Power Rangers Beast Morphers: Boxed in Review

PRBM "Boxed in"

"He's lean, he's mean, he's tougher than two-dollar steak..." - Commentator Gigadrone

The latest episode of Power Rangers is poorly timed. This Beast Morphers sports special revolves around the Pan Global Games, a clear stand-in for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which at the time of production were on schedule for this summer. Then COVID-19 happened (and continues to happen).

Whoops.

The episode's status as a cultural artifact aside, it's a decent enough outing infused with some fun silliness, but some deficiencies as well. The plot concerns robot Roxy and Blaze (both chewing the scenery even more than they usually do) unleashing a revolving door of Gigadrones who trap Red Ranger Devon Daniels' Racer Zord in a strange boxing-ring/pocket dimension for a rock 'em sock 'em boxing match.

But that's not before Blue Ranger Ravi Shaw of all people complains that Ranger work is interfering with his attendance of the Games. Ravi should be a by-the-book character, and this development gumbifies his character. The show is in a bit of a bind because it feels like a slightly more appropriate story for, say, Devon from the very beginning of the show, but since he's developed beyond that, it feels like an arbitrary way to include an obligatory message through a randomly chosen character.

Sports infuses the action of the episode, but really only in the flavors of wrestling and boxing. In a fun one-on-one fight, Ravi fights a Robotron (there are so many monsters in this episode it's hard to keep track of the names) with explicitly wrestling-inspired moves, bolstered by his Beast-X super-strength. And when Devon is trapped in the uncanny boxing ring, the action is narrated by a play-by-play Gigadrone who is at first unseen, prompting Devon to say, "There's a Gigadrone and some type of creepy commentator!"

There's a lot of (samey) action between the Racer Zord and a bunch of Gigadrones, and eventually things escalate to the point where the team unlocks the new Beast-X King Ultrazord. Beast Morphers is usually good at having the team genuinely earn a new power-up in a meaningful way, but this isn't one of those times.

Canon connections:
- "Boxed in" was also the title of a Power Rangers Samurai episode, that time punning on a literal physical box.
- At one point during a Tronic fight, you can see concert posters for none other than Ninja Steel Gold Ranger Levi Weston. Wonderful attention to detail.

Not a good showing for Ravi. Some fun gimmicks, but they wear out their welcome fairly quickly. 5/10.