Power Rangers Dino Fury: Winning Attitude Review

PRDF "Winning Attitude"

One episode after her introduction, new Ranger Izzy gets a focus episode in "Winning Attitude", as she learns a lesson about selflessness, and is rewarded with the discovery of her zord. This type of genuinely earned power-up is always a welcome development for Power Rangers.

The episode introduces Izzy and Javi's cousin Lily, who seems to have Down syndrome. In a positive piece of representation, the character has a place in the emotional arc of the episode, and reference is made to the Special Olympics, a grounding detail for the show.

Meanwhile, a sporix beast called Brineblast shows up at a park and scares a group of kids, who represent a core test audience for the scariness factor of monsters. Arriving to oppose the monster are the five Rangers, given a full morphing sequence together for the first time.

Percolating in the plot is a hunt for the Green and Black Rangers' zords, engaging both heroes and villains in the chase. Void Knight finds a potential map to them in the archives of Area 62, giving rise to the amusing idea of a monster doing research and shuffling through human paperwork.

After Izzy hangs back in a marathon race to help an injured rival, Izzy discovers her Tigerclaw zord, and combines it with the Megazord to form the Dino Fury Megazord, Claw formation. With a clear and clean focus on Izzy's arc, "Winning Attitude" scores a win. 6/10.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: The Star-Spangled Man Review

TFATWS "The Star-Spangled Man"

In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers' first tour of duty wasn't on the front lines of war, but on the stage. Captain America was trotted out as a walking piece of propaganda, a patriotic symbol shilling war bonds. The song and dance routine around him took the form of Alan Menken's wonderful "Star-Spangled Man with a Plan", an appellation echoed in this episode's title, and a melody echoed by a marching band. A significant part of this episode is concerned with clarifying the John Walker character. A seemingly stand-up soldier, he is a replacement symbol of an American superhero, but also a symbol of tone-deaf government marketing meetings.

Meanwhile, the symbolism of Sam Wilson's Falcon takes a hit, as his drone Redwing is destroyed by the Flag Smashers. And this, just after Redwing started taking to cooing and beeping like it's an astromech droid. The Flag Smashers remain somewhat opaque as villains, although there is time for their motivations to land more clearly. They are stealing vaccines (a timely gambit, that) for apparent delivery to struggling European resettlement camps. And they are led by a young woman played by Erin Kellyman. Between this and Enfys Nest in Solo: A Star Wars Story, Kellyman is typecast as someone who wears a scary mask.

And most cogently, the Flag Smashers are led by multiple super soldiers. An effective high-speed action sequence in Germany has Sam, Bucky, John, and his partner Lemar up against eight super soldiers; perhaps this gives a taste as to what the red herring threat of multiple Winter Soldiers would have been in Captain America: Civil War. This proliferation of people enhanced by Dr. Abraham Erskine's infamous serum leads Bucky to reveal to Sam and the audience a character named Isaiah, a Black super soldier active during the Korean War. 

In Isaiah's neighborhood, there's a loaded scene where cops accost Sam because he's having an animated conversation with Bucky. Things defuse when the cops realize these are Avengers. But nonetheless the moment represents a new step for the MCU, a step toward greater sociological realism. It's depressing, not for its inclusion, but for the fact that archaic racism remains an open wound in this country.

"The Star-Spangled Man" brings Sam and Bucky together without much pomp and circumstance. But it does set up their "buddy cop" bickering, and the running thread of Bucky's indignation that Sam gave up the Captain America shield. Sam and Bucky's back and forth on this will continue to give the show a vein of drama going forward. And forward is the way to Helmut Zemo's jail cell. 7/10.

Stray observation:

- John is played by Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt Russell, who of course played the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ego the Living Planet.

Power Rangers Dino Fury: New Recruits Review

PRDF "New Recruits"

"You humans sure do love zords..." - Zayto

"New Recruits" finds both the heroes and villains' ranks swelling. It's very early in the season for this, but it's nonetheless a familiar pattern. In fact, the two new Rangers are rather spoiled by appearing in the opening title sequence up front.

