Thread by @Linkara19

#NinjaSteel Alrighty, so far it's been really fast-paced, but nothing TOO out of the ordinary for Power Rang- IS THAT A FRIGGIN' HOVERBOARD?!

Like, proper Back to the Future 2 hoverboard in this episode that the (I think) Pink Ranger is riding on. Power Rangers is wild, people.

No, no, you don't understand - this is not a Ranger device - IT IS COMMON CIVILIAN TECHNOLOGY. This is BEFORE she became a Power Ranger and SHE HAS A HOVERBOARD.

https://twitter.com/BorderHopperJ/status/1133987473283936256

I say it's common civilian tech, but it's kind of unclear from here if she invented it or not - she says she built her's, but everyone around her seems to know about hovertech and Victor Vincent says hoverboarding is a hobby of his (obviously it isn't given how crap he is, but...

...if this was something innocuous enough for him to say, then the tech MUST be common).

I think Victor Vincent may be my new favorite character. There's something wonderfully satisfying about someone whose head is that far up their own ass and yet continually fails. Hopefully character development, but I know it's probably not coming so I'm enjoying the ride.

Power Rangers in 1996: "Computer viruses make little animated displays and countdowns when they infect your computer!"

Power Rangers in 2017: "Viewcounts on a video platform are live and constantly moving upwards rapidly, right?"

Power Rangers in 1993: "I'm a high school student who invented a flying car and nobody ever talks about that."

Power Rangers in 2017: "I'm a high school student with a hoverboard and nobody ever talks about that."

I guess what I'm saying is... despite this franchise never really changing, it still surprises you over 20 years later.

"If you just use the answers on your datacom, you'll never learn to do it on your own!" "If you have a tool, you should use it."

That... is actually rather nuanced for Power Rangers - it speaks to a constant debate that is in schools about the use of calculators and notes...

...People learn differently and the use of notes or tools to get things is done is, well, how things are done in the real world. People don't just memorize how to do every single kind of math formula or historical tidbit or the like - we have access to research...

...tools and things to solve equations for us because it is both easier to do it that way to eliminate mistakes while also only needing to retain information that's actually IMPORTANT and that your memory doesn't screw up...

...Now in the example in class, it was a quiz that didn't allow for outside devices and he was indeed cheating as a result, but it speaks to the larger question. After all, without his datacom, he wouldn't have known about the monster attack or how to fight it.

Admittedly, the episode falls in favor of "better to do it yourself" because Brody relies too much on it, but he's not wrong and they don't really say "If you have a tool, you should use it" is bad advice.

...Okay, now I'm just confused because Monty made a youtube poop video of he and Victor's failure to fight the monster, but that requires knowledge of a subset of youtube culture.

Also: they clearly just got back from that. How the hell did he edit that video that quickly? Was Victor driving and he just did it on his laptop? Because I would have thought they'd have cleaned up first.

Also: this is hilarious.

"Behold, an empty hat!"
"Hold on!" *Goes over to hat and pulls rabbit from it.* "Completely empty, huh?!"
...Well, yeah. It's a magic trick. There was clearly nothing in the hat a moment ago. Why is everyone complaining and giving thumbs down? HE JUST DID A MAGIC TRICK.

Are they mad that the hat wasn't actually empty?

Man the hoverboards really DID just make everyone so damn cynical and jaded to anything in the world that they hate actual magic tricks now.

*Gains actual magic powers, stops falling cup and its contents by suspending them in the air.*
"I can do real magic!"
"I seriously doubt that."
...THAT DRINK IS HANGING OVER YOUR HEAD. YOU ARE STARING AT THE PROOF OF MAGIC RIGHT THERE!

I'm not even kidding with that clip - HE SPONTANEOUSLY GENERATED LIFE BY CREATING RABBITS. PRESTON IS A GOD NOW.

Oh, so now the school is HORRIFIED by his super-impressive magical godlike powers! YOU PEOPLE DON'T DESERVE HOVERBOARDS.

...Also, the monster is making three Rangers act in slow-motion and it is so damn funny and I love it.

Like, seriously, the music is acting all dramatic and over the top and the Rangers are just going "Noooooooooo" and it's friggin' great. XD

BRODY: "I think your powers will only work right if you don't use them for personal gain!"
CHARMED ONES: MEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!

