"Power Rangers Beast Morphers" Season Two Talkback (Spoilers)

Fone Bone

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Power Rangers Beast Morphers "The Greater Good"

Choku saying his mission was to destroy Ryjak made me very uncomfortable. A police force designed to kill criminals rather than arrest them? Are we actually sure Choku is the good guy?

I think the idea that Choku is half-human and half-cyborg is interesting (although I question how he can be human while he's a alien). I liked Nate telling him that his daughter would love him no matter what. Considering this is a show geared towards toddlers he is no doubt right. But what's interesting to me is that in real-life he'd actually have no way of knowing that. That would actually be a real risk in that scenario.

In hindsight, while not being scientifically plausible, the decision to put him into a machine to turn him fully human at the end of the episode was the correct storytelling move.

I didn't hate that. ***1/2.
 

veemonjosh

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Episode 33 - "Intruder Alert!"
Air Date: September 26th, 2020

The Rangers receive a strange message from outer space warning of an impending threat.

Episode 34 - "The Greater Good"
Air Date: October 3rd, 2020

The Rangers do everything they can to help their new ally return home.
 
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Scrappy-Fan92

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Decent episode. Power Rangers has long operated under the assumption that "humans" exist on planets other than Earth. Their clothes and names might look a little weird to us, but they can generally pass for Earthlings most of the time (a few notable exceptions like the Aquitians aside).

-I see you, show. Mentioning Andrasia is a nice continuity nod.
-Scrozzle nabbing the reanimator will surely lead to some interesting things.
-Chaku voluntarily robotocizing himself is some crazy stuff. Morph-X reversing the effects through the power of SCIENCE sounds about right.
-Yeah, Chaku should've given Ryjack a warning to surrender. The Power Rangers in general are maybe a little too trigger-happy, but the explicitly police-themed teams usually would prefer nonlethal means of incapacitating foes. Chaku seemingly does not.
-Reptilotron: Cool design, iffy CGI. I forget this is a low-budget series based on another low-budget series that first aired in 2012 sometimes.
-Ben, Betty, how did you convince Chaku to let you keep that plant?
-Steel reminiscing on his old pet plant Spot is nice.
 

veemonjosh

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Episode 35 - "Finders Keepers"
Air Date: October 10th, 2020

A hasty decision by Zoey puts an old friend in danger
 

Mandouga

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It really felt forced to me...just like the previous Space Sheriff Gavan/ "Captain Chaku" episodes. This time however, Zoey simply jumped to conclusions and used that collar on the Keeper (from Dino Charge) without seeing his face? You would think Zoey would know better than that. Also, Devon put the Keeper in this van...that suddenly turns out to be driven by the bad guys, AND, the bad guys end up getting away? Oh, sure. They do get the Keeper back, but still. As I said before, the show...no, the franchise is usually better than this.

Either the writers are really starting to stretch things out, or they were pressured by deadlines, or something. I don't think they're "taking the easy way out", but the next episodes will probably be better.
 

Fone Bone

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Power Rangers Beast Morphers "Finders Keepers"

If they REALLY wanted to impress me by going back to the Dino Charge era, forget Keeper and the Rangers, they shoulda brought back Ryan Carter as Hekyll. Not only was he the only great thing about that version, he was pretty much the last great thing Power Rangers ever did.

Also would have liked to have seen Kendra again. She was super hot, and older than the other Rangers (and an authority figure), so I didn't feel like a total heel for digging her. Just like a slight heel.

Seeing Lord Zedd's staff was pretty cool though. Jason foreshadowing? Literally, Jason is the only reason I'm still here. Once he appears, I'm probably gonna check out, if not the next episode, then after this season. I'll be back for the 35th Anniversary episode when Tommy inevitably comes back again. But I've kind of had my fill of the franchise on a weekly basis. You can't tell me I didn't give the recent seasons a fair shake.

Meh. Wake me when Jason shows up. ***1/2.
 

