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akinoameTurn Up the Volume (Judd Lynn): Mike’s not in the credits again. Take a drink.
To be honest, I’ve been dreading this episode since I posted my thoughts on “Heroes Among Us” when RPM was airing new. That’s about a year of dread. I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad episode—it does some good character development for Damon and Karone (my two favorite characters)—but it’s such a wallbanger.
Back in “Heroes Among Us,” I praised Scott for turning down the Medal of Valor because he had done nothing to deserve it. When he went out into the wasteland, he never intended on saving all those refugees; he was having an emo-fit because his dad never appreciated the work he did and had awarded Gem instead of him. He abandoned his post and behaved like a child, and he admitted as such to Col. Truman, insisting he’d rather earn the medal the way Gem had. Here, while Damon may not want the Chief Mechanic job, he lets Baxter get away with cheating, just because he feels sorry for the guy for wanting the job that badly. It’s wrong, plain and simple. Damon has several occasions to come out and say that Baxter cheated—a cheat that very nearly cost people their lives, by the way—and he lets him get away with it. Thank you, Karone, for calling out Damon on this total bullshit! When the former Queen of Evil looks at a guy and calls him a jerk and says that something is completely unjust, I’d think that you should probably listen to her. Damon, you’re a sweetheart, but this is totally not behavior you should encourage. Particularly in a kids’ show. Broken Aesop, anyone?
However, we do see quite a bit of their characters, and that almost makes up for me wanting to beat my head into the desk and while reminding myself to be grateful that Judd Lynn got it right the second time around in “Heroes Among Us.” Like “Green Courage,” this episode reinforces that Damon loves being a mechanic. He loves working with his hands and getting dirty. He’s happy where he is and doesn’t want to be Chief Mechanic. When he finds out what it entails, he balks at it—a desk and paperwork are not his thing, nor is a crisp white uniform instead of his stained green coveralls. And he’s upset with Karone at first for dragging him into this (I’ve got to say, it takes balls to step on the foot of the former Queen of Evil and then yell at her; Pink Ranger or not, Karone is scary when she’s mad!). However, I have to admit that his forgiving nature toward Baxter fits with his generally laidback attitude and the way he acts around Karone. They get along fairly well, almost having a bit of a brother/sister dynamic at times.
We get to see the dual sides of Karone’s personality beautifully here. On the one hand, she’s perky and happy—very much the “little sister” of the team. She’s not the kind of little sister who you have to protect, but the little sister who runs around all over the place, gets into your stuff, but genuinely loves you and you her. She thinks she knows what’s best for Damon, so she starts begging him to see the job board and insists he’d be perfect for the job. And when they’re about to morph, you can see how excited she is, and Damon has to remind her to stay hidden—which makes perfect sense given that the last Rangers she knew ended up going public in their final showdown with her. She doesn’t quite seem to realize that the Rangers have a need to keep a secret identity. Though, given that Damon very loudly talks about his designs for the transmitter, you’ve got to wonder if they’re even capable of keeping secrets. She clearly loves being a Ranger and is very proud of the work she’s doing. She’s also a pretty scrappy fighter, charging in against Decibot and punching and kicking the shit out of him before setting up for Maya to get in her own hits. Decibot is sure to get rid of her first. She might not have been the perfect Ranger when posing as Ashley in “Invasion of the Body Switcher,” but she’s definitely improved now. But you also see why she used to be Astronema. She just gets venomous here. When Baxter challenges Damon, Karone refuses to back down. She’s giving him a full-on Astronema glare the entire episode, getting into a deadly range in her voice when she addresses him near the end. She’s absolutely furious and it’s evident. Try reconciling that with the sweet, hyperactive girl from earlier. Poor Damon never stood a chance.
