A Fond Farewell to The CW

Around the end of 2010 I looked back on the first 15 years with The WB/CW (check it out here). Now here we are, another 15 later with Superman & Lois ending last December leaving me with no reason to watch the network anymore.

As talked about previously, it all started in 1995 with the first show I was into, Unhappily Ever After (Essentially the beginning of what would become a huge year for all things entertainment, I'll get into in a future post). Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the first must-see niche shows, and I still fondly remember how big of a deal some of the earlier story plots were, like Kendra the Vampire Slayer arriving and Angel losing his soul. Like Buffy, 7th Heaven and Roswell I also wasn't watching when they premiered but would get into later. I was also a fan of Popstars, the OG music reality competition spanning 2 seasons. Buffy would end in 2003 with what I'd call the first major series finale.

Aside from 7th Heaven's extra season after what was intended to be the last episode, it was business as usual with Smallville and Everybody Hates Chris as The CW made its debut in fall 2006. I usually didn't care to give new shows a chance especially with American Idol sometimes taking up 2.5-3 hours of primetime, and being only able to DVR one program, while I watch another. So as was the case with Smallville in fall 2004, I really needed to be persuaded. I came upon Gossip Girl during the winter 2007 writers strike and taking a quick interest in the cast, soon began catching up on season 1, watching through summer. In 2010, I was talked into checking out The Vampire Diaries, quickly becoming one of my favorites heading into season 2.

2011 marked the end for Smallville, and following Hellcats, more shows that would roll through I liked but would only last a year, including The Secret Circle and Sarah Michelle Gellar's return in Ringer. Something much bigger was on the horizon though with the fall 2012 premiere of Arrow, quickly becoming one my top shows alongside TVD, while Gossip Girl wrapped at the end of the year. As Arrow soon began making way for Flash, TVD would finally expand with The Originals. Along with Flash, the 2014-15 season would see RPM Yellow Ranger Rose McIver in iZombie, a fun, quirky show taking place in Seattle. 

Arrowverse would continue to expand with Legends of Tomorrow - a nice mashup of familiar characters and new to the Arrowverse - followed by Supergirl coming off its first season on CBS. With shows being renewed practically every year, it wasn't too often when something actually ended, but in March 2017 it became time to say goodbye to TVD, in whats forever my favorite non-Arrowverse finale.

Early 2018 would see Black Lightning enter the lineup. While not part of Arrowverse originally, it was cool having another superhero that felt a bit more mature that the others. And things would only get bigger with The Originals spinning off into the future with Legacies and a new take on Roswell would arrive midseason, helping further make most of my free time revolve around the schedule (more on that at the bottom). Not necessarily one of my favorite shows, I always liked that the Roswell reboot had a cast largely comprised of actors from other CW shows.

As iZombie wrapped up five seasons, Arrowverse would soon get another superhero with Batwoman before the entire multiverse would be turned upside down in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Oliver's end had arrived in a wonderful final sendoff I'd just barely nudge above Smallville (more below). Following the pandemic, 2021 would become the first year of the TV season going straight through summer with Superman & Lois kicking off, while Stargirl would make its season 2 debut as a CW show in August. I loved how different it was - often feeling cinematic with epic fight sequences -  easily making it one of the top shows I enjoyed most in the multiverse. The year would see Arrowverse (and my viewership) finally start to thin out with the conclusions of Black Lighting and Supergirl.

As the network overhaul started to take shape, 2022 would see a number of shows cancelled with last episodes that varied. Legacies definitely was the best, paying homage to the world established in TVD/Originals. The fall would be spent with the final season of Stargirl, as well as Tom Welling starring in Professionals. Come summer, time was up for Flash, plus I caught Gotham Knights - kind of a swan song of the old CW. Riverdale was always a bit too weird for me but I did enjoy catching some of the final season and final episodes as well. Likewise, Supernatural was never really my thing, but I caught the finale (after the show concluded in late 2020) alongside watching a handful of some of the fun, quirky episodes from over the years.