The two new Rangers are siblings, bringing to mind Gem and Gemma from RPM. Their stepfather is the warden character introduced in the premiere. Izzy is a star high school athlete, seen practicing her javelin throw. Izzy is interviewed by people dressed in red, pink, and blue, who have to abruptly leave. Then Izzy comes upon the Red, Pink and Blue Power Rangers and doesn't make the connection. Izzy's brother Javi is a musician who very quickly establishes his "thing" as a desire to save money for a keytar! 

Meanwhile, the villains get a new general, Boomtower, plus a monster of the week in the form of Dragnarok. There's a recurring bit in the episode where no one can remember Dragnarok's name. But Mucus can remember to put a villainous twist on "It's morphin' time", as she quarterbacks the plan to steal a nephrite orb from the local museum.

In an odd moment where the dramatic stakes have been fastforwarded past, Javi decides to destroy the nephrite orb so as to prevent it from falling in the wrong hands. Inside are two Ranger keys for himself and his sister. Javi is the Black Ranger, Izzy the Green. And then, a revolutionary moment happens. Izzy rips the skirt of her Ranger suit off, saying skirts aren't her style. Indeed, the Green Ranger in Ryusoulger is a man. It's like if Trini in Mighty Morphin had done away with her own skirt.

Another piece of characterization for Izzy is that she's apparently a font of millennial catchphrases. They help to dispatch Dragnarok, and the two new Rangers are introduced to Solon. She introduces herself as "half cyborg, half dinosaur". Surely it would be simply, "a cyborg dinosaur"? In any case, "New Recruits" does a yeoman's job introducing two new Rangers into the fold. 6/10.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier: New World Order Review

TFATWS "New World Order"

The expectation going into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is for a more "meat and potatoes" action show for the MCU, after the formal experimentation of WandaVision. And while that isn't inaccurate, it's also proving to be a reductive descriptor. Because by grounding the characters in a sometimes distressingly real world, and tapping into real anxieties, this show has found a dramatic vein to support the whiz-bang action sequences.

We begin with just such a big set-piece. Sam Wilson is tasked with extracting a hostage taken by none other than Georges Batroc, the Lemurian Star hijacker from Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The mercenaries fly through the air in an extreme sports heist, brought to life with high-flying aerial footage that strongly recalls the Point Break remake. The sequence is an impressive opening salvo, a solo mission for Sam that more fully showcases his bag of tricks established in the films, including his drone Redwing and his wing shield.

A different shield looms large: Steve Rogers' vibranium shield he entrusted to Sam in Avengers: Endgame. Sam donates the shield to the Smithsonian, and he and pleasant-surprise guest star Rhodey take a walk in the updated Captain America exhibit. The iconography of the superhero surrounds them, and Sam's self-doubt comes into focus.

A trip to his native Louisiana, to his sister Sarah and her kids, opens up Sam's character after his existence in the movies almost always being defined in relation to Steve Rogers. Apparently without a nice, fat Avenger stipend, Sam stubbornly sets his mind on dissuading his sister from selling the family fishing boat. Elsewhere, Bucky struggles to reconcile his heinous past as the Winter Soldier.

And that's when a theme of this show becomes clear. I say this with a smile on my face, but: this show is kind of depressing! The Wilsons have financial problems, Bucky refuses to open up to his psychiatrist, terrorists are running amok. And the worst is saved for last. It's a truly deflating moment when the US government trots out their own "symbolic" Captain America, a doofy white man carrying the same shield Sam donated to the Smithsonian. The audience is 100% with Sam in his reaction. We feel for him to such a great extent that it stands out in the whole MCU.

Henry Jackman, who scored The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War, makes the jump to TV to score this show. Delightfully, the Falcon theme he developed for The Winter Soldier is all over the show, alongside, of course, the eerie screech of his Winter Soldier motif. Dialogue scenes are shot with notably intimate close-ups, further involving the audience in the domestic character drama. And with the show taking the slow route building up to a "buddy" dynamic between Sam and Bucky, this premiere ably sets the tone for the show. 7/10.

