"Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel" Season Two Talkback (Spoilers)

[Fone Bone]

For the record, I want to slap Victor and Monty.

I think a Fargo-style woodchipper would be better justice for those knobs.

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel "Attack Of The Galactic Ninjas"

I liked Levi saying he was never going to lose his memories again, and then the show just gives him that. Very cool.

Why does Victor think he can simply interrupt a play rehearsal and be given the lead for it? And why was he rewarded with the understudy position for it? Shouldn't the play already HAVE an understudy?

Mick's lesson with the hammer was unusually clumsy, even for him. Just because there is no actual way to get to the moral of "jumping to conclusions" from that. But I guess the 5 year olds who watch this show need the slapstick humor. It still doesn't make any sense.

Not bad. ***1/2.

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel "The Need For Speed"

Question: Considering Monty and Victor's penchant for cheating in the past, why did the judges or anyone else take him supposedly winning the record at face value? Frankly, his sportsmanship in competitions is SO bad, that it's a wonder he hasn't been banned from these contests at the school yet.

I really liked the cheesy CGI in the climax as the Rangers fought that weird lookin' thing with an eagle for a head. That was a truly grotesque looking monster, and even if the CGI was cheap looking and fake, it (as well as the running effects on the Red Ranger) were cool.

Decent episode. ***1/2.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Why does Victor think he can simply interrupt a play rehearsal and be given the lead for it? And why was he rewarded with the understudy position for it? Shouldn't the play already HAVE an understudy?

Very true. Victor and Monty got what they deserved, but at least they were just going to have Preston shipped to his own house.

A wood chipper? That's a little gruesome.

 

[Fone Bone]

A wood chipper? That's a little gruesome.

I'm tough, but fair.

 

[veemonjosh]

Episode 8 (30) - "Caught Red-Handed"
Air Date: March 17th, 2018
Brody is accused of stealing something from one of his teachers.

As Storm Eagle mentioned, this is the final episode for the front half of Super Ninja Steel. Tune back sometime around August for the back half of the season, including a special episode commemorating the 25th anniversary of the franchise!

 

[Fone Bone]

I was wondering if and when they'd do a 25th Anniversary episode.

Will watch this week's episode tomorrow and post my review then.

 

[Fone Bone]

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel "Caught Red-Handed"

I like that the title of the episode addresses both the sitcom plot, and the color of the Ranger involved.

Oooh, monster Zord! Mommy! Mommy! I want that!

Sort of cool to see the Rangers lose for once. They are lucky they weren't killed.

Speaking of which, does it now strike anyone else as weird that the Zord control room doesn't have chairs or seat-belts? The Rangers are just tumbling all over the place because they are all standing and unsecured.

Also, I thought the whole "have the actor flap around wildly while we shake the camera" thing went out of style with Star Trek, but here we are.

Does Victor seriously think that monster is a rare rhino? What a dumbass.

Not bad. ***1/2.

 

[veemonjosh]

*Blows hiatus dust off thread*

We're (almost) back! New episodes of Super Ninja Steel returns next Saturday. In addition, there will be a special 25th anniversary episode airing on August 28th in primetime.



Also, of course I have to acknowledge that a lot has changed behind the scenes since the last time new episodes were airing. Saban Brands no longer exists as a company, with all rights to the franchise being sold to Hasbro, who will also be handling the toyline after Bandai USA's rights expire early next year. Obviously the rest of Super Ninja Steel was filmed and edited prior to this acquisition, but after this seasosn concludes we'll be entering a whole new era of the franchise, starting with Beast Morphers (an adaptation of 2012's Go-Busters) next year.

 

[Storm Eagle]

*Blows hiatus dust off thread*

We're (almost) back! New episodes of Super Ninja Steel returns next Saturday. In addition, there will be a special 25th anniversary episode airing on August 28th in primetime.

An even better trailer for "Dimensions in Danger" is in this article.

Power Rangers 25th Anniversary Trailer: Iconic Rangers Reunite for 'Dimensions in Danger' - IGN

 

[veemonjosh]

Super Ninja Steel returns!

Episode 9 (31) - "Outfoxed"
Air Date: August 25th, 2018
After their Zords are disabled by Odius’ giant Foxatron, the Rangers must find a new way to stop her evil Zord.

And remember to tune in on August 28th for the 25th anniversary special!