VICTOR: Why are you eating so many beans?
MONTY: So I can fart so much in class that they'll let us out early!
VICTOR: GOOD PLAN!
ME:

...Damn it all, you two, I actually LIKED you and you're pulling this?!

VICTOR: *Demonstrates his amazing dance moves that ends with a punchbowl on Brody and Hayley*

...You're winning me back, Victor Vincent. Well done.

BRODY: Cody, where's Redbot?
CODY: WOOF!
BRODY: What did he say?
HAYLEY: ...I don't know. I don't speak dog.
BRODY: Oh.

I can't tell if this is funny or just stupid. I still love it either way.

They keep using the same dog bark noise whenever they have Cody bark. Did he just keep blowing out the mic on set when he barked?

Cody keeps saving the day in this episode. I'm pretty sure it should have been titled "My Friend Cody" instead of Redbot.

This is what Victor Vincent is wearing right now. This is why I can't stay mad at him.

GAH!

Victor in this episode is dressed like Robin Hood and he accidentally shoots down a beehive. I REALLY hope I don't end up hating him like many have suggested I will, because this is too pure and beautiful.

#BeesMyGod

Okay, so the premise of this episode is that Sarah has invented holographic technology that creates duplicates of herself that allow her to do multiple things at once. The implication is that she's doing things all wrong by doing multiple things badly at once instead of...

...focusing on doing ONE thing well...

...Except... she's not. The clones are clearly based on her neural patterns and tied into her brain power, but they're clearly operating fairly independently of her, since she has to give them instructions and they need to consult with...

...her. Mick implies that it's equivalent to trying to learn and play several different instruments at once, but the analogy doesn't work because she is not one person operating multiple objects at the same time, but creating clones of herself to explore different avenues.

The chaos only comes from them all demanding her attention at once and her apparent inability to just say "Okay, I'll talk to you guys one at a time in order."

Not to mention this technology is INCREDIBLY useful, as demonstrated both by the villains who utilize it but as we saw that she WAS capable of operating the four clones at the same time in the various clubs. And I'm guessing we never see this technology again.

Yeah, but her solution was to shut off all the clones and thus disregard all the work they had done even though they could have led to solutions. The problem is not "she not able to prioritize," it was "too many people talking at once."

https://twitter.com/leonidas701/status/1134091761611988993

And now we have a zord battle on the moon.

Wait a second, the Astro Zord can just fly up to Galvanax's ship and blow a hole in it without Galvanax firing back or anything? ...Feels like the series could be over in, like, two minutes with that knowledge.

Screw you, Vincent - the little girl dressed up as a giant fan is clever and wonderful and I hope she wins a million tickets to this guy's concert. You are dressed as a horse when clearly your Robin Hood outfit would make more sense.

THE RETURN OF THE ANCIENT NINJA ELECTRIC GUITAR.

Okay, you guys lied - the holographic clone technology DOES make a return as a Zord powerup. I'm guessing it just consumes too much power to use continuously, but hey, continuity.

HA! Victor recognized the glory of that costume and tried to steal it, but was too late. Congratulations to the little girl and her legitimate biggest fan costume.

Plus I love the (probably unintentional) meta commentary when they try to claim she's a fake fan because the fan she has on her back isn't a real fan, whereas they are a thief who does things poorly as the REAL fake fan.

HA! Burger morpher cameo.

"Nothing like wearing our stealthy black ninja suits under cover of afternoon in a big green forest!"

"Okay, 20,000 people, I'm sure you can all head to the exits in a calm and orderly fashion, nothing bad going to happen here!"

You know what I just realized, especially in relation to this episode? I don't think there's ever been an episode where the evil plan was to expose the Rangers' identities to the world. For some obviously that's not an issue, but for ones where they ARE trying to keep...

...it a secret, it seems like the villains COULD just do that to try to make the lives of the Rangers that much more difficult.

"I've decided to cancel my world tour for undisclosed reasons. I love my fans, which is why anyone who purchased a ticket to any of the concerts that were going to happen in the next 3 months are screwed over."