Star Trek Randomized Rewatch: Carbon Creek

ENT "Carbon Creek"

In one of the most memorable moments of "Carbon Creek", Mestral tells his two fellow Vulcan comrades stranded in late 1950s Pennsylvania that he doesn't want to miss I Love Lucy later that night. It's a good joke, but it doubles as a tribute to Lucille Ball, without whom Star Trek would not have been greenlit. When Star Trek was created, its writers did not foresee an episode like "Carbon Creek", a low-stakes tale of advanced Vulcans learning to smell the primitive American roses, with all the edginess of plankton. But that very inoffensiveness is arguably a selling point of the episode as well.

The events are framed as T'Pol telling a story, of her ancestor and two shipmates who crashed on Earth, to Archer and Trip over a dinner celebrating her one year anniversary on Enterprise. Jolene Blalock plays T'Pol and her ancestor T'Mir, the latter with real Beth Harmon energy. The Vulcan character most sympathetic to the humans is Mestral, played by J. Paul Boehmer (who also essayed a sympathetic Borg drone in, er, "Drone").

The small town Carbon Creek setting is established musically by Jay Chattaway. He uses rustic instrumentation, and perhaps anachronistically, a fretless bass most associated with 1990s crooning ballads. In a jarringly racy moment, T'Mir changes behind a cloth, and her silhouette goes even further than Jessica Rabbit in its cartoonish details. I'm surprised it was allowed on cable, but who am I kidding? UPN probably pushed for it.

At its heart, "Carbon Creek" is an immigrant story. The Vulcans are strangers in a strange land. In contrast with the other two surveyors, who are eventually extracted and return to Vulcan, Mestral stays because of his affinity for the people of Earth. Again, the stakes are low, but a hangout feel isn't a bad thing. Yes, there's a cave-in, and T'Mir invents velcro, but "Carbon Creek" is a light episode, light as a cloud. 5/10.

Stray observation:

- In the talk discussing the true first contact between humans and Vulcans, mention is made of the Zefram Cochrane statue in Bozeman, Montana. That statue was first mentioned by Geordi in Star Trek: First Contact.

Power Rangers Dino Fury: Lost Signal Review

PRDF "Lost Signal"

"Lost Signal" continues the deliberately-paced opening up of Dino Fury's mythology, in a decent episode that nonetheless fails to truly catch fire.

We begin with a pensive Zayto, nostalgic for his mother and homeworld. A possible message is coming in from the quadrant of space that includes his planet, leading the Rangers to a psychic at the local fair. It's a dead end for the Rangers, and for Jane's robot double, J-Borg. J-Borg steps in a cement bucket, a classic bit familiar from I Love Lucy.

But the other problem on the scene is sporix monster Vypeera. She's a gorgon, able to freeze anyone with the eyes on her chest. (Not to be confused with Vypra from Lightspeed Rescue, Vypeera also shares a very similar design to Dayu from Samurai.) The Rangers' adaptation to this tactic takes a couple unique forms, including Amelia and Ollie taking Rangerly insouciance in taking time morphing in front of a monster to another level, by doing so with their backs to Vypeera.

When things escalate, we are treated to the first appearances of the Ankylozord and Tricerazord. And just when one is about to comment on the Tricerazord's absurdly long horn, Ollie says, "Check out that blade!" Amelia and Ollie operate the zords via remote pilot, but do make it into the Dino Fury Megazord cockpit, that combining form also debuting in this episode.

In an unreal moment, the Rangers' strategy is to deliberately demolish an intersection to repurpose the road in covering up Vypeera's eyes. And that's when you realize that the episode's plot revolves around not looking at a woman's chest, and covering it up with a censor bar... in the form of a street.

The episode is meat and potatoes, not elevating into anything special. Although the score has a couple notably emotional moments, and it bears keeping an ear on as it may prove a standout element of this season. 6/10.

WandaVision: The Series Finale Review

WandaVision "The Series Finale"

A common sentiment among MCU fans for years is that these characters are so strong, hangout stories with no action would be welcomed. WandaVision goes some way toward fulfilling that notion, but in its series finale, action comes crashing through the town of Westview. It's an almost jarring development, seeing so many powered characters exercising their abilities in combat, after so much of the season playing out sitcom tropes. And after the dust settles, "The Series Finale" wraps up the series with a poignant bow.

A lot of magic is exercised and changes hands in the episode. Wanda and Agatha take their magical duels to the skies, and in another pairing of power sets, Wanda's simulacra Vision and the white "sentient weapon" Vision also cut across the sky. Agatha absorbs Wanda's powers to varying degrees, emphasizing her belief that Wanda doesn't deserve her magic. 