It was a great run, and not having any of these shows around has finally got me to catch everything I never got to before like CBS The Flash - a fun history lesson on how the OGs did it - from special effects to villains of the week I'd come to know in Arrowverse.  Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (which I'd come across here and there but couldn't commit to watching back then) will be soon, not to mention I'm due to finally sit down and watch Titans. I never watched Syfy's Krypton, but will likely check out HBO's Lanterns in 2026. Through it all, Smallville continues to be around in some form, with the TalkVille Podcast launching in 2022 right around as I had finished rewatching season 10, and there's still the animated project Welling and Rosenbaum hope to do. I'll also likely start to revisit the Buffyverse again someday, especially if the upcoming reboot is successful. 

One last look and ranking the multiverse finales:

Arrow 
Smallville 
Superman & Lois / Stargirl
Supergirl / Black Lightning 
Batwoman  
Legends of Tomorrow
The Flash 

You can't really top Arrow which did more than I could've asked to tie up the show and character development, filled with Arrowverse cast and cameos, that I'd rank it above all else. Smallville celebrated the series legacy like no other, but kind of cut corners which most later finales didn't. 

Superman & Lois and Stargirl ended their shows with climactic movie-like final battles and heartfelt sendoffs. I have to appreciate Superman & Lois going above and beyond, taking a similar route to TVD, and Stargirl really going all out including the multiverse final surprise cameo.

Supergirl had a pretty solid finale with the final battle, focusing on Kara and calling back to the shows beginning. Plus I really enjoyed Black Lightning's sendoff and closure, making it kind of tough to say goodbye to. Batwoman had a decent end, wrapping up the season playing it safe with a nod to the series.

Legends of Tomorrow wrapped up the season fine but ended on a cliffhanger - a poor choice but at least was after an awesome 100th episode. That leaves Flash, which had too much not work in its favor being forced to end before the movie release. Barry and the team taking down the resurrected villains (with no homage to the entire Arrowverse) wasn't a very good way to end on, which would turn out to be the proposed plot for a 200th episode.

 

MOST WATCHED SHOWS BY TV SEASON

2006-07 ⏭

7th Heaven, Everybody Hates Chris, Smallville
2007-08 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Everybody Hates Chris, Smallville
2008-09 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Everybody Hates Chris, Smallville
2009-10 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Smallville
2010-11 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Hellcats, TVD, Smallville 
2011-12 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Ringer, TVD, The Secret Circle
2012-13 ⏭

Gossip Girl, Arrow, TVD
2013-14 ⏭

The Originals, Arrow, TVD 
2014-15 ⏭

The Originals, Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, TVD
2015-16 ⏭

The Originals, Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, TVD
2016-17 ⏭

The Originals, Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, TVD
2017-18 ⏭

The Originals, Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning
2018-19 ⏭

Legacies, Arrow, The Flash, iZombie, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Roswell
2019-20 ⏭

Legacies, Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Roswell
2020-21 ⏭

Legacies, Superman & Lois, The Flash, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Supergirl, Black Lightning, Roswell
2021-22 ⏭

Legacies, Superman & Lois, The Flash, Batwoman, Legends of Tomorrow, Stargirl, Roswell
2022-23 ⏭

Gotham Knights, Superman & Lois, The Flash, Professionals, Stargirl
2024 ⏭

Superman & Lois

Looking Back (Again): Power Rangers Zeo

Although the DVDs have been around for so long now, I was never in any hurry to rewatch Zeo, having previously gone back through my Fox Kids recordings in the 00s and using them (along with encodes from mIRC) for a music video tribute (link). I'm not entirely sure if it was trouble with the VCR, not realizing there was a new episode (or both), but there were a couple episodes I never taped or saw until later, including "MONDO'S LAST STAND" through"THE LORE OF AURIC." So watching the DVDs was really the first time seeing the entire season on an actual TV.

First up - the Zeo Serials - I don't think I saw much of beforehand other than about the last 2 and probably an earlier one. I was excited for what was happening with the machine invasion as "Unleashing the Power" played and the logo formed. The original Saturday and Tuesday broadcast of "A ZEO BEGINNING" included the teaser which I still have. It was a great new beginning for the show, however also the start of a lot of weird/questionable plot points. For one thing, they made it look like Zordon was gone in Part 1 (and I freaked), only to then continue the scene in Part 2, revealing that he was fine.