Enter the Lost Galaxy (Judd Lynn) First off, major props to Commander Stanton for insisting on locking up the Galaxy Book and putting a moratorium on all research on it after two idiot scientists decided to read off the strange alien language that they couldn’t translate and was making the book give off electrical sparks, which turned into a huge burst of energy that knocked out the colony’s power. Seriously, scientist guys, get with the program. Never read off any strange languages out loud; it’s common sense for anyone in sci fi/fantasy.
Honestly, I’ve got to commend everybody on their logic! The Council advocates destroying the Galaxy Book immediately since it apparently poses a threat. Logical. Equally logical is Stanton’s insistence not to rush into anything, all while keeping the Book under constant guard. And when Kai insists that the Guardian recognizing him as the Blue Ranger must mean something important, the other Rangers insist that it probably means he’s working for Trakeena. And Kai puts together the evidence of the Keonta Spell and realizes that “galaxies found become galaxies lost” means they’ve been transported to the Lost Galaxy…which is kind of a breakdown in the story because they have never mentioned this place before other than in the actual title of the show. It’s something that was unfortunately cut out of “Quasar Quest”—that Mirinoi was originally supposed to be located in the Lost Galaxy. However, it was cut probably for a good reason, given that Magna Defender was sealed there and it would have been pretty hard for him to appear all of a sudden if he was stuck in the Lost Galaxy, which is impossible to escape from without a reverse-Keonta Spell. Still, just mentioning the place beforehand would have been good, so our little CSI doesn’t seem to figure this out from out of nowhere.
Despite that minor gripe, it is a solid episode. Kai is beautifully explored here, with his sense of mercy and destiny. It’s something you don’t expect from him given his characterization in the beginning. He’s the logical one, the Spock, the guy you’re not going to expect to believe in things like destiny. However, things have changed drastically over the course of the show, and now it’s expected that he would. After all, he’s one of the destined Rangers who managed to master an alien weapon that he never would have even found if not for bizarre circumstances that had to have been fate. He knows immediately that there’s something about the Guardian that he has to investigate, and he accepts that it’s his destiny to become the new Guardian (which I hope means he gets all those cool powers one day), but at the same time, he’s nervous about stealing the Book. He’s worried it might be a trap, that he’s doing the wrong thing, which definitely saves it because it’s completely in-character for him. More important than that theme of destiny is Kai’s mercy. He’s drawn to the Guardian by fate, but he helps him because of his heart. He sees that the Guardian is dying, and that’s what makes him break him out. He’s got to try to save him—that’s what the Blue Ranger is supposed to do. He wants to help him, and he’s horrified when Deviot kills the Guardian. Archie Kao gives a really heartfelt performance here, and I have to say it’s probably his best. You feel for Kai as he grapples with destiny, duty, and mercy all at once. It’s really well done.
In other news, Keonta!Deviot is awesome. Superpowerful and really damn cool, especially looking grotesque and insectoid, almost as if he went into the Cocoon. Hmm… Unfortunately, the Keonta Spell has a nasty side-effect of sending you to the Lost Galaxy, which is why it really can’t be depended on for any power-ups. Also, the Guardian’s crystals were sadly disappointing after the short buildup where he gave them to Kai for when he needed their protection. They only upgraded the Quasar Launchers into the Galaxy Quasar Launchers. They were just a Lights of Orion battlizer for a weapon they rarely use. Sad. And hey, the Zenith Carrierzord actually did something! No clue if it will ever again, though.
Beware the Mutiny (Judd Lynn): The episode starts with the last few minutes of the previous episode in the villains’ point of view, where Trakeena and Kegler explain that the Lost Galaxy is an inescapable death trap of a pocket dimension where time and space are completely warped. Sure enough, on Terra Venture, nothing is navigable, clocks are turning backwards, and plants are reverting back into seedlings. Also, Stanton and Mike have a very strange experience where they try to end get to Command and end up on another planet, warned by a ghost to get the hell out of there and never look back. But when Stanton presses for details, they find themselves back in Command, where Kai’s been trying to explain the problems to them only to see them completely blanking out on him. It’s a really interesting thing they set up with this place, that it’s a total mindfuck, and unfortunately, they never do anything with it again.