"GOD I LOVE BEING TRANSPARENTLY EVIL AND AM GOING TO CUT DOWN THIS SINGLE TREE TO BUILD A SKYSCRAPER IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMPTY FIELD TO FILL MY BANK ACCOUNT!"

What's sad is that I used to think this kind of person was so cartoonishly evil that they were a sign of a hack writer.

Nowadays that kind of thinking seems quaint. Or at least they'd be slightly better at PR while STILL being so nakedly evil and smug.

*Fire hose moves on its own via magic and blasts away Victor and Monty.*
BUSINESS DAD: "I don't have time for this nonsense!"
ME:

"How will we find out who hung these ribbons before?"
"We could hand out flyers!"
ME: Man, if only you had a famous country singer with you who had an audience of 20,000 screaming fans and thus access to a massive social media and news presence that you could use. That'd be nice.

I actually like the Ribbon Tree as a bit of worldbuilding - feels realistic and sweet and nice. But this plot is stupid.

Every time I see business dad, I just think of that one-off character from "George Lucas Strikes Back" - "I'm a businessman on my CEEEELL PHOOOONE!"

Welcome to my feed - sometimes it's deconstructing Power Rangers, sometimes it's Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Leatherface's no good, very bad day.

Back to watching after a break. Aaand schmaltz saves the day with the ribbon tree. So glad those protestors came out here for like 5 minutes.

One thing I've liked about both Dino Charge and this season is having cliffhangers in otherwise innocuous episodes that lead to something more interesting, as with the end of the Ribbon Tree episode revealing Aidan.

"Let's put glue in our chocolate so the mold doesn't melt!"
...Monty, I'm starting to suspect that you dress like Steve Urkel not because you're actually smart, but because you want people to THINK you're smart.

And thus Victor Vincent is devoured by a mob of children as he is encased in chocolate, guaranteeing that the children will all absorb a piece of his power.

"I need you to distract the Rangers while I look for their base!"

...You were literally in their base last episode. Did you close your eyes or something?

Wait, no, I take it back. They were just in the regular shop class section. My mistake - the show was not being hideously incompetent.

...yet.

MATADOR OUTFIT. THE MAN IS AMAZING WITH HIS COSTUME WORK.

Victor and Monty get... sucked into Preston's top hat?

...Uhhhh... I thought HE had magical powers not the hat. Did he enchant it or something?

You got your Mechakara in my Power Rangers!

So I guess that blast hit his voice control box or something since now he has to speak in a deep robot voice now.

PSSH! HAHAHAHAHA! Okay, so they see Aidan attacking Levi, who yells out that he's a robot, and the Rangers INSTANTLY raise their blasters and shoot him. Like, only Brody is all WTF but the others are just READY to shoot him down without hesitation.

"Good job, guys! you killed the Robot Aidan!"
"...He was a robot?"

During the final battle with Ripcon, sounds like they played the old Samurai/Megaforce theme. Fortunately, it's just instrumentals so nothing was shouting "Samurai Forever!" like that one time in Megaforce.

BRODY: "My dad wrote this song for my brother and me. Hopefully whenever I find him, we'll sing it together."
AUDIENCE: "Wait, wasn't Aidan just here a couple days ago?"

...When Levi starts singing, too, that's got to be really awkward for the audience since he's stopped playing his guitar and now they're just straight-up singing without any accompaniment.

"Anyway, as we're giving this touching exposition, let's have a campfire in the middle of the afternoon. ...Does night even exist in this universe?"

No... no... guys, I get you're trying to be touching, the emotion is there, but the song is crap, please stop trying to make it a thing.

"Okay, we have an athlete-themed monster whose deal is all about running and races. What sort of voice should we give him?"
"I dunno, go for a Schwarzenegger impression. He was a runner, right?"
"...Well, he was in the Running Man."
"Exactly! Makes perfect sense."

HA! In the triathalon, Victor Vincent has decided to run all three courses on his own without teammates, but has hired these women to do his hair and nails beforehand so he looks awesome. This man is amazing.

Sarah has invented a machine that turns any food into a cookie. This woman is a genius with a hoverboard, holographic technology, and a cookie-making cart.

...Victor and Monty don't know where milk comes from on a cow.