We then pretty much settled into focus eps centered on the Rangers combined with OhRanger footage. I liked getting up Saturdays to watch it at 10:30, however I was often not real confident the episode would be that exciting, not helped by what I'd consider Zeo's worst episode, "INVASION OF THE RANGER SNATCHERS" with "A FEW BAD SEEDS" a close second. Cycling through the same footage of Mondo & co. was also a far step down from Rita and Zedd in the palace. At least we had Billy's episodes and although it was kind of dragged out, I liked they went to the mountains alongside the Tommy and Kat focus. And even if the eps weren't great, I loved continuing to hear "Unleashing the Power" and the main theme as part of an awesome soundtrack. I'd say Zeo is still my favorite adapted morph sequence too.

Following Tommy's quest, we had a batch of pretty good Bulk, Tanya and Adam eps before the Gold Ranger arc got underway. It was quite unprecedented, a new Ranger from another planet with their own awesome theme. Definitely the most excited I was since Alien Rangers, however the mood would soon get kind of spoiled with the missed episodes. Looking back, yeah, it was ridiculous the gold powers wouldn't accept Billy but then we got Jason back I thought was cool at the time.

It's kind of tough to say what my favorite ep would be now but I'd have to go with the "KING FOR A DAY" two-partner, which was pretty unique from the rest of the season and I liked how they did the whole brainwashing Tommy. Plus this was back when using hoards of monsters (some from previous episodes or never used in the show prior) was still fairly new. 

When Billy was written out, it was again odd how Yost never returned (not to mention Billy's goodbye tech difficulties) but back then, it never crossed my mind he didn't leave on good terms, and I did like we got the teamup out of it. Meanwhile, I enjoyed the subplot of Rita and the gang running around in the RV, ultimately making one last attempt for the gold powers before the standoff with the machines, and ending the season putting them outta commission. Besides that, the Rangers growing giant in the final battle was complete foolishness especially after using zord footage for Mondo's first defeat. At the time, I think my mind was all over the place about where the show was going next (and whether Rita & Zedd were actually back) before "Power Rangers Turbo" was name dropped in a Totally Kids Magazine.

It was a crazy, exciting time for the show - a leveled up MMPR changing things up, for better or worse. I'd say the Treys/Gold Ranger is still my favorite 6th Ranger storyarc along with probably Quantum Ranger but it was tough getting through the first half to get there. I could easily notice the little things now, I didn't really pay attention to back in the day. So while it's still classic PR, it's tough to top season 3, putting Zeo a couple notches lower but still above seasons 1 and 2.

 

 

PRCF Wrap-up: Master Class (+ Season Rankings!)

When it comes to season ending cliffIhangers PR had over the years I'd put Dino/Cosmic Fury third after Alien Rangers/Zeo and Turbo/In Space. Kicking things off, it was great seeing things play out after the big opening scene that came out in advance. I really got to like how they did Squid Ink Inc, utilizing footage/monsters from KyuRanger and tossing in some from other sentai. I just wish their had been more time for the zords than just throwing them all in at the get go. Nice throwback to Zordnia plus gotta note how modern PR, without civilian fights, had Billy use the Lunar Lance in one episode more than basically all of MMPR. >_> Not to mention, how quickly Zedd was now willing to get his hands dirty and do things himself. Pretty awesome how the Dinohenge statues were destroyed.

With a lot happening offscreen , I thought they handled the bigger picture pretty well with cameos from Commander Shaw, in addition to Billy around and Mick recurring. Loved how Heckyl returned. Also liked how they utilized the Dino Fury cast including Slyther and Mucus being human once more. It felt like they were checking everything off a board, from Billy's classic dialogue to the girl power zord battle, and squeezing in the Cosmic Fury Blaster. 

"A countdown... to destruction?!"

Throughout the duration of watching this over several weeks, I was pretty glad I avoided spoilers mostly staying off X/Twitter. I did know about Morphin Master Zayto but it was kind of obvious they were building up to it. For a minute there, I thought Zedd's master plan was gonna be turning into Don Armage. Definitely didn't see becoming a Master coming, or Bajillia using him as a pawn. Plus using the Master Captivator to force a reverse Z-Wave, some great surprises to the storyarc which I loved in the old days (see rankings below). As soon as "Zayto" appeared to Aiyon in the void with blue eyes I knew it had to be Zordon, a great bookend for the show, while leaving the door open (but as all we know, it's not looking good). If there had been more time, would we have gotten an identities reveal a la In Space or perhaps Izzy and Javie telling their parents?