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Good to be back. Some random scattered thoughts:

-I noticed that we got a few new names in the post-opening credits. Not sure who those two non-Judd Lynn writers are that wrote this episode.
-The Rangers have a bad habit of narrating what's clearly on the screen.
-Three mysterious cloaked figures. My geriatric-by-the-standards-of-Power-Rangers'-demographic self was able to recognize the voices and match them up with who we saw in one of Nick's sneak peek videos.

Spoiler: Spoiler

-I was grinning from ear to ear seeing a peek at the Chrono Morpher from one of the robed figures' sleeves. Interesting that we get foreshadowing for a team-up in a "normal" episode.

-The Rangers lampshade that they've already been deemed worthy by the Ninja Nexus Prism when it refuses to give them new Zord Stars (and it just spits them out usually. Why does it suddenly care?).
-I do like the idea of the Rangers performing "small acts" of heroism on paper, but it seems very suspect that the last line of defense for the Earth has to perform comparatively minor tasks just so they can get the Zords needed to help their fellow humans. It was still nice though (by the way, Preston X Sandy, hopefully the show will follow up on that).
-Nice that the Rangers actually decided to help Victor and Monty as opposed to just laughing at their misfortune (although solvent like that probably shouldn't be so liberally applied to hair. The two notably were bald in the back of the head when the solvent was applied at the top).
-The Blaze Megazord looks cool, and Odious continues to be a terrible person.

...That was a longer post than usual. Decent episode overall. I'm really looking forward to Tuesday.

EDIT: Since we're a day away from the anniversary episode:

 

[Tommy Lawson]

-I do like the idea of the Rangers performing "small acts" of heroism on paper, but it seems very suspect that the last line of defense for the Earth has to perform comparatively minor tasks just so they can get the Zords needed to help their fellow humans. It was still nice though (by the way, Preston X Sandy, hopefully the show will follow up on that).

Contrast this episode to another one of the zord debut episodes, Mystic Force's Code Busters. The Xenotome would not give the Rangers new powers just for performing good deeds, so mystical power source rules in the PR universe vary. I prefer the Mystic Force way to the what was done in this episode.

-The Blaze Megazord looks cool, and Odious continues to be a terrible person.

Ironically, the first time the Blaze Megazord was used would have been a perfect opportunity to mention Ninja Storm, because of its similarilty to the Storm Megazord and other NS zords (and by extension, Hurricanger from Super Sentai).

 

[Theagames10]

Tonight is the anniversary episode at PRIMETIME! Today is also National Power Rangers Day!!!

 

[veemonjosh]

Power Rangers celebrates 25 morphinomenal years with a special episode of Super Ninja Steel, tonight at 8pm!

Episode 10 (32) - "Dimensions in Danger"
Air Date: August 28th, 2018
In a very special 25th Anniversary episode, the Super Ninja Steel Rangers team up with Legendary Rangers from the past 2 decades in an epic battle to save the world when a new monster known as Lord Drayvon tries to steal ranger powers to create his own army of evil clones.

 

[Fone Bone]

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel "Outfoxed"

I talk so much smack about this show, so when it gives me a rare good episode, I'm gonna give it its due. That's fair, right? This was a good episode.

Forget how unintentionally hilarious and awesome the Zord shooting the Rangers at the end was, the thing that won me over was an interesting choice they made with Mick. Mick is probably my least favorite character after Victor and Monty. He always talks down to those kids and treats them like 6-old-olds. Which is why I love the character choice they made for him in this episode.

Basically when the lab explodes, the Rangers go, "What's happening, Mick?" And like all adults, I was positive Mick was going to tell a comforting lie, to make himself sound more in charge of the situation than he actually was. And he says "No idea," instead. I cannot overstate how much that helped my view of the character. Ironically, the show could have done what I said earlier, and no-one would have complained, and even I might not have raised too much of a fuss. But for all of Mick's annoying sermonizing about always being straight with people, even if it it's something they don't want to hear, when it comes down to it, he practices what he preaches. I find the character sanctimonious and insufferable. I cannot overstate how much that helps. I don't actually like the character (yet). But I sure as heck like him a lot more than I did before I saw the episode.

Brody talked very strangely this episode. Was his word a day calendar stuck on "Epic"? And at the beginning he's like "We're Rangers. Failing is NOT an option." I'm like, "Have you actually tried it, Brody?" Because all things considered, it's the easiest option. I know from experience.

I'm wondering if the hooded cloak guys are Tommy and Cat to set up the special, but if that's true, they botched it by not giving the female a British accent. I hope something else is going on. I'll accept it if it's the Legendary Rangers. But I hope that is a plot point that goes beyond a single episode.

