Power Rangers Dino Thunder - Retrospective

 I typed out a pretty harsh first paragraph for this season but I figured it's best saved for that other worst season ever...

When Dino Thunder first aired, I was twelve years old. I had just come off of my love for Ninja Storm and then I saw advertisements for DINOSAURS. Dinosaurs are like that one subject that nobody hates. It's always perfect. Well, I mean I did see Kyoryuger... but we'll get to that another time.

Needless to say, I was excited. This was also back when I liked Tommy (we all make mistakes) so his return was another reason I was hyped. When the show premiered, it all payed off. I loved it. At the time, I loved it more than Ninja Storm. So after I actually ended up enjoying Ninja Storm more than I did when I was a child, I was ecstatic at the idea of getting back into this season. I popped in the disc, started it up...

...Fuck Dino Thunder.

As always let's start with the rangers. Conner was... well, Conner was different. Conner started out kind of like Shane last season. He was flawed, he was kind of a jerk, and he also had this unique quality of really wanting nothing to do with being a Power Ranger. He had plans and didn't want to give them up. That was something I was looking forward to being a plot point... but it's addressed and taken care of all in one episode (which will become a pattern for the rest of the season). For the remainder of the season, Conner kind of just goes through the paces. He has his jerk moments but he's never a truly bad person. He doesn't really develop, we're just told he does. He has a sudden change of heart in the finale with his date at the prom but nothing really builds up to it. Seeing a ranger totally disinterested in being a ranger would have been nice but they squandered the opportunity and just gave us a red ranger who's just kind of... there.

Ethan... well, I don't much care for Ethan. You know how we're told that Conner is a jerk? I think that title should have gone to Ethan. I think the intention throughout the season is for him to come off as snarky, awkward, and kind of cocky... but he just comes off as a self-righteous asshole who always needs the final word. But the thing is, just like Conner, that personality isn't there all the time. Sometimes he's super nice, sometimes he's really rude. On one hand I feel like that works, it's a bit more believable, but on the other hand it just feels so inconsistent. He starts off the season as this awkward nerd who uses his (albeit rude) wit to mask his insecurities, but he never truly outgrows that. Seeing a ranger who was shy and had to slowly find new ways to deal with that shyness instead of being a dick would have been kind of nice but they squandered the opportunity and just gave us a blue ranger who's just sort of... there.

Kira, what can I say about Kira... No, really, I'm having a hard time thinking of things to say about Kira. I don't think there was more of a "just there" character this season than Kira. Her main characteristic is that she's super friendly, although she has an "edge", and by "edge" I mean she's occasionally... not super friendly. She suffers from Ethan's awkward snark but for a different reason, in that she's... seriously, fuck if I even know. Kira lacked any discernible character outside of her music (and sudden right-the-fuck-out-of-nowhere interest in a TV internship) and her interest in Trent. I can at least kind of see how people could say Conner and Ethan might have changed by the end of the season (even though I disagree) but Kira just firmly stayed the same. She didn't have any real problems to overcome nor any major setbacks with her personality... She just kind of wandered throughout the season and did whatever the season asked of her.

There is quite literally not a single thing to say about Tommy's character this season. It's Tommy. He says things that have the underlying hint of "I'm fucking awesome" and he gets stuck in a suit. He doesn't change, he has no character arc (his rivalry with Zeltrax doesn't count) and he's not even in half the fucking show except in his damn suit. Adding a tiny bit of backstory that he went to college and found the gems adds nothing to his character. Tommy just existed.

Trent was, hands down, the best character of the season because he actually fucking did stuff. Maybe not a whole lot, maybe it was inconsistent, but he did stuff. He got sucked into a world he didn't know, he struggled being the evil white ranger, he opposed everyone on the show, he struggled to gain his friends' trust, he struggled to keep his dad's secret (even though that was pointless), and by God he did more than just exist. He may not have necessarily changed, but Jesus he actually participated in events that weren't just killing time until the fucking finale. He had a missed opportunity in a rivalry with Zeltrax, but honestly that's  the only major misstep in his character that I can think of. He's still not a great character, he was forced into a repeating role after turning good of only ever showing up when it was convenient, but he was still this season's best.

