This season, or rather these two seasons, have been a very mixed bag. It had so much potential going in, and while there were a few episodes that lived up to it, it ultimately fell short. These final two episodes exemplified what the series did right, what it did wrong, and what it could have been. It's fortunate that when these two episodes were re-aired together, 15 minutes was added to the runtime with scenes that weren't included in the standalone episodes. Scenes that were shown in this version are represented by italics.
The Wrath
Believing the Armada defeated, Orion decides it's time to head back to Andresia and rebuild his homeworld. He has a heartfelt goodbye with the other Rangers before taking off in the spaceship he arrived in. Shortly after he leaves, Tensou and Gosei pick up a transmission from Emperor Mavro, saying the real invasion is about to begin.
Mavro gives Levira one final chance to prove her worth, sending her down in a mech in her likeness to battle the Legendary Megazord. She puts up a fight but is ultimately brought down using a lightning aura strike. The battle resumes on the ground. She blasts the Rangers with her own artillery, but they put up a shield using Mystic Force's powers. Levira is joined by some of the Armada's royal guards. The Rangers each use one of their Legendary New Powers (except for Troy, who uses Mighty Morphin) to fight them off, and ultimately win. As she blows up, Levira begs Mavro to use the maximizer to make her grow, and he refuses. He then announces his invasion and the Armada ships swarm the sky.
The Rangers morph again and return to the Megazord. Orion's Q-Rex joins them, presumably on autopilot. Using a barrage of attacks with different Ranger Keys, Zords, and attacks, they manage to take out the first wave. Unfortunately, as soon as their finished, a new swarm of ships shows up and obliterates every single one of them. The Rangers are ejected from their Megazord, de-morphing as they hit the ground.
Meanwhile, Orion picks up the signal that Tensou picked up earlier. Realizing his mistake, he doubles back to Earth. Mavro informs the world that the Power Rangers have been destroyed and issues an ultimatum: Surrender or perish. He gives the planet 12 hours to give up and will return at dawn to finish the job. We get one last shot of each of the Rangers lying unconscious in rubble.
The extensions given to this episode aren't quite so obvious, but it added about 5 minutes (2 and a half without commercials) to the episode's runtime. The fight scenes are a bit longer and the pacing is improved, but nothing that stood out. I'm probably in the minority of fans who enjoyed seeing the Rangers use New Powers during this season (suits from Super Sentai pre-dating Zyuranger/MMPR), particularly Lightning/Blitz/Maskman.
Legendary Battle
Beginning where we left off, the city is in rubble and people need help. A group is trapped in an elevator, a little boy can't find his puppy, and a man is stuck under a column. First to arrive on the scene are Dana Mitchell and Carter Grayson, the Pink and Red Lightspeed Rangers. They lift the column off the man and Dana listens to his heart on a stethoscope, assuring him he's going to be fine.
Danny's puppy is saved by Leo Corbett, the Red Galaxy Ranger. T.J. Johnson and Cassie Chan, the Blue and Pink Space Rangers, show up on top of the elevator and pull everyone out. Last but not least, a little boy is trapped in a car that could fall over a bridge at any moment. Dr. Tommy Oliver, the White Mighty Morphin Ranger, and pulls out Saba for the kid to grab onto. He does so, and Tommy pulls the boy out, tells him he was brave and that he could be a superhero one day. With each of these appearances, their helmets are superimposed over their faces, which looks cool. These are some of the strongest scenes in the episode. It's great to see these characters again, and that even without their Ranger Powers, they're still going out of their way to help people.
One by one, the Rangers regain consciousness and try to regroup. Emma and Gia find each other first, followed by Jake and Noah. Later that night, civilians are gathered around a fire, wondering where the Power Rangers are and if they really are destroyed. We're given cameos from Damon Henderson and Karone, the Green and Pink Galaxy Rangers, as well as Wes Collins, the red Time Force Ranger. Troy talks to Gosei on his morpher before the whole team comes together again. Without their Zords, Jake's not sure if they can win. Troy, however, is determined not to give up. The Legendary Rangers entrusted them with their powers and the world is counting on them. Orion's ship crashes back into Earth and he rejoins the others.
