Power Rangers Month - Ranking the Seasons Part Three: #9-6

At the halfway point of Power Rangers Month, we've entered the top ten, getting closer and closer to the number one spot.

9. POWER RANGERS LIGHTSPEED RESCUE (2000)

Adapted from Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive

Saban Post-Zordon Era

Lightspeed Rescue was a very different season compared to its predecessors. The villains were demons instead of aliens. The Ranger powers and zords are man-made and government funded. The Rangers themselves are public figures and don't hide their secret identities. It was also the first season that truly stood on its own (not counting the Lost Galaxy team-up). I think it was because it went against the norm at this point that I stopped watching the show for the first time. But years later when I gave the show a second chance, I found it to be pretty good.

While all the Rangers get a good amount of focus episodes, there isn't too much in terms of character arcs or development, with the exception of Joel, the Green Ranger. Before being recruited by Lightspeed Rescue, Joel was an aerial stuntman, and a pretty self absorbed one at that. Out of all the Rangers in the first episode, he's the one most skeptical about a legion of demons until they're shown a demon attacking the city, prompting him to accept his position as a Power Ranger. His main arc involves his romantic pursuit of Angela Fairweather. Like Kat in SPD, she develops the Rangers' morphers, weapons, vehicles, and zords. Angela isn't easily impressed by Joel's cockiness. But Joel is persistent and in the process becomes a little more humble and takes more chances to jump in the line of fire to save people as a Ranger. It pays off by the end as he and Angela get together in the season finale.

Carter, the Red Ranger, is significant as well. I've probably been overusing this term during this countdown, but when it fits, it fits. That said, Carter is a badass Ranger. Before being recruited by Lightspeed, Carter was a fireman, becoming inspired as a young boy when he was saved by fireman in a fire. It later turns out that this fireman was Captain Mitchell, the head of Lightspeed and the mentor for the season. Carter is an ideal choice for a Ranger, being the first to accept the offer and willing to put himself in harm's way on many occasions. In one episode, "Curse of the Cobra", Carter fires both his V-Lancer and the Rescue Bird point-blank at a very powerful monster, causing a huge explosion in a shipping yard. He lives of course, but it shows how dedicated he is to defeating the demons. If there's anything else to note, in the episode "The Last Ranger", when four of the Rangers are struck with amnesia and have to go through a procedure to get their memories back, the machine malfunctions and leaves Carter in worse shape than before. But while watching the Rangers battle a monster on a monitor and seeing Dana, the Pink Ranger, in trouble, Carter begins recovering memories of her, leading him to regain his full memory. I want to say this was a hint of romance between the two, but it's just speculation on my part. Though the fact that they appeared together in the "Legendary Battle" from Megaforce might give some credence.

Lightspeed Rescue's Sentai source material didn't have any additional Rangers or an extra ally like Blue Senturion or Robo Knight. This led to the creation of the Titanium Ranger, the first Ranger created exclusively for Power Rangers as well as the first initially evil sixth Ranger since Tommy was the Green Ranger. The Titanium Ranger is Ryan, son of Captain Mitchell and sister of Dana. As a boy, Ryan was kidnapped by the demons and brainwashed into believing his family abandoned him. The demons use him against the Rangers but he eventually joins them after learning the truth and going through an identity crisis. But for his betrayal, he is stricken with a cursed tattoo of a cobra on his back, that would move further up to his neck every time he morphed before it would strike and kill him. Despite this and going against everyone's objections, Ryan continues to go into battle. I think this goes to show that Ryan is determined to make amends with his family and get revenge on the demons, willing to put his life on the line much like Carter.

Unfortunately though, the Titanium Ranger couldn't remain a permanent fixture of the shows or it would blow the budget filming new footage. To get around this, Ryan goes off on his own to find a way to seal the demons away again, making one more appearance as the Titanium Ranger in the season finale.