As for the villains... Good fucking lord. Mesogog was the shining example of a bad fucking villain. He's just the epitome of not doing a goddamn thing. He never comes up with a plan on his own, never gets involved in any of the action or story for that matter (Anton's story with Trent doesn't count) and constantly whines about his minions not getting anything done even though he never fucking does anything about it to make it better. He doesn't even get remotely interesting until the finale when he finally takes matters into his own hands and that's only when he and Mercer split from each other. Combine this with that fact that everyone feared him for whatever goddamn reason... Mesogog was an awful villain.

As was Zeltrax! But not because he didn't do anything, because he had potential to be better. He starts off as a formidable opponent, with an odd obsession with Tommy, but along the way he just... became another villain. After it was revealed that he was really Smitty (a revelation that came right the hell out of nowhere) he just stopped being interesting. He was suddenly into Elsa out of nowhere, and for pretty much no reason that I can recall (and trust me, I tried to find one) he wanted to defeat Mesogog. He became an anti-villain for no good reason. He started off as a character that was a bit mysterious with a mysterious past but he just stopped being interesting. The only thing keeping him above Mesogog was that he actually did shit throughout the season.

Then there's Elsa. I can't really put my finger on what Elsa was except for angry all the time? She's kind of like Kira in that she doesn't really have a discernable personality, she was just... evil? Her little stint as Randall didn't make any sense either because I assumed it was to keep tabs on the rangers, but she never actually uses it to her advantage. She never provides any ifnromation about their personal life, she's just there all the time. Outside of that, she has no personality. She merely exists because... two villains wasn't enough?

Dino Thunder wandered. Dino Thunder never knew what it wanted to do. It had a lot of interesting dynamics that would have been fun to watch, but were never followed up on. It had a lot of characters that could have been more interesting, but they were fumbled. So many things were introduced and resolved in the same episode. Things happened merely to make other things happen, never to work with the plot. It was a season of missed opportunities, sloppy writing, odd pacing, strange storytelling, and a feeling that the writers were just going through the paces at times. It is, ultimately, a disappointment, and because of the missed opportunities, the boring characters, the terrible villains, and the mundane writing, it is... my second least-favorite season.

The worst? Oh, we'll get there. 

Best Episode - Fighting Spirit
Fighting Spirit was a spectacle. I had such a hard time picking a best episode because so many of the episodes this season tended to make me want to smack the writers upside the head. So this episode comes along and just gives us a lot of cool action, a bit of nostalgia, some great scenes with the powerless rangers having to fend for themselves... It's not a great episode by any means but outside of Thunder Storm, which still had flaws, it was the best the season had to offer.

Worst Episode - A Test of Trust
This was also a hard choice. There were so many bad episodes this season. But this was the worst because it was so fucking pointless. There was no reason for the rangers to suddenly doubt Trent just because of his secret, and then we spend an episode of him trying to prove himself by doing the exact same shit he's been doing for half the season. It was just a time-wasting episode until the finale, even more than the rest of the season had been.

Power Rangers Ninja Storm - Retrospective

Ninja Storm was almost completely perfect. If you disagree with that statement then please stop reading now, because this retrospective is going to be almost completely praise for this season with only very minor complaints, if any at all.

Let’s try something different this time, though. Normally I address premieres and finales and episode arcs but the more I thought about it, the more I thought “why?” I’ve already talked about those and sometimes I feel like I stretch in my retrospectives to say more than I previously did, so this time we’re going to just get into the meat of things. Let’s start with the rangers themselves.

I said it a million times in my reviews but the thing I loved the most about the Power Rangers this season was that they were portrayed as real people, and as believable teenagers (maybe not always in appearance, but in attitude). For the majority of the series, the rangers are always usually just... rangers. They showed interest in things outside of their lives as soldiers but only every now and then. Ninja Storm is the first time in quite a few years that we’ve gotten a team of heroes who are more defined by their personal hobbies; Shane’s skateboarding and Dustin’s motocross career are constant points of conversation. They save the world but they still find time to unwind and have fun, and I absolutely loved that.

Shane was an asshole at the beginning of the season. He was cocky and overconfident and over-controlling and I fucking loved it. Not just because he was an asshole, I hated him for that, but because it was refreshing to see a leader of a team of Power Rangers not be a complete team player at times. We’d never had that before outside of Alex and he was only that way in a few episodes. He grew out of the role over time but always maintained little bits of it for the rest of the season. He became cocky again when Hunter joined the team. When Dustin went solo, he took it upon himself to discipline his best friend in the whole world. Shane was a different kind of red ranger who could be selfish and loyal at the same time, and never took his duties lightly even though he really, really wanted to be a damn professional skateboarder. Because of the different way he was portrayed and the fantastic performance by Pua in the role, Shane is easily one of my favorite red rangers of all time.