I realized I don't write this show, and I couldn't write the show on the TV-Y7 level the writers do. I have called the writers outright stupid more than once, but I could never write for this show. When Brody looks at Mick's list of things to get to melt down the Powerstars, he looks it over and says, most of this stuff is in the lab. I would have had him say "Except for the tears of a virgin. Hang on a sec," and then have them beat the stuffing out of Victor and Monty. The biggest weakness to my personal writing is unwillingness to play within the boundaries set up. And frankly, I admire any kids show that isn't constantly tempted to do jokes like that. On some level, my writing is weaker for it. And that is a skill I do not possess.

Yeah, I really liked the episode. No lie. I'm actually looking forward to the special. ****1/2.

 

[Scrappy-Fan92]

Happy National Power Rangers Day, everyone.

We now have the 25th anniversary episode, "Dimensions in Danger."

Pros:

-Nice assortment of past Rangers. And good to give Rocky some love after his actor missed out on "Forever Red" and "Legendary Battle."
-I admit, I got a little giddy at Wes mentioning Reefside.
-The crew did pretty well with the pacing. Like "Forever Red" before it, the episode pretty much cuts to the chase and keeps padding down to a minimum.
-Alright, I'll admit something else: Tommy vs. Tommy robot is a cool fight. I was afraid we wouldn't see any representation for the Red Zeo Ranger. And where did Tommy get a Master Morpher? I'll be frank, I'm okay with this. He's got one Morpher for multiple powers, it's convenient.
-We got an actual explanation for how the Rangers are able to jump dimensions, and total concrete (re-)confirmation that the R.P.M. and Dino Charge teams operate separate from the rest of the Power Rangers universe. This may very well be the anniversary team-up with the least continuity headaches.
-Lord Drayvon's fortress is awesome.
-Brody getting tied to the chest due to Ninninger footage .
-Gia and Wes got new civilian clothes.
-A lot of original fight footage.

Cons:

-Like "Forever Red," this could have and probably should have been a two-parter. Budget shall forever remain the true greatest enemy of the Power Rangers.
-This franchise loves Tommy. I love him, too, but dang man it's a franchise celebration. Tommy's fight with his clone probably should've occurred in the big battle proper, interspersed with the rest of the Rangers. And it was nice to the Falconzord again, but that brief giant fight should've been a team effort (and if budget allowed it, we should've gotten a crazy combination like the Ninja Steel Megazord with Falconzord attached. It'd never work in toy format, but let me dream...).
-I was hoping for more Ranger-to-Ranger fight coordination in said big battle. "To the Tenth Power" and "Forever Red" remain my personal favorites in that regard.
-Poor Trent hardly got any lines.
-T.J. seemed to know who Lord Draven was before this episode. I have several questions...
-We know Tommy has a kid now, but they never explicitly show his spouse.
-NO SPECIAL KODA AND PRESTON INTERACTION. Lynn, Dale, Barnes, why?

All in all, it was fun. Not perfect, but fun, and one of Super Ninja Steel's best. Happy 25th, Power Rangers, and here's to 25 more.

 

[Storm Eagle]

-We know Tommy has a kid now, but they never explicitly show his spouse.
-NO SPECIAL KODA AND PRESTON INTERACTION. Lynn, Dale, Barnes, why?

Kat is Tommy's wife. They held hands when they went through the portal at the end. They could have done better making it known that they're still together (deal with it, people), but that's all we have to go on.

Koda and Preston don't exist in the same dimension. Their actors may be brothers, but once I realized that they're in different dimensions, I came to grips with the possibility that there may not be much of a significant interaction between the two.

 

[Fone Bone]

Power Rangers: Super Ninja Steel "Dimensions In Danger"

That was bananas. They went all out.

You know, the fight between Tommy and evil robot Tommy was unintentionally funny. But it was also awesome. Which makes the fact that it's unintentionally funny not matter a jot. SO much fun.

Here is my Tommy 'shipping problem: I am Tommy / Kimberly Forever, and always will be. But it's never gonna happen. Amy Jo Johnson has pretty much washed her hands of the franchise for the horrible and homophobic way it treated her friend David Yost back in the day. And I understand and agree with her anger about that. So what they should have done instead is reveal Cat is the mother of Tommy's kid. I never shipped Tommy and Cat, but since she was in the episode, it would have been the consolation prize we original series viewers could have used. But they are still dangling the hope beyond hope it's Kimberly. It's a bit maddening, to be honest.

For the record, I am SO glad Jason David Frank got rid of the dumb goatee, at least for this episode. He was looking like the beatnik Ranger in his later appearances.