Victor and Monty easily disprove that theory.

https://twitter.com/FranciszekRychl/status/1134187106878861312

Victor briefly speculated that it came from its ear.

https://twitter.com/TheMadWhitaker/status/1134188380311310337

HE THOUGHT.

IT CAME.

FROM ITS EARS.

https://twitter.com/RaphaelRorscha1/status/1134188872630509568

Also Victor somehow manages to get the cow to shoot milk (or possibly some OTHER white substance - it looked pretty thick for milk) to shoot at a horizontal angle. This is now the most disturbing episode ever.

No, if the school had no 19th room it would be a Wayside reference.

Victor briefly thinks that milk comes from a cow's ear.

https://twitter.com/ZichzMaster/status/1134189189816299520

HOLY CRAP THERE'S A POLICE OFFICER IN THIS EPISODE.

I know we've seen them before, but it is always amazing to see legitimate law enforcement in Power Rangers.

"I have no evidence that you gave away your cookie-making machine to this child who could have just been TOLD to say you did so, but I'm not a very good teacher, so A+, Sarah!"

...The police brought the cow in to identify Victor and Monty in a lineup.

...Man, the police were actually IMPROVED by the presence of Bulk and Skull in their ranks.

Perhaps it's a bad idea for your Megazord cockpit to be an open-air compartment right out front where anyone can shoot or punch you.

So this next episode is about student council elections and a monster trying to make the Rangers turn on each other by manipulating their voices, with couple Hayley and Calvin running against each other. This is BASICALLY the same plot as the one done in MMPR with Tommy...

...and Kimberly running against each other and a monster making them hate each other. The question now becomes... will it be as entertaining as that one?

Okay, the monster hasn't even turned them against each other yet but they're currently in a war for the biggest advertisement and Hayley pulls out a HOT AIR BALLOON.

The monster finally gets around to manipulating their voices... but it's really not necessary since Victor and Monty are doing a fine enough job screwing over the election by getting the group into a food fight and manipulating things themselves like the masterminds they are.

"We're gonna do this cowboy style."

GUNS ABLAZIN'.

Slept, now back to action. Redbot has a blog where he writes fanfiction about how he saves the Rangers.

And like the viewcount from earlier in the season, the blog's follower count is rapidly rising all the time live. Some blogs actually DO have something like that, so it's...

...easier to believe than a video site that has it, but I don't get why this show is so averse to just having a really big number on there - as if having just a number static on screen would be too boring for the two seconds it's on screen.

The episode pretty much states its moral right out of the starting gate - lying online can lead to bad things, but I appreciate that it's a message that is actually good for kids in this day and age. Sure, just a modification of any "lying is bad" tale, but considering the...

...age we live in, encouraging kids not to be douchebags on the internet early is a very good thing.

Also: "Redbot, someone in the Rec Room wants to meet Redbot the blogger!" "OH, NO!" ...Just...don't...go...?

"How did you find me?"
"I tracked your internet IP address to Summer Cove High!"
...Okay, calling it "Internet IP address" is a tautology, but credit for having a legitimate method of tracking, while at the same time - again - showing that anonymity online is not necessarily...

...TRUE anonymity. So far this episode is actually pretty interesting, though the guy dressing like a turn of the century newspaper reporter with the cap, vest, tweed, and bowtie is an odd choice.

HA! Even the little girl (same one who wore the Biggest Fan costume in an earlier episode) tells Victor to can it when he tries to steal the spotlight. Beautiful.

Still using the same sound effect for Cody's barking.

Honestly, Redbot's only problem was positioning his stories as facts... which is weird enough because it seems like it'd be just fine if he had just started by saying they were fiction, but with the theme the implication...

...is that his own lying is at fault here, but it really is not - the monster would have attacked and froze everyone with the book even if he had said they were fiction from the start.

Also: little girl has a harder time hiding her New Zealand accent, as indicated when she proclaims, "Redboat, you saved me!"

Cosmo SHOULD be running the Warrior Dome - he's frankly a more entertaining villain than Galvanax.

"So let's have the championship tennis match that earns a trophy TODAY, without any prior preparation or hype or tournament brackets or anything like that and it's at lunch time!"

Man, it's a good thing this ancient book of spells from ANOTHER GALAXY is written in English.