Morning arrives, and so does the Armada. The citizens refuse to surrender and are ready to defend themselves. Before they can attack, the Power Rangers arrive, and a fight ensues. They take out the X-Borgs before focusing on the general and royal guards. As the general blasts the Rangers, Orion shields them by turning into Mighty Morphin Green. He gives Troy his Dragon Shield, which turns him into Mighty Morphin Red. Troy then dispatches the guards with ease. The two then make a break for Orion's ship to take the fight to the Armada, leaving the other four to handle the general. Civilians cheer them on as they go.
Troy and Orion blast their way through the fleet before crashing into the flagship. They make their way to the throne room and confront Mavro. The Emperor puts up an impressive fight, not even bothering to stand up at first, but the Rangers turn the tide when Troy takes control of the ship and begins blasting the Armada ships.
This is enough to distract the general down below, allowing the other Rangers to blast him with the Super Mega Cannon as they demorph.
The fight with Mavro continues as Troy and Orion blow the control panel, sending the ship crashing to Earth. The others look on and at first it seems as though they went down with the ship. Fortunately, the turned into Space Red and Silver and escaped on their Galaxy Gliders. They power down, group hug the team, and it looks like it's over...until Mavro reveals to have survived the crash as well. The Rangers stand ready to give it all they've got against him and morph directly into Super Mega Mode, their helmets coming on during the roll call.
This fight is awesome, the Rangers using a variety of Legendary Modes against Mavro, five of which hadn't been used yet in the series, culminating in each Ranger using a different Super Mode from a different season. They use their finishing attacks, and yet Mavro stays on his feet. Orion then jumps in wielding the Super Mega Cannon, and fires at point blank range. As Mavro goes down once and for all, he claims that even after all this, his army will still defeat the Rangers.
Then a legion of X-Borgs arrives. The Rangers seem outnumbered, then suddenly past Ranger teams begin appearing on the cliffside, and them join them on the ground. Leading the way is Tommy (in Green instead of White) and the others we saw at the beginning plus Emily and Mike, the Yellow and Green Samurai Rangers. They take off their helmets to greet the Megaforce Rangers. It's just like the dreams Troy was having earlier in the season. Tommy says they're here to fight for them, Wes says they're proud of them, Troy and Cassie both say it's an honor to fight alongside each other. (Damon, Emily, and Mike don't say anything.) The Megaforce Rangers morph, and the others put their helmets back on. Karone mentions how she loves being a Power Ranger and Astronema's visage is superimposed over her face as she puts her helmet on. The Legendary Rangers then charge forward against the X-Borgs. It's awesome while it lasts, but it's still shorter than we were hoping for. A lot of these scenes were shown in a shorter capacity as Troy's recurring dream. Robo Knight shows up and joins the others in battle, and as short as it was, I was honestly glad to see him again, after his heroic sacrifice a few episodes ago.
When the battle is over, Tommy goes to the Rangers and says it's time for them to go and an honor to fight beside them. He shakes Troy's hand, and join the rest of the Legendary Rangers. They raise their hands and disappear into golden light, scattering across the universe (or they could just be teleporting back home, I don't know). Exhausted, our heroes collapse into the grass and stare into the sky, relieved that the Armada is defeated. They get back up, and Gia gives Jake a kiss on the cheek (aww). Troy then plants his Super Mega Saber into the ground, and the six of them walk away.
The Extended Edition is a much more satisfying finale than the episodes were initially. The added battle between the Rangers and Mavro saved the episode. Nonetheless, I can't help but lament over all the Ranger Keys that didn't get used over the course of the season. Perhaps had they been allowed a few more episodes (maybe five for each half), they could have worked those in, maybe improve the pacing. I've enjoyed the cast of characters, and it's actually gratifying to have seen their acting get better as the season progressed. Nickelodeon needs to treat this franchise better. Episode count aside, I wish they'd stop splitting these seasons in half, and shorten any summer hiatus.Had they been allowed more time and money, Power Rangers Megaforce could have been an excellent season. Instead, it's only a decent season with a few great moments. As stated, this finale sums up the season perfectly: showing it's potential but still falling short of it.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Thursday, December 4, 2014
Arrow- The Brave And The Bold
The crossover event continues as the Arrow and Arsenal try to track down Digger Harkness, a former ARGUS agent and member of the Suicide Squad. It was his boomerang that they've been investigating. Meanwhile, Cisco and Caitlin have come to Starling to retrieve the DNA sample mentioned before, and Cisco really wants to see the "Arrow Cave". (The name catches on.) Harkness (eventually named Captain Boomerang) straight up attacks ARGUS headquarters, and holds his own against several agents (including Diggle and Lyla) plus the Arrow and Arsenal. Luckily for them, Barry gets called in and arrives in a Flash. Again, we have a unique title card for the episode. The arrowhead behind the Arrow logo is missing, and we see a yellow streak running around inside the logo before it disappears into a Flash lightning bolt.