The returning Megazords was a great way of having other teams come to help - I was prepared we weren't gonna see much of on screen - if at all. Of course you have MMPR and recent teams, still very much around, while it's fun to imagine the Space Rangers still defending Angel Grove. Bringing back Galaxy Megazord was a bit of a surprise but it's pretty cool this follows being part of the captured Rangers in "ONCE & ALWAYS." The others in the cockpit besides Minh and Billy would've been nice but to end 30 years on this note was pretty awesome. And having another evil Ranger storyarc... Kai Moya was AWESOME and while I wasn't too bothered by the design of the CF suits, Ollie's corrupted DF suit was miles better. Fern becoming a Ranger (with a hand from Solon) was also nicely done.

So I'd say they covered every era of the show here, intentional or not. In addition to the SPD shoutout, Zayto suggesting Zedd could be redeemed someday was kind of  Disney-ish, while "nightmare Rita" felt like something outta Mystic Force/Overdrive. I mean, they  could've tried harder with that. Trapped in the nightmare, I felt like Zedd reverted to post-Wedding but they were apparently still not married. Doing this to rid of him once and for all was pretty good I thought, especially how much more of a force Zedd had become. There wasn't really a way for him to power up and not flat out kill the CF team without some Super Mega crossover.

In the end, aside from the lackluster handling of the zords, there's not much else I can be critical about, but I was kind of surprised at how bad some of the voice acting was. I wish the Zentinals had sounded more like Cogs, while the MOTDs especially in "ROCK OUT" were awful. Billy's instamorph with Heckyl was cool plus updating the morph again, but they pretty much had him off the side during group morphs. And with how long Scrozzle was around, I wish there had been a bit of closure than to leave it up to the viewer.

4/5 "BEYOND REPAIR" thru "ROCK OUT" and 5/5 for the rest.

SEASON RANKINGS

(1) RPM 

(2) DinoThunder 

(3) In Space 

(4) Lost Galaxy 

(5) Time Force 

(6) Season 3/Alien Rangers

(7) Lightspeed Rescue 

(8) Wild Force 

(9) Dino Fury

(10) Ninja Storm 

(11) Zeo 

(12) Cosmic Fury 

(13) Season 2  

(14) Beast Morphers 

(15) Dino Charge

(16) Season 1 

(17) Mystic Force 

(18) SPD 

(19) Jungle Fury 

(20) Turbo

(21) Operation Overdrive

(22) Megaforce

(23) Samurai

(24) Ninja Steel

 

Few thoughts on alternate MMPR DOTD

After seeing Adrian Carr's recent uploaded version of "DAY OF THE DUMPSTER" I couldn't help but wish it had been the one that aired. Between the first PMC way back in 2007, and around 11 years since I last watched the entire first season, I had forgotten Tony Oliver screened the chili scene, and the beginning of it ended up as the ending in "BIG SISTERS." But finally seeing the full episode, I thought it worked much better than the karate lesson we got instead, which was basically taken from "DARK WARRIOR."

I also really liked that there was a bit more ZyuRanger footage of Rita establishing her return before starting the attack on Earth. The first Putty fight wasn't all that different but originally was longer I thought was cool. We also get a completely different shot of the teens being teleported out of the Juice Bar for the first time and a third version of the original morphing sequence! Also one of the biggest surprises, this version used the Goatan zord fight from "LIONS AND BLIZZARDS" (called "Two-Headed Terror" here). I'm assuming that was changed to a fight with Goldar to raise the stakes a bit more for the premiere than to just use a standard monster. Even after 30 years, it's great to still be surprised by the show.

Looking Back: Power Rangers RPM

Awhile back I finished an RPM rewatch and I gotta say unlike some of the other Disney seasons, the experience watching it again 13+ years later wasn't much different. Coming off of Jungle Fury, I thought for sure RPM would continue on the Toon Disney/Disney XD network, but with ABC Kids ultimately airing the episodes (which many affiliates didn't do, including my own), 2009 would become the only year I'd rely entirely on weekly uploads. I still remember when we knew hardly anything about the season other than the name, the sentai... and then a trailer suddenly appeared one day in February in place of any official promotion. This was up right there with DinoThunder & SPD in excitement level, and pretty much the last time it would ever be like this going into a new season. It paid off with an awesome 3 part premiere, which was kind of surprising with only 32 episodes.