Initially the demons of the season are evil for the sake of being evil, but as the season goes on, they do become a bit more interesting. It really starts when Queen Bansheera imbues Diabolico's Star Power into her infant son Impus, transforming him into Olympius (think of it as super puberty), creating some tension within. Soon after that, a ceremony to bring Bansheera back to her physical form is interrupted by the Rangers, resulting in her only making it half-way through. This is pretty much the catalyst for Bansheera becoming more and more obsessed with destroying the Rangers no matter what. This comes to a head in the episode "Wrath of the Queen", when she absorbs Vypra into her being, giving her the final energy needed to regain her physical form. (On the note of Vypra, I didn't think she was a bad character, but suffered from having a bad actress.) Later on the episode, during a battle with the Rangers, Bansheera controls Diabolico to fire a weapon at the Rangers as they're battling Loki (no, not that Loki; here, it's pronounced Lok-EYE), who Diabolico is afraid of hitting. Bansheera make him fire and the blast does hit Loki. Diabolico holds Loki as he dies, both of them realizing that Bansheera cares for none of them at all. (This is actually the most memorable moment Loki has the whole season; he doesn't really do anything that important for most of the season.) What I like about this is that it shows a real sense of loyalty the demons had to their queen and to each other. When the season began, Diabolico led the demons while Bansheera was gone, but when Olympius arrives, it brings a rivalry between the two. Vypra and Loki also have more loyalty to Diabolico, especially after Olympius tries to kill them. Once Bansheera starts treating her followers as cannon-fodder, Diabolico renounces his allegiance and even tries to help the Rangers, being a key role in defeating Bansheera in the finale. Out of all of them Diabolico was my favorite villain this season, having a cool look and a good character arc.

There's one other demon, Jinxer, who created the monsters and helped them grow giant. While he wasn't really a fighter, he was pretty entertaining in what he did. The loyalty aspect applies to him as well, doing whatever he could to serve Bansheera and Olympius.

Like trying to decide what was better between Wild Force and Ninja Storm, I felt it was a toss-up between Lightspeed Rescue and SPD as well, given a lot of similarities. But where Lightspeed Rescue edges out SPD are the areas that I had problems with in that season. The monsters in Lightspeed actually grow as is tradition. And while Ryan as the Titanium Ranger wasn't around for the whole season, it was nice to actually have a face under the helmet compared to Sam as a ball of light or in Omega Ranger form. In addition, I thought Lightspeed had some pretty good action compared to SPD, since that was the season the Kalish-splosions started to come into play. The Lightspeed Rangers were pretty quick in their moves, both in hand-to-hand combat as well as in their use of their weapons, which makes sense when you're working for the government and have constant training to keep their skills up to snuff. And unless I'm mistaken, this is the only season that comes to mind where we see the Rangers' suits often taking considerable damage, showing some mechanical stuff under the spandex. The zords were pretty cool too, each set being based on rescue vehicles, trains, and spaceships; made for some good variety.

Overall, Lightspeed Rescue is entertaining with great action and villains that get better over time, giving what was at the time a unique kind of Ranger season, as is my next pick.

8. POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE (2006)

Adapted from Mahou Sentai Magiranger

Disney Era

Mystic Force is a season that had a generally mixed reception. While I do see the problems in it, I saw a lot of great things with this season. And from a more biased view, Mystic Force was important season for me. Coming back from my hiatus from watching the show, this was the first season that I watched from the beginning. Along with that, it was during this season that I discovered Super Sentai, and it was really interesting looking at how the original source material was different from how they were used as Power Rangers. Sometimes the differences are great or more minor. For example, the main five Magiranger were all siblings. It was during this season that curiosity got the best of me, and I did look ahead to see what happened in the Sentai and speculate how it would be done in Power Rangers. Now I don't actually watch Super Sentai, but I take a peek at what's happening since these are potential future Power Rangers. The problem though is that looking ahead at the Sentai can get your hopes up. Boukenger seemed to be an awesome series, but then it was butchered in Operation Overdrive. Nowadays when I look at newer Super Sentai series, I just take a look at what the suits look like. I don't do it so much as I used to, considering how now a Sentai can be adapted years after it aired and they're now skipping over some. But I've talked enough about Super Sentai. Let's get to Mystic Force.

I like the theme song this season. A lot of people have a problem with it for being more hiphop than rock, but it's still way better than Overdrive's rap theme. At least the beat is catchy and does sound a bit mystical, making it as unique as the season as a whole.

