Power Rangers Super Megaforce #2.7/8 “Silver Lining” Review

Summary: The introduction of the Silver Ranger exposes both the good and bad of this season, and why it works best when it’s not sticking to the source.

If you have not seen this episode yet and don’t wish to be spoiled, don’t continue reading. It’s not like we’re MEGAFORCEing you to, or anything.

Recap

The Rangers are baffled when a mysterious Silver Ranger shows up and takes out all the bad guys before they can even make it there. After he saves them and proves he’s on their side, he reveals himself as Orion, an alien from Andresia whose entire planet was wiped out by the Armada. After finding the Silver Ranger Key and morpher buried in crystal, he became the Silver Ranger, and stole an Armada ship to join the Rangers on Earth to save them. He unlocks the power of the sixth Rangers, and destroys this week’s monsters with the Q-Rex, a modified version of the Quantum Ranger’s Zord that also uses the power of the Green Mighty Morphin Ranger and White Dino Thunder Ranger.

Review

The addition of a sixth Ranger, with the exception of very rare cases, is a major turning point in any given Power Rangers season. In the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the addition of Tommy as the Green Ranger was the first time the show raised the stakes and messed with the status quo, and the mystery of the White Ranger in the second season proved that the sixth Ranger format could easily be malleable. Even in seasons like In Space where the main storyline is only marginally impacted by the new Ranger, just having a new member of the cast is an easy way to shake things up, almost always provides an instant fan favorite, and (perhaps most importantly to some) makes it really easy to sell new toys. Lightspeed Rescue and Jungle Fury spent extra time and money creating their own American “sixth” Rangers not present in their source footage because, hey, you’ve gotta have that sixth Ranger arc, right? It’s such a staple to both the franchise and the pop culture world as a whole that the phrase can’t be taken literally anymore; any new Ranger that permanently joins a fully-formed team is a “sixth” Ranger, be they number 5, 7, or 8. Today’s episode even has the White Dino Thunder Ranger as part of the primary trio that unlocks the Sixth Ranger Megazord, and he was the fifth Ranger of his season. It’s a loose term with equally loose specifications (I’d advise you to stay away from the “Is Magna Defender technically a sixth Ranger?” question if you want to keep your sanity, for example.)

All that’s to say: “Silver Lining” kind of needs to be a defining episode of the season, no matter what else has been going on. Robo Knight filled the sixth Ranger position in Megaforce, and frankly formed the only interesting arc in that entire season. But with him still mysteriously out of the picture, Orion is, unequivocally, this team’s new Ranger—he morphs, he’s permanently on the team, he’s in the main credits. In a season that doesn’t have much focus outside of throwing in cool morphing sequences and callbacks, his appearance represents (or maybe should represent) what’s to come, and fully forms what we should be expecting from the season.

What does “Silver Lining” represent for the season? Well…a whole lot of the same mess, really. It’s nothing close to how boring Megaforce turned out to be, but stretching the tale over two parts exposes how little substance there actually is. The pace of the last few episodes has been so quick and packed with craziness that its fun level managed to supersede the need for engaging story. In “Silver Lining,” are some cool bits here and there, pretty much all of it in the second half, but overall it’s more of the same mostly nonsensical business (Where did the Sixth Ranger Keys actually come from? What the heck does “unlocking” new powers actually mean and how are they doing it?!)

Luckily, where the first part of “Silver Lining, Part 1” is mostly padding—it’s basically just the Rangers running around not fighting people and then Silver Ranger saves the day—“Part 2” packs in more substance than this season usually does in any given episode. Orion’s flashback is much darker, moodier territory than anything Megaforce has done, and it’s a wonderful surprise. Power Rangers doesn’t need to be dark to be good, but it’s also notably never failed whenever it’s gone to darker territory in the past. Granted, it’s “dark” in the same muted way that Samurai‘s Deker/Daya material was, that also makes sure it doesn’t stand out too much from the rest of the season, which may have come off as clumsy.

The material itself is very condensed, focusing on Orion as a character without having to address his actual heritage too much. In all fairness, it’s not necessary to explain much considering In Space told us straight up that plenty of planets have humans on it other than Earth, so there’s no real reason to question why Orion can speak English or why his clothes are distinctly not-alien-like, because this is Power Rangers, after all. But at the same time, the amount of time wasted on the Rangers trying to knock off that darn collar in “Part 1” could have been used to explore Orion in his world, perhaps getting a better sense of what was actually taken away. Granted, casting more supporting players and doing an extensive alien redress of the sets probably cost too much money, though the minimal work done to mask that recurring beach location is still miles above the “add a color filter” approach In Space and Lost Galaxy used. The purple moon and invasion effects, for example, are incredibly well-rendered, but probably the limit of what this show can afford to do. In that case, more of Orion’s solo adventures would have been worth seeing; the very Arrow-esque sequence of Orion learning to fend for himself is very cool and very different for Power Rangers. Cameron Jebo manages to pull off his big “NO!” impeccably well, which is quite a feat considering how easily that can devolve into cheese even in shows that aren’t known for hammy acting. And the fact that his first morph into the Silver Ranger is “Whatever happens, happens” is surprisingly cynical, in a good way. Really, everything we get in Orion’s flashack is delightfully competent, its only flaw being that we don’t get to see more.

