The pre-season hype for Beast Morphers paid off with the best premiere (and the first premiere I've given a 5/5 to) since RPM, easily killing most of Neo Saban (aside from Dino Charge). Best premiere from Chip Lynn since Time Force. I got a couple different vibes... The opening karate scene felt Ninja Storm-ish, while Grid Battleforce and the B-Squad-like team felt reminiscent of SPD. Plus the obvious comparisons with having another virus and starting with three Rangers. It also had the start of some great unmorphed fighting. I like how different the villains were setup than a lot of other seasons when we'd see them in space or be awoken. Having Blaze be an evil Ranger is a great use of the suit (not used nearly as much in GoBusters) and I really like how Roxy's Ranger form was changed to yellow, really playing into the avatars being corrupt versions of Red and Yellow Rangers especially with how they were the original candidates in GB. Blaze is more generic lacky, but I gotta say Liana Ramierez does Roxy very well, quickly becoming one of my favorite humanoid villains since Tenaya 7.
I liked how they explained the Rangers weaknesses being tied into their animal DNA in "EVOX'S REVENGE," a solid 4/5 continuing to get the season rolling. Zoey needs carrots to refuel, Devon has a fear of dogs and like GoBuster Blue, Ravi overheats. The way the giant robots for zord battles are done is also pretty cool - a different take from past seasons with Scrozzle able to combine the Gigadrone model with the Robotron data the Rangers are fighting or was defeated. It makes for more interesting fights as well being able to have a Megazord battle before the ground battle finishes. Of course no longer having a cockpit powerup mode is the best part and while the Cheetah Blaster powering up a slash finishing move is rather silly, at least it's a lot quicker than what we had before.
After that, I felt like the show started to shift back to feeling like Neo Saban again. I really kind of hoped they'd copy GoBusters and do more insta-morphs, instead we got a sequence pretty similar to Dino Charge and Ninja Steel. Plus it turns out even the morph call is now prerecorded. Meanwhile, I'd say the comedic element is better with Ben & Betty, and I like how involved they often are, but they've gotten into some familiar unrealistic antics a few times. I really liked Zoey going into the season but she ended up with the worst episode of the first 10 in "END OF THE ROAD," which felt a little too much like a plot we would've had a year or two ago with trying to save the forest from a new road being built, going so far as to have the Beast Bots help save critters and bugs which I thought was dumb. Also one of the most strangest ways of creating a Robotron when Needletron was created from a bike pump. The whole X-Bike plot felt very 2019 (especially living somewhere with a lot of pay-to-ride bikes) - I just wish it had been a better episode. 3/5
I like how Ravi has a relationship with the real Roxy but as we saw in the beginning of the season, he ended it because of the GB rules about Rangers dating Rangers. So it was fun seeing her avatar toy with him and make him think she was trying to be good. I enjoyed "TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS" as well, showing real consequences for Devon missing work for his secret Ranger duties. 4/5 both episodes. Keeping the secret from Mayor Daniels though is pretty ridiculous and will hopefully pay off when his dad finds out. Devon then acting out of character in "HANGAR HEIST" kind of spoiled what was an otherwise good episode centered on the formation of the Megazord, a plot we don't normally get. It was kind of hard to buy how much the Rangers were taking advantage of the Beast Bots in "A FRIEND INDEED," with how underused they've been. 3/5 for both.
Evox nearly passing through the gate was cool as was almost using what would become Steel's body. I liked the foreshadowing of his head being shown a few times and Nate talking about wanting a brother, but with how quickly these additional Ranger debuts happen - not to mention I didn't care for how fast Steel was built - the result wasn't quite what I had hoped for, making me give "THE CYBERGATE OPENS" a 3/5 . They could've even started the hiatus with Nate being in danger, giving more buffer before he morphs for the first time an episode later. Steel coming online and morphing as well was showhorned in there but I guess you could chalk that up to energy runoff from Nate morphing.
With all that out of the way, I really enjoyed "SILVER SACRIFICE" and thought it was the best episode besides the premiere. I liked how the gate got fixed and Evox nearly succeeded again at taking Steel's body, only to discover it's not compatible due to Nate's human DNA in Steel. Pretty cool plot point. Gotta say I love his attitude to match the footage and look forward to what they do with the character. I can forgive Ben and Betty's continued overly wacky hijinks to give the episode a 5/5. "THRILLS AND DRILLS" felt like a pretty standard PR plot with Ravi having to face his fear of going to the dentist with some of the best comedic bits all year, like when the silhouette of the worker with the drill was mistaken for the dentist drill. 4/5
It sounds like there are more good episode plots coming up, I just hope they don't stray off and go back following Neo Saban's way too closely, while giving us more more story like the Ravi/Roxy relationship, Devon & his dad and Devon eventually getting to test a battlizer mode before Powered Custom from GoBusters makes its debut. Perhaps ending the season with more of a cliffhanger and not acting like it's the LAST EPISODE would also be a welcome change.