The villains this season can be considered demons and while we've had these kinds of villains in other seasons, they usually went up against Rangers based on technology and animals. This season, the Rangers are solely magic based, and that's what I like about the conflict this season. It's basically fight fire with fire; it just makes sense. Tying in with the magic, the season draws a lot of inspiration from mythology, with zords and monsters being based on such creatures; in turn, it kind of got me interested in certain mythologies as well. It's probably why I got into Supernatural too, watching people fighting demons and other monsters usually considered myth.

I really like the Ranger suits this season. They're primarily the Ranger color with some black mixed in, and while we've had helmets with full face visors before (Lightspeed Rescue), they're a lot more fancy this time around, being based on the Rangers' mythological creature, like a phoenix or minotaur. In addition, each Ranger represents an element; fire for red, lightning for yellow, water for blue, wind for pink, and Earth for green. I always like it when elements are connected to the Rangers; it makes them more linked to life in my opinion, and it fits with the magic backdrop of the season. The capes are unique as well, kind of giving them more of a showman appearance which fits the magician theme. It gets even better when they acquire Mystic Legend mode, giving them a bit of armor and some helmet extensions like wings or horns.

Nick the Red Ranger can be a mixed bag. For a lot of the series, he seems pretty cool, but he does have some moments where he's brutally honest and kind of comes off as a dick. Like Samurai, this is a season that has a "Chosen One" prophecy linked to the Red Ranger. But also like Samurai, it takes a team effort to finally defeat the main villain. Now that I think about it, can we stop having "Chosen One" prophecies in Power Rangers? It places more importance on one Ranger and makes the others look expendable, which goes against the theme of teamwork the show wants to get across. And like I said, this "Chosen One" thing never pans out because it does take the whole team to win. Maybe this happens so hey can call such a prophecy bullcrap, but then why have it at all?

While this concept doesn't really come in until the last third of the season, a constant criticism this season gets is how the season focuses a lot on Nick, some jokingly calling it "Mys-Nick Force". Though I do believe that each Ranger gets some good moments throughout the season, in some ways, they're correct. In the episode, "The Light", we see Madison the Blue Ranger talking about how little she brings to the team compared to the others...and then it starts to become about Nick again. This seems to be a pattern with Madison though. She seems to start to get a focus episode but then something happens that diverts the attention, like when she gets turned to stone in "Rock Solid" or when Daggeron debuts as the Solaris Knight in "Long Ago." There's also a potential romance between Nick and Madison, but it only really comes up in the first and final episodes of the season.

Vida is Madison's sister and the Pink Ranger. She also hates pink, because irony! Aside from aspirations of becoming a DJ, she doesn't really do much than act as the tomboy to Madison's girly girl (kind of like Z and Syd in SPD). However, Vida does show to be protective of her friends, specifically Madison and Chip the Yellow Ranger. There is one episode, "The Return", where she seems to be out of character by befriending a monster who doesn't want to harm people but serves the villains out of loyalty. This has a lot to do with how it was done in Magiranger, but it would have made more sense for it to be Madison, and actually giving her a full focus episode.

Chip is the geek of the team and always had aspirations to be a superhero. So basically he was made to be a Power Ranger. I can relate a lot to him. He and Vida have a close friendship and watch each others back. Vida protected Chip from bullies in school and Chip tries to return the favor by helping her when she's turned into a vampire in the two parter "Stranger Within".

Xander the Green Ranger gets a lot of development over the season. He's usually seen as overconfident and a little smug, often trying to use charm to get things his way. Sometimes this causes some problems during Ranger duties, but realizing his mistakes and becoming a little more humble results in a new power for the Rangers, such as the Mystic Force Fighters, a powerful pair of boxing gloves (that may sound silly, but it makes for some good fights in the season). I like to think Xander's personality stems from trying to cover up some pain he had from being bullied in school when he was younger, teased for his Australian accent, admitting this to Nick in the two parter "Light Source". A recurring gag in the season is his attempted uses of "Plan Xander", where he tries to solve problems without fighting. It never works, but it is funny. If anything, Xander was probably the most entertaining of the main five and it was nice to see him come back in "Once a Ranger".

