We are going in an interesting direction here with Ninja Steel as we’ve begun an introduction to a new story-line with the sudden appearance of Brody’s lost brother Aiden. “Poisonous Plots” was another decent episode with plenty of Power Rangers comedic schtick, action and enough to move the plot forward to satisfy me for the moment. Victor and Monty sadly for the episode went back to their normal messy annoyances, but I was happy to see my favorite Madame Odius out of the ship and doing something on Earth’s surface!
There are lots to discuss about the Ranger’s and Aiden, so let’s look back at what happened!
Aiden’s True Colors: Okay, It’s totally obvious here and it’s time to talk about it.
Get ready. Are you ready? This dude is not Aiden, I mean look at him. He doesn’t even resemble the little kid in the flashbacks or even look related to Brody. He is so suspicious, a sneaky snake!
We open on Aiden telling the others about his hardships after escaping the battle between his father and Galvanax and hiding the Ninja Steel in the trophy, the story we’d seen in the first episode. He gains the Ranger’s, especially Brody’s, trust telling this story. Only someone who was there (or who had been told by Galvy, Odius or Ripcon) would know such things, right? Later, he goes a little too hard on Levi during training, which causes Levi to grow suspicious of him (SMART!).
He even asked to see the Ranger Base and as if it weren’t enough to knock your socks off, Mick stood right up and said NO! The Base is sort of only for Rangers!
Then, as if it couldn’t be anymore easy, a monster attack was signaled but when they get there no monster is to be found to be attacking. Only Aiden is there defending some civilians from Kudabots (while Toxitea lurks in the shadows). How convenient isn’t it that suddenly Aiden plays the hero when Hayley and Levi were giving him the side eye….hmm…
What was even worse, after Brody was poisoned by Toxitea, Aiden kept suggesting the Rangers give up their Power Stars and then made Hayley and Levi feel guilty for Brody stepping in front of them. Come on! How is that normal?!
Chocolate Sculptures: Mrs. Finch’s class is slowing turning into Miss Appleby’s class at Angel Grove High. First it was basic math and science and now we’re making chocolate sculptures for children? What class is this anyways? What even was the purpose of this? Was there even a lesson for them to learn? I mean, it tied into the plot of the episode, but this is so strange to me…..
Odius and Toxitea: I was very happy to see Madame Odius, who is my favorite Villain this season, step outside of Galvanax’s ship and work her own plan. I was also excited to have our first Ninja Steel Female Monster in Toxitea!
I very much liked Toxitea as well, her voice actress was pretty great! Toxitea actually tried to take out the two smartest Rangers in this episode which were Hayley and Levi, but ended up getting the Red Ranger. Even though she and Odius were tricked I think this pair gave the Rangers a good scare and a run for their money this episode!
Madame Odius was rather happy when she got the Ninja Power Stars and was ready to give them up to Galvanax, but was I almost expecting her to turn on him and take them for herself. I sense she will turn on him at some point though, she seems very treacherous.
Hayley and Levi are Smart: As I’ve said several times this review, these two were the stars of the episode. They were suspicious of Aiden from the very beginning of the episode. Something just wasn’t right and I could sense that they felt it too.
Putting their poor chocolate sculpting skills to good use, Hayley and Levi borrowed the Ninja Power Stars from their friends to make chocolate replicas in order to give to Odius and get the antidote to cure Brody. Odius thought they were a Treat but she ended up getting a Trick! 😉
The trick was rather brilliant and tied into the previous events of the episode rather well, however I will say that it was super dumb that the other Rangers got so upset that Hayley and Levi didn’t tell them they borrowed their Power Stars. I was so annoyed by their reaction, it probably bothered me the most out of the entire episode. Like, shut up, we just fooled the villains.
But, these two were proven right when at the end of the episode we got a glimpse into Aiden’s true intentions! He is indeed working for Madame Odius and tricking the Rangers, so they were right to be suspicious of him! Even though I gotta say, I loved his evil laugh. What bothered me though is that I think Aiden still got the best of them at the end because the two of them apologized anyways and claimed they were wrong for treating him as if his intentions weren’t pure. NO!!!! He tricked them, Madame Odius succeeded.
Preston and Levi Team Up: I am never going to get tired of saying “Cheeseburger” as Levi destroys a monster and takes a selfie with his Burger Phone! It’s just too great and well I just love Levi. This episode he added another of my favorites into the action with him, Preston. But, since Toxitea was a “tea” themed monster it was time to add several “tea” puns into the mix, including: “Let’s Ice This Tea!” and “How do you take your tea?” – “With Tornadoes and Lightning!” HAHA, now that is classic Power Rangers. Good Work this week on the Tea Puns Ninja Steel writers.
The Zord Battle: The Zord Battle was a little mixed up this week and I loved it. First we saw only the Robo Red Zord and the Robo Rider Zord take on Toxitea by themselves which was really cool. I really wish that Ninninger or future Sentai Series would bring back humanoid zords like these (or the Shogun or Super Zeo Zords). How cool would it have been to see all 6 Rangers with humanoid zords like these?
But if that wasn’t cool enough, these two little zords also got to ride the Dragon Zord as well!
Victor and Monty: Back to insanity we go. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This week Victor and Monty are participating in the random chocolate event for children, but choose to put glue in it so it stays firm. Even though, the kids have to eat it…. but it gets them into trouble when a hole in the mold squirts all over Victor and turns him into a solid sculpture. More laughing at Victor, Monty making that face and more gushy liquid pouring all over the place.
Like most Ninja Steel episodes “Poisonous Plots” had some great moments and some bad moments, luckily for episode 11 this had more good than bad. With what is expected to come soon I am still very interested to see where this story is going. I am still losing interest in Victor and Monty each and every week however. But, the Rangers (and the actors playing them) continue to gain my love and admiration with each week and I am very impressed with Nick Beckwith (who I hope gets more and more evil and time goes by haha)
Until Next Week!
