At the beginning, the Zangyack commanders discuss using the powerful gigalolium cannon, a weapon that could destroy the whole planet. Thanks to Joe, the Gokaigers also know this and plot to take the gigalolium’s fuel. Using the Boukenger keys and the Scope Shots to their advantage, Joe and Luka successfully board the ship where it’s stored.
Luka’s cunning plan to get past the guards is to dress up as Gormin, with the costume made out of a bucket and a cardboard vest. Somehow, this ‘disguise’ manages to fool both the Gormin and higher-level Zangyack.
Luka accepts to play a card game against two Sugormin. Luka, being Luka, decides to cheat and win several times, gaining the attention of other Zangyack members. By winning, the money piles up, just how Luka likes it.
Eventually, Joe and Luka are exposed and are forced to play against the Zangyack for their lives. Joe eventually wins at the last second, but the Zangyack don’t keep their promise to let them go. At that moment, Marvellous, Ahim and Don arrive with the gigalolium. We learn that that Luka’s cheating was to draw attention away from the gigalolium, allowing Marvellous and the team to steal it. I love that the audience were lead in one direction, but at the last second it turns out that the aim was something completely different.
Fitting in with the card theme, we see the first appearance of the full JAKQ-Gokaiger team, including Big One with a skirt! I still find it really cool seeing older team like JAKQ in HD, along with their attacks such as Big Bomber.
During the mecha battle we see the return of Gao-GokaiOh and we hear the first insert song for this season – “Kaizoku Gattai! GokaiOh” by Psychic Lover. As with most Psychic Lover songs, it’s a great song to have playing in the background during a fight.
At the end, we learn that Luka was even cheating when Joe was playing alone to ensure that he won. Throughout the episode we had scenes involving Marvellous not being able to win at any card game. I find this hilarious and he’s frequently called out on this throughout the episode.
This episode in Power Rangers would probably have to be cut due to the involvement of JAKQ. However, these scenes could be reshot if necessary.
GRADE
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before but Luka is my favourite character, so I had expectations coming into this episode knowing it was partly a Luka focus. This episode lived up to those expectations, and not just because of Luka. I give this episode a 4/5