The timeline here is actually kind of confusing, since the beginning implied her re-challenging Victor was a spontaneous decision, but Calvin says she's been training every day for a while now for this... but what's more, despite the match being at...

https://twitter.com/erscimia/status/1134336031115882496

...lunchtime, she is currently practicing for the match... soooo do like any of these kids go to class? Because assuming lunch is at noon, she only has like 3-4 hours before said match and this probably would exhaust her beforehand.

*Hayley comes out wearing heavy clothes and welding mask due to being turned invisible*
VICTOR: "What's that you're wearing, protectivewear? You'll need it! BECAUSE I'M BRINGING THE HEAT."
*Imitates playing guitar on his tennis racket.*
ME: ...wut

...Victor just hit the tennis ball so hard it became a fireball that put a hole in the fence. O_O

VICTOR IS AMAZING.

Sportspeople - what happens in Tennis if your opponent breaks your racket with the ball?

"You were trying to distract Victor with your magic tricks. Hayley is disqualified!"
"What, NO!"
Okay, to be fair, Hayley - he's putting HOLES IN FENCES and broke your racket and nearly took your head off if not for the welding mask. YOU WERE NOT GOING TO WIN THIS.

...Oh. He cheated by using robot arms.

...wait, what?

*Mick demonstrates a lesson using tennis and practice as an analogy.*
PRESTON: Thanks, Mick, I can always rely on you.
*Mick puts hand on his shoulder.*
MICK: I have no idea what you're talking about. I just wanted to play tennis.

He's just kidding but that got a laugh. XD

I guess you can become a master sorcerer after only an hour of practice.

Also, they say he memorized every spell in the book, but that's clearly only the first few pages. ...Is the rest of the book blank?

RETURN OF THE HOVERBOARD AFTER 19 EPISODES.

Sarah's mom has invented a device that will revolutionize beer-drinking helmets.

Holy crap, Victor and Monty's super-magnet invention... actually works. Sure, it backfires in that since they don't turn it off it covers them in a bunch of metal... but the device ACTUALLY WORKS.

I remain disappointed that we have not had a single scene of the hoverboard on water so I can make the appropriate reference. You're killing me, Ninja Steel.

It's that time again!

WEIRDEST MARTIAL ARTS TECHNIQUES EVER!

Brody grabs Levi and Preston by the belt... SPINS THEM VERTICALLY AT INCREDIBLE SPEEDS, then THROWS THEM at the monster!

One of the things I like about Victor and Monty vs., say, the Bulk and Spike dynamic is that they actually interact with the Rangers and have an impact on the plot a bit, as seen with the penultimate episode of season 1.

GALVANAX: This season finale will be one to remember!

Nice meta joke, guys. Love it. =)

Aaand Victor and Monty have joined the forces of evil. I know I should be mad, but they were always dickheads and I kind of like how unabashedly douchey they are. I appreciate that they're not just carbon copies of Bulk and Skull - they have their own personalities and traits...

...and Bulk and Skull were genuinely good at heart while these two are just asshats. XD

...Awww, they DON'T want to destroy the Rangers? Laaaaame.

...God damn it, Monty.

Flatulence humor away, people.

Season 1 done! Will take a break to eat some food, then onto season 2! And I reeeaaally hope Victory and Monty's direction isn't what I think it's going to be, but judging by people's warnings... ugh.

Here's something that might be interesting, though - in regards to their direction, however it goes, I will be breaking down how I think humor in Power Rangers works - or at least SUCCESSFUL humor in Power Rangers.

Watching the season-requisite clip shows real quick. Wow, this is the most bored Santa Claus ever.

I love how nonchalant they are about knowing Santa. They just called him up for a favor to Sarah and he's just all "Eh, sure."

Anyway, Super Ninja Steel!

Oh, hey Sledge.

Yeah, would have been more of a surprise for me if it hadn't been heavily advertised. And I'm pretty sure fans spoiled it for me, too, but that's kind of par for the course at this point.

Hey, guys!

Apparently I need to keep reminding everyone of this:

NO.

SPOILERS.

I have never watched Ninja Steel. I have never watched Beast Morphers. I'm not watching Beast Morphers for another TWO YEARS. If I run across something, fine, that's my own fault...