The ball got rolling with mostly great focus episodes. It's funny looking back on a time when the cast was entirely unknown, especially Rose McIver and Adelaide Kane. "RANGER YELLOW" wasn't well liked but I enjoyed Summer's 2 part backstory. "RANGER RED" I could never get that into with a minuscule budget gone into the CGI aircraft footage - one of the few times in RPM I gave an episode a 3/5. Needless to say, I gave a lot of 5's and have pretty much always considered "RANGER BLUE" and "DOCTOR K" my favorite episodes. I still love how they made the Go-Onger van into "Project GO-ONGER" (the vans death notwithstanding >_>). Venjix getting physical bodies was also great to watch play out. Gem and Gemma started out annoying but soon got some good focus episodes splitting them up with others.

Part of the buildup to RPM and watching it unfold was of course the behind the scenes drama. "BELLY OF THE BEAST" always felt like a big midseason finale which marked Eddie Guzelian's last episode. Before the season began, I wondered how things would go with the EP switchover & Jackie Marchand leaving, but it wasn't all that different after Chip Lynn took over, especially with John Tellegen still around, who I assumed was free to carry on some of the stuff that was planned like the introduction of the PaleoMax and the conclusion of Ziggy/Scorpion Cartel. Dillon reuniting with Tenaya and losing her again was done pretty well, similar to Andros/Astronema. Doing a behind the scenes but in character mashup episode was odd but something was gonna happen to save money quickly. I was a little more annoyed with "IF VENJIX WON," which aisde from the Ziggy/K focus I enjoyed throughout the season, had a rather lame clip show plot. Not much else I can be critical about but they kind of forced the General Shifter betrayal to use more Go-Onger footage.

"DANGER AND DESTINY" was obviously much different than what we know about Eddie's "RANGER BLACK" which it seems would've had something like Venjix fulfilling his master plan in taking Dillon's body and the Rangers forced with having to kill him. I always liked how Chip split the Rangers up and we got a nice bookend to Scott, Summer and Flynn. I was never that into "deleting" Gem and Gemma only to have them come back but the way they returned and dropped the command center on Venjix  was one of the best finale moments of the Disney era. It was just too bad I pretty much knew about it by the time I watched the encode a few days later.

RPM was quite unprecedented delivering morphinominal storylines, cast, focus episodes and humor. Forever at the top with DinoThunder for the best of the best. Sure, it's not really a season you'd show to someone who has never watched PR but for longtime fans, it was awesome. Plus, the Evox/Venjix reveal and using the same voice is still one of my favorite things in 30 years especially in that long decade of the show many would probably rather pretend didn't exist.

 

Week of RangerBar 5: Action Boy Now

It was time for RangerBar to turn things up a notch, celebrating the 15th anniversary of the original conception as an online toolbar, the first WORB since before Covid and what would be the final one at RangerBar HQ in downtown Tacoma, WA. 

SUNDAY ⚡ I metup with Batz and Tron in Federal Way around 4:00 on Day 2 in the midst of "Shop til You Drop." We drove around stopping in Retro Emporium in Kent, Al's Music and then headed to Waterland Arcade in Des Moines Batz had reserved a few hours. As he picked up several hotdogs next door, the first to arrive was Cora, making her first RangerBar event in about 5 years. Me0w, her kiddo & Lil Sorbo soon came, as well as Joose with some of her kids. After it was time for Waterland to close, we headed to #The80sTimeCapsule airbnb in Kent - a great basement apartment nostalgic trip through time. Batz put on Hunter for the "Fred Dryer Dinner" and then a Vernon Wells flick for the "Unsung Heros of Action Tribute" as we enjoyed the hot dogs, drinks and hungout.