The season also has a number of supporting characters. I won't go through all of them, but I will say that I feel their presence helps build on the lore this season is trying to build. I will note Udonna though, a sorceress and the Rangers' mentor. While she is also a Ranger herself, her powers are stolen in the premiere, not getting them back until "Light Source". She does get kidnapped sometimes, but unlike Princess Shayla in Wild Force, she's not truly defenseless.

This season is probably my favorite use of the demon variety of Power Rangers villains. I don't really have much to say about them individually, but I really enjoy the concepts and how they're used. In my view, this is the closest a Power Rangers season has gotten to showcasing Hell and Satan, which in some ways make them the ultimate evil. The main villain this season is referred to as The Master, but one episode synopsis referred to him as Octomus, which I am going with since it actually gives him more of an identity. Octomus is dormant for most of the season, needing a high does of magic to regain his physical form, and when he does, it's pretty terrifying.

Like I said, there's a bit of Satan in there mixed with Cthulhu (and everybody loves Cthulhu). One could argue Xandred in Samurai could be kind of seen as Satan, but let's compare him and Ocotmus. Octomus remained hidden for most of the season, only seeing an eye through a viewing pool, not even hearing his voice until he gets a new body. He's also shown to be very powerful, killing Daggeron and Leanbow and at first making quick work of the rest of the team. While Xandred is also very powerful during the finale of Samurai, he was shown most of the season just sitting on his ass and complaining how he's trapped in the Netherrealm; he didn't even kill a Ranger. Who's the more impressive Satan allegory?

I think what I like most about this season is that it can be broken up into three acts based on the escalation of the threat coming from the villains and the additional powers the Rangers get.

ACT ONE- MORTICON (Episodes 1-12): The Rangers form and begin to battle the Rangers, leading to them fighting Morticon, who leads the demons with Octomus indisposed. (On the topic of Morticon, while powerful, he does feel like a glorified monster of the week.)

ACT TWO- IMPERIOUS (Episodes 13-23): A more impressive villain, Imperious, takes over Morticon's leadership and does show to have his own ambitions. This act also brings in Daggeron as the Solaris Knight (the sixth Ranger), acting as another mentor to the Rangers, who acquire the Mystic Legend mode. The act also ends with the true identities of Nick and the villain general Koragg revealed. (Said identities are part of a big twist that is built up during this act, but it can easily be figured out before the reveal; then it's just wondering when said twist will actually happen.)

ACT THREE- THE TEN TERRORS (Episodes 24-32): Octomus' most powerful warriors, the Ten Terrors, work to revive him, leading to a dramatic and nail-biting finale.

There's a lot I leave out here because I don't want to reveal spoilers. While Mystic Force does have some problems, the overall story is entertaining, and I really recommend this season to those who love mythology and magic, and to fans of Harry Potter and Supernatural.

7. POWER RANGERS LOST GALAXY (1999)

Adapted from Seijuu Sentai Gingaman

Saban Post-Zordon Era

When I was a kid and saw the first toys for Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, I thought "Sweet! Andros and the gang are coming back with new powers!". So you would be right to assume that when the season started and it showed a new cast, I was so confused. What really kept me around though is that the Rangers lived in last season's Astro Megaship (donated as a museum but still functional) and were getting assistance from Alpha 6. But still, I really liked this season as a kid and appreciated it even more watching it when I got older.

This season, the Power Rangers defend the space colony Terra Venture, traveling across the stars from Earth to live on a new planet. However, they attract the attention of alien warlord Scorpius, who seeks the Rangers' power for his own use.

I really like the suits this season. We have the helmets based on animals, which hadn't been done since Mighty Morphin', and the black zig-zags on the white of the chest and gloves makes me think of the diamonds of the Mighty Morphin' suits chest and gloves. I wouldn't realize until years later that the chest design is actually an animal mouth, the white being teeth and the black being the inside. Kind of silly, but still looks cool.

One of the most important arcs this season that features the most character development revolves around Leo, the Red Ranger, his brother Mike, and the Magna Defender.

