This Power Rangers Beast Morphers review contains spoilers.
Power Rangers Beast Morphers Episode 21
While last weeks Beast Morphers’ showed off all the season’s strengths, this episode sadly shined a spotlight on all the weaknesses. The biggest issue in Beast Morphers has been its villains. On the surface Blaze and Roxy could have been two of the most unique enemies for the team in Power Rangers history. Former allies meant to be Rangers turned evil! Yeah there’s the whole avatar thing but it still had endless dramatic potential.
Instead the two were relegated to the standard Power Rangers evil generals. We occasionally had Ravi remember Roxy was his ex but that was few and far between. Even more puzzling was the lack of any development on Blaze’s end. This guy was supposed to be the Red Ranger yet he seemed to be a giant dick. What was his history in Grid Battleforce?
For that matter, what the hell is Evox? He’s a computer virus who wants the morphin’ grid… but why? Why is he so obsessed with it? Why does he need that power? Where does he come from? Maybe this will all be explained in season two but it doesn’t help to have a main villain without an understandable motivation.
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I mention all of this because ‘Evox: Upgraded’ hinges on you being invested in the defeat of these characters. Devon going up against Blaze (in his own zord!) should feel colossal. Evox finally getting a body and taking out the Rangers with one hit should feel epic, the culmination of a season’s worth of plots. Sadly it all rings hollow because we know very little about these two.
Without that emotional investment these big action beats fall flat. On paper they’re big but in execution they’re just one set piece after the other lacking in anything to ground them. The only part of the episode that did have this was the reunion between Devon and his dad. The animosity between the two had been built up over several episodes and to see Mayor Daniels leap into the portal despite all of that lent it even more weight. It was the culmination of their emotional arc and it seems odd they wrapped it up so early in the episode. Once that was over it was just well executed but emotionless fighting.
It doesn’t help we also had Ben and Betty get involved in more pointless wacky antics. Last episode did so well by them it’s a shame to see the two relegated to the lackluster comedic relief once again.
Beast Morphers has been an overall better season but it still has a lot of issues. The show doesn’t have a big narrative drive. It doesn’t have anything to say about its characters or world. The episodes are fun and a few have even been great but they aren’t adding up to much. Going into season two, Beast Morphers should start focusing not just on its individual parts but the whole as well. The show needs an overall vision that’s threaded throughout every aspect of the show in order for it to really achieve greatness. As of now it’s fine but it has potential to be so much more.
The end of the episode certainly gives the show a lot to play with. Mayor Daniels infected by Evox, Blaze and Roxy back on the team, and the mystery of what happened to Scrozzle. Blaze and Roxy especially could lead a a fantastic storyline. Even if it was the two’s avatars that were evil many in Grid Battleforce could still be distrustful of them. We could finally learn more about Blaze! What about Roxy and Ravi’s relationship? So many great directions for Beast Morphers to go. I hope we get to see the series take full advantage of them.
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Shamus Kelley is a pop culture/television writer and official Power Rangers expert. Follow him on Twitter! He also co-hosts a Robotech podcast, which covers the original series and the new comics. Give it a listen! Read more articles by him here!