Dustin was a complete and total moron... except he wasn't. At all. I'm going to get this out of the way right now; as of writing this I am three episodes into Jungle Fury and I still have not loved a ranger more than I have loved Dustin. He is, at this point, my number one favorite Power Ranger. Why? Because he was flawed. He had judgment issues.  He was gullible. He didn't take things seriously. But when he did take something seriously, watch out. He was trusting. He was caring, kind, and forgiving. He always put others ahead of himself, all while being completely aloof but in the best way. The acting this season was absolute top-notch in my mind but I believe Glenn was the best. Nobody, and I repeat absolutely nobody, could have played Dustin better.

What does it tell you when the least developed character of the season is still strong? Tori had a fairly weak presence for the most part, but she was still present and involved. She still had a character, just not as strong as the others. She operated more as the warmth of the team, their heart, which in some ways screams cliche girl role, but... it worked for her. Tori was at her best as the voice of reason amongst issues with the other rangers. She would often serve as a mediator between conflicts, even if she didn't know exactly how to handle them herself. She just wanted everything to be okay. Like I said, she was still fairly plain but she still had a pretty decent impact.

Blake and Hunter were interesting characters because they were the same and yet so different. The brother aspect made them really fun to watch. While Hunter was more of the brooding solo type (at least towards the beginning of their run), Blake liked to have fun and was more apt to be a team player. Both were fiercely loyal but they showed it in different ways. But they also suffer from Tori syndrome to an extent; they're present but not completely? Neither one really has a definitive, solid personality every single episode, but those basic personality traits (Hunter's preference to be alone and Blake's fun-loving attitude) also never completely disappear. Not the best characters ever, but also not the worst.

Then there's Cam. Something absolutely unique to the world of Power Rangers and proof that character is where this season shines. Starting off almost antagonistic towards the Power Rangers but only out of jealousy that they can actually do something about the end of the world, whereas he was raised in a school of ninjas... and never allowed to be a ninja. He literally had to sit there and watch while every single person he knew was fighting for something bigger than themselves. Sure, he had this vast amount of knowledge and did his part to help the team, but he wanted more. When he was the only hope of restoring the rangers' powers, he didn't even hesitate. He immediately thought to travel back and gain the powers of the Green Samurai Ranger. Even when he had to juggle both roles as a ranger and semi-mentor, he didn't complain. He was just glad to be helping. In the 20+ years this show has been on the air, I cannot think of a single other ranger who had to go through what Cam had to endure and then came out so well on the other side. I don't know how this works... but while Dustin remains my favorite Power Ranger, I think Cam is my favorite Ninja Storm character.

The only thing I can think of where I think Ninja Storm dropped the ball was a lot of the villains. Not all of them, mind you...

I will receive a lot of flack for this, but I will stand by my opinion. Lothor is one of my all-time favorite Power Rangers villains. He spends an entire season acting like a total fucking idiot, coming up with stupid plans and taking his time but always having the smug grin stuck on his face like he knows he's still going to win. Why? Because he had a plan. An... actually not bad plan. Wear the rangers down slowly over time and then launch an all-out assault to finish them. Forget that it didn't work. Forget that it easily could have been made up by the writers at the last minute. Take into consideration the fact that despite all this, he still planned. He still had a legitimate end goal outside of just "destroy the planet". He knew exactly how he was going to do it all along. Add onto that the fact that he could still handle himself well in battle, and the fact that his troops still feared him and that all adds up to a villain that doesn't get near as much attention as he truly deserves.

I felt bad for Zurgane. He tries so insanely hard to get things done for Lothor and his plans and ideas (all of which actually greatly outdo Lothor’s) are always shot down. But that's about the extent of my opinion on him. Outside of being a villain that could have done a lot more, there's nothing more to him. It's the same with Vexacus. He came in with the possibility of being this anti-villain to Lothor; someone to oppose him. We could have seen a lot of cool things happening with treachery but he just becomes another lackey and then suddenly decides to make a move. Marah and Kapri "pretending" to be stupid didn't make much sense when it turns out that they really are that stupid, so it makes you wonder if they were ever pretending at all. Don't even get me started on the other villains. Shimazu, Motordrone... I don't even know why they were there. The villains were for the most part just a lot of missed potential.