We’re introduced to the new villain, Captain Mutiny, via a really impressive scene with his castle rising up out of the water, candles lighting themselves—all of this really awesome imagery that brings to mind the Flying Dutchman. Then you see the Captain and his Swabbies. Can we please trade them in for Davy Jones and his crew? Or Barbossa and the zombie pirates? They looked awesome. These guys look pathetic. And I absolutely love Stanton’s reaction the whole time when Mutiny arrives. First, when Mike has to explain “It’s a castle on the back of a giant turtle flying toward us” in that infamous “No, I’m not making this up” voice, then when Mutiny’s longboats sail right through the City Dome like it’s the domes on the Gungan city in The Phantom Menace, Stanton keeps saying, “This is crazy.” Like he’s just realized he lives in a bizarre as hell world. He’s seen superheroes in brightly colored spandex fighting giant monsters, evil robots, and bug creatures, and this is what breaks him. This is the one thing he cannot believe.
Other than that, I really have to commend the character development all around for everyone. First off, you’ve got the crew of Terra Venture. They’ve been attacked so many times they now have a system going. They evacuate the plaza, set up a barricade, and position snipers all around, aiming right for Mutiny should he prove to be a threat. I am so impressed with them. Stanton agrees to check out Mutiny’s supposed machine that will send them home, but when Mike tells him, “I don’t trust him,” he admits that he really has no choice right now. Stanton seems a little reluctant, but first and foremost, he’s got to get everyone to safety and he’s got to take the first out he can find. But at the same time, he sends Mike to take the heliship to get the device and see if it’ll help, indicating he doesn’t completely trust Mutiny either. I mean, after all, when the guy has a hook for a hand and is named “Captain Mutiny,” he’s not exactly inspiring confidence.
Finally come the Rangers, who have clearly grown a lot over the course of the season. One little thing I liked was when Mutiny first arrived: Leo immediately looked to Karone and asked if she knew him. I said before that Karone brings something new to the team, having been the former main villain. Her experience is a vital asset, and they certainly try to use it. But this isn’t someone she knows, and all of her instincts are screaming, “This is too easy,” cementing Leo’s decision to follow after the heliship and see what’s going on. I love that they do—they watch the whole thing, keeping in the shadows and just making sure everything’s okay. Mike and the others get the box no problem, but Leo insists on staying a little bit to investigate. He’s not buying it. And sure enough, they find a ton of slaves, taken from ships that had been trapped in the Lost Galaxy, and forced to mine for treasure (hey, the Lost Galaxy is a weird as hell place, so I can accept that minted gold dubloons can be found within the earth). And I really love this moment. The Rangers hate seeing this, and they clearly want to help, but Leo has to remind them that their first priority is to stop that box from reaching Terra Venture. He knows that whatever’s in it may immediately harm the people they’re sworn to protect, while the slaves can hold out just a little longer. But when the one slave sees them watching and reaches for them, pleading for help, Damon is immediately getting up so he can run down and help him. This is perfectly fitting with his character as developed through “Green Courage,” “Facing the Past,” and “Turn Up the Volume”—he has to run in there to help, no matter the cost to himself. And they have to hold him back because they know they need to get to Terra Venture first before they can rescue this man and all the others. If nothing else, this moment really and truly shows Damon’s development the best.
Last, I’ve got to admit some confusion about Deviot. Keonta!Deviot absorbed the energy from Rocketon to restore his normal form, indicating there was some major power loss between Deviot and Keonta!Deviot. However, Keonta!Deviot was clearly more powerful than normal. It’s entirely possible that when the Rangers defeated him, he lost a lot of power and needed to recharge, but then why was he so glad to be back to his normal form? This is the guy whose goal is to enter the Cocoon and mutate into a very powerful insectoid monster—he obviously doesn’t care what he looks like as long as he kicks ass. Oh well, at the very least, he looked completely badass walking away from the explosion as the monster’s self-destruct went off.
