Season 10, Episode 27: Unfinished Business

"Unfinished Business"
Episode 27
Air Date: September 14th, 2002

You know, since the Zen-Aku arc ended a mere 11 episodes prior, we haven't gotten much character work from Merrick.  Then again, that's been one of this season's major flaws! We get a miss mash of rangers with character traits but are never given any real progression storywise.  The closest we've gotten to is Taylor and sadly, everyone else's attempt at a personal arc or character development has been rather weak ("The Torndao Spin") or just plain poor ("A Father's Footsteps").  So here we get an episode once again that explores Merrick's guilt and personal arc of redemption because of Zen-Aku...by bringing back Zen-Aku himself.  Doesn't make much sense since the Zen-Aku mask was destroy but whatever, one of the most badass villains from this franchise gets to return and wreck havoc in all his glory again so I don't really care.  Zen-Aku, once again, is a force to be reckoned with as he confronts Merrick who is shocked by his return.  Apparently, Zen-Aku's spirit was freed from Merrick when the cursed (and mask apparently!) were broken, but now he seeks to rejoin with Merrick whether he wants to or not.  Needless to say, the rangers are screwed.  When the other rangers arrive to help, they two are shocked by Zen-Aku's revival considering Merrick was Zen-Aku.  But anyway, before they can morph, Merrick orders them to stop as Zen-Aku is his responsibility to destroy and is not their fight.  Doesn't stop Alyssa from morphing soon after to save Merrick from Zen-Aku killing him before the other 4 ranges keep him busy.

I love how Merrick is handling this, once again feeling guilty and angry that the others are interfering when Zen-Aku was born because of him.  Phillip Andrew actually did quite well this episode in being more subdued and nuanced in his performance instead of being flat out terrible.  You can really sense Merrick's urgency and remorse for the things that he's done...instead of that migraine inducing first performance in that cave scene during the final moments of "The Ancient Warrior".  So as Merrick confronts Zen-Aku again, they fall off a huge cliff and disappear; making the rangers wonder if he survived.  As Shayla and the rangers worry, we get a very inventive and awesome campfire fight sequence between Merrick and Zen-Aku which is just stunning!  As the Wold Wildzord awakes and warns the rangers of Merrick needing help that night as well, the fight between Zen-Aku and Merricks continues into the morning as they battle on the shores of Turtle Cove.  A very nice visual too.  As Merrick demorphs from Zen-Aku's relentless atttacks, the Wolf Savage Cycle returns to save him from Zen-Aku.  As Merrick thanks the Wolf, the other rangers arrive to help and finally convince Merrick the only way they can defeat him is by all 6 working together. As Merrick finally agrees, all 6 morph as Zen-Aku just blasts them away.

What follows is an awesome 6 ranger tag team as they each use various weapons and maneuvers against Zen-Aku to finally destroy him.  But this new, more powerful version isn't done yet as he makes himself grow (with no peanuts?? *Gasp!*) and Merrick's Wildzords go after him.  When Zen-Aku is too much for them, Merrick informs them they need to work together and forms the Predazord.  As the Predazord struggles against Zen-Aku, the other rangers call on the other Wildzords to form the Wild Force Megazord with the Rhino and Armadillo.  But when they try to finish Zen-Aku with the soccer ball finisher, he just catches the Armadillo and throws it back at them.  Needless to say again, they are screwed! But as Merrick remembers the move the bartender showed him at the beginning of the episode, he uses it to de-horn Zen-Aku and finish him for good.  As the other rangers rejoice as Merrick's victory and Zen-Aku's final demise, they plan to celebrate at the Animarium.  But as the rangers and Shayla celebrates, Merrick just ditches them to play pool with his bartender buddy! Ha!!! Lone Wolf??? More like an A-Hole! :P  Other than that, "Unfinished Business" continues this very strong run of episodes this season with a standout performance from Phillip Andrew, an awesome reintroduction to Zen-Aku and some of the finest action scenes of the show. :)

Final Morph: A+