In the season premiere, Mike is the one who pulls the Red Quasar Saber from the stone, but when he falls through a crevice, he gives it to Leo, who becomes the Red Ranger. Coincidentally, the Magna Defender had also fallen in that same crevice after a battle with Scorpius long ago, and saves Mike from the fall. The Magna Defender then absorbs Mike into him to strengthen himself so he can seek vengeance on Scorpius for killing his young son, Zika, and he's willing to do whatever it takes, even going through the Rangers. In the episode "Redemption Day", Magna Defender ignites a volcanic eruption in Terra Venture's mountain dome, willing to destroy the whole colony to get to Scorpius. After he's injured by one of Scorpius' monsters, Leo takes him away to recover while the other Rangers deal with the monster. The Magna Defender reveals the truth about him and Mike, telling Leo that his brother will be free if Leo strikes him down. Leo refuses, returning to help the Rangers in battle. While they defeat the monster, the volcano is still ready to erupt, and the Rangers are powerless to stop it. The spirit of Zika then comes to the Magna Defender, telling his father to abandon his quest for vengeance to help people like the good person he used to be. The Magna Defender then uses his remaining power to stabilize the volcano, preventing the eruption though. Before that though, he releases Mike, who reunites with Leo and the Rangers.

In the follow-up episode "Destined for Greatness", Mike's return makes Leo believe that he should relinquish his Red Ranger powers to Mike since he was the one originally chosen. Mike dispels Leo's thoughts, telling him that he has earned the powers and that it was his true destiny. However, when the Rangers are in trouble, Mike is visited by the Magna Defender and Zika, who give him his own morpher to use the powers of the Magna Defender.

This has sparked a debate of whether the Magna Defender counts as a Power Ranger, as well as what classifies a character as a Ranger. I would say yes and no. The original Magna Defender would count as a Ranger Ally like Blue Senturion or Robo Knight. But when Mike morphs into him, that does make him the sixth Ranger of the team. By my classification, if they are able to morph, they're a Ranger (this goes for the Solaris Knight of Mystic Force who, who had a similar debate over his Ranger status).

Another big moment this season comes during the two part team-up with the Space Rangers. When Cassie's Space Morpher is damaged, it causes an energy storm that could destroy Terra Venture. To save the colony and Cassie (who's connection to the damaged morpher is causing her pain), Kendrix, the Pink Galaxy Ranger, enters the storm, stopping it and repairing the morpher, saving the life of Cassie and everyone on Terra Venture, but at the cost of her own. This is the first instance of a Power Ranger being shown to die in the line of duty (so stick that in your "Power Rangers is just a kid show argument).

Behind the scenes, Kendrix's actress Valerie Vernon had been diagnosed with leukemia and had to leave the show for treatment. There were talks of Patricia Ja Lee, Cassie's actress, to stay on and become the new Pink Galaxy Ranger, but fell through over money. Instead, Kendrix's spirit passes on her powers to Andros' little sister Karone, which works to her a redemption story from last season. Thankfully, Valerie Vernon got a clean bill of health and was able to make one last appearance in the final episode, with Kendrix being brought back to life through what I call "Quasar Saber ex Machina". She even returns as the Pink Ranger a year later in the team-up with Lightspeed Rescue...even though it's Karone using the powers in Megaforce's "Legendary Battle". Are they both able to use the powers? Oh great, I just found another unexplained plot hole from that disgraceful season. Moving on before I go into another rage fit.

These are the two instances of the season where we see the most in character development for the Rangers, with drama and emotional moments. But I would say that overall, each Ranger has their own moments and go through growth subtly through the season. The interactions with each other are pretty good too, and this is the first instance where a lot of the Rangers didn't know each other before becoming a team like the original Mighty Morphin' team did and had to grow.

Initially, the villains this season aren't much to talk about.

Our first main villain this season is Scorpius, who really doesn't do much other than give orders. The best way to describe him is a mix of Jeff Goldlum from The Fly and Jabba the Hutt (I think I saw somewhere that Jabba was indeed an influence). He has a humanoid looking daughter named Trakeena who can transform into a full bug-like creature when she enters a cocoon. When Scorpius decides to face the Rangers himself (in a really different kind of battle), he is fatally injured, but has a pretty heartfelt deathbed talk with Trakeena. You'd almost forget he's an evil slimy bug monster. Trakeena then becomes the leader of the villains, her main goal of getting revenge on Leo. In terms of main female villains, I see her as kind of a mix of Rita Repulsa and Astronema. She's dressed kind of silly but still intimidating.