Scrappy-Fan92

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I would've liked to have seen more proper fight sequences between the Beast Morpher and Dino Charge Rangers, but it was nice to have the latter here. We all know Tyler and friends are coming back soon, so them leaving feels a bit weird, especially Keeper who still needs to retrieve some things. Other assorted thoughts:

-I couldn't see the end credits, so I'm not sure if they used archive audio, soundalikes, or the original actors recording new dialogue for Riley and Shelby.
-Zoey jumped the gun trying to infiltrate Ryjack's ship, but the inevitable struggle between the Rangers and Evox's camp would've likely led to an explosion anyways, so I can't hold that against her too much.
-I'm honestly surprised most of the old villain weapons are still intact. I do wonder how Ryjack came into possession of Zedd's staff when it was destroyed by the Sentinel Knight (provided Thrax wasn't using a replica). And if it wasn't a replica, wouldn't he technically be the one revived by Ryjack's machine given he was the last person to use it?
-Also, does Ryjack's machine work on regular Earthlings? The franchise may finally have an(other) easy explanation to work around the possibilities of Megazord battles causing civilian casualties.
-I appreciate the production crew for filming new fight footage to accommodate Sledge. Also, welcome back, Sledge.
-For the first time since 2007, we have a team-up morph sequence that actually uses the traditional footage from their respective series. How I have missed thee.
-Ivan's suit still looks a little washed out in non-Sentai footage.
-The Viviks pulling a "Haha! Got 'em!" moment with the Rangers' own truck is amusing. Reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Brody got loaded onto a truck by mistake.

Next episode airing is apparently a clip show, so I'm curious to see how it fits.

EDIT: Brennan Mejia confirmed that Shelby and Riley's original actors did provide ADR for their characters around 8:54 of this video here:
 
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veemonjosh

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We interrupt this Dino-themed crossover for the annual holiday clip show.

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Episode 36 (Halloween 2020) - "Making Bad"
Air Date: October 17th, 2020

Evox decides to add a new villain to his team and commands his minions to find the evilest villain of all time.
 

Fone Bone

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Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "Making Bad"

Seeing actions clips from earlier seasons beats the heck out of the recent trend of the Halloween and Christmas episodes showing clips from the sitcom portions of the show.

I'm just wondering why they recast everybody's voices. If Goldar's original actor wasn't available (or alive; I don't know) it makes sense to have the old voice match the new one. Are they bringing back Lord Zedd and Rita though? And why recast Jason's voice? That's the thing that bugs me most. None of the Ranger voices in the clips sound like they come from teenagers. This show is really done on the lazy and the cheap.

I like that Goldar basically destroys the Big Bad of Dino Charge without breaking a sweat. It's an old trick to have the "new" villain kill the old one to establish what a hardcase he is, but it can sometimes actually work. It totally did here.

Still waiting for Jason. ***.
 
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Storm Eagle

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Power Rangers: Beast Morphers "Making Bad"

Seeing actions clips from earlier seasons beats the heck out of the recent trend of the Halloween and Christmas episodes showing clips from the sitcom portions of the show.

I'm just wondering why they recast everybody's voices. If Goldar's original actor wasn't available (or alive; I don't know) it makes sense to have the old voice match the new one. Are they bringing back Lord Zedd and Rita though? And why recast Jason's voice? That's the thing that bugs me most. None of the Ranger voices in the clips sound like they come from teenagers. This show is really done on the lazy and the cheap.

I like that Goldar basically destroys the Big Bad of Dino Charge without breaking a sweat. It's an old trick to have the "new" villain kill the old one to establish what a hardcase he is, but it can sometimes actually work. It totally did here.

Still waiting for Jason. ***.
Goldar's voice actor (whose name is Kerrigan Mahan by the way) is alive. They just don't use American voice actors anymore. If it's any consolation (though I doubt it would be), this version of Goldar is called Goldar Maximus.