Jebo in general is a perfect addition to the cast, already jibing well with the established chemistry and carrying some decent acting chops. The main reason this episode is able to jump from the moody revenge origin story to a makeover montage, of all things, is because it’s genuinely entertaining to see Orion hanging out with the rest of the cast. The “I think it’s time we take you to our leader” bit is not only a clever way of breaking the tension after Orion’s flashback, but it’s also a genuinely funny gag that nails who these characters are, flat as they may be. The show also gets a lot of mileage out of Orion being an alien, with the Rangers pretty much thinking this is the coolest thing ever. And who wouldn’t, right? Previous alien Rangers tended to be introduced in dire situations, so this is the first time things are chill enough for the teens to just fawn over the fact that, dude, their new friend is a super cool alien! Considering “Part 1” opened with another speech on the great human spirit, this probably means Orion’s extraterrestrial origins will be thematically relevant, at least in the same way Robo Knight’s arc was in the previous season.

Where the episode doesn’t quite succeed is, surprisingly, any time it’s being Power Rangers. While the craziness of the fight scenes in the past six episodes have been this season’s strength, these episodes show that when the Legendary Modes aren’t being utilized and the fanservice isn’t packed on, it’s not all that interesting. The Silver Ranger moves are cool, like his super speed and the fact that his Final Strike has his trident violently tear completely through the monster’s body. But everything else is very standard fare, even with the weirdly extensive use of the Lost Galaxy costumes. That aforementioned weirdness happens here, too, with the Sixth Ranger Keys appearing completely out of nowhere after big hubbub about Orion (and presumably only Orion) being able to use them. The Q-Rex Zord is plenty cool; they try to play that it’s the Q-Rex Zord even though it doesn’t even have a passing resemblance to it, which is weird, but it’s certainly cool to see that same backdrop of the future from Time Force used again for it. Making the three main keys the three sixth Rangers who had dino/dino-dragons is creative, especially since they’re three of the most popular ones in the franchise. But as a whole, there just isn’t as much of the coolness factor here; while I try not to go too heavily into the Sentai since these are Power Rangers reviews, there are some modes and scenes that would have been really cool and adaptable that were totally skipped over.

And that’s how “Silver Lining” represents this season—anytime it goes in its own direction, it shines. “Silver Lining” especially is most interesting when it’s exploring Orion as a character, or simply lets us hang out with the Rangers. Moments like Orion taking out an Armada ship with a slingshot or the Rangers describing how they use geographical markers to find their way to the Command Center are inspired, and proof that this show can be lots of fun even when it’s not a bunch of mindless action.  Anytime it more straightforwardly adapts the source, even though the source is really good, it manages to dice it up to the point that it’s not actually all that interesting. That’s especially disappointing considering the promise of the premiere, with its creative ways to adapt all the insane fight sequences for America without messing up the fantastic pace. And don’t get me wrong, the action sequences of Super Megaforce are still tons of fun, but they can only carry the show for so long, and it’s already settling into more of the same. This is still a solid episode, but mostly because the scenes with Orion unmorphed are exactly the kinds of things this season has been missing. It’s the morphed action that actually brings this episode down, oddly enough, but perhaps adding Orion to the mix could be exactly what mixes up that sameness after the show returns from hiatus, even if the most substance we get from him is still only in his origin story.

Odds & Ends

• While I maintain that “Part 1” is largely a waste of time, I admire the more creative directing choices that go into it, like the shot of Troy talking through the screen in the Command Center.
• Fun fact: Apparently Jebo was in the running to be Troy, which would have resulted in a very different first season.
• What does Mr. Burley actually teach? In “Part 1” he’s rambling on about the human spirit with physics material written on the chalkboard, after spending lots of time discussing Biology last season. His curriculum is all over the place.
• The Rangers definitely show up ready to fight in front of a bunch of construction workers in “Part 1.” Should they have needed to morph, they’d be pretty screwed.
• The Sixth Ranger Keys weren’t present on display in the Command Center on previous episodes, were they? At first I wondered if the moment where they glowed was implying that they just appeared there, but it really doesn’t play like that if that’s the case.
• What’s with Troy pushing that Orion needs to learn to work as a team? Coupled with his dickish remarks in “Spirit of the Tiger,” Troy is definitely leaning on the buzzkill side of things lately.
• So…why was Orion wearing his sunglasses at work…?
• Orion has been on Earth for about two days and already regularly uses the word “Froyo.” Sigh.
• “Who told you that you could be taller than me!” I really like Vekar now. He’s like Lothor, except young, oblivious and not even remotely intimidating.
• “That’s what justice feels like!” – Soon Orion’s going to be throwing out “I am vengeance, I am the night!”
• “He’s a giant!”
  “And you’re giant losers!”