...but asking, "Hey, what are your thoughts on __________" or "Have you seen ________?!" The answer is a resounding I HAVE NONE AND NO I HAVEN'T.

This should be second nature to people by now and it's frustrating as all hell.

I'm doing the live-tweeting for fun and give people a tease about what's coming up in HOPR, but it's not an invitation for you to spoil stuff for me. I don't watch this stuff as it airs anymore.

I mean, FFS guys, I didn't even want you guys to tell me about Victor and Monty getting more irritating later on. I tolerated it to a point, BUT IT'S STILL DOING SPOILERS.

LET ME ENJOY THE GODDAMN SHOW ON MY OWN TERMS.

As this rant may have indicated, I'm a bit of a windbag - if I HAVE opinions about something, I WILL SAY THEM. If I was actively watching Power Rangers as it aired, I WOULD SAY SOMETHING. But I'm not and the continual need for people to see my "hot takes" about spoiler news or...

...stuff like that takes away a lot of the joy of doing this.

Please exercise some common sense and etiquette in regards to spoilers. That's all I'm asking for.

Anyway, rant over - it's actually legitimately fun to see Sledge again. While he would technically fall into the whole "gravelly villain, pure evil" thing, I quite enjoyed him because he had some personality. Heckel was still BETTER, but Sledge was fun in his own way.

"We just want that useless rock that hit your ship!"
"...Why do YOU want it?"
"...Uhhh... my wife loves rocks! Yeah, that's it. Loooooves rocks."
Sledge is fun. XD

Victor and Monty... just... no.

Monsters joking about it... No.

Bored, annoyed sunglasses saleswoman is mood, as the kids say.

It is actually quite refreshing to have two Rangers just be a couple from the start. While it sucks that they can't just kiss on screen, seeing them do couple stuff is fun and adds some fun dynamics.

That being said: just tell the other guys you forgot and need their help to get an anniversary present. It's really not that hard rather than extend the lie to them.

Weird thing I've noticed in Ninja Steel - the story structure seems... oddly constructed. The conflict for the episode is set up, but then it's resolved halfway through with some wrapup at the end as opposed to 60-70% of the way through, almost as if it needs more room for fights

Boy that calendar featuring the two of them would have been preeeeetty awkward if they had gone with that scrapped plot development of them breaking up and Calvin hooking up with Sarah.

Those glasses are awesome and you are just jealous, Calvin.

This show really loves acoustic guitar.

Also:
VICTOR: I overheard your singing and just had to donate all of my hard-earned pennies!
WOMAN: Wow, there must be like... $1.50 there.

HA!

VICTOR: How about a date?
WOMAN: You're not really my type.
ME: That is a filthy lie. Victor Vincent is EVERYBODY'S type. BEHOLD!

You're fine, no worries! Honestly just needed to get that out of my system since it feels like people want me to feel a certain way about it and are trying to temper my expectations, but I truly want to make up my own mind while watching, everyone. =)

https://twitter.com/Mumford_98/status/1134411354788585472

I mean, just saying, people - despite the 3 or 4 fart joke sequences revolving around the two so far, sequences like this - with Victor quick-changing into a disco outfit? THAT keeps me coming back to them.

Oh, hey, they remembered that Levi was a country singer.

Oh, and the singer girl was actually the monster in disguise! Well-played, Power Rangers - I actually did not call that. I figured she'd just be tied into the plot in general.

My God, the Monster's evil scheme: GET LEVI TO GO OFF-BRAND BY WEARING NON-COWBOY THINGS!

Weirdly enough, something about the look she has him wear reminds me of Chris Brown, so you KNOW it's evil.

"Change is the spice of life! Haven't you guys ever heard that?"
*Everyone shakes their head*
...Seriously? It's not an uncommon idiom.

Well that's the thing - it's close enough that I don't see how they could have not know what was meant.

https://twitter.com/CasualShadowJR/status/1134415334675570688

Ah, so in this episode we meet Hayley's Dad.

I look forward to hearing about HER mother died, too.

...Oh my God, I was just kidding, but Sarah's mom and Hayley's dad are flirting and they're worried about them going on a date.

That means like 4 of the 6 Rangers are confirmed to have only single parents.

