Season 12, Episode 2: Day of The Dino, Part 2

"Day of the Dino, Part 2"
Episode 2
Air Date: February 14th, 2004

Part 2 continues where the last left off with Tommy in a hurry to Conner and Ethan out his underground base of ops while also telling them the creatures that took Kira are called Tyrannodrones.  Meh! Was Sting Dinos not good enough??? :P Tommy begins to tell them that they were apart of an experiment of his but basically he will save Kira as they need to go. Unfortunately, Conner and Ethan aren't going anywhere, especially when Conner uses his new power to stand in Tommy's way to demand an explanation.  Jesus, once again, LOVE these new characters! Meanwhile, Kira awakes in a lab and comes face to face with the main villain of the season...and boy, is he legit a scary sight!!! O_O Not only design wise, but that very subdued yet menacing voice while appearing around Kira in a blink of an eye?? YIKES!!! o_O Soon, Mesagog disappears and out comes one of his generals, Elsa, who she calls her "master".  No S&M jokes please! :P When demanding for the gems, a fight breaks out between them and Kira continues to be shocked by her new fighting skills with her new sonic powers.  So...do the gems give them martial arts skills too??? O_o  *Head scratch* After using her Pterodactyl cry to knock out the Tryannodrones as well as another general, Zeltrax, out of her way, she escapes into a long hall way where she finds a portal and gets sucked into it.

As Tommy drives back with Conner and Ethan, he finally tells them that years ago, he was apart of an experiment to combine dinosaur DNA with technology with apparently missing scientist Anton Mercer, but they were soon attack and all of their research as well as their lab was destroyed by a powerful creature named Mesagog...seriously...LOVE the name! :) Tho, one wonders why Tommy would get involved with such an experiment that could have and actually went seriously wrong??? O_o I guess we can just choke it up to his experience as Power Ranger and history with dinosaur based zords but you'd think after the evil he's faced, he'd be a little less precarious with such a project but then we wouldn't have a season would we??? lol Anyway, Kira happens to fall onto Tommy's jeep after Ethan's terrific sarcasm is perfectly timed again.  But there's no time for too much chit chat (or the invis-portal explanation making no sense since you can...you know..see it! O_o) when Zeltrax appears with a squad of Tyrannodrones to claim the Dino Gems.  While Tommy does his thing, the three teens use their new found powers again to wreck sh!t up before Zeltrax retreats.  While the three want even more of an explanation, Tommy tells them to go home and he'll tell them tomorrow after school.  Meanwhile, back at Mesagog's castle, he asks Zeltrax if the "aerial" attack is ready and that they can't mess up or people will think "that idiot Lothor is back in town"....BEST SEASON SO FAR!!! YESSSSS!!! :)

Anyway, the next day in science class, Kira tries to avoid Cassidy when she practically attacks her about new friendship with Conner and Ethan like it's the biggest news in town! Seriously, you vapid dummy, go. AWAY! o_O Suddenly, Reefside begins to shake as dark clouds encompass the city and the mayor orders a state of emergency.  As Tommy quickly tells the new rangers that they don't have much time now, he brings them back to his lab where he tells them about the Dino Gems and how he discovered them. He tells them with the city now in danger, they must become Power Rangers to stop Mesagog and tame their new "Bio zords" that are currently attacking the city.  Yes, apparently, Tommy also helped build those too...way a go! -_-  As Zeltrax arrives with a large spaceship to attack the city, soon Tommy arrives with the three teens as he tells them it's time to morph.  Gotta say, the Dino Thunder morph and call are definitely better and more epic than Ninja Storm's.  While we get an unnecessary "HA!" added at the end, the sequence itself is breathtaking with an awesome background score.  Also, what I love about this first battle is seeing Tommy mentor the new rangers during battle; telling to call for their weapons as well as combine them to defeat Zeltrax.  It already makes the whole "veteran ranger as the new mentor" such a genius idea and I'm surprised it hadn't been done before this season outside a one off episode or two.  As the zords go out of control, Tommy orders them to tame them.  While Ethan and Kira succeed in gaining control of their zords, Conner has little more trouble getting his T-Rex under control.  Luckily, he finally does as Tommy orders them to bring them together to take down Zeltrax's ship.  The Thundersaurus Megazord....ummm...it's alright! Doesn't help the combination scene is so damn fast and first battle is even quicker but it's cool seeing the rangers save the day.  The episode ends with a pissed off Mesagog punishing both Elsa and Zeltrax for their failure, since he doesn't tolerate it! GULP! o_o  While Tommy gives the new team instructions on how to use their new Dino morphers and how the fight against Mesagog is just beginning.... Wow! Wow, wow, wow, wow! bravo! :) What a truly fantastic two part premiere from beginning to end.  Sure there are still a couple of things that need brushing up on and work on a bit, but the characters are already nicely defined with great banter, Tommy as a mentor of a new team of rangers is perfection, Mesagog is frightening beyond words and the Dino theme seems so refreshing after not being used since the first season! :)

Final Morph: A+