Didn't they say they're not going to use Lord Zedd? Rita definitely won't be back either. I don't get why they had to redub voices myself. The woman who voiced over Rita though, Susan Brady, is also the one who voiced Mystic Mother in Mystic Force.

Geoffrey Dolan, Chris Graham, and Mark Ferguson were brought back to voice over Koragg, Leanbow, and Gekkor respectively. They actually voiced or played their characters back in Mystic Force. If Peta Rutter was still alive, they'd have probably brought her back to do Udonna again. Instead, they got Beth Allen who played Ally Samuels in S.P.D. and Vella in Operation Overdrive.
 

Scrappy-Fan92

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Thank you for the trivia for the voices, Storm Eagle.

I'm going to presume residuals or the need for new dialogue to fit the episode was the reason they had everyone redubbed. Some (like Rita) definitely fared better than others.

Other assorted musings:

-I feel bad that the last conversation Sledge had with his wife was her (rightfully) berating him over how much he ignores her.
-Farewell, Sledge. It was nice having you again while it lasted.
-It's interesting we sidestepped the traditional holiday episodes completely this year. I'd argue what we got was more interesting, but I did find comfort in the goofy Halloween shenanigans and post-series Christmas reunions.
-Imagine the luck for the villains choosing archive footage showcasing other villains who wound up reforming. Also, Psycho Red, because there is never a bad excuse to show clips from "To the Tenth Power."
-I do wonder how much info Avatar Blaze and Roxy retained from their human counterparts. They could feasibly have knowledge of half of Grid Battleforce's layout, weapons depot, powerlines...
-Goldar, good to see you. I suppose this finally answers what happened to him after Power Rangers in Space, given we never see if he escaped Zordon's wave of concentrated goodness or not.
-Ravi deducing that the monster of the week was hitting stores in alphabetical order could've backfired so easily I'm kind of surprised everyone just went with it.
-I haven't watched an episode of Mystic Force in over a decade, but I think they mispronounced Koragg's name.

It was a decent twist on the clip show format. Makes the universe feel a bit bigger. I'm looking forward to the next episode.
 

veemonjosh

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The climactic crossover moment has arrived as three generations of dino teams unite!

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Episode 37 - "Grid Connection"
Air Date: October 24th, 2020

In an epic battle, the Beast Morphers team up with the Dino Thunder, Dino Charge, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to defeat the newest member of Evox's team.
 

Fone Bone

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Power Rangers Beast Morphers "Grid Connection"

Only here for Jason, so that's mostly what I'll talk about.

Austin St. John took off a lot of the weight he put on after he retired from acting for this appearance. Not all of it by a longshot. He's still hefty. But what surprises me more than anything is that Jason is like, OLD now. Whenever Jason David Frank shows up as Tommy he's got the wrinkles around his eyes, and often a cheesy goatee to boot, but the truth is, he still has a youthful look and demeanor. St. John is middle-aged with a middle-aged guy's raspy voice, and it's very interesting (and a little personally depressing at the same time.)

Can I just say I actually really like the idea that St. John wasn't able to shed ALL the weight? I think we have been overdue for a plus-sized Ranger, (especially considering the fat shaming this show does even to this day), and who could they possibly do better for that than one of the most beloved Rangers of all time? I will not sneer at St. John for his metabolism slowing down as he grew older. It might be about time for the show to prove that heroes can come in all shapes and body types. I remember what a major win it was that the original series made the Blue Ranger a nerd outcast with glasses. The show wound up doing very wrong by Billy and David Yost in the end, but I think they did right by Jason being heavy here.

I thought the evil six-headed Zord was kind of cool, and obviously overpowered, because by all rights there is no way those four good guy Megazords could have blown up something that huge. But Power Rangers has always believed in ending their episodes with "The good guys win just because" so it's not out of character for the franchise.