But Wanda's magic is galvanized, and she levels up once again. She gains a new costume a little more reminiscent of her comics outfit, and ends up trapping Agatha in the Agnes sitcom character. During the fireworks that make up their witches' battle, Wanda throws a car like in Captain America: Civil War. And for the first time since Avengers: Age of Ultron, Wanda breaks out her old undercranked walk-up mind manipulation! 

Speaking of that movie, the two Visions' Ship of Theseus conversation cannot help but recall the wonderful philosophical discussion between Vision and Ultron in the Sokovian forest. Both Visions are shades and echoes of the original, while still retaining some essence of him. Both wield a mere approximation of the Mind Stone. Wanda's Vision achieves the classic Star Trek victory of using logic kung fu on a computer, and the white Vision flies to parts unknown.

Elsewhere, S.W.O.R.D. director Hayward begins an acquaintance with his comeuppance, after Darcy intercepts him. Her "have fun in prison!" is perfectly in character. As if to give Hayward's villainy a coup de grace, he sees two kids and his first instinct is to shoot them. Some of his bullets are ameliorated by Monica and her new "photonic" powers. As with Luke Cage, there is a loaded quality to a Black superhero with an immunity to bullets.

Monica uncovers that Evan Peters' Pietro is in fact a Westview resident bewitched by Agatha - the plot thickens for mutants coming into the MCU. The townsfolk regain their memories and confront Wanda, which proves quite uncomfortable for them. What is with Disney+ heroes and inadvertent magical choking? First Grogu, and now Wanda. In the aftermath, the people of Westview understandably look at Wanda with resentment, and Wanda and Monica's conversation brings a measure of closure to this disquieting aspect of the show. It's a tearjerking moment when Monica wonders as to the lengths she would go to be with her mother again.

More emotional moments are in store when it comes time for Wanda to say goodbye to Tommy, Billy, and Vision. In a poignant monologue, Vision reflects on the different forms he's taken, which also functions from Paul Bettany's perspective. The "voice without a body", referring to Jarvis, is a reminder of how far Bettany has come in the MCU. 

And WandaVision has come far as a show, in the finest tradition of multi-layered storytelling. The sitcom pastiche is a gimmick, but also one directly springing out of Wanda's childhood nostalgia. That word, nostalgia, means the pain of remembering home. A home that was destroyed by a Stark Industries warhead, always in her thoughts as Wanda built a new home in New Jersey. And now in a new chapter of her life, Wanda's rich story continues as her pain grows alongside her power. And over the course of this season, she has begun to process that pain. 7/10.

Stray observations:

- Time for some Darkhold talk. This "book of the damned" has information on the legendary figure of the Scarlet Witch, including her apparent destiny to destroy the world - whatever that may come to mean. It made its screen debut in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., connected to a Ghost Rider storyline. Later, Wanda is seen isolated in a cabin in a beautiful valley, Edward Norton Bruce Banner style. She's researching the Darkhold, presumably for a possible avenue for her children to live again. Significantly, a strain of Michael Giacchino's Doctor Strange theme plays over Wanda's research, probably setting up their team-up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But as to the provenance of the Darkhold, this is an extremely rare occurrence of an element from pre-WandaVision Marvel TV crossing over into the "mainstream" MCU, as opposed to the reverse.

- There are two allusions to The Wizard of Oz. Agatha's boots are seen under the car like she's the Wicked Witch of the East. And the movie theater marquee shows Oz the Great and Powerful playing, featuring Black Widow star Rachel Weisz, as that same Wicked Witch of the East!

- The white Vision's Mind Stone beam is colored blue, to differentiate from the other Vision. This is reminiscent of wight Viserion's blue fire breath in the latter episodes of Game of Thrones.

- The mid-credits scene features a Skrull making contact with Monica, making reference to an "old friend" of Maria Rambeau. That's got to be either Talos or Nick Fury inviting Monica to space.

- Paul Bettany has appeared in the first installment of all four MCU "phases". Iron Man (One), Iron Man 3 (Two), Captain America: Civil War (Three), WandaVision (Four).