To be honest, I’ve been dreading this episode since I posted my thoughts on “Heroes Among Us” when RPM was airing new. That’s about a year of dread. I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad episode—it does some good character development for Damon and Karone (my two favorite characters)—but it’s such a wallbanger.
Back in “Heroes Among Us,” I praised Scott for turning down the Medal of Valor because he had done nothing to deserve it. When he went out into the wasteland, he never intended on saving all those refugees; he was having an emo-fit because his dad never appreciated the work he did and had awarded Gem instead of him. He abandoned his post and behaved like a child, and he admitted as such to Col. Truman, insisting he’d rather earn the medal the way Gem had. Here, while Damon may not want the Chief Mechanic job, he lets Baxter get away with cheating, just because he feels sorry for the guy for wanting the job that badly. It’s wrong, plain and simple. Damon has several occasions to come out and say that Baxter cheated—a cheat that very nearly cost people their lives, by the way—and he lets him get away with it. Thank you, Karone, for calling out Damon on this total bullshit! When the former Queen of Evil looks at a guy and calls him a jerk and says that something is completely unjust, I’d think that you should probably listen to her. Damon, you’re a sweetheart, but this is totally not behavior you should encourage. Particularly in a kids’ show. Broken Aesop, anyone?
However, we do see quite a bit of their characters, and that almost makes up for me wanting to beat my head into the desk and while reminding myself to be grateful that Judd Lynn got it right the second time around in “Heroes Among Us.” Like “Green Courage,” this episode reinforces that Damon loves being a mechanic. He loves working with his hands and getting dirty. He’s happy where he is and doesn’t want to be Chief Mechanic. When he finds out what it entails, he balks at it—a desk and paperwork are not his thing, nor is a crisp white uniform instead of his stained green coveralls. And he’s upset with Karone at first for dragging him into this (I’ve got to say, it takes balls to step on the foot of the former Queen of Evil and then yell at her; Pink Ranger or not, Karone is scary when she’s mad!). However, I have to admit that his forgiving nature toward Baxter fits with his generally laidback attitude and the way he acts around Karone. They get along fairly well, almost having a bit of a brother/sister dynamic at times.
We get to see the dual sides of Karone’s personality beautifully here. On the one hand, she’s perky and happy—very much the “little sister” of the team. She’s not the kind of little sister who you have to protect, but the little sister who runs around all over the place, gets into your stuff, but genuinely loves you and you her. She thinks she knows what’s best for Damon, so she starts begging him to see the job board and insists he’d be perfect for the job. And when they’re about to morph, you can see how excited she is, and Damon has to remind her to stay hidden—which makes perfect sense given that the last Rangers she knew ended up going public in their final showdown with her. She doesn’t quite seem to realize that the Rangers have a need to keep a secret identity. Though, given that Damon very loudly talks about his designs for the transmitter, you’ve got to wonder if they’re even capable of keeping secrets. She clearly loves being a Ranger and is very proud of the work she’s doing. She’s also a pretty scrappy fighter, charging in against Decibot and punching and kicking the shit out of him before setting up for Maya to get in her own hits. Decibot is sure to get rid of her first. She might not have been the perfect Ranger when posing as Ashley in “Invasion of the Body Switcher,” but she’s definitely improved now. But you also see why she used to be Astronema. She just gets venomous here. When Baxter challenges Damon, Karone refuses to back down. She’s giving him a full-on Astronema glare the entire episode, getting into a deadly range in her voice when she addresses him near the end. She’s absolutely furious and it’s evident. Try reconciling that with the sweet, hyperactive girl from earlier. Poor Damon never stood a chance.
Enter the Lost Galaxy (Judd Lynn) First off, major props to Commander Stanton for insisting on locking up the Galaxy Book and putting a moratorium on all research on it after two idiot scientists decided to read off the strange alien language that they couldn’t translate and was making the book give off electrical sparks, which turned into a huge burst of energy that knocked out the colony’s power. Seriously, scientist guys, get with the program. Never read off any strange languages out loud; it’s common sense for anyone in sci fi/fantasy.