Sorry, that's FIVE out of six! Levi and Brody have the same single dad, therefore Calvin is the only one whose parents so far we don't know anything about.

Oh, boy! Everyone has knock-off DSes and are playing a 16-bit runner title!

You know, someday TV shows will just... NOT have video game-themed episodes of things. Maybe. Hopefully.

Okay, points for the visual gag of everyone pulling out the games to play every time the teacher turns her back.

Okay, even MORE points for the gag of Victor setting up a cardboard display of himself on his desk to hide that he's playing the game behind it.

"We're INSIDE the game?!"

AND IF YOU DIE IN THE GAME, YOU DIE FOR REALZ.

This episode is still a million times better than "Pixels."

Ah, so in this episode the villains have summoned the Ginyu Force to take on the Rangers.

Behold, the greatest Thespian of our time!

There's even a variation of the Bulk and Skull theme that plays during this and it's beautiful.

"I don't get it! Hayley wants me to watch a play?"

...Really kind of dense, aren't you, Calvin?

...They're not even starting Romeo and Juliet at the proper beginning, which brings up two possibilities:
1-This school's drama department sucks and can't even do the whole play (then again they don't have a proper theater to do this in).
...

...
2-Calvin sat there for an entire act before realizing, "...Hey, wait a second, she wants me to watch a play?" and didn't connect the dots even when the two were on stage together.

Neither option is good.

Behold the many reactions of Rangers watching a play.

Sarah: Enjoying it
Calvin: Enjoying it quite a bit
Mick: Enjoying it way too much
Levi: Wondering why the hell Mick's enjoying it so much
Brody: I WAS THE TRUE AIDANDROID

So Victor and Monty were planning on locking Preston up in a box and shipping him back to his own house so Victor, as his understudy, could play the part. Due to shenanigans, they ended up locked in the box and the shipping tag peeled off, revealing the one under it that...

...for some reason had it be shipped to South Africa (despite Monty saying it had been shipped FROM South Africa). At the end, they escape the box... and the box is in the middle of an empty field near a bunch of lions.

From the brief research I just did, lions in South Africa are in special protected areas.

Why did the delivery people just drop the box off in the middle of one?

"Sometimes, Sarah, you can focus on a problem so much that you lose sight of everything else!"
Dude, last season you were all complainy about her multitasking.

The bigger issue with Sarah using the monster's speed star with her hoverboard for this race is that it's kind of an unfair advantage, taking technology that other people have no access to.

It's one thing using her smarts to develop new tech - that's something anyone with the same skills could do. Here, she just took alien technology and stuck it in her board.

This season feels more like they're using old incidental music from the show - the Bulk and Skull theme, Go Go Power Rangers, etc.

I support an Indiana Jones reboot starring Victor Vincent.

Sooo, the third Galactic Ninja uses dice to decide his next move, and the prop department, apparently completely out of money, decided to just buy giant novelty inflatable dice for this instead of building a cardboard prop, I guess.

So the Principal left Brody in a room as the rest of the class went on a camping trip... but there doesn't seem to be any indication that she's coming back to let him out, since she's on the trip with them.

I don't know, maybe the woods are right behind the school.

Also, she just gives up her family compass to Brody. She's not a very good principal.

I miss the high educational standards of Angel Grove High.

Huh, wonder why we suddenly zoomed in not that chrono morpher-shaped wristband on the mysterious robed figure after another mentions teenagers with attitude.

Ah, well, probably not important.

Going to make myself some food, then finally watch Dimensions in Danger for the first time. Only know one spoiler from it, thankfully, so looking forward to it!

"Travelling between dimensions destabilizes the Morphing Grid."

Unless you travel by interdimensional subway train. Then you're fine.

"Hey, Tommy! Thanks for saving us!"

Asshole - no thanks to Wes, Gemma, and Koda?!

I do love how Gia, this many years later... is STILL wearing that same outfit. She must have a closet full of them, like on the Simpsons or that one shot in Star Trek: Beyond. It's just a uniform at this point.

With Dimensions in Danger out of the way, I'm in the home stretch now with the final quarter of the series. Hopefully won't have too many plot episodes to go through.

