(Final Episode) "CROWN AND PUNISHMENT": Fast and Flurious

Very predictable, but I was overall pleased. Hard to believe it was the last episode... It felt more like a regular episode with a closing scene tossed in.

Enjoyed the battle with the Chillers in the mansion. Flurious doing more damage inside and finding the Command Center would've been great, but I was still pretty happy with it.

It's a no brainer Kelson's run on PR is finished. He can't play ally roles (who just so happen to know how to fight at the end of the season) forever. Although I wouldn't mind if he comes back as a MoTD or something.

Why didn't Vella use any Mercurian powers? Meh... Kinda hope Beth doesn't appear again towards the end of Jungle Fury. >_>

I didn't mind Flurious transforming into Gajadom, but that zord battle was shorter than a transformation sequence. They should've just had him grow instantly and spend more time with that and skip the ground battle. We really didn't need BOTH. Although I did like the final battle poses when the Chillers were finished off. And despite morphing three times, the individual action shots each Ranger had morphed and unmorphed throughout the episode were a nice touch. Excellent homage to the actors and the characters.

I didn't think they'd actually kill Flurious in his regular form. Mack sure burned-out quickly too. And speaking of killing, I guess Kamdor must've had the crystal on him when he exploded. It would be nice to have some on-screen confirmation, but perhaps it was the only way to get killing off Miratrix past the censors. If she was meant to still be alive they would've followed up on it.

It's a shame that ran out of time to mention what SK did with the crown or the deal with Moltor kidnapping Vella after the Fearcats were gone.

Wow, Caitlin looked stunning. ^_^

Like the past three finale eps before it, I give this a 4/5. Nowhere near epic and not as much closure, but for the end of the season I'll take it.

More on the season overall coming soon.

"NOTHING TO LOSE" (PR-1531): Iced Out

Now this I enjoyed a little more than last week. Pretty much what I'd expect from the second-to-last episode (aside from the morphed battle that could've been shorter)... Fast-paced again, but not horribly rushed or put together -- which I was a bit afraid of going into it.

I liked how Mack was willing to sacrifice himself to get the crown back alone from Moltor and his whole attitude about how Hartford can always create Mack 2.0. The comment about humanity was cool too.

... Will focus again? I dunno whats more obnoxious -- "It's slammer time!" or "LAZORZ!!" o_O

Moltor's end was great. He comes crawling into the ice den, practically admits defeat, lets Flurious hold the crown and gets iced. Pretty good for the show having to do something original. Flurious using the jewel to cause the volcano to erupt was cool too.

... Oh lord, Moltor had Vella captive? Didn't see that one coming. Granted, it was obvious she'd be in this episode after they showed her in the recap, but... the hell?!

Interesting how the mummy that's been there all season now comes into play.

I look forward to the final episode and the big battle with Flurious. Oh how I hope they don't leave out even a quick explanation about Vella to make time to wrap up everything and end it happily. >_>

4/5

"TWO FALLEN FOES" (PR-1530): Stretching it out.

First, a little about "WAY BACK WHEN": Yeah, the Rangers shouldn't have needed a review to figure out who has what, but I did like how they made the connection and figured out where to go for the last jewel. And again Spencer helped save the day. PRDT's "A TEST OF TRUST" is still the worst clip show to me.

This week was an episode that definitely could've been done better.

One thing I liked about the final battle with the Fearcats was the Bouken footage mixed in so it wasn't just all flips and explosions. Kamdor vs Will pretty much was ALL of the latter. And why was it so stretched out? You couldn't even seen Kamdor's Dual Mode face in PR footage. The whole rivalry between them just felt forced, especially in this episode -- Like hey, it only happened because of Yaiba and Masumi's history in Boukenger. Since OO is so much of a watered down Boukenger already, I would've preferred they skipped Kamdor vs Will and had made it more of a team effort.

The rest of the episode I didn't mind so much. Miratrix turning into the giant Gekkou and Kamdor double-crossing her (which he likely had planned all along) was done all right. But is Miratrix trapped forever or will she return at the end? I'd like to see this not be left unresolved, but I hope she wouldn't turn good. >_>

An eclipse in the middle of the afternoon?

