Brothers' keepers: Lost Galaxy 17 and 18
May. 18th, 2010 05:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
akinoameStolen Beauty (Judd Lynn): First off, major props to whomever put Paul Schrier as Bulk in the opening credits. Yay, we finally see him again after “Quasar Quest Part 1”! Turns out Bulk and Prof. Phenomenous were fired from the science division and are now working as bartenders, and they’re apparently on friendly terms with Mike. Also, Bulk says that Mike is second-in-command of Terra Venture, which really make me wonder why Commander Stanton bought that whole “We lost him on the moon” argument and didn’t worry even a little bit that his lieutenant was missing for months. It is hilarious watching Bulk steal Mike’s burger and hand it over to the glamoured Trakeena, all the while Mike’s sputtering in shock. Congratulations, you’ve gone from Magna Defender to Substitute Skull. Also hilarious were all the other guys’ reactions to “Tracy.” Trakeena must have had a heavy-duty glamour going on that she had flower petals blowing around her, guys fawning over her, Kai barely noticing when Damon dropped a wrench on his foot, and Kendrix ready to kill her boyfriend, Leo.
This episode pretty much served the purpose of giving Trakeena a reason to leave instead of going straight in the cocoon. It strikes me as weird because…well, she seems vain kind of out of nowhere. Here we’ve got someone who was begging her father to let her fight, and now she’s playing the Wicked Queen from Snow White, complete with the mirror, mirror on the wall (well, in her hand—you get the idea). Trakeena was definitely haughty and nowhere near as tough as she acted, but her obsession with her mortal beauty was really sudden. Also, as a note, Crumummy didn’t really make the women of Terra Venture ugly as much as he made them look like football fans who paint their face for games. Especially on Kendrix, it looked like that.
Something I did like: Leo’s immediate switch into “leader mode” once Kendrix and Maya were attacked (which oddly knocked them out. Whatever). He was pissed with his brother for going with “Tracy” when their teammates needed them now. Of course, it turns out that Mike is way too smart for that, which fits in perfectly with his character—particularly in the previous episode. He got suspicious that “Tracy” didn’t get attacked while Maya and Kendrix did, and he pulled a Princess Bride style switch on the poisoned drinks, suspecting she was trying to kill him. While I haven’t gotten a complete feel for his character yet, I do like seeing this. His major trait so far seems to be his ability to plan ahead. Don’t let this man start up any multinational companies, or we may have another Xanatos on our hands.
Also, because I neglected to mention it last time, Mike’s morphing sequence for the Magna Defender is one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen. Black flames and all—it’s beautiful. I absolutely love it. And I get the feeling the Sentai version of this episode was a lot more Pink Ranger centric, given how the stock footage really focused on Pink Ranger and Magna Defender. I’ve heard that because of Valerie Vernon’s illness, a lot of her parts were shortened until “The Power of Pink,” so I’ll have to see if this is the case for the other episodes.
The Rescue Mission (Judd Lynn): Okay, to start? Judd Lynn, I love your writing. I really do. But seriously, man, you need to remain consistent! Keep your facts straight. Several times throughout Lost Galaxy, they act as though they’re always in the Milky Way. They refer to one specific galaxy always. And when you think about it, it makes sense in the context of the plot. Scorpius isn’t exactly Dark Specter; he’s got a much smaller empire than the UAE was. Look at the Scorpion Stinger and tell me it’s capable of being the center of an intergalactic empire. Similarly, Terra Venture just doesn’t seem capable of traveling outside of the Milky Way in that short a time. And then consider all the episodes previously: Mirinoi, the Magna Defender, the Lights of Orion—it’s all way too convenient that it’d be all along Terra Venture’s course to the Arollean (sp?) Galaxy, where they hope to find the New World. With the Megaship, it’d make sense simply because it’s alien technology. I feel like Lost Galaxy makes a whole lot more sense when you think about it only taking place in one galaxy until they actually find the Lost Galaxy.
I know. I’m trying to apply logical analysis to a children’s television show. I already know I’m crazy. But like I said last time in “Destined for Greatness,” it makes no sense. They’ve only gone five lightyears since “Quasar Quest,” and that’s not going to clear the galaxy. Hell, that’s only enough to get them to Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri, the nearest stars to our sun (for a further list, check here). Again, yes, I’m probably expecting too much, but at the very least realize that it’s not nearly enough distance to get out of the galaxy. And be consistent—they’d have freakin’ mentioned they’d gotten out of the galaxy, don’t you think, especially if the Arollean Galaxy was the apparent goal the entire time? To quote Joe Biden, it’s a big fucking deal!