I'll be making a more formal announcement about it soon, but I will say that the Cassandra Cain retrospective is getting delayed a little bit - basically going to release two parts of it on the same day the following week. I need to get back on schedule and HOPR is not helping.

Oh, just go on a date with Monty, Victor - clearly you two are a couple by now.

I love how the commercial that Victor was GOING to shoot was instantly improved by Victor being transformed into a werewolf.

Even the commercial people agree! I don't get why they couldn't just apply makeup to him instead of expecting him to wolf out again.

Oh, who am I kidding? Their commercial was a bunch of burgers in front of a big poster. They can't afford makeup.

Overenthusiastic voiceover guy at the beginning of each episode is starting to bug me because his accent keeps wanting to slip through, so the more I listen, the more it sounds like "TAN YURS LAYTAR."

It's not helped by him continually mentioning how "the greatest ninja master on earth sacrificed himself," which while technically true came back to life at the end of the season and is no longer sacrificed.

MONTY: Oh... I know JUST what I'm going to do!
*He grins and holds up a can of beans*
...You're going to have sex with that bean can?

https://twitter.com/Wiiknight678/status/1134507224322256898

OH, GOOD, IT HAD BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE HAD THE FLATULENCE SHTICK,WITH MONTY, NINJA STEEL. I'D HATE US TO FORGET ABOUT IT.

COSMO: Please, Sheriff, we're doing Galaxy Warriors right now!
SPACE SHERIFF SKYFIRE: Never heard of it. I only watch cooking shows.

Space Sheriff Skyfire confirmed for Gordon Ramsey fan.

Wait, why is there a skateboarder in this school when hoverboards are a thing that exist?

SECURITY: Giving you a write-up because that is a recyclable, not trash.
ME: Up yours. You can't FORCE people to recycle. It's an option, dickweed. Just leave this Scrubs clip here.

Sheriff Skyfire is incredibly gullible. Things have really gone downhill in the space police ever since the Blue Senturion retired.

They no longer fear the stoplight. Nothing is sacred anymore.

https://twitter.com/Lucalbio/status/1134516214426996741

This episode is a great commentary on police abuse of power, best exemplified in Victor proclaiming, "Don't make us come back and take more of your stuff."

SKYFIRE: It's not just you, Hayley. Lots of people break rules without thinking. It makes it that much more difficult for lawmen like me and Clint to help you.

The rules overreach and are draconian. Absolute law means no justice and no accounting for situation or morality.

I mean, following your example, then that child from last season who stole cookies from Sarah's cookie machine should have been punished to the full extent of the law instead of being helped when he was just trying to feed his sister.

"Instead of thanking him, we just complained!" You don't thank people who are assholes to you, Power Rangers. Clint oversteps his boundaries. For all the problems the show Dragnet had, it still understood that lawmen have to be the most upstanding moral citizens even when...

...it's a thankless, rough, terrible time because they're not meant to be fascists but there to help people above all else. I reject your pro-authoritarian bullcrap instituted by your borrowed Metal Hero costume.

On that not, as someone mentioned, it is a very odd way to adapt a crossover episode. I don't think I'll be bringing it up in the HOPR episode since it really has no plot relevance, but it IS odd that this is one they decided to use footage for.

"We invented this device that will automatically shoot out items put in the wrong bin! This way no one will forget to put things in the right bin!"

No, you just invented a way to get garbage all over the floor because they won't care.

Aaaand random Willy Wonka reference.

Best.

New monster.

Ever.

But seriously, a problem with a lot of later seasons, IMHO, is that the monsters become very overdesigned so they're less appealing to look at. Keyboard dude here is a basic concept - make a keyboard into a monster - and it works beautifully.

Also, got to love a button that's just "NO."

I feel like computers nowadays could be improved by the addition of a "NO" button.

Typeface, which I think still works as a pun.

https://twitter.com/PaulKingX1983/status/1134524599532752899

I feel like this episode, where the monster infects the Rangers' weapons and computers with a virus, is really a commentary on the flaws of cloud computing.

Okay, to be fair, Victor and Monty's automatic snack dispenser DOES technically work, so I don't think it's fair to discount it.

Troy stares at the camera blandly, desperately trying to squint in the hope of showing his rage.

https://twitter.com/NPCenpiecey/status/1134526209197404165