Season 10, Episode 11: Battle of the Zords

"Battle of the Zords"
Episode 11
Air Date: April 13th, 2002

God, I HATE Alyssa!!! -_-  From her "I'm good at everything" personality to Jessica Rey's atrocious acting, I couldn't STAND her this episode.  Every scene, her delivery is grating and her going off to find her Elephant Zord made no sense!!!  Calling out for it when Zen-Aku has her crystal and could easily lure her into a trap as well as kill her but whatever!  Isn't she suppose to be the smart one of the team???  I get her feeling guilty over losing one of her Wild Zords given she's its specific guardian and wanting to take responsibility for her actions but that was the dumbest thing for her to do!  Jesus, even Jindrax and Toxica nearly killed her because she tried to morph and got owned by Toxica! -_- So yeah, that was seriously my only problem with this episode as besides that, it was pretty awesome! :)

Zen-Aku is already proving to be one of the most menacing, badass and honestly, fascinating antagonist a ranger team has ever faced!  I love the score when it comes to his scenes and presence onscreen as well as that haunting melody he plays on his flute.  Immediately, when Master Org orders General Nyzar to continue giving Zen-Aku his own orders, Zen-Aku brushes it off and tells Nyzar he is thankful for him releasing him but he has his own mission of vendetta against the rangers.  I love how he just owns Nyzar with one quick move, despite Nyzar being technically more powerful than him but Nyzar being smart in letting Zen-Aku doing his own thing since they share the same enemy.  It's subtle villain in-fighting and I'm loving all of it!  There's even bits of comedy thrown in when Jindrax and Toxica try to take him down Zen-Aku themselves and he just embarrasses them by trying them as more of an annoyance than an actual threat.  Once again, HILARIOUS!!! lol  Also, I like how there's definitely some foreshadowing of humanity in Zen-Aku as he questions his appearance now not being what it use to be and surprising bandaging Alyssa's wounds after being nearly killed by Toxica.  It's subtle but already making this are very intriguing! :)

Meanwhile, Princess Shayla ha no clue about Zen-Aku and how he came to be since she's been asleep for 3,000 years, which annoyed be at first as I thought it was her being useless again but it makes sense given the backstory behind Zen-Aku's conception. But on to the main event, as Zen-Aku finally takes on the rangers again and the battle is just EPIC!!! For once, I didn't mind the roll call as it set up the serious and urgency of the battle that was about to happen.  Of course, Zen-Aku easily able to fight off the rangers, especially with his awesome weapon (The Crescent Blade) that he can twirl and shoot deadly blasts at the rangers! SICK!!! :)  Luckily, Cole is able to fire his Lion Blaster at Zen-Aku and stun him for the moment, before he reveals he has his own set of Dark Wild Zords: A Hammerhead Shark, Alligator and of course, a Wolf.  As the rangers are shocked about how a Duke Org can have and control Wild Zords, Zen-Aku summons them.  The rangers soon summon their own Wild Zords as Zen-Aku orders them to attack.  The sequence of both teams of Wild Zords fighting while Zen-Aku fights the rangers is just awesome! :)  Unfortunately, even with larger numbers, Zen-Aku's Wild Zords...oh I'm sorry, Dark Wild Zords are too much for Wild Zords as Zen-Aku takes the moment to insult this new team of rangers and takes off.  As Jindrax and Toxica watch on, she suddenly remembers a Wolf being there during the final battle 3,000 years ago.  As Shayla tells the injured rangers about how Zen-Aku has control over the Wild Zords, Jessica Rey has to remind us why she need acting school instead of this role, ending the episode.

Overall, this episode was very solid! Moving the plot along in Master Org's own machinations, continuing to establish Zen-Aku as a very unpredictable and powerful foe as well as showing the rangers continued struggle in this new threat. Nice! :)

Final Morph: B+