And geez... Way to make Kamdor look like a douche by not noticing Norg easily stumbling upon the jewel. At least he was useful for once and they're obviously setting up for him betraying Flurious and helping the Rangers.

3/5

"HOME AND AWAY, I and II" (PR-1527-1528): Bad Kitties

Both episodes were good and Part II was especially paced pretty well, I thought.

Enjoyed how all villain factions were finding relics and the FearKitties stole them all to power-up Agrios.

Yay for trashed zords.

Nice to see Flurious out with Norg actually doing something

"Just do it -- Mr. Hartford." It was great to see him getting OWNED. All is definitely not forgiven between Mack and Hartford.

I liked how Mack nearly pulled a Tommy and self-destructed Flashpoint before the others came to the rescue. Although the zords were in good condition fairly quick, after the beating they took.

And the Cats getting destroyed was well done -- Benglo in Bouken footage and Mig by the battlizer. I'm enjoying the battlizer more this year too and don't mind seeing it so much.

Looking forward to Kamdor making his final move.

4/5 for both parts.

Also, I still stand by what I said before and that maybe I've been too easy on the show this season... But really, it's hard not to be when improvements have been made over past seasons and for the most part, I've enjoyed it.

"RED RANGER UNPLUGGED" (PR-1526): Identity Crisis

Not a bad episode.

I liked how Tyzonn knew Crazar and was more involved in an episode for the first time in awhile.

Gotta say "Spencer's Specials" looked delicious.

The clones battle was all right. And SOME brief mention about Dual Drive Megazord would've been nice. At first I thought they combined two Bouken episodes for this, but it was actually one... so I'll let it slide.

While it's dumb Tyzonn didn't morph right away (again), I do like how it gives more of a chance to see the character fight out of suit. And still the best 6th Ranger we've had in years. Sort of an Andros-Ryan vibe off of him.

4/5

"THINGS NOT SAID" (PR-1525): Clever n' Creepy

Yep, doesn't take much to sum up this one...

We finally see that Mack -- the best Red Ranger we've had in years -- is not human, but rather an android Hartford created. Seeing him malfunction and his head detached was pretty creepy. It is great the show is doing this, though. We all knew it was coming, but the youngins may not get it...

Unlike Time Force, there's a decent excuse for why there's no mother this season. Even Hartford admitted he couldn't get a woman. Mack's response about him "making one" was funny.

Why is it always the Dark Shadow monsters that PR zips through? -_-

Eh, for a second I thought the ninjas would actually keep the jewel. Darn Ronny's super-speed.

I'd say this was the best battlizer episode since "SHANE'S KARMA, I and II." The way it was written -- with Rose having developed technology that was going to be used to add power to zords and that it couldn't be used by a normal human -- was pretty cool. And it doesn't look bad either, although Sentinel Knight talking was weird as hell. Spencer and the Rangers were great too.

And Mack was definitely about as sick of Hartford as we were by the end of the ep. Seriously, how much was Bruce drinking when Rod Lousich was casted? ...And again when the character was developed? O_o

Even though this wasn't a bad ep, I'm really realizing that I've enjoyed the show way too long and have been giving it too much respect...

"RONNY ON EMPTY, I and II" (PR-1523-1524): Halloween Havoc

Part I was pretty decent, but I didn't think Part II was as good and could've been better.

I liked how the Rangers fought the FearKitties and Moltor -- and Ronny and Will were captured.

The intro for BattleFleet was just okay... Nowhere near the importance the mecha gets in sentai. And the new Megazord looks sweet. One of those times I wish I had seen the sentai first (which I absolutely plan on doing with Geki/Jungle Fury).

Oh, how I hate Hartford. >_<

Norg "helping" Will... Oh boy.

Ronny regained her energy awfully quick, as did Sentinel Knight returning to normal. Meh.

That egg just... came outta nowhere.

While I thought Halloween was a bit odd for an episode subplot, the party scene at the end was great.

And Mack is a robot. Check.

Part I: 4/5, Part II: 3/5