At first I thought it was a fluke and that the first episode of Dino Super Charge was just bad! No, sadly it was not. Power Rangers Dino Super Charge continues it’s trend of being completely nonsensical and reductive. Sadly, it is with a heavy heart that I write this review because I love Dino Charge so much but it seems as if the direction we are heading may not be a good one.
This episode was rack full of inconsistencies, throw away scenes, some rough acting spots AND recycling of already used stories and events. Basically this episode was a complete mess and again I am forced to give it a low score.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Dino Charge but it is hard to ignore the flaws in the sophomore episode of Super Charge.
Heckyl at the Dino Bite: Sigh. Please tell me that the Rangers are smarter than this. If not the Rangers, please tell me that Kendall is smarter than this. The entire episode I was hoping for Kendall to jump out of the shadows and yell “HA! I knew you were Snide all along!” But, No.
Instead we get these random scenes where Heckyl continuously makes fools out of them for not seeing his evil antics. Seriously, the Rangers after gaining so many points in the first half of the series, are now reduced to bumbling idiots who can’t even see that a new villain is in their midst.
Something tells me that I should be enjoying these hi-jinks but I am not. But, I will say that any of the lines, scenes or facial expressions from Ryan Carter are always welcome and help keep these scenes afloat.
Intro of the Dino Super Drive Charger: There have been some throw away lines in the past, but unlike this episode those throw away lines worked. During this episode Kendall nonchalantly remarked that all this time she just so happened to be working on a new Mode Upgrade for the cockpit. ALL THIS TIME. OK, yes a few months have passed but an extraordinary upgrade doesn’t even get a tiny arc. This is not the writing I love, something is amiss.
I feel like this moment made me sad was because, here again with crap comparisons, but it was here that Kendall reminded me of Gosei. Let’s not be that kind of mentor. I don’t even want Keeper to be that kind of mentor even though he showed up randomly in this episode as he does. Anyways, Gosei was famous for just handing the Rangers new powers without reason or trials. Kendall did the same thing here and I hate that. She is so much better than that!
Riley & The Bully: Oy. These scenes to me were probably the worst of the episode and the moral was almost not even needed. Even though they really tried to sum up the two morals.
I have come to discover that Riley simply can barely hold a dedicated episode, even during “When Logic Fails” Riley wasn’t the main focus for the entire episode. Riley is probably the weakest of all the Rangers, story and character wise, and during this episode it was never more apparent. The Bully scenes were almost unbearable to watch as they were almost super embarrassing even for me. I’m not sure if this is who Riley is supposed to be or that Taber’s acting is to blame. Either way, something is amiss about Riley and his story.
Cheater Face: We’re trying to teach a moral here, right? While the moral was set up to be a Non-Bullying AND a No-Cheating Moral, I’m not sure if any of those morals were remotely settled. Most of the time the message was belittled or ignored for something else. The entire thing was very convoluted to me. Don’t Bully unless that person can help you AND don’t cheat unless you can find a way to not get caught. What terrible morals held up by a pretty awful story line. I came to ask myself many times during this episode, “Who wrote this episode?!”
I was a little surprised at how Riley was portrayed in this episode as well. Riley, up until this point, seemed logical but during this episode he is almost anything but until the very last few scenes. He seemed to be really ready to cheat, like a lot. This is not the first version of Riley we got in the first part of the series and I’m not liking it. Where’s the cake samples Riley, the savoir of his dog Rubik or the Riley that kicked Puzzler’s butt!?
Storyline Reuse: Now, I know that with Kyoryuger and the Sentai source footage this may have slipped by but the reuse of stories and monsters is beginning to wear a little thin. At first it was rather charming and helped us connect the story even more to the overall story arch. Now, seeing Stingrage and Iceage over and over is wearing thin!
Not only are the monsters getting more and more redundant but the monster’s reuse of schemes is wearing thin as well. I mean how much can you see Iceage freeze the Rangers? How often can we watch Stingrage and his prongs cause a stir when they change a Ranger’s memory or mindset. How many times do we have to sit through an explanation of what the stingers do and how they are a problem?!
While, the cast of Rangers are hilarious when this happens it’s just not ringing true anymore for me.
Memory Loss: This was probably my favorite part of the entire episode, except of course any scene in which Heckyl is the focal! First we were treated to 18 abs while the Rangers try to support Riley, goofballs was so cute! Whenever Brennan, Yoshi & James are put to their own acting devices, in this case memory loss, they run some hilarious comedy! Chase doesn’t remember why he has a kiwi on his skateboard, Tyler must know who NUR is and Koda loves to make whistles out of grass! Hilarious! Also, WHO IS NUR?!
Yoshi Sudarso, again shines the most above all the others as Koda who with just facial expressions was able to capture our hearts once again! Whether its making grass whistles or eyeing Heckyl with no suspension as he eyes his Energem, he is Koda!
Heckyl in the Base: I have mixed feelings about this entire scenario. First, Heckyl is in the base and every facial expression or tiny blurb to himelf was gold! I loved every second of it, and yet! I can’t get over the fact that the Rangers are being so incredibly stupid during these scenes. Where are the smart Rangers I thought I knew from the first half of this series?
I mean, this is Megaforce level of stupid. They let Heckyl, who they’ve just barely met, who keeps eyeing the Energems & saw the Rangers morph; INTO THE BASE! Does Heckyl look like Aisha to you? NO! Why let him in the base?! BAH I almost threw a banana at my TV!
Tyler and the Dino Armor X: Didn’t we spend an entire episode exploring the fact that only Chase can use the Dino Armor X Charger with his Black energy? Didn’t we also spend an episode explaining the fact that Green and Blue energy don’t work on the charger either?
But Sentai Footage and Red is KING! Oy. Still Pretty though.
Nutritious Joyro: While my comrade ShadowRay22 totally guessed the way that it this was going to go I was rather happy with the direction they went with Kyoryuger Luckyiero’s Nutritious Joyro, which in the Sentai is the chief growing method. I definitely wish that we get more footage of Curio using the watering can though, he needs more attention in my book!
Dino Super Drive Mode: This feels like the first bit of original footage from this episode, besides Heckyl, that I rather enjoyed. Most of the scenes in this episode focused on the Rangers and Riley with his bully. I, however, was waiting for the new footage of Dino Super Drive! While the toy doesn’t interest me really, I will say that the Dino Super Drive Saber is really cool in the footage and the original sequences cannot be beat! They look fabulous and I really want that new golden Charger now! I just wish that this episode was more on par with the suited Rangers than it was.
Final Thoughts
Well we’re off to a rather slow start and I was not expecting that. While the first half of Dino Charge had been cool & awesome it seems as if the problems that were no where near the first half have seeped into the second half. Story line issues, continuity, boring filler, character focus we didn’t ask for, Zord & Weapon throw aways; all of these things IMO were not abundant in the first half and yet are taking over the second half.
However, since I was such a huge fan of the first half I am severely hanging on and hoping that what I loved about the first half will once again return. In Judd We Trust, right? Dino Charge had so much character focus and story line progression that it seemed that there was not a single frame wasted; this cannot be said for Dino Super Charge which so far seems to be only wasting time until the finale or another Zord shows up.
Story: 6/10
Action: 8/10
Writing: 7/10
All Together: 7/10