I am a little leery of the moral that Devon should have taken Keeper's warning seriously. Is that the message we're teaching kids now? Always listen to fortune-tellers instead of your own common sense? Because I don't think that's a good moral at all for the real toddlers watching the show.

The news that a reboot is coming is making me rethink not watching next season. Because if Dino Fury winds up the last show in the original continuity, they might have some interesting guest appearances in store as this era of the franchise winds up for good. My dream is Jason, Tommy, and Kimberly (The Trinity) reunited in the series finale. I haven't made a decision to watch Dino Fury for sure, but I'm also not sure to check out like I was planning to before this week's reboot announcement.

I'm a little confused about how the Mighty Morphin Rangers are still active when going by the show history they all retired, or handed off their powers to the next generation. Trini is actually in all likelihood DEAD, so the Yellow Ranger being there was another open question. Similarly, didn't the Dino Charge Rangers give up their powers in their last episode too? The Dinosaurs being present in this episode suggests this takes place after the Dino Charge finale. So when did they get the Energems back?

I utterly lost interest in the franchise when Jason, then Kimberly, then Tommy left. To me, those guys WERE the show, and I don't really see the appeal of different Ranger incarnations. I basically have been watching the later Nickelodeon seasons in the hope to see some of the earlier Rangers and characters from that era show up. I think Beast Morphers is a weak season, but I like that it's the one that gave us hefty, middle-aged Jason. I'll remember it fondly for that alone. ****1/2.
 

Storm Eagle

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I'm a little confused about how the Mighty Morphin Rangers are still active when going by the show history they all retired, or handed off their powers to the next generation. Trini is actually in all likelihood DEAD, so the Yellow Ranger being there was another open question. Similarly, didn't the Dino Charge Rangers give up their powers in their last episode too? The Dinosaurs being present in this episode suggests this takes place after the Dino Charge finale. So when did they get the Energems back?
Apparently the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers can use their powers whenever necessary again. Jason first used his again in Wild Force's "Forever Red", and apparently in Super Megaforce's "Legendary Battle", where the rest of those rangers used theirs, and most likely the originals. Thuy Trang may be dead, but it might not mean that Trini is. If anything, it could be Aisha, as those are the only powers she ever used.
 

Scrappy-Fan92

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At last, we reach the anticipated team-up episode...and the incumbent team is away from most of the fun, presumably due to how the Go-Busters were downplayed in Kyoryuger vs. Go-Busters. It is nice to see Jason again, but yes, his voice has changed since we last saw him in "Forever Red." Him calling out "It's Morphin' Time!" shows he's still got it, though.

Other assorted thoughts:

-Very little dialogue from the other Mighty Morphin' Rangers. The Dino Thunder trio got more lines, presumably to make up for the fact that none of them could appear unmorphed in this episode.
-The Dino Megazord and Thundersarus Megazord are most definitely destroyed, so yeah, I'm just going to apply MST3K Mantra for that...unless these are the alternate universe versions of the Megazords that were able to be constructed because Dino Charge takes place on an Earth where the dinosaurs survived to coexist with modern humans.
-The franchise has neither confirmed nor denied if Trini passed. I wouldn't assume the character automatically dies with the portrayer, given Sentai doesn't really do that either.
-To address the issue of the Dino Charge Rangers regaining their powers
they voluntarily de-bonded with their Energems in "End of Extinction"...then proceeded to call on them again for the Christmas epilogue.
It's more of a Quasar Saber situation than a Dino Gem situation.
-I am very surprised no one said "May the power protect you" in this episode when the goodbyes were happening.
-Also, did Devon summon Jason's old Power Coin (which was apparently never destroyed if Wild Force was any indication), or did the Grid conjure up a new one?
-Blaze getting clowned on while his back was turned was great. It's a real good thing he and Roxy can be revived endlessly.
-I do hope Ben and Betty return next episode. I understand the need to keep the cast down for reunion episodes, but I kinda miss them.
-The Chimerazord is ugly.
-Jason's closing lines about Power Rangers always being around does hit differently than it was probably intended to in light of recent news/speculation that Hasbro will be doing extensive retooling of the franchise's TV side in the near future. I do wonder how Dino Fury will fall into the grand continuum.
-Oh, hi, multi-colored team-up explosion, I've missed you a lot. Like, a lot. One of Power Rangers' Sakamoto-isms that carried over when he took a greater role with Kyoryuger, or a happy coincidence between two franchises that have always embraced pyrotechnics? Likely the latter, but the former is far funnier to imagine.
-Devon, I understand being a bit skeptical of Keeper's admittedly vague warnings, but you live in the dimension where eight-ninths of the on-screen franchise weirdness happens. It benefits to keep an open mind.
-Jason bluntly stating that Goldar was destroyed by Zordon puts my mind at ease. It was always obvious, but just having open confirmation is nice.