Oliver, while appreciative, seems even less eager to team up in this episode than he was before. He eventually relents on the condition that he follows Oliver's orders. Barry reassembles Harkness's boomerangs left at the scene, which leads them to his supplier. The Flash is a bit put off once he sees the Arrow's interrogation techniques first-hand.
The flashbacks for this episode center around how he learned these techniques. Amanda Waller told him to get the location of a bomb out of a terror suspect, but Ollie couldn't get the information in time, which is motivation enough not to let it happen again.
Our heroes get a phone from the supplier, and Felicity tries to trace the number. Unfortunately, the phone is instead used by Harkness as a tracer for the location of the Arrow Cave. He shows up, causes some damage, and one of his boomerangs gets embedded in Lyla's shoulder.
Once she's stable, Barry runs her to the hospital. The whole thing shakes Diggle up a bit, but he keeps a clear head. Captain Boomerang gets tracked down again, but he has a contingency. Five bombs are placed in different locations all around the city. The Flash is fast enough to find them once Felicity homes in on the detonator frequency, but they all have to be disarmed at the same time or they all blow. While the Arrow fights off Harkness, the Flash puts Felicity, Roy, Cisco, and Caitlin each at a different bomb, and they disable them all at once. He then regroups with the Arrow, and Captain Boomerang is sent back to the ARGUS holding facility.
Lyla regains consciousness, and Diggle proposes. She says yes. Caitlin and Cisco say their goodbyes, and Oliver sets up a mannequin in the Arrow Cave where Barry can hang his costume whenever he's in town. But before he leaves, the Arrow and the Flash decide to settle once and for all who would win in a fight. And the episode ends just as it's about to get under way.
The Flash episode had the two heroes fighting, and this Arrow episode had our two heroes working together, so they balance each other out. Similarly, Barry and Oliver balance each other out with Barry's brighter outlook and Oliver's darker methods. Even the other characters point out how much lighter the tone is in Central City compared to Starling. With all the metahumans running around, it doesn't seem quite as real to them in contrast to all the non-powered but highly skilled criminals in who show up in Starling City. The episode was also a nice break from Laurel's subplot, who gets limited to a cameo in this one with her father (who accidentally calls Barry "Bart" in reference to another comic speedster Impulse). These episodes show what a DC Cinematic Universe could have been if the upcoming movies had decided to build on continuity from established sources rather than start from scratch. These two shows have already given us hints at the Atom, Firestorm, and the Elongated Man, and should provide enough material for a wonderful TV presence for these heroes, even without tying in to the big screen. This is DC Comics done right.
Oliver, while appreciative, seems even less eager to team up in this episode than he was before. He eventually relents on the condition that he follows Oliver's orders. Barry reassembles Harkness's boomerangs left at the scene, which leads them to his supplier. The Flash is a bit put off once he sees the Arrow's interrogation techniques first-hand.
The flashbacks for this episode center around how he learned these techniques. Amanda Waller told him to get the location of a bomb out of a terror suspect, but Ollie couldn't get the information in time, which is motivation enough not to let it happen again.
Our heroes get a phone from the supplier, and Felicity tries to trace the number. Unfortunately, the phone is instead used by Harkness as a tracer for the location of the Arrow Cave. He shows up, causes some damage, and one of his boomerangs gets embedded in Lyla's shoulder.
Once she's stable, Barry runs her to the hospital. The whole thing shakes Diggle up a bit, but he keeps a clear head. Captain Boomerang gets tracked down again, but he has a contingency. Five bombs are placed in different locations all around the city. The Flash is fast enough to find them once Felicity homes in on the detonator frequency, but they all have to be disarmed at the same time or they all blow. While the Arrow fights off Harkness, the Flash puts Felicity, Roy, Cisco, and Caitlin each at a different bomb, and they disable them all at once. He then regroups with the Arrow, and Captain Boomerang is sent back to the ARGUS holding facility.
