Judd Lynn replaced Doug Sloan. Of course, it wasn't ALL bad. Phantom Ranger was cool and the arc with General Havoc was well done. And when "CHASE INTO SPACE" aired, I thought it was the best finale ever... heh.

We'll just see how PR handles another "goofy car sentai" again. And hooray for episode titles that aren't all 5 words!

S-8.11 "Leigon"

2009-01-18T22:55:00.002-08:00

This episode was a great way to introduce non-comic fans (like myself) to the Leigon. I seriously feel like reading comics now. ^_^

The entire ep was executed and written perfectly. Was surprised when Persuader was gone so quickly, but the reason he was there was great.

Loved how Garth nearly said "Superman" and the "No glasses, no tights, no flights" reference. :D Awesome use of superpowers too and letting Clark come up with the techno-exorcism.

Alison played Marsters' Brianiac beautifully.

Since the Fortress is still transformed, I assume Brainiac is still there or he'll be back with Doomsday's help.

Anyone else feel odd being without much of the main cast? Can't wait for the Tess/Lana confrontation in "Bulletproof" and whatever Lana's destiny is.

Kamen Rider Dragon Knight - #01

2008-12-15T21:55:00.000-08:00

For a first episode, I thought it was alright. Great to have something filmed in L.A. again. Although I've never been a fan of Japan's Kamen Rider, I feel like I could get into this.

Theme isn't bad. Yeah, the lyrics could've been better (or removed altogether), but the rock fits.

Decent establishing of the characters, especially Kit. Didn't care for the bookstore and supporting characters, but maybe when the show gets going in January...

I really like the CGI effects and design of Wing Knight. Pretty likely he'll be my favorite Rider. Going to take some getting used to not seeing pyrotechnics all the time.

"PATH OF THE RIGHTOUS": Escaping Evil and "NOW THE FINAL FURY": Beast Wars

2008-12-09T21:51:00.001-08:00

S-8.09 "Abyss" and 8.10 "Bride"

2008-11-23T22:15:00.001-08:00

The abyss that was Chloe's mind made for the best episode all year, trumping even "Bloodline."

Wow, I love how they did Brainiac erasing Chloe's memories. Awesome seeing old clips and the "Dark Thursday" re-creation.

Holy crap! I almost thought this would be another surprise last second transformation of Brainiac into Marsters.

This felt like it could've been the last ep until January, so I'm even more psyched for "Bride."

And speaking of which...

I thought watching the video camera was a decent way to start the episode.

Felt like Lois was in her campaign manager days.

Yeah, the random lackey of Oliver's was lame. Did they seriously have no time to come up with anything better after Victor was removed?

And of course Doomsday was awesome. Interesting that Brainiac must've commanded him to take Chloe to the Fortress so he could reinfect her.

Wow, I never would've imagined they'd show Lex on-screen, at least not this soon. I have to say I wasn't blown away by it though... It kinda felt like the episode was building up to it, with the sudden reveal from Oliver he's alive and then thinking he had got him when it was a dummy. Hopefully this means they've worked out a deal for Rosenbaum to return at the end of the season.

S-8.08 "Bloodline": Farewell Kara, Hello Destroyer

2008-11-09T23:21:00.001-08:00

Very good episode.

Yeah, Clark could've done a better job of lying to Lois in the Phantom Zone. Nice touch with the sea of blood.

I liked that Kara wasn't held captive this entire time and could've left, but didn't after all the zoners had escaped last time.

Yay, the GA is back. I was kinda surprised Tess didn't recognize him. >_> Would be nice if they gave him a new apartment set one of these days...

Erica was awesome, as always. Best acting from her since... "Exposed." <_<

Wow... The reveal of Davis being the son of Zod and Faora was a heck of a curveball.

And Brainiac's power over Chloe continues to increase. Although Marsters doesn't have to return just because Brainiac does, to see him again on the show for a final battle with Clark would just be the icing on this season.

Nice send-off for Kara, leaving the possibility she could return, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

"TO EARN YOUR STRIPES" (PR-1630): Dai Shi vs Jarrod

2008-11-04T15:37:00.000-08:00

This episode is a fine example of what I've loved about this season: The Rangers felt like a B-plot to the villains.

Nice to see Pai Zhua again. Pretty good martial arts fight for a Disney season.

Casey has to go and spoil the episode. -_- I don't like the bikelizer to begin with, but the way he just left it was even worse. Only time this year I would've preferred a longer sequence.

Although I wish Jarrod's struggle with Dai Shi had been touched on a bit sooner, I enjoyed how it was done here. The mirror scene was pretty cool. Jarrod never meant to hurt anyone? Yeah, right. I'd look at it as either the writers trying to make him look like a good guy now, or he was just lying to Dai Shi. And nice work making sure to remove the voice alteration.

Well, that was a quick way to finish off the Phantom Beast Warriors. I wasn't real surprised they had to skip over giving an episode to a Beast and that it was Osiris. If it was a matter of picking a Geki battle to use, fat chance they were gonna touch episode 44.

4/5, just barely 5, but gotta take off points because (at least as of this episode), Casey has learned NOTHING.

**Check back later when I'll be doing something different for the final 2 episodes.**

S-8.06 "Prey" and 8.07 "Identity"

2008-11-03T23:45:00.000-08:00

The detective-style mystery about who killed the Prey made it a pretty good ep.

Nice to see Clark be more pro-active and using powers not seen in years.

It's kind of a nice change that more women seem to be working for Luthorcorp with Tess in charge.

~*~

Clark should really keep working on crafting his hero identity.

Anyone else feel like they're using the special effects more often these days?