Honestly, I’ve got to commend everybody on their logic! The Council advocates destroying the Galaxy Book immediately since it apparently poses a threat. Logical. Equally logical is Stanton’s insistence not to rush into anything, all while keeping the Book under constant guard. And when Kai insists that the Guardian recognizing him as the Blue Ranger must mean something important, the other Rangers insist that it probably means he’s working for Trakeena. And Kai puts together the evidence of the Keonta Spell and realizes that “galaxies found become galaxies lost” means they’ve been transported to the Lost Galaxy…which is kind of a breakdown in the story because they have never mentioned this place before other than in the actual title of the show. It’s something that was unfortunately cut out of “Quasar Quest”—that Mirinoi was originally supposed to be located in the Lost Galaxy. However, it was cut probably for a good reason, given that Magna Defender was sealed there and it would have been pretty hard for him to appear all of a sudden if he was stuck in the Lost Galaxy, which is impossible to escape from without a reverse-Keonta Spell. Still, just mentioning the place beforehand would have been good, so our little CSI doesn’t seem to figure this out from out of nowhere.
Despite that minor gripe, it is a solid episode. Kai is beautifully explored here, with his sense of mercy and destiny. It’s something you don’t expect from him given his characterization in the beginning. He’s the logical one, the Spock, the guy you’re not going to expect to believe in things like destiny. However, things have changed drastically over the course of the show, and now it’s expected that he would. After all, he’s one of the destined Rangers who managed to master an alien weapon that he never would have even found if not for bizarre circumstances that had to have been fate. He knows immediately that there’s something about the Guardian that he has to investigate, and he accepts that it’s his destiny to become the new Guardian (which I hope means he gets all those cool powers one day), but at the same time, he’s nervous about stealing the Book. He’s worried it might be a trap, that he’s doing the wrong thing, which definitely saves it because it’s completely in-character for him. More important than that theme of destiny is Kai’s mercy. He’s drawn to the Guardian by fate, but he helps him because of his heart. He sees that the Guardian is dying, and that’s what makes him break him out. He’s got to try to save him—that’s what the Blue Ranger is supposed to do. He wants to help him, and he’s horrified when Deviot kills the Guardian. Archie Kao gives a really heartfelt performance here, and I have to say it’s probably his best. You feel for Kai as he grapples with destiny, duty, and mercy all at once. It’s really well done.
In other news, Keonta!Deviot is awesome. Superpowerful and really damn cool, especially looking grotesque and insectoid, almost as if he went into the Cocoon. Hmm… Unfortunately, the Keonta Spell has a nasty side-effect of sending you to the Lost Galaxy, which is why it really can’t be depended on for any power-ups. Also, the Guardian’s crystals were sadly disappointing after the short buildup where he gave them to Kai for when he needed their protection. They only upgraded the Quasar Launchers into the Galaxy Quasar Launchers. They were just a Lights of Orion battlizer for a weapon they rarely use. Sad. And hey, the Zenith Carrierzord actually did something! No clue if it will ever again, though.
Beware the Mutiny (Judd Lynn): The episode starts with the last few minutes of the previous episode in the villains’ point of view, where Trakeena and Kegler explain that the Lost Galaxy is an inescapable death trap of a pocket dimension where time and space are completely warped. Sure enough, on Terra Venture, nothing is navigable, clocks are turning backwards, and plants are reverting back into seedlings. Also, Stanton and Mike have a very strange experience where they try to end get to Command and end up on another planet, warned by a ghost to get the hell out of there and never look back. But when Stanton presses for details, they find themselves back in Command, where Kai’s been trying to explain the problems to them only to see them completely blanking out on him. It’s a really interesting thing they set up with this place, that it’s a total mindfuck, and unfortunately, they never do anything with it again.