Also, they manage to diverge from their course easily as hell to reach the ship in distress. So easily, in fact, that it totally invalidates Councilor Mustache’s (okay, it looks like his name is actually Brody, but I reserve the right to nickname him whatever I want) argument that they can’t diverge from their course. It’s so close it’s like saying, “We can’t diverge from our trip across the street to check the mailbox right next to us!”
Despite this long-winded criticism, the episode is actually really good. It’s got a horror movie feel to it that you normally would see in Stargate Atlantis or Stargate Universe or Doctor Who. You’ve got the monster attacking the rescue team one by one, webs and slime everywhere, and Mike and Leo having to fight as ordinary humans (which I’ve got one hell of a soft spot for; it’s easy enough for a superhero to save the day in costume, but when they have to be depowered, it’s pretty awesome). It’s not one of their normal enemies; it’s a random monster that poses a threat to them personally rather than to the galaxy/universe at large. But they keep it from being a standard filler episode by having the team recover the Galaxy Book from the crewmembers’ remains.
Character development is subtle but powerful. Mike insists that though Terra Venture’s mission statement doesn’t say anything about rescuing people in danger because it doesn’t have to—they shouldn’t have to be told to do the right thing. It really shows how he had to be Magna Defender’s conscience and why Magna had to grudgingly admire him for it. He doesn’t hesitate in asking Leo to join the rescue team, deciding he’d feel better with his brother watching his back and vice versa. Major change from “Quasar Quest,” where he’d left Leo behind because he didn’t trust him and thought he was reckless. Mike also insists on finding the other team members (which honestly doesn’t take long), continuing the background theme of not leaving a man behind. Leo is forced to relive Mike’s fall again (which had originally been scripted to be between Leo and Kendrix, to further the romance as she helped him heal; sadly, Valerie Vernon became ill and they had to change everything around—she’s also mostly absent in this episode too). Mike insists that Leo and the Rangers save the team, get the heliship away from the exploding ship, and not worry about him when they can’t save him, but Leo insists that he’s not letting his brother go this time. Kai comes in and keeps Leo from having to lose Mike again by cutting off the monster’s hand, freeing Mike. He too had some character moments; he was devastated when he lost their signal (though he seems to be really damn easy to depress), and when he managed to save Mike, he actually was cheering, when he’s normally so straight-laced. He proved that he was a fine second-in-command for the Corbetts and that he really did care a lot about them.
Still, I have to ask, why didn’t Leo and Mike just morph? I mean, even when nobody was around. They could have just demorphed before rendezvousing with the rest of the rescue team. And why doesn’t anyone wonder how the hell the Power Rangers know who Leo Corbett is? Knowing Mike is no big deal; he’s second-in-command of Terra Venture (as Bulk revealed last episode). But knowing who his little brother is and that he brought him along on the mission and that he’s the only other one unaccounted for? Somebody should be wondering about this stuff!
This episode pretty much served the purpose of giving Trakeena a reason to leave instead of going straight in the cocoon. It strikes me as weird because…well, she seems vain kind of out of nowhere. Here we’ve got someone who was begging her father to let her fight, and now she’s playing the Wicked Queen from Snow White, complete with the mirror, mirror on the wall (well, in her hand—you get the idea). Trakeena was definitely haughty and nowhere near as tough as she acted, but her obsession with her mortal beauty was really sudden. Also, as a note, Crumummy didn’t really make the women of Terra Venture ugly as much as he made them look like football fans who paint their face for games. Especially on Kendrix, it looked like that.
Something I did like: Leo’s immediate switch into “leader mode” once Kendrix and Maya were attacked (which oddly knocked them out. Whatever). He was pissed with his brother for going with “Tracy” when their teammates needed them now. Of course, it turns out that Mike is way too smart for that, which fits in perfectly with his character—particularly in the previous episode. He got suspicious that “Tracy” didn’t get attacked while Maya and Kendrix did, and he pulled a Princess Bride style switch on the poisoned drinks, suspecting she was trying to kill him. While I haven’t gotten a complete feel for his character yet, I do like seeing this. His major trait so far seems to be his ability to plan ahead. Don’t let this man start up any multinational companies, or we may have another Xanatos on our hands.
Also, because I neglected to mention it last time, Mike’s morphing sequence for the Magna Defender is one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen. Black flames and all—it’s beautiful. I absolutely love it. And I get the feeling the Sentai version of this episode was a lot more Pink Ranger centric, given how the stock footage really focused on Pink Ranger and Magna Defender. I’ve heard that because of Valerie Vernon’s illness, a lot of her parts were shortened until “The Power of Pink,” so I’ll have to see if this is the case for the other episodes.