Furio is the first villain general of the season and boy is he unimpressive. He keeps failing and getting too many "one last" chances, and if it's any indication, he doesn't even get a whole episode dedicated to his defeat, dying in the first five minutes of one episode before moving on to the main plot. After that is Treacheron, and while a step up, still not that memorable.

Things really pick up though when Deviot arrives. Like Serrator in Samurai, Deviot has his own plans of usurping Scorpius and Trakeena and take over the galaxy himself. It was Deviot himself who set in motion the events of  Scorpius' death. More on him when I talk about the finale.

We also have Villamax, Trakeena's trainer and probably the best villain of this season one of the best in the franchise history. What makes Villamax different from other villains is his sense of loyalty and honor. Villamax is very loyal to Trakeena, which makes me think he's not a true villain at heart. To back that up, in the episode "An Evil Game", Leo is given the choice of surrendering himself to Trakeena, or the other Rangers will be killed, having been captured earlier. Leo gives himself in, and Villamax actually let's the other Rangers go, much to Deviot's shock. What makes this a good moment is that in most villainous ransom situation of the series, the villain never keeps their word. Villamax is the first and at the moment only time I can remember a villain actually staying true to their word by doing what they say they would if the Rangers did what they want.

For awhile, the Rangers deal with a pirate-themed side-villain named Captain Mutiny. His first appearance has him giving a large gift to Terra Venture, actually turning out to be a monster. I mean, who would have though he couldn't be trustworthy? ...HIS NAME WAS MUTINY. IT LITERALLY MEANS BETRAYAL! Other than that, he's a stereotypical pirate that really brought nothing to the show.

The three part season finale "Journey's End" is probably one of the best in franchise history. Trakeena finally gets wise to Deviot's treachery, the two battle and fall into Trakeena's cocoon. Trakeena emerges, Deviot merged into her, and warping her mind. She then launches a full-on assault on Terra Venture, which was preparing to finally make landing on a new planet, but ends up crashing on a nearby moon. Trakeena then straps bombs onto her Sting Wingers (the foot soldiers of the season), sending them out in a massive invasion. So yeah, a suicide bombers on what so many people consider just a kid show. The Rangers

fight off the Sting Wingers the best they can while also helping all the colony's citizens evacuate on lifeboats to the new world. Villamax is also on the battlefield, growing disgusted by Trakeena's actions. He saves a little girl's life from building wreckage falling from a Sting Winger attack and she gives him a flower as thanks, which moves him. With all the citizens evacuated, Trakeena plans to shoot down each of the ships one by one. When she orders Villamax to fire, he disobeys. They fight, and Trakeena bests him, stomping on the flower given to him before finishing him off. The Rangers intercept Trakeena's ship with the Astro Megaship, but end up taking significant damage to the point where they decide to set the ship to self-destruct, taking out Trakeena while they escape in the Jet Jammers. Both ships are destroyed, but Trakeena still lives. Weakened, she makes her way to her cocoon, emerging in a new green form. She continues to battle the Rangers in the wreckage of Terra Venture's city colony. It takes a point blank shot from Leo in his battilizer to finally defeat her.

If you dig too deep, you could find many plot holes this season. But if you just watch it for what it is, Lost Galaxy is a really good season, with entertaining characters while at the time also continuing the show's progression of giving mature storylines with finales that can create a real sense of dread. I wouldn't say it's a perfect season, but it's the first time the series started bringing in a new cast every year, and it proved successful.

6. POWER RANGERS JUNGLE FURY (2008)

Adapted from Juken Sentai Gekiranger

Disney Era

After being really disappointed with Operation Overdrive and my confidence in the franchise waning (though not as bad as after Megaforce), I was going into Jungle Fury with low expectations. But as soon as the theme song hit, starting with jungle drums followed by the guitar kicking in, I was really, REALLY excited! In fact, I would say Jungle Fury's theme is among my favorites of the whole franchise.

In some ways, Jungle Fury is a back to basics approach. For the most part, every season after the Zordon era has shown the Rangers not knowing martial arts until after they morph. With Jungle Fury, the Rangers have been training in kung-fu, which makes for some really great fight scenes this seasons. The season finale is one big fight, but it was still really entertaining (plus I view the two previous episodes before that make it one big three parter so there's still some emotional draw). The Kalishsplosions have been really dialed back as well (especially compared to Overdrive's overuse of them).