Lyla regains consciousness, and Diggle proposes. She says yes. Caitlin and Cisco say their goodbyes, and Oliver sets up a mannequin in the Arrow Cave where Barry can hang his costume whenever he's in town. But before he leaves, the Arrow and the Flash decide to settle once and for all who would win in a fight. And the episode ends just as it's about to get under way.
The Flash episode had the two heroes fighting, and this Arrow episode had our two heroes working together, so they balance each other out. Similarly, Barry and Oliver balance each other out with Barry's brighter outlook and Oliver's darker methods. Even the other characters point out how much lighter the tone is in Central City compared to Starling. With all the metahumans running around, it doesn't seem quite as real to them in contrast to all the non-powered but highly skilled criminals in who show up in Starling City. The episode was also a nice break from Laurel's subplot, who gets limited to a cameo in this one with her father (who accidentally calls Barry "Bart" in reference to another comic speedster Impulse). These episodes show what a DC Cinematic Universe could have been if the upcoming movies had decided to build on continuity from established sources rather than start from scratch. These two shows have already given us hints at the Atom, Firestorm, and the Elongated Man, and should provide enough material for a wonderful TV presence for these heroes, even without tying in to the big screen. This is DC Comics done right.
Flash vs. Arrow
Our crossover event begins in Central City. Rather than doing the usual superhero fare, Barry's simply doing miscellaneous good deeds at superspeed. Giving flowers to a married couple on a date, painting a house, little things that would make someone smile. The feel-good moments come to a halt when a man enters the bank, turning people's eyes red. This makes them all angry and a fight ensues while he walks out with the money. Barry manages to break up the fight before things get too out of hand.
Back at the police station, Eddie is trying to convince the police chief to put a task force together to bring in the Flash, but is shot down. The bank robber is tracked to an abandoned warehouse, but he uses his abilities on a member of the SWAT team, who opens fire on Joe and Eddie. The Flash gets them out of the way, and the angry cop is suddenly taken down by the Arrow. The title card for this episode is unique, with an arrow being shot through the Flash logo, and it then disappears in green lightning rather than its usual red and yellow.
Barry follows Oliver out to an empty farm where Felicity and Diggle were waiting for him. Diggle hasn't seen Barry's speed in action yet, so he's impressed to say the least. Ollie and his team had traced a murder weapon to a manufacturer in Central City, hence their presence in this episode. Roy is the only member of the team not present, and it could be assumed Oliver left Arsenal in Starling in case any trouble surfaces while he's gone. At first, Ollie doesn't want to team up, but still goes out of his way to dig up the robber's real name: Roy G. Bivolo.
Back at STAR Labs, Barry gets a talking to about the Starling City vigilante from Joe and Dr. Wells, and it's understandable considering the Arrow used to kill criminals without hesitation. However, Barry's adamant that they're on the same side, and later meets Oliver for training. Ollie makes a good point that Barry doesn't analyze his surroundings before rushing in, which he gets across by shooting an arrow at him. Barry catches it, only for two turrets to pop up out of the ground and shoot arrows into his back. ("Heard you heal fast.") Later, Barry tracks down Bivolo (who Cisco named Prism), and a short struggle ends when he uses his powers on the Flash and gets away.
At first, Barry seems okay, but gets ruder and angrier as the episode continues. It's believed that his powers were fighting off the effects of Prism's anger eye, which has been causing the rage to pile up rather than come out all at once. This culminates into the Flash confronting Eddie in the middle of the street, right in front of Iris. She tries to talk him down to no avail, and Dr. Wells has to ask Felicity to call in Oliver (having figured out his identity).
The Arrow shows up right before the Flash does something he'll regret, and the obligatory hero vs. hero fight ensues...and it is awesome. (Cisco and Diggle actually speculate which one of them would win.) Oliver can't get a hit on him, but is at least able to stay on the defense. Since the anger was the result of seeing red light, Wells, Caitlin and the others conclude that different colored lights might be the key to bringing Barry back to normal. This could be a nod to DC's various Lantern Corps, each with a different colored ring that's powered by a different emotion.
Barry calms down, our two heroes bring down Prism (off-screen, surprisingly enough), but the damage is done. Eddie gets his anti-Flash task force, and Iris's faith in him is shaken. He tries to apologize to her, but whether or not she believes him, she still doesn't want him contacting her again. It makes me wonder if she'll keep writing about him.