MONDAY ⚡ Batz, Tron and myself left the airbnb and headed to basically Chinese Costco and a few other stops like WinCo Foods so Tron could get ready for a big night of cooking. Also got lunch at Burger Express in Federal Way. Later that afternoon, we settled in a Tacoma airbnb and Batz put on Christmas music for "Cosmic Fury 1/2 Christmas." As he ran errands and Tron began setting up, Team RangerBar started to trickle in, including Austin, Cora, Batz' stepdad and Me0w & co. It was a great feast as Tron served up 8 courses in his culinary tour through RangerBar history. I also showed off the "SlutRanger Action Figure" (custom figures through the Hasbro Selfie Series). That night Batz put on a WORB staple, the Tom Hanks flick Mazes and Monsters.

4TH OF JULY ⚡ We got back to RangerBar and Batz immediately went to work beginning to set things up for RangerBar's big "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome!" wresting event and BBQ. Meanwhile, Tron and I grabbed lunch next door at Red Star Taco Bar and I killed time on YouTube. As the afternoon rolled on, an entire wresting ring was setup in the building and 7 wrestlers in all would gradually arrive. As it got closer to 6:00 most of the RangerBar crew came out as well as some of Batz' family members in addition to people from the building who helped put it all together. The show lasted about an hour and consisted of 3 matches. Batz had me (as SlutRanger) create the wrestlers by having figures/toys placed into my invention - a "monster-matic hybrid," with Lil Sorbo handling machine lights & wrestlers walk-on music and MC Smith bringing over the toy for each wrestler. He kept things interesting even adding a surprise twist in a middle of a match after a wrestler was created from a DinoThunder Ranger figure.

Afterwards, mostly everyone branched off to mingle, hangout and local band Just Like My Wife performed a few songs as the grill got going. It's always fun to reminisce, as Me0w and I chatted about Mutant Chat and Lexcon for a bit, and Shock Top Steve & Austin handed out wedding invites earlier. Someone from the building had fireworks  but I don't care much for them. At the end of the night, Batz, Tron, MC and myself tried to get some sleep in RangerBar.

WEDNESDAY ⚡ Tron grabbed lunch for us at Red Star and it was a lowkey afternoon until we headed out to a lake house airbnb in Olympia. Batz put on the  "Cajun Country & Music Festival" and set out several flavors of Zapps "New Orleans style" kettle chips I dived into but soon Tron got us Red Robin pizza. The airbnb had an Xbox and the 4 of us just took it easy and got in a few rounds of Fortnite.

THURSDAY ⚡ While Batz was out, I pretty much spent the afternoon on Switch Animal Crossing. Later, he did the "Michael Pare Ice Cream Parlay" and served me up a massive sundae. Cora, Shock Top & Austin, Mag-Num & her friend and Batz' dad soon all arrived for the "My Two Dads Murder Mystery in Montesano" with the airbnb taking place for the town. Definitely another fun evening. Then it was just us 4 guys & Cora, and Batz brought out a box full of toy weapons for the "Power Rangers Live Action Roleplay." With this being Cora's first WORB since 2017, it was nice getting to visit one more time before she took off the next morning. Batz and Tron went hot tub skinny dipping but I wasn't feeling it.

FRIDAY/WRAP-UP ⚡ The airbnb had a 10:00 checkout so we hustled to clean up and get going, literally being told we gotta go. Back at RangerBar, Batz put on Big Bad Beetleborgs for what was supposed to be the "Beetleborgs Bahama Brunch" but quickly turned into a chance to sleep. Later that afternoon, we headed to The Home Depot so Batz could get some stuff for "The Tower 4D Experience" we had at Me0w & Lil Sorbo's place in Sumner. Me0w fixed us all a BBQ dinner and Batz put on The Tower with real effects. As Tron was scheduled to flyout that night, we said our goodbyes and headed out to the airport. We grabbed tacos once more and Batz let us pull from the prize bag. I caught the light rail and got home just before midnight.

This week definitely lived up to expectations. While 2019 and 2017 had actual Power Ranger actors, this was by far the biggest 4th of July ever focusing on getting the wrestlers instead for a great show. And since RangerBar will absolutely not be at the building next July it was great going all out one last time. And besides most of the WORB staples, this was the first time the "SlutRanger Smokedown Experience" was skipped. Also for the first time I missed the Day 1 gaming and "Monster Ball" which worked out fine I thought.