So maybe I'm biased liking Jungle Fury so much, but this is the first time in a few seasons where I felt I was watching a true Rangers season. It's not just a great season, in fact, it's criminally underrated.

The season begins with the two parter "Welcome to the Jungle" where we are introduced to the Pai Zhua (Order of the Claw), a secret kung-fu training academy that protects the world from the demon Dai Shi, sealed away after the Beast War 10,000 years ago. A demonstration between the top students leads to Theo, Lily, and Jarrod selected to be the new guardians, displaying their animal spirits of the Jaguar, Cheetah, and Lion. However, Jarrod's dickishness leads to an altercation with a newer student Casey, who displays the spirit of the Tiger. Master Mao expels Jarrod and Casey takes his place. An angry Jarrod fights Master Mao but accidentally unlocks Dai Shi, who kills Mao and possesses Jarrod. Casey, Theo, and Lily are sent to the city of Ocean Bluff to train under their new master RJ, who gives them their new Jungle Fury Ranger powers.

There's quite a few things from the premiere that gave me more good feelings about this season.

First off, RJ runs a pizza parlor called Jungle Karma Pizza, where the Rangers also work. It also has a backroom which acts as the Rangers' headquarters with a training area and a monitoring system to alert them about monsters in the city. Not only is a pizza shop a unique kind of headquarters, but those who know me know how much I love pizza, and I loved the idea of the Rangers working in a pizza shop.

RJ himself is really laid back, which makes him a different kind of mentor, and probably my personal favorite. He can be your best friend and offer wise advice. He's really a normal guy compared to Zordon, Cruger, or Udonna.

The morphers this season are unique as well, based off sunglasses, hence the name Solar Morphers. What's worth noting is that RJ didn't actually develop them, saying he "knew a guy who knew a guy...". I like to think they were developed by Cam from Ninja Storm. Hey when you have secret academies teaching ninjitsu and kung-fu, there's bound to be some interactions between them. There were some rumors as well about a possible team-up with Ninja Storm, but sadly, nothing came from it.

I really like the Ranger suits this season. Like Mystic Force, they're unique and dominantly the Ranger's color with black areas (this time being stripes or spots to go along with their spirit animal). A big difference this season is that the Rangers don't have any belts or side weapons like a gun or dagger they could use, only summoning personal weapons (nun-chucks, bo-staff, and batons) when they need to. It fits with the predominantly kung-fu theme the season was going for.

This is another season that starts off with just three Rangers, but this is actually longest time it keeps to just three Rangers, with RJ not joining as the Wolf Ranger until episode 16. This gave us a good chance to focus on the Rangers and their dynamic, which makes them my favorite initial team of three Rangers.

My point being, "Welcome to the Jungle" gave me some renewed hope for Power Rangers and it was shaping up to be a great season.

Casey, the Red Ranger, is the one with the least training, which means its his journey we follow through the season. He gets some training with Theo on his nun-chucks and RJ goes all Mr. Miagi in helping him perfect his fighting moves. When RJ joins the team, Casey starts to doubt himself as a leader, and through a pretty creative way, RJ proves to him that it takes a team effort to achieve what may be a possible goal. Casey's story arc comes to a head in the penultimate "Path of the Righteous", where he goes against everyone's advice to Dai Shi's palace to challenge him, hoping to free Jarrod for his possession, feeling responsible for putting him in this position in the first place. They have a pretty awesome battle that is actually my favorite one-on-one battle of the whole season and probably one of the best in franchise history.

Theo, the Blue Ranger, is the perfectionist of the team. He has a high opinion of himself, even though he had his own rookie period like Casey, and when he does suffer a failure or setback, he takes it hard, which does help humble him and not take some things so seriously. One thing I thought was funny was how Theo was the shortest of the team, but when he morphs, he actually grows taller than Casey. It's a small detail and really has to do with the Sentai footage, but I found it hilarious that he would just grow for reason. He doesn't even have the "being a kid" excuse Justin had.