But that didn't take away from my enjoyment. It was such a fun ride all around. I think the reason that I love Ninja Storm so much is that it didn't really have a lot to do. It was mostly episodic, without an overarching plot to adhere to until the last few episodes, so it could focus a lot of its efforts on its characters and that was by far the season's strong part... for the most part. The writing was fresh, the action was nice, the humor was believable, and there were a lot of problems that were just so unbelievably relatable (Shane trying to prove himself to his brother, Dustin struggling with trusting Marah, Blake's secret training to make Sensei Omino proud). It was consistent, it never took itself too seriously or tried to be something that it wasn't... It was just a damn fun show with a lot of fun characters and a lot of great episodes to look back on fondly. Speaking of which...

Best Episode - Eye of the Storm
This was the episode that brought a lot of clarity to Shane's character, at least in my mind. He's been seen throughout the season to be a little cocky, tending to sometimes take matters into his own hands when that's not the best decision. Here we find out it's because he's unsure of himself. He has doubts because of all the great things his brother has done. The interactions between Pua and his real life brother just cranked the realism up to 11 in this episode, the pacing is wonderful, and it all just felt so natural. Definitely one of the episodes I could just sit down and watch any time.

Worst Episode - Down and Dirty
Let me clarify that there is absolutely no episode of Ninja Storm I didn't enjoy. I loved them all. So I really had to pick the one I just found the most flaws in, and it's the one where suddenly Hunter hates that Blake is suddenly a better rider than him and suddenly Marah and Kapri aren't really stupid and suddenly Dustin wants to change professions. See the pattern? Just a lot of stuff happening out of nowhere that easily could have been built up to at least a little bit throughout the season, or even in the prior few episodes. And I still loved it, go figure.

But if this is a season where I have almost no complaints, I guess it's because I needed a lot to bitch about next season...

A change in the status quo?

I've been at this for almost a year now. I posted my first review to my friends on Facebook in late August of 2013 and posted my first review publicly to Rangerboard on September 13th. So by the time I begin Jungle Fury on September 8th of this year, I'll be just shy of a year. But I'll save all of that heartfelt "thank you" mumbo-jumbo for a post on the 13th of this year.

My point is that it's been a while, and for a year I've been doing these reviews the exact same way. So lately I've been debating if a change is in the cards and I've decided it might be the best direction to go, just to shake things up a little bit. So let's go over what's going to be changing here soon.

The way I had been doing retrospectives before was very, very tasking. Granted, I could crank one out in a day but it was still a lot of hard work. The process was as follows; re-read through every. single. review for that season, take extra notes on top of those observations, and then formulate all of those notes and thoughts into a cohesive recollection of the season at hand.

And I fucking hated doing that. I really did. Not because I don't like recalling opinions and maybe forming new ones, but because it was so much work to essentially just draw out things I had already said. So I'm taking a new approach to it this year; retrospectives are coming back. But they're going to be shorter, and I'll be going solely off of my own personal memories of the season. Trying to force myself to remember anything notable without having to spoon-feed myself. Hopefully these shorter retrospectives will provide a better springboard for discussion instead of just having you all agree/disagree with something I've said.

Now the next change is going to be a lot harder for me. The reviews have always been presented in a list format of random thoughts, which I like because it's a lot easier for me to do in real time, it allows for a better flow of humor, and I feel it's easier for you all to follow. But sometimes I feel it's lacking a better narrative, and with a better episode-by-episode narrative, retrospectives and discussions may flow easier.

So I'm experimenting with new ways of formatting episode reviews instead of just lists of thoughts. I'm trying hard to maintain a decent level of humor along with adding in legitimate thoughts, observations, and complaints in a much more cohesive fashion. Since this is a much more time consuming process than changing retrospectives, it might not come into play until RPM, or even Sentai after that.

Also, final thought segments on individual episodes are coming back. I haven't done those in quite a long time.

If you guys end up not liking these changes when they occur, I'll switch back. I have no problem with that. I just thought that after a year, it might be a nice change of pace to not keep things so uniform all the time. So I guess we'll see where this all goes!

Thank you all for following with me for so long, and I'll see you soon.
- Jared