Surprised Steve Cardenas showed up at all. It was my understanding he had similar hurt feelings about the Yost situation that Johnson did. But he's here. I won't complain.

Tommy's Master Morpher explains ALL of his later appearances in Anniversary specials and the like. Good for the show.

Not quite on Forever Red's level, but blew Mega Force's Legendary Battle out of the water. *****.

Edit: Ulp. Need to address this.

Kat is Tommy's wife. They held hands when they went through the portal at the end. They could have done better making it known that they're still together (deal with it, people), but that's all we have to go on.
.

That is literally less than nothing. Old friends who haven't seen each other for years are allowed to hold hands. It doesn't have to mean anything. They were just trying to drive us crazy. Until Cat says "Damn, Tommy put a baby in me!" they are still just jerking us around.

Edit 2: Come to think of it, there is another thing that makes things ambiguous. If the mother of Tommy's child had been kidnapped, wouldn't it make sense for the show to say that and give Tommy a personal motivation to save Cat? The fact that they didn't have Tommy use that frame AT ALL says they haven't actually made up their minds.

 

[Storm Eagle]

Happy National Power Rangers Day, everyone.

We now have the 25th anniversary episode, "Dimensions in Danger."



Cons:

-Like "Forever Red," this could have and probably should have been a two-parter. Budget shall forever remain the true greatest enemy of the Power Rangers.
-This franchise loves Tommy. I love him, too, but dang man it's a franchise celebration. Tommy's fight with his clone probably should've occurred in the big battle proper, interspersed with the rest of the Rangers. And it was nice to the Falconzord again, but that brief giant fight should've been a team effort (and if budget allowed it, we should've gotten a crazy combination like the Ninja Steel Megazord with Falconzord attached. It'd never work in toy format, but let me dream...).

-Poor Trent hardly got any lines.

People say that this episode focused heavily on Tommy, but in the beginning, there are three rangers representing the dimenions. Tommy and Wes are in the same one, but they had Wes represent it, and Brody even knew who he was.

Trent, along with T.J., had the least lines. They both only had two, and it was just when they were in non-ranger form. So yes, these things should be two parts if they're going to have ten rangers returning.

Oh yeah, one of them said something about how Lord Drayvon is capturing rangers in every dimension, yet the only rangers who got captured were from the main dimension.

Edit: Ulp. Need to address this.
That is literally less than nothing. Old friends who haven't seen each other for years are allowed to hold hands. It doesn't have to mean anything. They were just trying to drive us crazy. Until Cat says "Damn, Tommy put a baby in me!" they are still just jerking us around.

Edit 2: Come to think of it, there is another thing that makes things ambiguous. If the mother of Tommy's child had been kidnapped, wouldn't it make sense for the show to say that and give Tommy a personal motivation to save Cat? The fact that they didn't have Tommy use that frame AT ALL says they haven't actually made up their minds.

Perhaps they could have done more with it, but that's plenty good enough to me, and I'm certain the hand holding thing was just something friendly and platonic. They probably thought that "A Season to Remember" was enough to explain that Tommy and Kat is a permanent thing, yet there are Tommy/Kimberly shippers who are just too stubborn to accept it.

I forgot to add my favorite thing about this episode. NO Victor and Monty.

 

[veemonjosh]

Episode 11 (33) - "Love Stings"
Air Date: September 1st, 2018
Preston learns not to believe everything he hears.

 

[Hanshotfirst1138]

Happy anniversary, Rangers! God, has it really been 25 years? I see we’re throwing continuity to the wind now . Seeing JDF again was AWESOME, and having some other Retro Rangers was cool, but man, it was so short, there wasn’t much chance to see anyone do anything. Judd Lynn is back, I see! I haven’t been watching much lately, hopefully that bodes well. I hope there’s an extended version of this out there that we’ll see when it hits streaming. At least “Once A Ranger” was a two-parter. The Mega Morpher doesn’t make much sense, but seeing Tommy’s four powers (And the Falconzord!) again was so cool that it was easily forgivable. God, I miss Koichi Sakamoto and the Alpha Stunts crew. Nowhere near the gold standards for anniversary specials, “Forever Red” or “Fighting Spirit,” and as a team up, it’s nowhere near “Reinforcements From the Future” or “To the Tenth Power.” It’s sort of like “Time for Lightspeed” in being way too short. All the same, seeing the classic Rangers they did bring back was a treat for a longtime fan like me, and like the “multiple dimensions” explanation to explain away some continuity problems. I just wish it wasn’t so damned short.