“Trick or Trial” was of course a clip show and of course we were all expecting that, but what I’ve come to expect post-Samurai is that these clip shows continue to get better and better. Last year’s Halloween special was fantastic and this year’s didn’t fail to keep me entertained in between the flashbacks to previous episodes. There’s not a lot to review in this episode so let’s just go over a few of my favorite things from this cooky and fun episode!
The Costumes: These were awesome! Tyler is a Matador, Shelby is a Pirate, Chase is a Vampire, Koda is a Samurai, Riley is Sherlock Holmes, Kendall is a Musketeer and Ivan is a Scarecrow! How adorable are all of these costumes? Plus, they are a vast improvement over last year’s which were just a white sheet ghost costume. I will say though, that I did prefer Kendall as Cupid!
The Witch: Throughout Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge there have been subtle and not so subtle references to the Wizard of OZ sprinkled throughout the show. As a huge fan of that movie I have noticed every single one. From Wrench saying “Have a heart” to Curio “not having a brain” this reference topped it off! The green faced Wicked Witch that assisted the Intergalactic Halloween Court was by far my favorite part of this episode! Also, if you take a look at the beginning of the episode, you can catch Ivan and Kendall skipping down the road. Oh, also Ivan is a Scarecrow 😉
The Intergalactic Halloween Court: I really enjoyed this aspect of the episode that the court to hear the Ranger’s trial was a trio of Jack-o-Lanterns. It was an interesting idea to have the Rangers relive their fights with certain monsters, receive strikes and then face destruction based on how many strikes they receive. Plus, the flames coming out of the pumpkins was pretty damn cool!
The Rangers on Trial: These moments were rather more hilarious than anything else as the Rangers kept shouting out “Stop Lying” or many other laughable arguments as the monsters told their totally false versions of events. As the Rangers kept defending themselves against the monsters’ laughable claims they too made me laugh with their retorts. It was just all around hilarious.
Monster Witnesses: As the Witch summons the monsters out of her cauldron the effect used was really rather beautiful to look at and I loved the effect. It was eerie and totally worked for the Halloween feel of the episode. Some of the monsters picked however have been so played out that it was a little lame to use them again. I mean Iceage an Stingrage have been used so many times, do we really need to be reminded of their fights? I hardly think so.
James & Phillip: It was really nice to see Phillip and James show up randomly in this episode and help the Rangers escape destruction on trial.
9 Way Morph: This was really rather beautiful to see because I’ve been wanting to see it for quite some time! Now we just gotta get the Silver Ranger in there and our lives will be complete! Seeing them all fight together was quite the sight for sore eyes as well! Fantastic for a Halloween Special!
Curio & Poisandra: As always I love seeing these two in any episode, for one when Curio gets scared in the beginning and throws his popcorn everywhere! Later they tried to swing the jury this episode and became extremely scared of pumpkins after the court punished them! Hilarity ensued in this scene above and I really laugh so hard.
I was rather impressed with the handling of this episode because it was both interesting to watch outside of the clip show. Clip shows have been handled well during the Lynn Era of Power Rangers in my opinion and  I am so glad that they have because there is nothing worse than having to sit through a terrible clip show. I will certainly be giving this clip show watch closer to Halloween and every subsequent year from now on!
Happy Early Halloween!