We’re introduced to the new villain, Captain Mutiny, via a really impressive scene with his castle rising up out of the water, candles lighting themselves—all of this really awesome imagery that brings to mind the Flying Dutchman. Then you see the Captain and his Swabbies. Can we please trade them in for Davy Jones and his crew? Or Barbossa and the zombie pirates? They looked awesome. These guys look pathetic. And I absolutely love Stanton’s reaction the whole time when Mutiny arrives. First, when Mike has to explain “It’s a castle on the back of a giant turtle flying toward us” in that infamous “No, I’m not making this up” voice, then when Mutiny’s longboats sail right through the City Dome like it’s the domes on the Gungan city in The Phantom Menace, Stanton keeps saying, “This is crazy.” Like he’s just realized he lives in a bizarre as hell world. He’s seen superheroes in brightly colored spandex fighting giant monsters, evil robots, and bug creatures, and this is what breaks him. This is the one thing he cannot believe.
Other than that, I really have to commend the character development all around for everyone. First off, you’ve got the crew of Terra Venture. They’ve been attacked so many times they now have a system going. They evacuate the plaza, set up a barricade, and position snipers all around, aiming right for Mutiny should he prove to be a threat. I am so impressed with them. Stanton agrees to check out Mutiny’s supposed machine that will send them home, but when Mike tells him, “I don’t trust him,” he admits that he really has no choice right now. Stanton seems a little reluctant, but first and foremost, he’s got to get everyone to safety and he’s got to take the first out he can find. But at the same time, he sends Mike to take the heliship to get the device and see if it’ll help, indicating he doesn’t completely trust Mutiny either. I mean, after all, when the guy has a hook for a hand and is named “Captain Mutiny,” he’s not exactly inspiring confidence.
Finally come the Rangers, who have clearly grown a lot over the course of the season. One little thing I liked was when Mutiny first arrived: Leo immediately looked to Karone and asked if she knew him. I said before that Karone brings something new to the team, having been the former main villain. Her experience is a vital asset, and they certainly try to use it. But this isn’t someone she knows, and all of her instincts are screaming, “This is too easy,” cementing Leo’s decision to follow after the heliship and see what’s going on. I love that they do—they watch the whole thing, keeping in the shadows and just making sure everything’s okay. Mike and the others get the box no problem, but Leo insists on staying a little bit to investigate. He’s not buying it. And sure enough, they find a ton of slaves, taken from ships that had been trapped in the Lost Galaxy, and forced to mine for treasure (hey, the Lost Galaxy is a weird as hell place, so I can accept that minted gold dubloons can be found within the earth). And I really love this moment. The Rangers hate seeing this, and they clearly want to help, but Leo has to remind them that their first priority is to stop that box from reaching Terra Venture. He knows that whatever’s in it may immediately harm the people they’re sworn to protect, while the slaves can hold out just a little longer. But when the one slave sees them watching and reaches for them, pleading for help, Damon is immediately getting up so he can run down and help him. This is perfectly fitting with his character as developed through “Green Courage,” “Facing the Past,” and “Turn Up the Volume”—he has to run in there to help, no matter the cost to himself. And they have to hold him back because they know they need to get to Terra Venture first before they can rescue this man and all the others. If nothing else, this moment really and truly shows Damon’s development the best.
Last, I’ve got to admit some confusion about Deviot. Keonta!Deviot absorbed the energy from Rocketon to restore his normal form, indicating there was some major power loss between Deviot and Keonta!Deviot. However, Keonta!Deviot was clearly more powerful than normal. It’s entirely possible that when the Rangers defeated him, he lost a lot of power and needed to recharge, but then why was he so glad to be back to his normal form? This is the guy whose goal is to enter the Cocoon and mutate into a very powerful insectoid monster—he obviously doesn’t care what he looks like as long as he kicks ass. Oh well, at the very least, he looked completely badass walking away from the explosion as the monster’s self-destruct went off.