After months and months of impatient waiting we finally have the return of Super Megaforce! From this point on we go straight through to the finale, minus the week off for the Day of Play! Personally, I think the show came back strong with both an episode of goofy Power Ranger goodness and an actual storyline pushing action!
Orion’s Risky Business: While completely unnecessary to both story and character development, we get dance montage from Orion in the beginning of this episode. While adorable to look at it just didn’t seem to fit right with the rest of the story or episode.
But you have to admit that Orion’s silver undies were perfection, even if he was shooting water into his mouth.The Unexplained: Why was Orion in the school to begin with? Apparently the school has no one in it completely in order for a person to live in a locker. Gia asked if Orion was going to class, but when had it been established that he was going to school with them? What if he had already completed course work on Andrasia before becoming a miner, if that’s a thing. So many questions and very little answers.
Orion’s New Belt Upgrade: I am a little on the fence regarding this scene. It was an actual explanation but again it seemed out of place when the upgrade of Orion’s belt could’ve been mentioned in passing without meriting its own scene. However, we get what we get and luckily this time we got explanation regarding the sudden access to the 6th Ranger Powers.
I did enjoy the emotion of the moment when the Rangers hand Orion his new belt, that was done effectively.
Jake’s Green with Envy: I really enjoyed the scenes where Jake seemed to overcompensate or feel inadequate in front of Orion. This was something we haven’t gotten to see much of since there are very few Jake focus episodes. You can really hear his jealousy when Orion figures out how to fuse the RPM Keys.
A good play on the Sentai footage allowed Jake’s jealousy to cause Emma to get hurt and cause the others to fall to the Skeltox’s spell.
Also, they have grappling hooks now!
RPM Gold & Silver Combo: I was super happy we got to see this in Power Rangers and for some reason I was afraid this would be cut out. I did feel, however, that the scene where Orion has to decide which key to use takes a little too long. Once he is inside his “Dream World” and sees that the Gold and Silver RPM Ranger join together, the story proceeds much faster.
But Gah I love the white out world with the 6th Rangers!
Orion and Jake Clash: While two Rangers clashing with each other mid-season can seem a bit goofy in other seasons, I felt that the many scenes involving Jake and Orion clashing to be rather well done. Azim Rizk and Cameron Jebo made you believe their two characters had issues, especially Azim and his perfect ADR. He really can capture Jake’s feelings while matching the Sentai motions. In my opinion anyways.
Watching Jake squirm over Gia’s potential love interest in Orion made this episode for me.
I also really enjoyed how the writers actually threw back to Orion’s homeworld being destroy and referencing how it affects him.
Prism Punch: It was interesting to see the Flashman powers once more and even more interesting that an attack actually got a name. We have no name or backstory for the Flashman Powers used in Super Megaforce but at least when their hands blocky gloves we can call it the Prism Punch.
I remain confident that using these Sentai suits are for a reason, maybe more-so just to explain the Sentai Rangers in Legend War footage.
The Monster: Skeltox has an interesting design and color which really made him stand out amongst the other Action Commanders we have seen. The monster himself did nothing too special except steal the energy of humans which did prove to be useful against the Rangers! Luckily for them Gosei has special Ranger cots available for the occasion!
Silver Ranger: Gold Mode: How can you not love this upgrade? I remember long ago when Gokaiger aired everyone was a little put off by the many faces adorning the armor but in the years since then I’ve grown to appreciate it. NO, there is no Titanium Ranger and YES, there is a RoboKnight face. Again some things are left unexplained but you kind of just have to bask in the awesomeness this time around. The finisher is completely amazing to watch, seeing all the 6th Rangers attack at once!
Final Thoughts
As usual there are good things and bad things with this episode. While most of the parts I felt succeeded relied largely on the Sentai source, I did find that many of the character interaction scenes actually succeeded as well. I must admit that Jake and Orion are the stars of this episode, which was I’m sure the goal.
The story actually successfully told the story from Jake’s jealousy to the set up of combining the Ranger Keys. So all in all a good episode and we actually got to hear the Rangers call out their individual zords.
I am beginning to grow attached to the random Sentai suits appearing in the show, even though in the beginning they were severely frustrating. Even though no toys will be sold from their appearances and they will probably never be mentioned in future Power Rangers seasons, it does open the universe for teams we have never seen. Perhaps unintentional universe growth is on the horizon!
Scores:
Story: 7/10
Action: 9/10
Monsters: 7/10
All Together: 7.5/10