Lily, the Yellow Ranger, is the heart of the team, being the most friendly, usually defusing a hostile situation between the Rangers and giving them a confidence boost when they're down. I didn't really see much in character development, but she's just so damn lovable. Something of note though is that Theo and Lily have a close friendship, but Theo is afraid of taking things to next level until the season finale when he asks her out and she says yes. This aspect really comes late in the season, but I liked how it was played out. Subtle, yet satisfying.

The Rangers later meet Dominic, a former Pai Zhua student who left to try and find himself. He comes to the Rangers wanting to help in the battle with Dai Shi, but they don't really accept him initially. Hell, I found Casey and Theo downright being a prick to him. But when Dominic, preparing to leave due to his treatment, displays his Rhino spirit, Casey sees his potential and asks him to stay (seriously, it's a pretty quick turn-around, and all this happens in the same episode). RJ builds Dominic a big ass morpher that also acts as a weapon to become the Rhino Ranger. He still has some development afterwards though, having to actually find his Rhino Zord instead of being able summon his spirit like the other Rangers.

Speaking of zords, something unique this season is that the Rangers' zords are actually their animal spirits, which can combine to form the Jungle Pride Megazord (which RJ's Wolf spirit can also combine with). The Rangers stand together in a cockpit, performing moves in unison, with the Megazord copying their moves. They also each get one auxiliary zord after they train with another Pai Zhua Master. Lily gets the Elephant Spirit from Master Phant, Theo gets the Bat Spirit from Master Swoop, and Casey gets the Shard Spirit from Master Finn (who is also RJ's father and they have issues to work out). Later on after training with three deceased masters in the Spirit World and acquiring Jungle Master Mode, they're able to access those masters' animal spirits (Gorilla for Casey, Antelope for Theo, and Penguin for Lily) to form the Jungle Master Megazord. That gives each Ranger three zords each, which I honestly think should be the max amount for one Ranger to have.

Dai Shi's foot soldiers and monsters have a rather interesting relationship. The foot soldiers are called Rinshi, which are kind of like zombies. However, once they have an animal totem bestowed upon their forehead, they gain an enhanced form and the ability to speak. Finally, they transform into their Beast form, becoming the traditional monster of the day. While this is the norm, there are some monsters this season that appear as is, not an upgraded Rinshi. One of the things I like about the Megazord fights this season is that when the monsters are defeated, they turn to stone before they blow up. It's a minor thing, but I think it gives a defining defeat than just blowing up.

Dai Shi himself is a bit of a confusing villain. We see in the beginning that he possesses Jarrod, but as the season goes on, it starts to be unclear whether how much of Jarrod is there. See, for Dai Shi to become stronger, he resurrects the Overlords, evil masters from the original Beast War 10,000 years ago, to train him. This involves not only physical, but mental training. Now I understand needing to train Jarrod's body for Dai Shi to become stronger, but one of the Overlords, Carnisoar, actually travels into Jarrod's mind to alter his memories to make him more evil, and it's Dai Shi actually traveling with Carnisoar and arguing with him, not Jarrod. Why would Dai Shi care about Jarrod's memories? Honestly, they don't really do a good job explaining how much of an amalgamation Dai Shi and Jarrod have in the same body. And when Jarrod is freed of Dai Shi's influence, he becomes an ally to the Rangers just like that, despite already acting like a dick of his own accord in the first episode.

Now that I think about it, it might have been better if Jarrod had more of an origin story like Lothor, being excommunicated from the Order of the Claw, unsealing the palace that contained the Rinshi and using their power to get revenge, resurrecting the Overlords and Phantom Beasts to become stronger, and taking on the name of Dai Shi. Plus, Dai Shi actually translates to "Great Lion", which fits because Jarrod has the Lion spirit. The Dai Shi on the show was actually a dragon. It would have made more sense if Scorch became the final villain of the series considering he also had a dragon spirit. I mean, look at Scorch and Dai Shi's final form.

Similar looking, right? Okay, I'll admit that this was the same way it was done in Gekiranger, but it would have made a lot more sense if Jungle Fury did it too.

Honestly though, the Dai Shi confusion aside, the villains were still pretty entertaining this season.

Overall, Jungle Fury is one of the better Disney seasons featuring more straight-up fight scenes Power Rangers is known for with interesting characters all around.

Come back next week as we wrap up Power Rangers Month with the top 5 seasons, the best of the best!