The Rescue Mission (Judd Lynn): Okay, to start? Judd Lynn, I love your writing. I really do. But seriously, man, you need to remain consistent! Keep your facts straight. Several times throughout Lost Galaxy, they act as though they’re always in the Milky Way. They refer to one specific galaxy always. And when you think about it, it makes sense in the context of the plot. Scorpius isn’t exactly Dark Specter; he’s got a much smaller empire than the UAE was. Look at the Scorpion Stinger and tell me it’s capable of being the center of an intergalactic empire. Similarly, Terra Venture just doesn’t seem capable of traveling outside of the Milky Way in that short a time. And then consider all the episodes previously: Mirinoi, the Magna Defender, the Lights of Orion—it’s all way too convenient that it’d be all along Terra Venture’s course to the Arollean (sp?) Galaxy, where they hope to find the New World. With the Megaship, it’d make sense simply because it’s alien technology. I feel like Lost Galaxy makes a whole lot more sense when you think about it only taking place in one galaxy until they actually find the Lost Galaxy.
I know. I’m trying to apply logical analysis to a children’s television show. I already know I’m crazy. But like I said last time in “Destined for Greatness,” it makes no sense. They’ve only gone five lightyears since “Quasar Quest,” and that’s not going to clear the galaxy. Hell, that’s only enough to get them to Proxima Centauri and Alpha Centauri, the nearest stars to our sun (for a further list, check here). Again, yes, I’m probably expecting too much, but at the very least realize that it’s not nearly enough distance to get out of the galaxy. And be consistent—they’d have freakin’ mentioned they’d gotten out of the galaxy, don’t you think, especially if the Arollean Galaxy was the apparent goal the entire time? To quote Joe Biden, it’s a big fucking deal!
Also, they manage to diverge from their course easily as hell to reach the ship in distress. So easily, in fact, that it totally invalidates Councilor Mustache’s (okay, it looks like his name is actually Brody, but I reserve the right to nickname him whatever I want) argument that they can’t diverge from their course. It’s so close it’s like saying, “We can’t diverge from our trip across the street to check the mailbox right next to us!”
Despite this long-winded criticism, the episode is actually really good. It’s got a horror movie feel to it that you normally would see in Stargate Atlantis or Stargate Universe or Doctor Who. You’ve got the monster attacking the rescue team one by one, webs and slime everywhere, and Mike and Leo having to fight as ordinary humans (which I’ve got one hell of a soft spot for; it’s easy enough for a superhero to save the day in costume, but when they have to be depowered, it’s pretty awesome). It’s not one of their normal enemies; it’s a random monster that poses a threat to them personally rather than to the galaxy/universe at large. But they keep it from being a standard filler episode by having the team recover the Galaxy Book from the crewmembers’ remains.
Character development is subtle but powerful. Mike insists that though Terra Venture’s mission statement doesn’t say anything about rescuing people in danger because it doesn’t have to—they shouldn’t have to be told to do the right thing. It really shows how he had to be Magna Defender’s conscience and why Magna had to grudgingly admire him for it. He doesn’t hesitate in asking Leo to join the rescue team, deciding he’d feel better with his brother watching his back and vice versa. Major change from “Quasar Quest,” where he’d left Leo behind because he didn’t trust him and thought he was reckless. Mike also insists on finding the other team members (which honestly doesn’t take long), continuing the background theme of not leaving a man behind. Leo is forced to relive Mike’s fall again (which had originally been scripted to be between Leo and Kendrix, to further the romance as she helped him heal; sadly, Valerie Vernon became ill and they had to change everything around—she’s also mostly absent in this episode too). Mike insists that Leo and the Rangers save the team, get the heliship away from the exploding ship, and not worry about him when they can’t save him, but Leo insists that he’s not letting his brother go this time. Kai comes in and keeps Leo from having to lose Mike again by cutting off the monster’s hand, freeing Mike. He too had some character moments; he was devastated when he lost their signal (though he seems to be really damn easy to depress), and when he managed to save Mike, he actually was cheering, when he’s normally so straight-laced. He proved that he was a fine second-in-command for the Corbetts and that he really did care a lot about them.
Still, I have to ask, why didn’t Leo and Mike just morph? I mean, even when nobody was around. They could have just demorphed before rendezvousing with the rest of the rescue team. And why doesn’t anyone wonder how the hell the Power Rangers know who Leo Corbett is? Knowing Mike is no big deal; he’s second-in-command of Terra Venture (as Bulk revealed last episode). But knowing who his little brother is and that he brought him along on the mission and that he’s the only other one unaccounted for? Somebody should be wondering about this stuff!