Felicity asks a favor of the STAR Labs crew to analyze a DNA sample from the arrow that killed the Canary. Dr. Wells has a brief moment with Oliver, saying he'd met his father once and thought he'd be proud of him. (Oliver says there's something strange about Wells as he leaves.)
The end scene reveals that Ronnie Raymond is still alive. Caitlin's fiancee supposedly lost his life when the particle accelerator blew, but he's out on the street, his body engulfed in flames.
It's nice to see these two shows come together, showing the similarities and differences between them. The scenes where Barry's getting angry are especially scary, since he's normally so laid back and likeable. It's also a bit strange to see Eddie suddenly turn against the Flash, who hasn't done anything non-heroic until this episode. The story continues in the next episode of Arrow.
Back at the police station, Eddie is trying to convince the police chief to put a task force together to bring in the Flash, but is shot down. The bank robber is tracked to an abandoned warehouse, but he uses his abilities on a member of the SWAT team, who opens fire on Joe and Eddie. The Flash gets them out of the way, and the angry cop is suddenly taken down by the Arrow. The title card for this episode is unique, with an arrow being shot through the Flash logo, and it then disappears in green lightning rather than its usual red and yellow.
Barry follows Oliver out to an empty farm where Felicity and Diggle were waiting for him. Diggle hasn't seen Barry's speed in action yet, so he's impressed to say the least. Ollie and his team had traced a murder weapon to a manufacturer in Central City, hence their presence in this episode. Roy is the only member of the team not present, and it could be assumed Oliver left Arsenal in Starling in case any trouble surfaces while he's gone. At first, Ollie doesn't want to team up, but still goes out of his way to dig up the robber's real name: Roy G. Bivolo.
Back at STAR Labs, Barry gets a talking to about the Starling City vigilante from Joe and Dr. Wells, and it's understandable considering the Arrow used to kill criminals without hesitation. However, Barry's adamant that they're on the same side, and later meets Oliver for training. Ollie makes a good point that Barry doesn't analyze his surroundings before rushing in, which he gets across by shooting an arrow at him. Barry catches it, only for two turrets to pop up out of the ground and shoot arrows into his back. ("Heard you heal fast.") Later, Barry tracks down Bivolo (who Cisco named Prism), and a short struggle ends when he uses his powers on the Flash and gets away.
At first, Barry seems okay, but gets ruder and angrier as the episode continues. It's believed that his powers were fighting off the effects of Prism's anger eye, which has been causing the rage to pile up rather than come out all at once. This culminates into the Flash confronting Eddie in the middle of the street, right in front of Iris. She tries to talk him down to no avail, and Dr. Wells has to ask Felicity to call in Oliver (having figured out his identity).
The Arrow shows up right before the Flash does something he'll regret, and the obligatory hero vs. hero fight ensues...and it is awesome. (Cisco and Diggle actually speculate which one of them would win.) Oliver can't get a hit on him, but is at least able to stay on the defense. Since the anger was the result of seeing red light, Wells, Caitlin and the others conclude that different colored lights might be the key to bringing Barry back to normal. This could be a nod to DC's various Lantern Corps, each with a different colored ring that's powered by a different emotion.
Barry calms down, our two heroes bring down Prism (off-screen, surprisingly enough), but the damage is done. Eddie gets his anti-Flash task force, and Iris's faith in him is shaken. He tries to apologize to her, but whether or not she believes him, she still doesn't want him contacting her again. It makes me wonder if she'll keep writing about him.
Felicity asks a favor of the STAR Labs crew to analyze a DNA sample from the arrow that killed the Canary. Dr. Wells has a brief moment with Oliver, saying he'd met his father once and thought he'd be proud of him. (Oliver says there's something strange about Wells as he leaves.)
The end scene reveals that Ronnie Raymond is still alive. Caitlin's fiancee supposedly lost his life when the particle accelerator blew, but he's out on the street, his body engulfed in flames.
It's nice to see these two shows come together, showing the similarities and differences between them. The scenes where Barry's getting angry are especially scary, since he's normally so laid back and likeable. It's also a bit strange to see Eddie suddenly turn against the Flash, who hasn't done anything non-heroic until this episode. The story continues in the next episode of Arrow.
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