How will RangerBar be looking in 2 years for the next WORB? Will a Power Rangers reboot be on by then as 30 years (and the entire New Zealand production) comes to an epic conclusion in Cosmic Fury? Gonna be interesting to say the least. Thanks to the team - Batz, Tron, Me0w, Lil Sorbo, Cora, Austin, Shock Top, MC, and everyone else who came out during the week.

Check out the highlights video here!

⚡ ONCE & ALWAYS: A Morphinominal Hour ⚡

What a way to start. I suspected we might see Billy in battle get a solo morph. The rest of the team coming in and Ron Wasserman's Redux theme playing was pretty awesome. Also awesome, MMPR finally gets its own big explosion. The suits had never looked better and Green Ranger gets another upgrade - oh how far we've come from Silver Stripe. They did a great job with the old audio but it was a little odd that wasn't Austin, at least it sure didn't sound like him. Also liked how they got creative like Zack and Minh looking on as the others morphed just off screen.

We knew it was coming, but Rita unleashing and killing Trini was still pretty shocking, with Barbara Goodson doing the voice on top of it. Just wow. First we had Lord Zedd revived in Dino Fury and now this - Rita in her purest form of evil without a human body. Can't help but imagine what it would be like if Zedd and Rita had reunited - probably a major power struggle with both wanting to be in charge. To have Robo Rita be Billy's fault hoping to revive Zordon was pretty surprising and I liked how she took over Alpha 8. Couldn't have imagined we'd get this kind of tie in to the Z-Wave. And since evil particles are out there, I would love to see something with Divatox coming back. Zeo/Turbo special next time? 🙂

The Bandora Protocol sequence was pretty cool. Alpha felt like just as he did years ago. Finally, Kat gets to do something to do in a reunion episode while it felt like Cardenas played Rocky kind of goofy, even phoning it in a bit. I liked the scope of Rangers answering Alpha's summoning call off screen. Ashley, Carlos, Leo, Kai, Damon, Conner, Trent, Devon, Ravi, Nate...  I didn't quite catch Phantom Ranger at first and it was nice they had Tanya out there especially as she's the only Ranger of that era to never return unmorphed. Merrick felt kind of random but they probably just wanted to include Turtle Cove or certain Lighting Collection figures for the set. Also liked the new figure props made exclusively for Jason, Kim and Tommy.

The drama was well done with Minh finding out the truth, wanting to get revenge and trying to morph. Minotaur was kind of an odd choice to come back but I liked Snizzard being the one to capture Rangers. Didn't really care for modifying the Putties from when they last appeared in Beast Morphers, making them look like the ZyuRanger dark gray with more obvious hoodies. Nice nod to Bulk and Skull but with the Juice Bar back, I really hoped for a surprise cameo. Plus nice continuity with Annie at Buzzblast Angel Grove which Jane was starting to plan for last year.

Bringing back the Moon Palace and the final battle there was excellent. Couldn't have asked for a better final morph and Trini's spirit passing on the power to Minh. I appreciate the effort put into the Megazord fight (movie Ninja Megazord is still the worst 👀) but would've loooved a sequence with Toei's Megazord suit. The updated cockpit with Billy leading was pretty cool and it was definitely better than how the zords returned in "GRID CONNECTION" which I'm sure was more Master Green's doing.

Robo Rita nearly going through the portal was awesome  Loved the recreation. I just assumed the dumpster was carefully edited old footage not that they reshot it.

Would've liked more from Adam and Aisha, but I liked how they mentioned being involved with the battle on Sirius fighting the Troobians. Billy owning Cranston Technologies with a beachside Command Center was great. Wasn't that surprised he's still with Cestria and had been away from Aquitar while Rita was out there. I don't personally get emotional easily but I see why a lot of people brokedown with the ending tribute. Also it was great Wasserman returned but I missed that old hard rock. Besides the closing intro using the Redux theme a final time I did like the zords summoning taking a cue from the original Dinozords theme.

We know Billy is expected to appear again this year and could this setup for something else down the line?  Could a future special/anniversary episode have JJ become Green Ranger? I'm not too optimistic as we approach when SPD takes place but we'll have to wait and see! And with the Dino/Cosmic Fury team heading to space to take on Zedd and new villains I kind of hope this isn't the only time Rita's balcony is used.

5/5. A morphinominal time with the MMPR feel updated for the 2020s.