Clark seemed a bit careless just breezing into Chloe and Jimmy's. Good thing Lois was in the next room. >_> It's cute he was jealous of her going out with someone else, but hesitating so long to zip her up was a bit childish. And everyone always oogles over Chloevage, but how come no one mentions Lois cleavage?!

Funny how it just came to Jimmy looking at the Kent family pic.

To recap: Lois fortune has told her before she'd fall for a guy who flies a lot and wears tights. Clark wouldn't wear a cape in this lifetime and Metropolis new hero is "Faster than a Speeding Bullet." Good times.

Nice to see Ollie wanna get back to the hero thing. Yeah, I knew when we saw him in the plane it was death for his old pad.

You know, I love the term "Brianiac ability." As each episode goes by, I feel like we're that much closer to James Marsters return.

A pretty good episode overall.

"MARYL AND THE MONKEYS" (PR-1629): Attack of the Clones

2008-10-26T11:50:00.001-08:00

Funny that Bruce was credited, although it was supposed to be by "Sal. N. Mitchell." >_>

It was nice to see Dominic get some focus and Fran's jealousy was cute.

Dom getting stalker-ish got annoying, but at least he morphed. I was about to throw the remote at the TV if he hadn't. -_- The Rangers' secret identities have almost never been this irritating.

Nice to see the Spirit Rangers again, but I don't really like how Casey, Lily and Theo can so quickly summon them. Great seeing all 3 call and use their spirits just like earlier in the season.

The pretty lake battle would've been perfect had they not inserted Ken's Christmas Special.

Where the heck's Flit? He could at least pop up and say something like he's too scared now that Camille and Dai Shi are powered up.

3/5. The plot and parts of it certianly could've gone better. Points off just for using the bikelizer on Rinishi in a freakin' parking garage. Yeah, the Christmas ep was an odd choice, but since it was about (to put it in Bruce terms), "Japan's White Ranger," I highly doubt they considered anything else.

"THE SPIRIT OF KINDNESS" (PR-1628): Rat Trap

2008-10-20T21:59:00.000-07:00

I really liked this one. Props for doing something completely different than having Whiger related to Casey.

RJ proved again why he's the man (even if it was because the others are a bunch of pansies). Naming the rat "Maurice" and thinking he's French had me LOL.

Rammer and Badrat were basically ripped right from Geki here. The rat cages worked just fine. I was a bit afraid how'd they handle the two zord battles with the ground fights, but it was paced pretty well. And despite how annoying the monsters were, I really liked the fights (the dual rooftop/mecha battle and then switching is one of my favorites Geki did).

Casey's reasoning for saving Whiger was pretty lame. I was kinda surprised they killed him off already, but it makes sense with the limited time left. Nice touch with the White Tiger spirit.

Great seeing all the zords used and not bastardize the battle as much.

And here comes the long awaited betrayal... :D

S-8.05 "Committed": Lois and Clark Adventures

2008-10-19T23:17:00.001-07:00

I gotta say, I love being Committed to Smallville. ^_^

Loved the Lois and Clark stuff. I was nearly cracking up half the time. It really made up for the rest of the ep.

Lois cleavage is always a plus. <_<

Jimmy's confession? Weak. The obvious evil jeweler who just happens to be wearing a kryptonite bracelet? Weaker. The interrogation was okay, at least. It was a little awkward seeing Jimmy and Chloe free all the sudden after the dude had fired the gun at them.

Lois really does love Clark. Yay. And Clark has super-breath? ....Oh yeah. >_>

"TIGERS FALL, LIONS RISE" (PR-1627): Spiritless

2008-10-13T22:10:00.004-07:00

Not a bad episode -- which is good when you know it's about Casey. Despite his Kung Fu class coming outta nowhere, I thought the episode played out pretty well.

While most plots with kids are forgettable, this was kinda better than "GOOD KARMA BAD KARMA." I liked how Jimmy saw the Rangers training and how he was able to help them. And Mr. Secret Identity's still an idiot.

Pretty cool seeing Dai Shi (That's who he was this week) and Camille power up.

Boy, when I saw the Geki counterparts to this episode, I knew JF would half-ass the mecha battle. Although I gotta give points for the original cockpit and first helmetless Ranger all year.

I'm kinda surprised JF continues to do all their own battles, but hey, it's a nice change.

4/5. Horrible dialogue (especially during the zord battle), but at least they're not totally copying sentai. This episode easily could've been worse.

S-8.04 "Instinct": Maximus Hotness

2008-10-12T23:06:00.000-07:00

My Instinct was that this would be a hot episode.

So how many eps until Lana returns? What's the point on making Lois and Clark believe she won't be back?

Clark getting it on with Maxima didn't last as long as I thought it would. Looked like he was about to get all Red K on us. Great reaction by Lois. Clark sure has something for her to turn down sex like that. >_>

Ugh, Clark having to lie whenever he talks to Tess is really getting old. At least have her find out soon. And why is she so evil to begin with?

Maxima suddenly disappearing via portal back to Almerac felt poorly written... Like it was just the shock of being turned down by Clark that did it. Would love to see her return someday if that's what they were hinting at.

Who are you Mr. X? I could go with it being Lex who took the crystal or is inside it. Knowing that Victor/Cyborg is returning, he came to mind as well.

S-8.03 "Toxic": No Mercy

2008-10-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Good episode. The flashbacks to Oliver on the island, mastering the bow and arrow and then being held hostage with Tess were very nicely done.

So Tess became the Luthors' biggest fan as a means to get back at Ollie? Interesting. Can't wait until we get the full story about what happened after they escaped.

Yeah, Clark was basically a tool in this ep. How could Tess not put it together now, that Clark has powers beyond those of mortal men?

And boy, Clark got served by Ollie. Love it.

Great end to the episode as well, with Tess pulling out the flower and using it on scary black dude. Nice touch with the "NOMERCY" license plate.