All in all, an interesting trilogy of episodes these past few weeks. We haven't really attempted "standalone" serialization with team-up episodes since the days of Lost Galaxy, so it's interesting to return to it. My grievances with Ninja Steel aside, there's a part of me that's still kind of disappointed that another anniversary team got ignored in the following series, but I understand these episodes would've never happened at all had there not been movie footage they could use.

EDIT: I just remembered, when the show switched to Sentai footage for the big fight, it got really dark. I wonder what happened there.
 
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veemonjosh

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Episode 38 - "Golden Opportunity"
Air Date: October 31st, 2020

Nate is reunited with his do-gooder parents, who offer him a compelling and difficult choice.
 

Fone Bone

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Power Rangers Beast Morphers "Golden Opportunity"

I was okay with most of that until the end. Until the moral becomes "Leaving your kid alone to pursue your own interests is actually justified if you are doing good work." It's not. It's selfish. It's the mark of a bad parent. I'm not questioning the love Nate's parents have for him (but me not doing that is me being charitable) but I question their judgment and their fitness to be parents. It's not okay. It's not justified even if they are galivanting around the world to supposedly help people. That's not what parents are supposed to do. Framing Nate having a job and responsibilities as he's gotten older as the same idea is wrong.

I wasn't offended by most of that but the show loused up the moral. Per usual. ***.
 

Scrappy-Fan92

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I actually enjoyed this episode a fair deal. Nate is a really forgiving person to make peace with his parents' absence while he's basically serving as the teen genius for a government think tank...kind of like Dr. K's backstory, but far less horrifying.

-Ben, Betty, good to see you again. The luggage and driving gags were pretty funny, maybe because the slapstick was technically spread around instead of laser-focused on the Burke siblings. The two of them basically playing the role of huckster car salespeople advertising their new invention was amusing as well.
-Steel keeps mentioning his desire to try food. I don't blame him. Food is good.
-Ravi having to verbally make a distinction between the Avatar Roxy and the real deal just serves to remind me that we haven't seen the latter in months.
-The flower-powered Avatar Roxy suit actually looks kind of cool. Escape's suit would've worked well for a Magna Defender-styled additional ally to the team.
-Was Nate just going to take his Morpher with him while leaving the country? I'd hope he would just leave it at Grid Battleforce while the other Rangers trained a successor. We're long past the days of instant teleportation.
-Quiet confirmation that Megan still works at Grid Battleforce. Would've been interesting to see her actually having to rise to the challenge without Nate serving as a mediator.
-I do like how everyone kind of tacitly admits that they aren't tech-savvy enough to handle things in Nate's absence. Piloting Zords is one thing, maintaining them is another.
-I imagine Commander Shaw probably does see Nate like a surrogate son and that the decision to let him go wasn't easy. Probably celebrated more birthdays with him than his parents did.
-Steel immediately bonding with his parents was sweet.

This was a decent character-focused episode. Probably liked it more than "Grid Connection" for being a bit less cluttered. See you all for the next.
 

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